The government’s reforms agenda is on track and the economy is on its way to transition to 6.5 per cent growth and 6 per cent inflation levels, says a Morgan Stanley report. According to the global financial services firm, the recent steps taken by the government provide further confidence that not only is the reforms agenda on track but the pace is accelerating too.

The June quarter earnings of the top blue-chip companies attest to the growing macroeconomic pains. A combination of slowing economic growth, steady inflation pressures and elevated interest rates is weighing on the financial performance of top Indian companies. Not surprisingly, the year on year (y-o-y) revenue growth of the Nifty companies excluding financials and oil & gas in the quarter ending June was the slowest in 16 quarters.

Diplomatic channels activated to keep India eligible for soft loans from World Bank affiliate, though rules show it's probably time we made way for the needier others The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has pulled out all stops to retain India's eligibility for loans from the World Bank's concessional lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA). This is because the country is otherwise quickly running out of the eligibility criteria for getting such loans. IDA funds are highly concessional or interest-free loans and grants.

Despite frantic measures by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prop up the rupee, it continues to fall. In the last three years, RBI's hawkish stance has not managed to cool inflation, but squeezed growth. The RBI has tightened liquidity to contain the speculative shorting of the rupee. It has also kept rates high to make India more attractive for foreign investors. These moves have become counterproductive. Tight money and high interest rates have scared away foreign equity and debt investors.

The coal ministry has proposed a revenue share model under production-linked payment as the methodology for conducting auctioning of coal blocks for allocation to private companies. The ministry has floated a cabinet note detailing this, to form the basis of allocation of 2.7 billion tonnes of reserves in 22 blocks next month. The ministry has preferred production-linked payment over an upfront lump sum payment by the companies.

Big-ticket investment projects worth Rs 1.1 lakh crore, stuck for years for want of myriad government clearances, have finally got the green signal to start operations. The Centre has unravelled last-mile hurdles holding up 28 such projects at a time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has identified the government's primary task as reinvigorating confidence in the Indian economy, with domestic players having virtually abandoned fresh investments.

Even as the government is giving incentives to exporters on non-conventional markets to offset the impact of the slump in the US and EU, major export houses have urged the finance ministry and RBI to ask banks to help them bag lucrative project export contracts in Iraq and Jordan. The Department of Financial Services in the finance ministry as well as the RBI are looking into a representation sent by the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC India) saying bidding for many project export contracts in Iraq were refused performance bond guarantees by many public sector banks.

Federal authorities have opened a bribery investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help the bank win lucrative business in the booming nation, according to a confidential United States government document. In one instance, the bank hired the son of a former Chinese banking regulator who is now the chairman of the China Everbright Group, a state-controlled financial conglomerate, according to the document, which was reviewed by The New York Times, as well as public records.

THIS summer a made-for-TV movie about a tornado carrying man-eating sharks was a surprise hit in America. The preposterous plot of “Sharknado” may strike a chord with media bosses who have watched the internet ravage their business over the past decade. Newspapers have lost readers and advertising to the internet. Book and music shops have closed for good. Sales of DVDs and CDs have plummeted. The television industry has so far resisted big disruption but that has not stopped doomsayers predicting a flight of advertising and viewers.

Sales of petrol cars have overtaken their diesel variants after a gap of about 25 months spurred by a steady rise in the price of diesel, which has shifted consumers' interest from costlier diesel variants to cheaper petrol cars. Car makers are again changing production patterns with a bias for petrol variants, as there has been a spurt in its demand recently, industry executives said. Only 42% customers bought diesel cars in the first quarter of this fiscal year compared to around 54% in the corresponding period previous year.

A lot of Americans are still spending their money only on socks and other essentials, highlighting the disparity between younger and poorer consumers and those who are benefiting from the economic recovery. Major retailers, like Wal-Mart and Kohl's, that cater to budget-conscious customers with lower incomes cited sluggish sales last week as they decreased their annual forecasts. Macy's, with a slightly higher-income clientele, did not meet analysts' expectations for the first time in 25 quarters.

India can convert a crisis into an opportunity. Our current account deficit has swollen, but we can find structural solutions to reduce the gap. I have two initiatives to suggest. Exports have to focus on manufactured goods. India missed the bus on garment exports initially, by letting China, Bangladesh and Vietnam capture most of a $50-billion shift from high-cost to low-cost countries after the quota dismantling in 2005. Now, India's share of exports has gone up from 3% to 3.2% only, while that of China has jumped from 28% to 37%.

Is government going to take more measures to stabilise rupee that breached 62 to the dollar last Friday? Our assessment is we have taken adequate steps which will play out in the coming days. Rupee volatility spills over on the real economy since investors tend to wait and watch if there is too much volatility. We have said we will ensure a stable policy environment for the rupee and the measures that we have taken will play out in the coming weeks. I do not think at present it is necessary to take any further measures. Are you perturbed by the way markets reacted last Friday? Those who understand what we have done have shown faith and are not reacting. FII outflow on Friday was less than $100 million.

Earlier this summer, as I watched the Pope attract millions as he toured Brazil, I noticed how rare the scene was. Here was a man in control of an embattled institution, and he had somehow rallied his troops. By going back to the basics of Catholic belief — embracing humility, supporting the downtrodden, asking for sacrifice — as well as pushing the envelope (with his more progressive stance on homosexuality, for example), Pope Francis had begun to rehabilitate the church. It was viable leadership.

Iran's new president says his countrymen elected him to bring about a change in foreign policy and shift away from the bombastic style pursued under his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Hasan Rouhani said his government will change tactics rather than principles in order to reach out to the world and interact with, rather than confront, major powers. Rouhani made the comments during the inauguration of Iran's new Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, a U.S.-educated veteran diplomat with a doctorate in international law and policy from the University of Denver.

With the rupee continuing with its free fall against the dollar, steel companies are redrawing their export strategies to make the most of windfall gains coming their way. In this new found thrust on exports, Indian steel makers are increasingly looking at markets in the Middle East & North Africa, South Asia and even Europe to beat low demand at home. The fall in rupee will make imports costlier, thereby curbing the volume in next few months. This has brought some cheer to steel companies which are going through one of their most depressing phases.

Barring another financial crisis or slide back into recession, the next head of the US Federal Reserve is likely to oversee a gradual normalisation of monetary policy. But that pace, including the first interest rate hike, might be somewhat quicker under former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers than under current Fed Vice-Chair Janet Yellen, the two top contenders for the job, if their own comments are any guide.

In an effort to send a positive signal to the market, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) may take up foreign direct investment proposals in pharmaceuticals, including US-based Mylan’s takeover of Agila Specialties, as early as this week. The Mylan proposal alone can bring in $1.6 billion. Also, instead of announcing new measures to stabilise the rupee and contain the current account deficit, the Finance Ministry aims to consolidate and assess all the measures announced so far.

Gold imports have come to a halt after the Reserve Bank of India linked shipments into the country with exports on July 22, trade participants told an industry meet here. The RBI, in its circular, said that 20 per cent of an imported consignment should exclusively be made available to exporters. It also said that an exporter could get gold from nominated agencies, including banks, based on their purchases in the last three years.

If you are among those who have been forced to shelve plans to buy a house owing to the high down payment requirement or inability to bear the combined payment burden of rent and home loan EMI, there is help at hand. Enter the 10:80:10 scheme wherein the home buyer has to pay up only 10 per cent upfront for booking his flat, 80 per cent via bank loan during the period of construction and the final 10 per cent after getting possession of the flat.