# data[].attributes.body
-GDP
-Unemployment rate
-inflation

# data[].attributes.body
Article 1 :
-India is amongst the most cash-intensive economies in the world. Its GDP is largely affected by private consumption demand.

-On 8th November, Indian Government decided to ban the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes in order to cope with the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity. These 2 denominations are 86% of all the cash in India. In a cash-intensive economy such as India that also relies greatly on the private sector, the demonetization is believed to negatively effects India’s economic growth.

-In recent years, the annual growth rate of India's private consumption expenditure has exceptionally increase as compared to the government consumption expenditure. From 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, India's private consumption expenditure held a constant 8.0% growth as compared to the government's 5.5% growth. This affected the total consumption expenditure growth of the country by raising the aggregate figure greatly.

-This shows that India's private consumption plays a big role in India's economy and its GDP which explains why India is concern with its private consumption demand. An increase in private consumption demand also means an increase in private consumption expenditure as a higher demand means a higher expenditure, elevating India's GDP. Therefore, private consumption demand is also very important to India's GDP.

-Despite many analysts to predict the country’s economic growth rate to fall drastically, it grew by 7% in the quarter ended December and a positive economic growth rate was seen. This shows that despite the monetary crisis in the country, India was still able to produce as much goods and services as usual. The GDP figure has certainly proved that India is amongst the world’s fastest growing economy.

-GST was Introduced way back to 2010 in India to simplify the complex and time-consuming system of taxes, duties and fees levied by federal, state and local government. However, GST was delayed as the first deadline for the use of GST was missed on April 1, 2010.

-This is because there were conflicts between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party's proposal for GDP, which resulted in many demands and changes requested. In 2014, the Rajya Sabha party passed the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014, meant for the roll-out of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) in the House. This bill was then further amended and approved, resulting in the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2016, in which GST is expected to be implemented in India starting from July 1st, 2017.

-India is one of the fastest growing economy is mostly due to its consumer demand. Despite the decision to scrape the high-value banknotes, but the impact of this demonetization was not as strong and short-lived as India is a cash-intensive country. Furthermore, Indians are spending intensively on car sales, retail lending and good imports, showing the strong consumer spending in India. With the expected GST to be implemented in July to simplify multiple state taxes, this would spur economic growth as it make India and easier place to do business

# data[].attributes.body
-In 2017, many top largest IT companies in India have announced that they would cut down on the number of workers and employees as well as recruitment.

-The layoff was said to be brought about by the increasing use of automation in larger IT firms, resulted in a massive structural unemployment in India for the IT industry, especially the services sector.

-This increase in unemployment levels and rates in 2017 is driven by deteriorating labour market conditions in emerging countries such as the impacts of several deep recessions in 2016 continue to affect labour markets in 2017.

-Many businesses such as NASSCOM are carrying out measures to improve the labor force’s skill for them to operate with the new technologies in order to get them back into the workforce.

-The government also runs a series of infrastructure plan which uses unskilled manual labour to build something useful, some flood control, water harvesting, reforestation, this sort of thing.

-People who are unemployed can then register with the local such scheme can either gain a place on such a development scheme or the local government must pay them unemployment allowance. Thus either way there is an income assured.

-However, it does not seem to be an easy task considering that many of the them are not able to be trained as they are too under-skilled. This prompted one of the largest unemployment in India for the middle level to senior level. With so many people having difficulty finding a job, the country’s economic growth will surely be negatively affected.

# data[].attributes.body
Brandon
Kai Xin
Wan Ting
Ivan
Vance
Kenneth
Dan

# data[].attributes.body
The falling food prices due to demonetization has caused the lowest inflation in India in the past 5 years. Consumer price index was seen rose by an annual 3.17 percent in January 2017. Food inflation dropped to 0.53 from 1.37 in December. Reserve Bank of India has not made any changes to the interest rates regarding the inflation. The rising global crude price in addition with a volatile exchange rate worried the bank as it might push the headline inflation higher than expected. This inflation is categorized as cost-push inflation. This is likely due to the decrease in oil supply and the increase in oil demand, causing oil prices to rise. A volatile exchange rate can affect the cost of prices too. For example, if the value of the currency increases for the country which is exporting the goods, the country which is importing the goods will have to pay more than usual due to the exporting country's currency having more power, hence the goods have to be sold at a higher price in order to match the price at which the goods are bought for, hence pushing the headline inflation higher. Demonetization reduces the purchasing power as it replaces the old currency for a new currency, hence it reduces inflation as demand be low. CPI is rising overall. Oil prices is the most important factor as it affects the economy of India the most. As crude oil is a major source of energy, many production requires the use of crude oil, hence when its cost increase, the prices of most goods and services will rise as wel, causing inflation.Thus prices of oil is the most impactful factor.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-the-Congress-and-other-parties-opposing-the-GST-bill#!n=30

http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/03/news/economy/india-gst-sales-tax/?iid=EL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_First_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_India

http://fortune.com/2017/05/30/worlds-fastest-growing-economy-india/

# data[].attributes.body
India's economy shrugs off cash crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
India's cash crisis has taken a surprisingly small bite out of its economic growth.

The country's gross domestic product grew by 7% in the quarter ended December, according to figures released by the government on Tuesday. That's slower than the 7.4% expansion posted in the previous quarter, but a much better result than most analysts had forecast.

Economists had expected a sharp slowdown to result from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's abrupt decision to ban on all 500 and 1000 rupee notes -- the two largest denominations -- in early November. The shock move immediately took 86% of the country's cash out circulation, hitting key sectors of the economy.

Related: What happened when India trashed its cash

The GDP results mean that India has retained its title as the world's fastest growing major economy. Its rival China posted growth of only 6.8% over the same quarter.

But economists quickly raised doubts over the official government data -- the accuracy of which has been questioned in the past.

"The strong figures confound survey data pointing to a larger drop in economic activity that appears to have persisted into 2017," wrote analysts at Fathom Consulting.

Analysts had predicted that India's growth would decline by as much as one percentage point in the two quarters after the cash ban, with institutions like the IMF and even India's own central bank revising their forecasts downward.

The government, meanwhile, had insisted that its rupee ban would only cause a temporary slowdown, with members of Modi's cabinet repeatedly stressing that "short-term pain" will result in "long-term gain" as the system returns to normalcy.

The chaos that resulted from the cash ban has largely subsided in recent weeks.

"I won't say [things] are 100% back to normal, but they are getting close," Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairwoman of the State Bank of India, said on Tuesday. "The recovery has been quite sharp."

Anubhuti Sahay, head of South Asia economic research at Standard Chartered, pointed to auto production and manufacturing as sectors that have recovered after suffering from major slumps.

"But we still remain lower than [before the cash ban]," Sahay added, "which effectively implies that it has had a negative impact on economic momentum."

The objective of the government's rupee ban was to crack down on widespread corruption and tax evasion. It's not yet clear whether it will be successful.

Related: India says its economy will bounce back from cash crisis

Sahay said that the economy could take another short-term hit if lawmakers move ahead with the national sales tax that is slated to replace India's complicated web of state tariffs.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), which promises to be hugely positive over the long run, has been hit by multiple delays and is unlikely to pass before July this year.

"Near-term pains will get reflected in terms of slower economic activity and probably higher inflation," she said.

-- Mallika Kapur and Rebecca Wright contributed to this report.

CNNMoney (New Delhi) First published February 28, 2017: 8:26 AM ET

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
India's economy shrugs off cash crisis to post 7% growth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The country's gross domestic product grew by 7% in the quarter ended December, according to figures released by the government on Tuesday. That's slower than the 7.4% expansion posted in the previous quarter, but a much better result than most analysts had forecast.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
These are difficult days for Indian techies, and it's not going to get much better.

On April 21, reports suggested that Wipro, India's third-largest information technology (IT) company, has laid off up to 600 employees. Meanwhile, US-based Cognizant is reportedly considering laying off 6,000 in India, where the bulk of its workforce is stationed. Earlier this year, Infosys, the country's second-largest IT firm, acknowledged that it was "releasing" nearly 2,000 employees every quarter, and cutting back on recruitment.

And this may be only the beginning of the bloodbath.

For some time now, the $150-billion Indian IT industry, which directly and indirectly employs some 10 million people, has been bracing for a crisis. India could lose 640,000 low-skilled jobs in the industry by 2021, HfS Research, which analyses business operations and IT services, had warned in 2016. This was mainly because non-customer facing positions such as IT support jobs would likely be automated.

In a February 2017 study, consulting firm McKinsey estimated that about half of the 3.9 million employees of Indian IT services companies would become "irrelevant" within the next four years, again thanks to automation. And NASSCOM, the Indian IT industry's trade lobby, also expects at least a 20% reduction in jobs available in the sector over the next three years.

"We are looking at re-skilling one million people because new technologies are reshaping the job market," Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president at NASSCOM, told Moneycontrol News. "While the industry will remain a net hirer, the pace of job creation has come down."

But re-skilling at that scale is easier said than done. Some 65% of the workforce in the sector just cannot be re-trained, reckoned Srinivas Kandula, head of French IT company Capgemini's Indian operations. "Probably, India will witness the largest unemployment in the middle level to senior level," Kandula, who has around 100,000 employees in the country, said at a NASSCOM event in February.

It's not that new jobs won't be created as the IT sector transforms. The problem is that Indian engineers, many of whom graduate from sub-standard institutions, are woefully under-skilled to partake in this new technology ecosystem. A recent study of over 36,000 Indian engineering students found that only 4.77% met the minimum requirement for a computer programming job.

If that's the basic standard, finding candidates who can navigate the world of automation and artificial intelligence is a long shot. "Generic coding skills are going out of fashion now. You are required to be adept at data science, machine learning, cyber security...But there are zero people formally trained in these things," Prasar Sharma, director for emerging technologies at Mumbai's SP Jain School of High Technology, told the Financial Times newspaper.

Then there's the fact that key regions for the Indian IT industry, from Singapore to the US, have been increasingly shutting the door on Indian engineers, further stymieing employment opportunities.

Oddly, many young professionals don't seem quite bothered by the chaos. Over 80% of the individuals aged between 21 years and 24 years who were surveyed by education technology firm Talentedge remained confident of retaining their jobs despite automation. But inside the landscaped campuses of many Indian IT firms, the reality is rather different.

Most Popular

Read full story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
More and more Indian IT engineers are under-skilled, unwanted, and unemployed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These are difficult days for Indian techies, and it's not going to get much better. On April 21, reports suggested that Wipro, India's third-largest information technology (IT) company, has laid off up to 600 employees. Meanwhile, US-based Cognizant is reportedly considering laying off 6,000 in India, where the bulk of its workforce is stationed.

# data[].attributes.body
*do not remove my comments
Namaste Team!
Further questions for your consideration:
Article 1 - Why is India so concerned about its private consumption demand? How important is this to GDP of India? Article mentioned delays in implementing Goods and Services Tax. Why? Team mentioned GDP figure proved that India is one of the fastest growing economy, could you find out more reason to support this?
Article 2 - What type of unemployment specifically? That team has noticed? What is the root of the issue? Article mentioned policies. Team to explore further types of policies created for report.
Article 3 - Rising global crude oil price caused the inflation. What category of inflation is this? What caused the increase in oil price? How would volatile exchange rate push the headline inflation higher? On the other hand, demonetization pulled overall inflation down. Why so? Overall, is the CPI rising or falling? Which factors mentioned here is more impactful? Analyse.

# data[].attributes.body
Inflation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
NEW DELHI India's inflation cooled to its lowest in at least five years in January as food prices fell following the government's cash clampdown, but emerging price pressures mean the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will probably keep interest rates on hold.

Consumer prices rose by an annual 3.17 percent last month - their slowest pace since January 2012, when the government launched the current index series.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected prices to rise by 3.22 percent from a year earlier, compared with December's 3.41 percent increase.

Annual retail food inflation eased to 0.53 percent last month from 1.37 percent in December, helped by lower prices for vegetables and pulses, government data showed on Monday.

In a worry for the central bank, another inflation gauge that excludes volatile food and fuel prices accelerated to around 5.1 percent in January, after hovering around 4.9 percent since September.

The RBI's monetary policy committee reckons sticky core inflation could trigger wide side-effects.

"The RBI is seeing upside risks to inflation and one data point is not going to change their view dramatically," said Varun Khandelwal, managing director at Bullero Capital.

"Interest rates will remain on hold in the near term."

Headline inflation has been under 4 percent since November, well below the RBI's 5 percent target for March and medium-term target of 4 percent.

END OF LOOSENING CYCLE

Still, the RBI last week shocked investors by holding the repo rate at 6.25 percent and shifting its monetary policy stance to "neutral" from "accommodative".

The shift comes as Asia's third-largest economy is still limping back to health after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Nov. 8 decision to outlaw old 500- and 1,000- rupee banknotes wiped out 86 percent of the currency in circulation overnight.

Industrial production fell 0.4 percent, year on year, in December, government data showed last week.

Even as the economic fallout of demonetisation remains unclear, the RBI is worried about a pick-up in global crude prices along with exchange rate volatility, which it says could push headline inflation above its medium-term target.

Global crude oil prices are up nearly 14 percent since end-November. The Indian rupee is expected to weaken by nearly 4 percent from its current levels to 69.50 a dollar in 12 months.

Most economists now expect the RBI to hold rates until at least the second half of next year.

"We continue to believe that the RBI will have to tighten

policy sooner than most are anticipating," Capital Economics said in a flash note.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Andrew Roche)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
monetary / fiscal policy / policy makers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
industrial machinery / equipment (legacy)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indian retail inflation lowest in at least five years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
India's inflation cooled to its lowest in at least five years in January as food prices fell following the government's cash clampdown, but emerging price pressures mean the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will probably keep interest rates on hold.