PM Modi has to break his silence Now
The BJP led by Modi used rising petrol prices as their most powerful weapon to attack the UPA government in the run up to 2014 elections. They added generous amounts of fuel to this petrol fire and spoke at rallies at lengths. Today, those speeches are coming back to bite him.
They are more than enough to set the agenda to question Modi on his misrule. It seems like the Modi of those days is questioning the Modi of these days. Many people, thinkers and writers had said Modi during his initial days as PM, oozed ‘positive energy’ when he addressed the nation for the first time from Lal Quila or Red Fort.
People waited for their Acche din with great enthusiasm. But as days rolled by, disillusionment set in, owing to rising prices of fuel. People had to be content with Modi’s theatrical performance of speeches. Now people began to understand positive energy cannot run their vehicles and that we cannot cook even a grain of rice in our kitchens with this. And yet, the bhakts of Modi are eternal optimists. “He may have made all these harsh decisions with some logic. Why can’t we wait a bit more?” this seems to be the basis of faith many middle class bhakts are nourishing.
Many Modi supporters are unable to digest the fact that their choice of a leader was an inappropriate one, in view of the collapsing economy, and rupee biting the dust against the dollar day in and out. Their enthusiasm has been proved damaging and this is hurting them more than ever in just four years’ time.
They now know good speeches are not about best administrative decisions. Yet there are some who’d claim they’ll vote for Modi even if the petrol price touches Rs 100 per litre. Their intention is to make a person bigger than the country.
We have reached 2018. But when we look back at 2013, we do feel we were cheated. There are hardly any economists in Modi administration. Instead of them, we are given Baba Ramdev, Ravishankar guruji and the likes who speak for him.
Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art of Living had said if Modi becomes PM, the value of rupee will become Rs 40 per dollar. Ramdev had told his young disciples that they’d get fuel for Rs 35 per litre. The same people are paying Rs 86 to buy a litre of fuel.
Now everyone in central government is running away from commenting on the rupee value that’s continuing to collapse against the dollar. Hence they are choosing many unimportant issues to comment on. People have stopped commenting on these issues as well since they fear the reaction of the government for such criticism.
With GDP touching 8.2% of increase in the current fiscal year, the government had entered into a celebratory mood. At the same time, there was a decrease of one percent in job creation. Between 2017-18 July, there was a reduction of 1.4 per cent in the number of people with employment. There has been 1.2% collapse between July 2017 and August 2018 in the employment rate, which would continue into the next quarter as well as warned by Mahesh Vyas of Indian Economy Pvt Ltd (CMIE) sometime ago.
The jobs had begun to erode from the demonetization phase itself in November 2017. Lakhs of people who had lost jobs had moved away from skilled work sector and have entered into unorganized work sector. The jobs don’t exist anymore.
Most of them have now found alternate ways of earning a livelihood with lathi wielding gau raksha and moral policing jobs. The government is attempting to shut mouth of those who are questioning, with promises of Sardar Patel statue or Shivaji Park or Ramayana Museum.
The state is also trying to shut their mouths by providing concocted logic on economy that makes no sense. Sometime ago, a central minister said rupee is fine, but the problem lies with the dollar is. Another central minister Jayant Sinha said the plane fares are lesser than that of autos.
Niti Ayog Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the government may demonetize once again if need to be. One cannot even imagine what could happen to the people of this country who have suffered through one demonetization alone.
Congress has called for Bharat Bandh. There is already another Bandh that’s in force thanks to Mr Modi. It has become inevitable for people to put up with this Bandh imposed by the government since they do not have jobs. The PM needs to speak now. His silence is continuing to inflict more damage on people.
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Sensex rises nearly 295 pts to close at 2025-high on foreign fund inflows, drop in crude prices
Mumbai, May 5 (PTI): Benchmark BSE Sensex climbed nearly 295 points to close at an over four-month high on Monday following sustained foreign fund inflows and a sharp correction in global crude oil prices.
Rising for the second in a row, the 30-share BSE barometer gained 294.85 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 80,796.84, marking its highest close in 2025 so far. During the day, it jumped 547.04 points or 0.67 per cent to 81,049.03.
The NSE Nifty rose 114.45 points or 0.47 per cent to 24,461.15, its highest closing level in 2025.
Among Sensex firms, Adani Ports jumped 6.29 per cent amid reports that Gautam Adani's representatives met with US administration officials to seek the dismissal of criminal charges in a bribery probe. All other listed Adani group stocks, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Power and Adani Green Energy, ended with sharp gains.
Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, Power Grid, ITC, Tata Motors, Asian Paints and Hindustan Unilever were also among Sensex gainers.
Among the laggards, Kotak Mahindra Bank tanked 4.57 per cent after the firm reported a 7.57 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,933 crore for the March quarter of FY25, primarily due to elevated stress in the microlending book.
State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the other losers.
State Bank of India dipped over 1 per cent after it reported an 8.34 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 19,600 crore for the January-March quarter compared to Rs 21,384 crore a year ago, impacted by a decline in net interest margins.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,769.81 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
Foreign investors injected Rs 4,223 crore into the country's equity market in April, as they turned net buyers for the first time in three months amid a blend of favourable global cues and robust domestic fundamentals.
The inflow of foreign capital came last month following a back-to-back net outflow of Rs 3,973 crore in March, Rs 34,574 crore in February, and Rs 78,027 crore in January.
"The market has sustained its positive momentum, though the level of optimism has decreased. Continued foreign inflows and record GST collections in April indicate resilience in economic activity, fostering mild hopefulness. A weak dollar and a decline in oil prices have further bolstered FII sentiment.
"However, the market's momentum is moderating, with action shifting from broad-based movements to stock and sector-specific trends based on results," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.45 per cent and smallcap index climbed 1.23 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, services jumped the most 2.99 per cent, followed by oil & gas (1.95 per cent), auto (1.88 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.58 per cent), utilities (1.50 per cent) and energy (1.49 per cent).
Bankex emerged as the only loser.
As many as 2,563 stocks advanced while 1,459 declined and 180 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Markets in South Korea, Japan, China and Hong Kong were closed due to holidays.
European markets were trading on a mixed note.
US markets ended significantly higher on Friday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 1.45 per cent to USD 60.40 a barrel.
The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge settled 259.75 points, or 0.32 per cent, higher at 80,501.99 on Friday. The Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 12.50 points, or 0.05 per cent, to settle at 24,346.70.
