2100 HRS
27th  February, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• The Economic Survey calls for widening the tax base and to cut subsidies on petroleum products; Projects growth rate between 6.1 to 6.7 per cent in the next fiscal.

• General Budget for 2013-14 to be presented in Parliament tomorrow.

• A Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe alleged kickbacks in the VVIP helicopter deal.

• Counting of votes for Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura Assemblies to be taken up tomorrow.

• Sensex gains 137 points to close at 19,152.

• India's Somdev Devvarman bows out of the ATP Dubai Championships.

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The Economic Survey says that the economy may clock only five per cent growth this fiscal against the projected target of 7.6 per cent. The economy is projected to grow between 6.1 to 6.7 per cent in the next fiscal. The Survey tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister, Mr. P.Chidambaram makes a strong case for widening of tax base and cutting of subsidies. The Survey says economic downturn is more or less over and economy is looking up.

While cautioning against raising tax rates, the Survey says to augment revenue, the Government should make efforts to cut subsidies particularly on petroleum products and to reduce expenditure. Referring to the price situation, the Survey said that higher food inflation will continue to be an area of concern with inflation gradually inching towards double digit in December, 2012.

The other areas of concern highlighted in the Survey include widening current account deficit, absence of clear signs of revival of economic activities and lack of assured supply of raw material to projects especially in the power sector. The Survey however hoped that measures announced by the Government in the recent months will help in restoring the fiscal health of the Government and check widening current account deficit.

Speaking to reporters after the Survey was tabled in Parliament, the Chief Economic Advisor to the Finance Ministry, Raghuram G. Rajan said India has navigated difficult times in the past and with good policies it will come through stronger. He said in order to meet the challenges of the economy, shifting national spending from consumption to investment, removing the bottlenecks to investment and growth and job creation are some of the important areas to be addressed.

Put it all together, high fiscal deficit, falling investment, falling savings, a high current account deficit and high consumer price inflation all in an environment of very moderate and uncertain world growth as well as Jittery global investment, it all suggest the urgent need for macro economic stabilization.

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Appreciating the assessment made by the government in the Survey that economic slowdown is a wake-up call for stepping up reforms, the industry today said implementation of reforms is important in order to boost investor confidence and achieve economic growth rate of over 6 per cent in 2013-14.

CII President Adi Godrej said that the Survey's stress on fiscal consolidation through broadening the tax base and targeting wasteful and distortional subsidies is welcome.

Assocham said the government needs to adopt a more serious approach towards major issues hindering economic growth. Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said that the growth prospects are affected due to poor show by manufacturing industry and agriculture sector.

PHD Chamber said lower interest rates could act as a catalyst to boost business sentiments inducing investment in various critical sectors of the economy, going forward. FICCI President, N.L.Kidwai said that the areas of job creation and growth need to be focussed in the budget tomorrow.

In the economic survey of job creation and the demographic divident that India has in terms of the additions to the age group of 15 to 39 which is the working age population, needing jobs and it will therefore suggest that, as we look at the budget tomorrow, of this economic survey, they should the focused on growth, on industry, on job creation, all of which would yeild right results.

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The General Budget - 2013-14 will be presented in Parliament tomorrow by the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram. Economic experts point out that the challenge is to balance the necessity of growth and fiscal prudence.

The News Services Division of All India Radio will bring you a special live bilingual pre-budget discussion from 1030 - 1055 hours, followed by live relay of the Budget speech of the Finance Minister. The live discussion will continue after the presentation of Budget and special budget bulletins. There will also be a Radio Bridge Programme from 9.30 to 10.30 p.m. tomorrow. All the programmes on General Budget can be heard on Rajdhani and FM Gold Channels and additional frequencies.

English bulletin at 1400 hours will be extended upto 1430 hours and Hindi bulletin will also be aired for half an hour from 1430 hours to 1500 hours.

In view of the discussions on Budget and Assembly election results, the timings of several language bulletins have been changed.

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The Government today announced the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the alleged kickbacks in the VVIP helicopter deal. JPC will also look into the role of middlemen in the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Agusta Westland. Moving a motion in the Rajya Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the JPC will comprise 10 members from the Upper House and 20 from the Lok Sabha. Mr Nath said the proposed JPC will submit its report within three months. The Motion was adopted by voice vote amidst a walkout by the main opposition BJP and other parties including TDP, CPI, TMC and AIADMK. However, the BSP and SP members did not join them. Before staging the walkout, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley alleged that the proposed JPC would be an exercise in futility in the absence of any FIR into the case.

It is a strange case, there is a bribe giver whose identity is known, who has been arrested. There is a transaction, the details of which are known. The quantum of the bribe is also known. The only curious fact is that the identity of the bribe taker is not known to us.

Earlier, replying to the short duration discussion on the subject, Defence Minister A K Antony mooted the proposal for having a JPC. He asserted that no guilty person will be spared and stringent action will be taken as per Indian laws and integrity pact.

The entire government and also our party, everybody is very serious that we will see that this case ends in logical conclusion. Whosoever is guilty will be punished, nobody will be spared.

Refuting the opposition charge that the government delayed action, the Defence Minister said there was no official confirmation from either the Italian or the U K governments. He said the Italian courts were not willing to share the information saying that the enquiry is still on. The CBI has now instituted a preliminary enquiry against eleven individuals including six Indians and four companies.

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The counting of votes for Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura Assemblies will be taken up tomorrow. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the counting of votes in the three states. There are 60 members in each Assembly.

The News Services Division of All India Radio will bring you special live bilingual discussion on the counting of votes.

In West Bengal counting of votes for Assembly bye-elections in Nalhati, Englishbazar and Rejinagar seats will also be taken up tomorrow. The election in these seats was held last Saturday.

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In Tamil Nadu, three Ministers have been dropped from the Council of Ministers today. A press release from Raj Bhavan said that three new ministers will be inducted into the Cabinet tomorrow. This is the fifth time that ministers have been shuffled in the State Cabinet.

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The West Bengal Government has ordered a high level probe into fire accident in Kolkata. The fire broke out at Surya Sen market early morning.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the fire tragedy has gone upto 20 with one more person succumbing to injuries.

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THE BUSINESS WORLD

Posting its biggest single day gain in a month, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 137 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 19,152, today, after the Economic Survey forecast a promising growth outlook for the next fiscal, and as regional markets climbed. The Nifty gained 36 points, to 5,797. Key stock indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore gained between 0.2 percent and 1 percent. The rupee strengthened 23 paise, to close at 53.86 against the dollar. Gold rose 150 rupees, to 30,330 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. Silver also gained 150 rupees, to 55,600 rupees per kilo. And Brent crude oil futures rose toward 113 dollars a barrel, while US crude gained 20 cents, to 92.83 dollars a barrel. Pradeep Kumar, AIR News

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India is aware of China's plans to build three more hydro-power projects on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet Autonomous Region. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that New Delhi has conveyed to Beijing its concern at the highest level as India is a lower riparian state with considerable established user rights to the waters of the River.

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The first round of talks this year in Almaty between the six major world powers and Iran over Teheran’s controversial nuclear program has come to an end without any clear progress. Iran’s official Press TV reported that it was agreed that experts would meet for technical discussions.

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India's Somdev Devvarman today bowed out of the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships. In Men's Singles pre-quarterfinal match, Somdev lost to fourth seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6.

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A convincing win over Australia in Chennai cricket test has brought India in the reckoning for the Second best test cricket team in the ICC Test Championship on the cut off date of April the first. South Africa has assured itself of the ICC Test Champion Shield and the prize money of four lakh 50 thousand dollars. The team finishing second bags prize money of three lakh 50 thousand dollars while the third team will receive two lakh 50 thousand dollars and the fourth ranked team gets one lakh 50 thousand dollars.

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Australia’s Henrique Moises has been fined 10 percent of the match fees for violating ICC Rules during Chennai cricket test. He was fined for putting on logos of the manufacturer on the chin strap of his helmet which is a violation as per the ICC code of conduct rules. According to a statement released by the ICC, the charge against Henrique Moises was brought to notice by the umpires and has been accepted by the player himself.