THE NEW

Agriculture plays a vital role in India’s economy. Over 58 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. Agriculture, along with fisheries and forestry, is one of the largest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As per estimates by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the share of agriculture and allied sectors (including agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishery) was 15.35 per cent of the Gross Value Added (GVA) during 2015-16 at 2011-12 prices. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and spice products. India's fruit production has grown faster than vegetables, making it the second largest fruit producer in the world. India's horticulture output, comprising fruits, vegetables and spices, is estimated to be 283.4 million tonnes (MT) in 2015-16 after the third advanced estimate. It ranks third in farm and agriculture outputs. Agricultural export constitutes 10 per cent of the country...

Describing South Asia as a global growth hotspot, the World Bank has said India's GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017. "In India, GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7.7 percent in 2017, supported by expectations of a rebound in agriculture, civil service pay reforms supporting consumption, increasingly positive contributions from exports and a recovery of private investment in the medium term," the World Bank said in its latest report on South Asia Economic Focus released yesterday. "However, India faces the challenge of further accelerating the responsiveness of poverty reduction to growth, promoting inclusion, and extending gains to a broader range of human development outcomes related to health, nutrition, education and gender," said the biannual report. According to the report, South Asia remains a global growth hotspot and has proven resilient to external headwinds such as China's sl...

History of Indian currency demonetisation History of India’s Demonetizes Currency The Indian rupee (INR) is the official currency of the Republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular paisa), though as of 2011 only 50 paise coins are tender. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the India. The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management on the basis of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The rupee is named after the silver coin, rupiya, first issued by Sultan Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century and later continued by the Mughal Empire. In 2010, a new symbol ‘, was officially adopted. It was derived from the combination of the Devanagari consonant “र” (ra) and the Latin capital letter “R” without its vertical bar (similar to the R rotunda). The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) are said to make an allusion to the tricolour Indian flag,[6] and also depict an equality sign that symbolizes the...

A Himalayan balancing act     The great Himalayan Divide between India and China was in evidence last week following the  >  Chinese refusal to support India's case  for entry into the  > Nuclear Suppliers Group . While non-entry into the Group is not the end of the world, for India lives to fight another day, of concern is what the Chinese stance implies for the bilateral relationship between the two Asian giants. This is a relationship that has been assiduously tended over the years since the mid-seventies when ambassadorial relations between the two countries were restored at the initiative of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Despite the humiliation suffered in 1962, she famously opined that “we cannot march to Peking” and that normalisation of relations constituted the triumph of maturity over the futility of alienation. Transformation in the 1980s Cut to summertime, the year being 1986. An Indian border patrol on its way to re-establish ...

With the Congress opposing any change in retrospective clause of the Land Act brought in by the UPA in 2013, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the proposed amendments in the Act will now be able to submit its report only in the Winter session of Parliament. While this gives a moral victory to the Congress and other Opposition parties, economists say that the delay is unlikely to have much impact on the overall economic situation. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings, said that while the Bill per se will not have any effect on the economy, which was growing even in the absence of Land Act 2013, it “will certainly help in improving the sentiments for investments in the country”. “If the Land Bill is delayed and status quo maintained, there will be no adverse effect. However, if the Bill is passed it will certainly give an impetus to the overall economy,” he said adding that with the private sector operating at a capacity of 70-80 per cent, there is no urgency in...