Pollution control body declares public health emergency in Delhi-NCR, bans construction till Nov 5

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. 

Rajghat, Feb 23: The maternal uncle of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was recently arrested for allegedly making inflammatory statements during anti-CAA protests, was shot dead in front of his house at Bankatichak in Rajghat area, police said on Sunday.

Dr Nusratullah Warsi aka Dada (55), a property dealer, was shot dead on Saturday night at about 10:45 pm and an FIR against two people was filed in this connection on a written complaint of his family members.

According to police, it appears to be a case of murder due to monetary and property dispute and they are searching for both the accused.

Dr Kafeel Khan, suspended doctor of Gorakhpur BRD Medical College, was last month arrested under charges of giving a provocative speech during a protest against the CAA and NRC at Aligarh Muslim University and was later charged with the National Security Act.

Warsi on Saturday evening had gone to his lawyer Siraj Tariq's house, a few metres away from his own house, and was returning home on foot when a man shot him in his head, killing him on the spot.

"On the written complaint of family members, case of murder against one Imammuddin and Anil Sonkar has been registered and police has initiated probe and is searching for both the accused. Police met the women in their house and is interrogating them," Circle Officer VP Singh said.

Prima facie it appears to be a case of property and money dispute, he said, adding, three teams have been constituted to investigate the case and soon the accused will be caught.

Dr Kafeel Khan had last month raised apprehension in a Mumbai court about being killed in an "encounter" by the Uttar Pradesh police after claiming that he had been "falsely" implicated in the case by them.

The paediatrician had come to the limelight in 2017 when a controversy broke out after the death of over 60 children in less than a week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he was posted.

Mumbai, Feb 3: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whose party severed ties with the BJP after the state elections, on Monday said that if somebody breaks a promise, "pain and anger is obvious".

"No, I did not get any shock," Thackeray said in an interview with Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana while talking about forming an alliance with NCP and Congress, and becoming the Maharashtra Chief Minister.

"I am a son of Shiv Sena Pramukh (Balasaheb Thackeray), several people tried to give a shock to me but they didn't succeed. This is a field where you have to accept in the beginning that there will be a bit pushing and pulling," Thackeray said.

He added that accepting the Chief Minister's post was not a shock for him and neither was it his "dream at any point of time".

"But I can say one thing for sure that I had decided to go to any level to fulfil the promise which I made to Balasaheb Thackeray. I want to further clear it that me becoming Chief Minister is not the fulfilling of the promise made to Shiv Sena Pramukh but it's just a step towards that. I will fulfil every promise which I made to my father," Uddhav Thackeray said.

"There are several types of shock. Did people like it or not, it is the important part. I have spoken on this issue (alliance with NCP and Congress) several times and even people have understood this. Making promises and keeping them are two different things. If someone breaks a promise, pain and anger is obvious," he added.

The Chief Minister said that he does not know if BJP "has come out their shock till now or not."

"But I have to say if they had kept their promise what would have happened, what a big deal had I asked for? Did I ask for stars and moon? I only asked for what was decided before Lok Sabha polls, when we decided seat distribution," he said.

He further said, "Maharashtra and the country are watching (who betrayed/shocked whom), I don't need to say much on this."

Soon after the Assembly election results, Shiv Sena demanded rotation of the chief minister's post and equal power-sharing in the state government, which was rejected by then ally BJP. The weeks of political stalemate led to the imposition of President's rule on November 13.

Firm on its demands, Sena, the second-largest party in the state, did not hesitate to cobble up with the ideological opponents -- NCP and Congress -- and was given the chief minister's post.