India calls claims it was involved in Jaspal Atwal affair 'baseless'

India s GDP grew 7.2% in the third quarter surpassing expectations and wresting back the mantle of fastestgrowing economy from China on the back of a rebound in industrial activity especially manufacturing and construction and an expansion in agriculture. China grew 6.8% in the quarter and is expected to grow at that pace for the full year. Experts also pointed to the growth in gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) as a sign that investment which has been a laggard may be resurgent although the slowing of private consumption was a concern. The numbers indicated that the economy had shaken off the effects of demonetisation and come to grips with the goods and services tax (GST) they said. India s FY18 growth projection was revised marginally upward to 6.6% from 6.5% estimated earlier compared with 7.1% in FY17 according to data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on Wednesday. Second-quarter growth was revised to 6.5% from 6.3% earlier. Economists had estimated December quarter GDP growth at 6.5-6.9%. Robust growth in manufacturing and significant acceleration in construction mark a turnaround in the country s economic growth momentum the finance ministry said in a release. Heralding an improvement in the investment climate real gross fixed capital formation is estimated to grow at a robust http://www.chictopia.com/kkflipkart 7.6% for 2017-18 accelerating from 6.9% in Q2 2017-18 to 12% in Q3 2017-18. The revival theme was backed up by core sector growth which picked up pace in January following an uptick in sectors including cement electricity coal refinery products and steel indicating a strong start to the last quarter of FY18. The combined index of the eight core industries rose 6.7% in January 2018 compared with 4.2% in December 2017 according to data released separately by the government. India s manufacturing activity meanwhile fell to a four-month low in February but remained firmly in the expansion zone as firms raised staffing levels according to the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). It s the seventh consecutive month that the index has remained above the 50-point mark which separates expansion from contraction. The index touched a 60-month high of 54.7 in December. The current growth rate reflects that reforms by the government have started showing results Bibek Debroy chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister said. The GDP trend is consistent with the robust growth of PMI Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and consumer demand he said adding Higher growth in industries services and central government spending to aid further growth. Manufacturing grew 8.1% in the third quarter and is projected to expand at 5.1% for the full year compared with 7.9% growth in FY17 indicating that factories and companies have come to terms with GST which was put in place on July 1. The Reserve Bank of India will likely keep rates unchanged said DK Pant chief economist India Ratings a Fitch Group Company. Beyond that it will consider factors such as the monsoon banks bad loans and oil prices he said. While a 12% growth in fixed capital formation pulled up GDP growth the need of the hour is how we can nurture this budding investment revival with conducive policies he said. However an area of concern is the decline in private consumption growth to 5.6% in 3QFY18 from 6.6% in 2QFY18. Ind-Ra believes growth momentum will spill over in FY19 and the GDP growth will be 7.1%. The next meeting of the RBI monetary policy committee will take place in early April. GOVT SPENDING UP The GFCF number reflected stepped-up government spending that will crowd in money from non-state sources another expert said. Though excellent GDP numbers have come on the back of the low base of Q3FY17 (demonetisation quarter) it signifies that the economy is recovering and expanding at a reasonable speed before picking up the pace in the near future said Arun Thukral CEO Axis Securities. Also growth in gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in nominal terms is indicative of increased investment happening especially from the government side which eventually will lead to higher private spends over the next 12-18 months. Growth started to pick up in the July-September quarter within the April-June period due to destocking in the run-up to the GST rollout and the lingering impact of demonetisation. The Economic Survey had projected that a series of major reforms undertaken over the past year will allow real GDP growth to rise to 7.5% in FY19 thereby reinstating India as the world s fastestgrowing major economy. Some experts said India could exceed the International Monetary Fund s 6.7% GDP growth estimate for the current year if the recovery trajectory improves even further possibly allowing it to retain the fastest-growing economy title. There is quite a lot of project activity on ground led by government investment which has shown traction and feeds through to manufacturing said HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua. This might be a sustainable growth path. We are beginning to see an upturn in the cycle. The probability of revising FY19 growth number has increased. The IMF projects India s GDP to grow at 7.4% in FY19 and 7.8% in FY20. The last time India grew faster than China was in October-December 2016 Reuters said. The significant improvement in GDP growth strengthens the perception that the Indian economy is at the threshold of a sustained rebound in growth said Confederation of Indian Industry director general Chandrajit Banerjee. Manufacturing and some services sub-sectors are the key drivers of growth during the quarter. Anil Khaitan president PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: The GDP growth at 7.2% in Q3 of 2017-18 is inspiring and strong signs of economic revival are visible. Going ahead we believe the growth trajectory should continue to improve as teething problems of GST are almost over and the economy is looking up once again.
By: ENS Economic Bureau | New Delhi | Updated: March 1 2018 6:57 am Indian economy grows at 7.2 per cent in October-December quarter this fiscal. Related News India s growth pace for October-December quarter could top China s rate: reportAcross the aisle: Truth post-truth and again the truthThe 6.5% warningTHE COUNTRY S gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the fastest pace in five quarters at 7.2 per cent in October-December as against 6.5 per cent in the previous quarter and 6.8 per cent in the same period last year helped by a sharp pickup in the services sector and a rebound in agriculture and manufacturing. The second advance estimate released by Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Wednesday showed that the overall GDP growth rate for 2017-18 is estimated to inch up marginally to 6.6 per cent from the first advance estimate of 6.5 per cent released last month but would be the lowest growth in four years. GDP growth rate for July-September was revised upwards to 6.5 per cent from the earlier estimate of 6.3 per cent according to the data released. The country had recorded GDP growth of 7.1 per cent in the previous financial year. Manufacturing construction financial services and agriculture were among five of the eight sectors that recorded a pickup in GVA growth in October-December as compared to the previous quarter. Mining electricity and trade communication were the sectors that bucked the trend. The GVA growth for the third quarter also benefitted from a favourable base effect given that October-December 2016 was the first quarter to be hit due to demonetisation. A perceptible increase in two components of GDP based on expenditure Gross Fixed Capital Formation (which is a proxy for private investment) and valuables (including gold and precious stones) was sharply evident in the surge in growth during the third quarter. Gross Fixed Capital Formation was up 12 per cent in the third quarter as against 8.7 per cent in the same period last year. For the full year it is expected to decelerate to 7.6 per cent from 10.1 per cent last year. A sharp increase was also seen in valuables which grew 40.8 per cent in October-December over the same period the previous year. Economists attributed this rise to preference of savings in them in a low interest rate regime. The rise in share of valuables is an area of concern. A trend of high gold imports could be indicative of the shift in savings towards valuables. Gold imports are now approximately in the range of 950-1 000 tn in a year a level which was seen earlier when people invested in gold during high inflation period but the trend seems to be continuing even now said India Ratings Chief Economist D K Pant. A 12 per cent growth in fixed capital formation pulled up GDP growth the need of the hour is how we can nurture this budding investment revival with conducive policies. However an area of concern is decline in private consumption growth to 5.6 per cent in Q3 of FY18 from 6.6 per cent in Q2 in FY18 Pant added. The advance estimate for Gross Value Added (GVA) the more closely watched indicator for growth is estimated at 6.4 per cent in 2017-18 up from 6.1 per cent in the first advance estimates but down from 7.1 per cent in the previous financial year. The GVA growth for 2017-18 is marginally lower than the 6.6 per cent growth rate projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review. The GVA growth rate for April-December the first nine months of this financial year slowed to 6.2 per cent from 7.5 per cent in the previous year the CSO data showed. In the October-December quarter financial real estate and professional services recorded a marked improvement with the sector s GVA growing at 6.7 per cent from 2.8 per cent in the same period last year. Construction also showed a sharp uptick with GVA growth of 6.8 per cent in October-December as against 2.8 per cent the previous year. Manufacturing retained the same level of growth of previous year at 8.1 per cent during October-December. Mining and quarrying slumped into negative territory with GVA growth of (-)0.1 per cent in October-December from a double-digit growth rate of 12.1 per cent in the same period last year. Though the agriculture sector recorded an improvement in GVA growth to 4.1 per cent in October-December from 2.7 per cent in the previous quarter the growth rate was sharply lower than 7.5 per cent in the same period in 2016-17. The Finance Ministry said in a statement that the second advance estimates released by the CSO indicate a broad-based and significant acceleration of real economic activity as projected in the Economic Survey. It said the growth acceleration has been sectorally broad-based with manufacturing growth estimated at 8.1 per cent for Q3 2017-18 up from 6.9 per cent in Q2 2017-18; construction growth at 6.8 per cent in Q3 2017-18 up from 2.8 per cent in Q2 2017-18; and services growth projected to accelerate to 7.7 per cent in Q3 2017-18 from 7.1 per cent in Q2 2017-18. Such robust growth in manufacturing and significant acceleration in construction mark a turnaround in the country s economic growth momentum the ministry said. For all the latest Business News download Indian Express App Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd More Related News When Manmohan Singh brought reforms in 1991 GDP was reduced to 1.1% says NITI Aayog VC GDP growth to hit four-year-low at 6.5%: Govt forecast Tags: GDP Sathya ServiceMar 1 2018 at 6:20 amHello everyone i am Kumar i want to share a my story with you all i was in debt of 35 lacs and my life was in a bad stage i lost all i have gotten before so i made a decision that i want to my and i came online and met a lots of scammers and they took 2 lakh from me and still i could not my after a month i came back online and met one Dr Lau Bern online and he told me the procedure which did they paid my 1 Cr before the operation and balance 1 Cr after the operation i only spend little money on this process but today am a very happy man and my families are so happy Thank you so much Dr Lau Bern you can contact him on e-mail: (servicecenter249 ) Whatsapp Number 918015861823 or Call 918867434096(0)(0) Reply RRJMar 1 2018 at 12:37 amThe sickulars and azz-Iickers must be feeling down at the news of economic upturn!(39)(6) Reply Pangamba MeiteiFeb 28 2018 at 11:55 pmIndian economy perform well in the mist of global economic slowdown because of Modi.(27)(4) Reply SSumodFeb 28 2018 at 11:11 pmNation first party second and self last is the words of our PM and it is giving results(24)(4) Reply SSumodFeb 28 2018 at 10:40 pmNation first Party second and the self last is what our PM said and he practices what he preaches. 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KOLKATA: Former president Pranab Mukherjee today expressed hope that India s economy will inch towards 8 per cent growth in 2018-19 fiscal and onwards. Mukherjee however said that to sustain such a growth rate for the longer term the country will need to address issues like employability for the youth and boosting the rural economy. It may be in 2018-19 and onwards it (India) will move towards 8 per cent annual GDP growth if there is no eventual setback from unexpected quarters he said at a session organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce here. Mukherjee said the agriculture sector needs focus along with allied areas like rural infrastructure rural health rural education rural sanitation and rural housing. He said empowering the growing young population of India and preparing them for employability was of paramount importance. In a short of span of time 48 per cent of India s population is going to be below the age of 40 ... unless you give them employment enhance employability train them make them available to the world labour market ... this is a challenge in the growth of GDP on a sustainable basis the former finance minister said. Mukherjee exuded confidence that the Indian economy has the resilience to address challenges find out appropriate solutions and take corrective measures. But mere policy formations are not adequate it needs effective implementation he added.
BHOPAL/ BHUBANESWAR: Congress on Wednesday managed to retain Mungaoli and Kolaras assembly seats in byelections in Madhya Pradesh though with vastly reduced margins compared to the last polls despite chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the entire top rung of his cabinet camping in these constituencies for several days. However in Odisha Congress not only lost its sitting seat in the bypoll to the ruling BJD but was relegated to the third position after BJP. Coming just a few months ahead of the assembly polls which are due in Madhya Pradesh in November Chouhan had made the bypolls a prestige issue. As many as 21 of the total 36 ministers campaigned for several weeks in the two seats situated in the stronghold of Jyotiraditya Scindia one of the aspirants in Congress for the CM s post. BJP came gut-wrenchingly close to snatching a win in these seats which are part of Scindia s Lok Sabha seat Guna. Congress s vastly reduced victory margins just 2 124 votes in Mungaoli and 8 083 in Kolaras down from 20 765 and 24 952 respectively in 2013 indicate how BJP s sheer organisational strength is a force to reckon with in the November polls. It s also a pointer that Congress needs to get its flock together. While Chouhan was doing up to 12 roadshows a day Scindia was left fighting a lone battle. Kamal Nath joined him on the very last day of campaigning. The bypolls were billed as Shivraj vs Maharaj (Scindia) fight and the Guna MP single-handedly took on the entire might of a government entrenched for 13 years the CM and his heavyweight ministers and BJP s organizational strength. Congress workers celebrated the victories as a morale booster ahead of the big final. After the wins in Ater and Chitrakoot bypoll last year and strong showing in civic elections in Badwani-Dhar in January Congress sees the Mungaoli and Kolaras victories as a sign of turnaround. However Chouhan told reporters in the assembly that BJP has fared much better in the bypolls compared to 2013. These were Congress seats and the margin of victory has decreased. That too when BSP did not field its candidates and Congress benefited from it.
NEW DELHI: India s manufacturing activity declined to a fourmonth low in February but remained within the expansion zone with companies upping hiring a private survey showed on Wednesday. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 52.1 in February from 52.4 in January. In December 2017 the index had touched a 60-month high of 54.7. This is for the seventh consecutive month that the index remained above the 50-point mark which separates expansion from contraction. It was promising to see that India s manufacturing sector remained in growth territory as the impact of July s Goods and Services Tax continues to dissipate said Aashna Dodhia economist at IHS Markit and the author of the report. In response to greater production requirements companies raised their staffing levels during February. Although modest the pace of job-creation was slightly faster than January. On the prices front the survey said that cost inflation accelerated to the sharpest since February 2017 adding to expectations that inflationary risks will continue over the coming months. IHS Markit upgraded its Consumer Price Index (CPI) forecast to 5.2% for financial year 2017-2018 amid a stronger oil price outlook and growing fiscal risks. Cost inflation accelerated to the sharpest since February 2017 adding to expectations that inflationary risks will continue over the coming months Dodhia said. The survey further noted that Indian manufacturers remained optimistic towards the 12-month outlook for output in February.
MUMBAI: India s crowded music streaming market is all set to make room for another player as Amazon launches its music service in India. Amazon Prime Music which was launched in the United States in 2014 as an add-on to Amazon s video streaming service will be offered as part of its Prime service in India the company said. With this Amazon Prime Music will compete with music streaming apps Saavn Gaana and Apple Music in India. As part of the offering Amazon Prime Music will offer ad-free streaming along with unlimited offline downloads at no additional cost to the existing Prime subscription for users in 10 languages. For its India offering Amazon Music is pulling out all stops to differentiate itself on content against competitors through partnerships with 8 national and over 300 regional record labels as also opening up the global music repertoire for Indian users. To be sure this service is independent of Amazon Music Unlimited that was launched in October 2016 with a catalogue of millions of songs and one which isn t available in India. Amazon Prime Music also will include voice controlled music for customers who do not own the Echo device launched in India recently. Alexa voice controls have been integrated within the music app and will be synced across user devices. Also Read: Tencent leads in Gaana s 115 million funding round The launch of the Prime music service follows the introduction Amazon s video streaming service in India in 2016 for which the company had allotted Rs 2 000 crore. Analysts expect that Amazon like with its video service will invest heavily to stand out in India s competitive but relatively small music streaming market where companies are blurring the lines with record labels by launching their own artists and entertainment shows. However Amazon has ruled out any play in the content creation aspect for India just yet. We have no plans to become a record label and have no plan to do originals. However we continue to work closely with label partners and see what more in terms of musical experiences we can offer Sahas Malhotra Director for Amazon Music India told ET. India s digital music industry is expected to reach Rs 3 100 crore in revenue by 2020 with 273 million online music listeners according to a report by Deloitte last year. In terms of market share Gaana reported crossing 60 million monthly users in January while Saavn recently reported 22 million users. Industry estimates peg the overall number of Prime customers to be around 10 million in India. A competitive pricing metric helped Amazon surpass Netflix in its video offering on Prime with over 6 00 000 viewers for the video service alone. Analysts expect its penetration in the highly competitive music streaming market may be fairly significant through possible exclusive partnership with labels discount offers on Prime and its sheer large user base on the marketplace.
NEW DELHI: Maldives has declined India s invitation to participate in the eight-day-long mega naval exercise Milan beginning March 6. Maldives was invited to join the Milan exercise but they have declined Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba told reporters and indicated that the country may have taken the decision possibly due to the current situation there. They have not given any reason he said. Admiral Lanba was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event. The Maldivian Ambassador in Delhi on Tuesday said Maldives declined India s invitation to participate in a naval exercise due to the emergency situation in his country but asserted that the two nations enjoy a history of excellent defence and military cooperation a tradition which they are confident will endure and continue indefinitely. I would like to clarify that the Maldives is unable to participate in the naval exercise during this time due to the current circumstances of a State of Emergency being in effect for those under investigation for serious crimes. During such a time especially security personnel are expected to be at a heightened stance of readiness the envoy told PTI while noting that the participation of Maldives naval officers would have been as observers only. When situations warrant that officers be at their post back at home we have held back on deploying them to participate in exercises and training programs held overseas and as such not being able to participate in the naval https://codepen.io/kkmytata/ exercise at this time is not extraordinary he added. Ties between India and Maldives nosedived after Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen declared emergency on February 5 following an order by the country s Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. On February 21 India had reacted strongly over the extension of emergency by a month. India will host navies from at least 16 countries for the mega naval exercise at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The exercise is taking place in the backdrop of China s growing military posturing in the Indo-Pacific region and officials indicated that the issue is likely to figure during deliberations at the event. Officials said China s military manoeuvres in the South China Sea may figure during discussions among navy chiefs of the participating countries at the event. Milan was first held in 1995 with the participation of just five navies. The aim of the initiative was to have an effective forum to discuss common concerns in the Indian Ocean Region and forge deeper cooperation among friendly navies. Milan exercise will be held at Port Blair from March 6 to 13. Asked about the presence of Chinese ships in the Indo-Pacific region an official said The deployment of ships by China s Navy has been since 2008. At any point of time there are 6-8 ships in the region. We monitor them and know what is happening.