Kolkata, Jan 14: Former chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu on Monday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could "slightly" reduce interest rate to boost growth.

"NPAs have made the banks cautious. But, India can do with slightly lower rate of interest," Basu said at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

The central bank should be left alone with complete autonomy, he added.

The RBI's monetary policy review is slated in February.

Basu also said that the investment rate in India was on the decline.

Talking about the GST, he said it was borrowed from advanced countries and "poorly implemented", and demonetisation was a "bad idea".

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Cairo: At least 64 people, including at least 13 children, were killed in a strike on a hospital in the western Darfur region of Sudan on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.

News agencies have reported that the strike on Al Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur on Friday not only injured at least 89 people but also rendered the hospital non-functional, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said in a post on X.

Sudan has been in a state of chaos since April 2023, when a power struggle between the military and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) developed into war across the country.

The RSF has blamed the military for the strike on the hospital.

The army, however, has denied the attack, but two military officials have said that the strike targeted a nearby police station. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to discuss the matter openly.

The war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

The WHO has said that over 2,000 people have been killed in attacks on medical facilities since the start of the war.

“Enough blood has been spilled. Enough suffering has been inflicted. The time has come to de-escalate the conflict in Sudan,” said Ghebreyesus.