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Economic Survey 2023-24 does present a rosy picture of India’s growth story and recognizes the short-term prospect as good, but does not fail to flag several areas of concern that require clear forward-look vision for better prospect in the long term.

The Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi, formerly the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, sets itself apart from other declining political parties. Led by the ambitious K. Chandrasekhar Rao, or KCR, the party's national expansion has been marked by setbacks, including its failure to retain power in Telangana. This fate is shared by many political parties and their leaders, as most eventually fade away after holding power at a state or national level.

The battle for dominance between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya, believed to be the protégé of the Modi-Shah duo, is only the prelude; the ‘big fight’ is between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the ‘Hindu Hridaya Samrat’ crown, though post Lok Sabha elections it will be intellectual dishonesty to think of Modi as a Hindutva icon. To a vast section of Hindus, Modi turned out to be a rolling stone who gathered no Hindutva moss.

The CEO of OLA, Bhavnish Aggarwal has endorsed a 70-hour work week call given by the Infosys founder Narayana Murthy some time back. He argues against the concept of work life balance saying that enjoyment of work naturally fosters happiness. Both of them are of the opinion that the 70-hour work week is important to build India as the largest economy and number one country in the world. This is not astonishing because primary motive of capitalism is profit. So they come out with several logics to prove their point including talking of pride in service to the nation. But hardly do they care about the basic needs of the workmen and their own responsibilities.

Come July 23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the first-year budget of Prime Minister Modi’s third term. Finding herself at a pivotal juncture, she is tasked with crafting a budget that appeases coalition partners, addresses public discontent, and sustains economic growth, and her role assumes unprecedented complexity as she navigates the tightrope between political expediency and fiscal prudence.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to pay a record dividend of Rs 2.11 lakh crore to the Union government for 2023–24. Last year it paid Rs 87,416 crore.

Suddenly Rahul Gandhi is the flavour of season. If you look at the hard data, the BJP lost only 1.2% of the popular vote share, and the Congress gained 1.49 %. It is not as if whopping numbers swayed from one side to the other. The BJP still has 240 seats despite being in power for ten years with majority, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-poll alliance of the NDA has moved into his third term in office.

India’s workforce greatly suffered in 2023-24 due to Centre’s neglect, as it is reflected in the recently released annual report data of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. Under the Social Security Schemes and Projects for Workers, Union Budget has provided Rs 12434.82 crore, which was decreased to Rs 11714.99 crore in the revised estimate, but actual expenditure was only Rs 8333.34 crore upto December 31, 2023. This data does not support PM Modi’s claim of employment generation referring the RBI data which showed 46.6 per cent increase from 596.7 million to 643.3 million. Had it been true, the expenditure on social security and welfare schemes for workers must have registered a significant increase rather than a sharp reduction from the allocated budgetary provision.

Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia on July 8 and 9, the first since Ukraine war, carries major significance. India’s shifting of oil dependence from OPEC to Russia opens a new chapter of economic relation between the two nations, after it was subdued with the breakdown of Soviet Union in 1991. Apart from defence and political security, India-Russia partnership extended to oil energy cooperation – a signal for revival of economic cooperation between the two countries.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It would have been a strong contender for the best joke of the year award but for the sheer hypocrisy and shamelessness that animated the claims. The reference is to the brazen Congress attempt to claim credit for the Vizhinjam international transshipment port project. The party, which opposed Kerala’s dream project at every level, has now come up with the astounding claim that the project should be named after former chief minister of Kerala, the late Oommen Chandy!