State of Economy-VI: Booster investment dosage needed to fire-up slacking consumption

MUMBAI: A booster dose of government and private sector spending along with cheaper rates of finance are required to kick-start India’s consumption driven demand, industry observers opined. To put it simply, the overall economic growth is expected to decline on the back of slacking consumption due to farm distress, global headwinds and stagnant wages. These have cumulatively hampered sales, thereby restricting production and as a result stalled job creation. Furthermore, the slowdown has become evident in sectors such as automobile, FMCG and aviation. “Consumption in India has slowed due to several factors, including low…

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China Trade Drama Makes This A Good Time To Invest

Now that President Trump’s China trade drama has caused another dip, readers are asking if this is a good time to invest? The best time to buy stocks is when they are down for reasons that have little to do with the company, and this is one of those times. But don’t plunge into the market and don’t wait for a more perfect time to invest. Make small investments that you won’t need to disturb for at least 5 years. Last year the U.S. economy produced a little over $20 trillion of…

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The Election Fix: Have BJP’s attempts to solve India’s education problems done more harm than good?

Welcome to The Election Fix. On Sundays, we take a closer look at one theme that will play a significant role in India’s Lok Sabha elections. In the past, we’ve looked at things like agriculture and the discrimination faced by Muslims in politics. This week, Shreya Roy Chowdhury takes a look at education, from how the big promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party have turned into piecemeal efforts to the major challenges facing India’s policymakers in the future. We are running a reader survey about the Election Fix and what you would like to see from our…

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Why You Should Never Forget to Submit Your Investment Declaration Form

The first month of the new financial year is soon coming to an end, and all salaried employees would be eagerly waiting for their monthly payout. But if you did not submit your investment declaration form, your monthly salary slip can throw you off. If you missed your investment declaration deadline, your employer would have over-calculated your tax liability and deduct the excess tax due from your salary for the following month. There is no reason to panic since you have time till 31 March 2020 to make the necessary…

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Cosmetic clinics to assess mental health before offering Botox

The JCCP has acted after claims that the industry was doing too little to help those with major body image problems. Photograph: Allexxandar/Alamy Cosmetic clinics will begin assessing patients’ suitability for Botox in an attempt to spot those whose desire to alter their appearance is due to mental health problems. The Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), a trade body, has decided that member clinics will introduce new practices designed to protect the psychologically vulnerable. It has acted after the NHS’s top doctor claimed that the cosmetic industry was doing too little to…

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Mental health patients detained in hospital wards for up to 21 years

 Library image. One patient at Birmingham and Solihull mental health NHS foundation trust spent 7,914 days – more than 21 years – in one of the wards. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian A patient locked in a secure ward for more than 21 years is among hundreds of people with mental health problems being kept in what one MP has called “old-style asylums” in NHS hospitals, an investigation can reveal. Keeping people in so-called “locked rehabilitation wards” has been condemned as “outdated and sometimes institutionalised care”, by the NHS watchdog, with many patients…

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