oppn parties The Economy: Recovering Fast

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
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The Economy: Recovering Fast

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-11-02 07:17:12

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The green shoots visible in the Indian economy for the last few months have now taken stronger roots backed by the festival season. Almost all indicators have shown a rise as demand picks up and people start to travel. First off, the GST collections in October were an impressive Rs 1.3 lakh crore, the second highest ever. This showed that the demand in the festive season was returning back to normal. Additionally, this was the fourth straight month when GST collections crossed the 1 lakh crore mark.

Then, manufacturing activity grew fastest in 8 months in October. The Purchase Manager's Index (PMI) was 55.9, which means it was in the expansion mode, again the fourth straight month when this happened. The PMI was 53.7 in September and the significant rise in October points to two things - one that old stocks were liquidated in the festive season and firms started input purchase in anticipation of further rise in demand in the coming months.

Exports also rose to $35.5bn, up 43.2% from the $24.9bn posted in October 2020 and more significantly, up 35.2% from the $26.23bn posted in the pre-Covid month of October 2019. The rise in exports was fuelled by the excellent performance of the petroleum products, engineering goods, gems and jewellery and organic and inorganic sectors. Imports also increased by to $55.4bn, up 62.5% from the figure posted in October 2020.

Demand for petrol and diesel is also increasing as more people are traveling. On Sunday, India recorded the highest number of flyers since March 2020. In October, diesel sales topped the pre-Covid level for the first time in one year. Petrol sales were up by 8% from 2019 and 4% from 2020. Jet fuel consumption also showed an increase but was yet to touch the pre-Covid levels. Although the fuel figures are misleading as prices have increased enormously and the rise is not by volume.

All this along with a galloping stock market and enormous funds being poured by venture capitalists in startups have created a positive atmosphere for business in India. The economy is looking up after the depression and gloom of the last 18 months. The extended lockdowns forced by the pandemic have given way to resumption of economic activity with a vengeance as more people are getting vaccinated and the fears of the third wave have receded. The only discordant note that is being struck is that bank credit off-take for industry is not growing as it should. In fact, latest figures show that for the first time, personal loans have beaten the overall credit provided by banks to industry. This has negative implication for wealth creation. 

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