'Global funds have turned net sellers of India’s sovereign bonds for the first time in four months, as expectations grow of a wider budget deficit. Foreign investors sold Rs 11,000 crore ($1.5 billion) of government bonds so far in January, set for its first sell-off in four months, according to data from Clearing Corp. of India, compiled by Bloomberg. An increasing number of analysts predict that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will again announce a record borrowing plan at the 1 February budget.
'The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine may have achieved new heights for the Bharatiya Janata Party electorally, but it has presided over an unbelievable level of mediocrity on all other fronts. The Modi government’s monumental HR crisis is beginning to show. From a sagging economy to foot-in-the-mouth ministers to an uninspiring cabinet, the BJP government’s bench-strength is abysmal in most parts, and in the remaining, just about average...
'The bad run for the Indian economy continues with the latest victim being the government's direct tax kitty, where collections have now entered the negative zone for the very first time. Government sources said that direct tax collection in the current fiscal up to 15 January has fallen by 6.1% compared with the corresponding period of previous year. While the development would test the government's ability to manage its finances and contain the deficit, it has the potential to virtually seal the fate of any big tax cut announcement in the coming Union Budget...'
'Days after BJP MLA Arvind Limbavalli tweeted a video of shantytowns in North Bengaluru’s Kariyammana Agrahara area, claiming that the settlements belong to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, the houses were razed to the ground on Sunday and rendered thousands homeless. The electricity and water supply to the location was cut off three days ago. After the demolition of the shanties, the residents, mostly migrants from Assam, Tripura, some even from North Karnataka, were allegedly asked to vacate the land... All the residents have valid identity cards, including Aadhaar, pan and voter ID.
'At least two in every five young Indians are not part of the workforce or have no link with education or any form of training, a UN report has said, putting the country behind Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka on these parameters. The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020 report, released here on Friday, said over 40 per cent of Indians aged between 20 and 34 were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) for the period between 2010 and 2018...'
'An unsuspecting 56-year-old Swedish woman tourist was fined over ₹2.5 lakh after she was found in possession of over ₹50,000 in demonetised currency notes at the Cochin International Airport Limited on Tuesday. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the airport, which had beefed up the security and tightened baggage screening ahead of the Republic Day, detected 49 demonetised notes of ₹1,000 and another five notes of ₹500 in the woman’s luggage. The invalid and now illegal currency was later handed over to the Customs authorities...'
'Poverty and lack of opportunity in their hometowns drove 93 million Indians from disadvantaged castes and tribes in 2011 to migrate to other areas within their states in the hope of securing education or employment. However. they continue to face social segregation, labour market discrimination and barriers to accessing the most basic services, finds an analysis of Census data and research studies by India Migration Now, a Mumbai-based non-profit.
'The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a criminal case against Adani Enterprises Ltd for colluding with officials of the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) to unfairly win a contract for supplying coal to an Andhra Pradesh government-owned company. The agency named former NCCF chairman Virender Singh, its then managing director G.P. Gupta and former senior adviser S.C. Singhal in the first information report (FIR). Adani Enterprises and the NCCF officials were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act...'
'NCRB data show fake notes of Rs 2,000 entered the market days after PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement. Today they are the biggest contributors to the value of seized counterfeit currency in India... While Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 banknotes were banned overnight, the government introduced new banknotes with denominations of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. It said these banknotes have additional security features which would make them difficult to be copied by counterfeiters, hence check the menace of fake currency...
'For the past five months, Trupti Kamle has been torn between two difficult choices: either saving money for her son’s education or ensuring that he is fed well. The reason for her dilemma is something that has been plaguing households across India in recent months – unprecedented food inflation. A domestic worker from suburban Mumbai, Kamle has always kept aside half of her income – currently Rs 12,000 a month – as savings for her six-year-old son.
