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  According to a press release from the Commerce Ministry,  the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 3.8% in December 2023 compared to the previous year .  The release also stated that the production of coal, natural gas, steel, fertilizers, refinery products, cement, and electricity increased in December 2023 However, the growth of India's eight core sectors slowed to 3.8% in December 2023, which is a 14-month low. This is a significant decline from the 8.3% recorded in the same period the previous year The eight core industries in India make up  40.27%  of the weight of items in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  The IIP is a measure of the growth of various sectors of an economy, such as mineral mining, power, and ma nufacturing The eight core industries in decreasing order of their weightage are: Refinery products Electricity Steel Coal Crude oil Natural gas Cement Fertilizers               ...

  "தருமத்தின் வாழ்வதனை சூது கவ்வும்;தருமம் மறுபடியும் வெல்லும்" என்ற பாரதியின் வாக்கு பலித்தது - நேரடியான எடுத்துக்காட்டு அயோத்தி இராமர் கோவில். This Ram temple has become a reality in India after 500 years and still those who are opposing it must remember that it has not been built in Mecca or Medina ,but in Ram's Janmasthan/birthplace in Ayodhya in India i.e Bharat!! It is incumbent upon media and Journalists to write reinforcing PM's words on Goodness ,Harmony and Dharm represented by Ram.Ram, according to Valmiki, lived as an ideal man which needs to be emulated by all human beings.Truth,Valour, sacrifice, patience, perseverance , endurance,persistence, forgiving others,being grateful are all eternal ideas and Ram is the personification of these values in life.His friendship with Tribal king Guha and his acceptance of forlorn Sabari are symbols of love, inclusivity and humility. We should Write how Ram's value systems are relevant to India as a modern civilisa...

 India's Fiscal deficit budgeted for FY 23-24 was 5.9% of GDP which is an important metric for measuring the efficiency of the Government of India in comprehensively managing its finances including its Revenue Collection and its Spending efficiency in terms of Capex as well as Revenue expenditures. As per FRBM Act GOI has taken up an obligation to reduce the fiscal deficit over the years and bring it down to 4.5% in Fy26.In this context, we need to understand that in FY 25 it has necessarily reduce it to 5.3% or less than that and in the forllowing FY26 it has compress the Fiscal deficit to 4.5% inorder to achieve as committed. Why this FD reduction is important 1)Fiscal deficit means that the Government is living beyond its means i.e it is borrowing out of its future revenue streams. More the FD, the Govt may be forced to borrow if its Revenue collections languish or expenditure runs out of control.We have seen two Covid years where GOI faced double whammies in both the years when...

  The RBI is the custodian of the country's foreign exchange reserves and manages exchange control.  The RBI Act stipulates that the Central Government orders the rate at which the RBI shall buy or sell forex to banks. The IMF's Article IV review considers a country's current and medium-term outlook and policies.  The IMF's report said that the movement suggested "intervention likely exceeded levels necessary to address disorderly market conditions". In December 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reclassified India's exchange rate regime from "floating" to "stabilized arrangement" for the period between December 2022 and October 2023 .     The IMF's reclassification was based on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) likely interventions.  The IMF disagreed with India's perspective, emphasizing the need for a flexible exchange rate.  The IMF also called the RBI's currency intervention excessive, while the RBI opposed...

  India's goods trade deficit shrank to USD 20.58 billion in November 2023 from USD 22.1 billion in the same month the previous year, less than the USD 23.6 billion difference that the market had predicted.This number is significantly less than Oct 23 Trade deficit of US$31.46 billion which was the highest in the last ten quarters   Exports decreased by 2.9% to USD 33.9 billion as a result of a number of circumstances, including the geopolitical environment, dangers including rising inflation, the recession in developed economies, the conflict between China and the US and Russia and Ukraine, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, as imports of gold, oil, and electronics decreased, imports fell 4.4% to USD 54.5 billion. Additionally, from April to November of this fiscal year, imports fell by 8.7% to USD 445.2 billion while exports decreased by 6.5% to USD 278.8 billion.The following figure shows the trend of India's Exports and Imports for the past 5 yea...

  India's CPI Inflation has been steadily declining after RBI raised the policy Repo rates by 250 bps over a period of about 18 months.CPI for Nov 23 has come in at 5.55% as against the RBI's upper band limit of 6%. CPI in Oct 23 was lower at 4.87%. 1. Food prices: According to the official press release from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the rise in food prices was the main driver of the overall inflation increase. Specifically, vegetables, fruits, and pulses saw notable price increases. 2. Global factors: The ongoing war in Ukraine and global supply chain disruptions continue to put upward pressure on prices for various commodities, including food and energy. This can indirectly affect India's inflation even if domestic oil prices remain unchanged. 3. Base effects: The November 2022 CPI figure was relatively low at 4.9%. This means that the year-on-year comparison for November 2023 naturally appears higher due to the lower base from the previous...

 RBI Governor Shri.Shaktikantadas emphatically enunciated RBI's policy for containing inflation in the month of Nov22 by calling its focus as "Arjun's eye"! In Mahabharata Arjun is eulogised for his single minded focus on hitting the targets with unwavering skill. RBI has succeeded in its mission in the last one year largely, by reducing the CPI inflation keeping it within the band of 2% to 6% for the last few months with occasional jump beyond the upper band of 6% induced by food inflation. In the recent policy press meet RBI Governor went one step ahead and mentioned that he has Arjun's quiver with all its arrows and weapons to tackle the inflation if it rears its head. He specifically mentioned that OMO being one such weapon is still in Arjun's quiver. He hastened to add at the end of the press conference that the Arjun's analogy is only meant to say that all kinds of weapons to kill the inflation are at his command and not to equate himself with the la...