New Delhi, Aug 9: Lok Sabha proceedings were today adjourned briefly following protests by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) members.
TRS members were demanding allocation of defence land in the state for certain projects, similar to that given in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
During the Question Hour, the members walked into the Well shouting slogans.
Amid the din, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House for five minutes.
After the House resumed, TRS members had gone back to their seats.
New Delhi, Jul 16: With India's economic growth sputtering, the Reserve Bank of India was expected to maintain a rate-cutting cycle, but an uptick in near-term inflation could give the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee reason to pause for now.
Having cut its key lending rate by an aggressive 115 basis points (bps) in 2020, on top of 135 bps cuts in 2019, the RBI so far has had little success in spurring credit growth amid varying degrees of lockdowns across India.
Some economists and market insiders argue it may be prudent for the MPC, the policy committee, to hold its fire when it meets early next month.
"It's probably too early to administer a demand stimulus. The RBI still has room to cut rates, but we probably want to be more cautious of the timing," said Venkat Pasupuleti, portfolio manager at Dalton Investments.
"Maybe they should wait a quarter to see how things pan out once the lockdown situation is eased further."
Market participants have factored in at least a 25 bps rate cut by the MPC on August 6 while analysts are predicting a total 50-75 bps cuts over the rest of the fiscal year that runs to March 31.
The spike in the retail inflation rate above the RBI's mandated 2%-4% target range is another reason for the central bank to take a breather, analysts say.
Annual retail inflation rose to 6.09% in June, compared to 5.84% in March and sharply above a 5.30% median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
Rahul Bajoria, an economist at Barclays, said the spike in both consumer and wholesale prices "could lead to a tempering in enthusiasm for material front-loaded policy support from here on."
Almost all economists however agreed the RBI cannot move away from its accommodative stance or call an end to the rate cutting cycle just yet.
India's economy grew at 3.1% in the March quarter - an eight year low - and some economists have predicted a contraction of more than 20% in the June quarter and a contraction of up to 5% in the fiscal year.
"Even in the event of a pause, we think the RBI and MPC would want to hold out the promise of more cuts," said A. Prasanna, economist with ICICI Securities.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said in a recent speech the need of the hour is to restore confidence, preserve financial stability, revive growth and recover stronger, suggesting inflation concerns are unlikely to deter the downward trajectory for rates too soon.
"The August policy decision would boil down to a judgment call over whether RBI can maintain easy monetary and financial conditions without the aid of a token rate cut," Prasanna said.
New Delhi, Aug 8: Former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Saturday said that it is unfair and unfortunate to blame the pilots or the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the Kerala place crash which took place on Friday evening.
"It is very unfortunate and unfair when experts come under television channel and they try to put blame on the Airports Authority of India or the pilots. Airport authority in an institution which has had survived various tests of time for the last 65 to 70 years, or pre-independence, so it is unfair to blame them," he said.
While speaking to news agency, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the 737 Boeing aircraft is reliable and the pilots were experienced, and it was wrong to blame them.
He further said that there are many possibilities on what could have happened, and said, "It is an accident and we need to find the facts."
Rajiv Pratap Rudy also expressed his deepest condolences to the family members of those who lost their lives in the plane crash. "This accident is terrible and heart-rending.
I offer my deepest condolences to the family members of the captain and first officer, and the families of passengers who died and were injured," he said.
At least 18 people died when a plane carrying 190 passengers came from Dubai met with an accident at Karipur airport in Kozhikode on Friday evening, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
"Eighteen people, including two pilots, have lost their lives. It is unfortunate. 127 people are at hospitals, others have been released," said Puri on the Air India Express flight that crash-landed on Friday evening.
Air India Express Dubai-Kozhikode IX-1344 flight, carrying 190 people on board from Dubai under the Vande Bharat Mission, skidded off the runway at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode at 7.41 pm on Friday in which several people sustained injuries.
Kolkata, May 11: Murshidabad district, one of the biggest contributors to the army of migrant workers from West Bengal, received news of unnatural deaths of three of these people since Saturday. While two died in Kerala, one was found dead in a rented house in Odisha.
Residents of Baliaghati village in Murshidabad’s Suti police station area said Safikul Sheikh (31) was killed in a road accident in Kerala. Sheikh’s associates called up his family on Sunday morning and said he had gone to a local market, violating lockdown orders, when the accident took place. Sheikh wanted to return home before Eid but got stranded.
Mohammad Hafijul, one of Sheikh’s relatives, said, “A few days ago a special train from Kerala carried migrant workers to Murshidabad but Safikul did not have the money to buy a ticket. We do not know how his body will be brought back.”
In another incident, a 24-year-old resident of Domkal allegedly hanged himself in Kerala on Saturday. He used to work in a brick kiln. His mother said, “My son was depressed as he could not buy a ticket to board the special train that came to Murshidabad. We have appealed to the local administration to bring back his body.”
In the third incident, Bakul Sheikh (24) died under mysterious circumstances at Sonepur in Odisha where he went five months ago to work as a mason. Sheikh hails from Kohetpur village in Shamserganj. His relatives told the local police that his associates called up and said he was found dead inside the toilet of the house where he was living with other migrant workers.
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