Inflation in Australia has passed its peak, but at 7 per cent is still too high and it will be some time yet before it is back in the target range. This further increase in interest rates is to provide greater confidence that inflation will return to target within a reasonable timeframe.
The annual inflation rate in Australia dropped to 7.0% in Q1 of 2023 from an over-30-year high of 7.8% in the previous period, compared with market forecasts of 6.9%. It was the lowest print since Q2 of 2022, with food prices rising the least in 3 quarters. Furthermore, cost slowed for transport (4.3% vs 8.0%), housing (9.8% vs 10.7%), furnishings (6.7% vs 8.4%), and recreation (8.6% vs 9.0%). Inflation was stable for alcohol & tobacco (at 4.4%), while prices accelerated for health (5.3% vs 3.8%) and insurance & financial services (6.5% vs 5.0%).
High inflation makes life difficult for people and .....
Several Delhi University students who opted for Tamil and Telugu as their non-major subjects in BA programmes last year are reapplying for the Common University Entrance Test-UG (CUET-UG) fearing that they will fail the language exam due to its “advanced” syllabi.
The students have been given the choice to study different languages as per the New Education Policy (NEP).
The first-year students, also the first batch to be admitted to the varsity through CUET, said they were under the impression that they will be taught the basics of the languages but their syllabi are that of advanced level.
The university in its reply to the students said they should have seen the syllabus first, adding, “We cannot do anything as they have chosen the combination.” Students who opted for BA programmes (Pol Science+Tamil) and (Pol Science+Telugu) at Sri Venkateswara College have asked the .....
India is Australia’s fastest recovering international tourism market. It is currently our second largest market after New Zealand.
Despite international borders being closed until February, 303,000 Indian short-term visitors still arrived in Australia in 2022. This was 76% of the corresponding pre-COVID figure (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023, Overseas Arrivals and Departures, released 16 February 2023). Total visitor spend for the year to September 2022 recovered to $1.3 billion, 74% of pre-pandemic levels. (Source: Tourism Research Australia, International Visitor Survey, Year ending September 2022).
Australian airlines are also strengthening ties with India. Qantas now offers direct routes to Bengaluru and Delhi. A codeshare arrangement with Indian domestic operator IndiGo connects travellers to many more Indian destinations.
Since 2019, the Australian Tourism.....
Australian farmers and food producers will have an expanded footprint and access to more customers in Asia thanks to a major export deal facilitated by Austrade between Coles and Thai retailer, Central Food Retail.
Coles will provide the supermarket chain more than 200 products from its Coles Own Brand range, with more than 98 per cent of the offering either Australian-made or with Australian ingredients. The deal means more Australian farmers, agri-food and beverage producers now have the opportunity to supply their goods to a dynamic and desirable market.
Australian Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner in Bangkok, Mr Michael Helleman said he was thrilled that the Thai people, Australian tourists, travellers and expats longing for a taste of home will have access to Australian-made food and drinks – as well as giving a boost for farmers back home.
“Australia has a hard-.....
The Albanese government announced from 1 July 2025 a 30% concessional tax rate will be applied to future earnings for superannuation balances above $3 million.
This change announced today means 99.5 per cent of Australians with superannuation accounts will continue to receive the same generous tax breaks, and the 0.5 per cent of people with balances above $3 million will receive less generous tax breaks.
Currently, earnings from superannuation in the accumulation phase are taxed at a concessional rate of up to 15 per cent. This will continue for all superannuation accounts with balances below $3 million.
From 2025‑26, the concessional tax rate applied to future earnings for balances above $3 million will be 30 per cent.
This is expected to apply to around 80,000 people, and they will continue to benefit from more generous tax breaks on earnings from the $3 million below th.....
Union Budget 2023 Key Highlights: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 on February 1 which had a greater emphasis on the rural sector, social sector schemes, infrastructure creation, and the middle class.
The Budget for 2023-24 kept its focus on expanding Capex showing that the Modi government's priorities are building roads, highways, and railway lines. The middle class has been given some relief in terms of tweaks in the new income tax regime clearly pointing out that the government wants a shift towards the new regime from the older one. The FM stuck to the fiscal deficit roadmap in the Budget with a target of 5.9% in FY 24 and adhering to the target for the current year. This is a positive considering a bloated deficit will have caused worries about finding the gap.
“This is the first budget in Amrit kaal, it hopes to build on the foundation .....
Singapore: India was ranked fourth among the top five passenger markets for Singapore’s Changi Airport, which handled 219,000 flights and 32.2 million passengers in 2022, as the country marks a recovery from the pandemic in 2021-22.
Australia topped the airport’s passenger market, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Thailand, a press release by the Changi Airport Group (CAG) on Tuesday said.
A total of 219,000 flights, 57.2 per cent of the 382,000 flights in 2019, took off or landed at the airport, according to the latest figures.
About 32.2 million passengers passed through Changi Airport in 2022, constituting nearly half the passenger traffic for the airport in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Changi Airport flight traffic, in the first week of 2023, hit 82 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with 5,600 flights connecting Singapore to 143 cities in 48 countries an.....
New Delhi: The Union Budget on Wednesday proposed removing the exemption from paying income tax by news agencies.
The Finance Bill proposes an amendment to Clause 22B of section 10 of the Income Tax Act that grants exemption to notified news agencies from paying tax on income, provided the organisation applies its income or accumulates it solely for collection and distribution of news and does not distribute it to its members.
The memorandum explaining provisions of the Finance Bill said the move to remove the tax exemption to news agencies was in accordance with the stated policy of the government of phasing out of exemptions and deductions under the Act.
"In accordance with the stated policy of the Government of phasing out of exemptions and deductions under the Act, the exemption available to news agencies under clause (22B) of section 10 of the Act is proposed to be withdraw.....
Universities will suspend handing out places to HSC students until September after more than 43,000 early entry offers were made to pupils last year before they sat their final exams.
The NSW Vice Chancellors’ Committee have released new rules governing how early offers are made to year 12 students, but school principals argue the measures will fail to stop students losing focus in the final weeks of year 12. Principals' of many schools felt that bypassing ATARs can lead to complacency among students and was increasingly used by universities to secure enrolments in a tight market. While some principals say the offers – which in some cases are made before mid-year trial exams – help ease the stress of high-stakes tests, others warn it means students do not apply themselves as much as they might have in the last months of school.
Convener of the NSWVCC, Professor Barney Glover .....
New Delhi: India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) has been projected to grow by seven per cent in 2022-23, as per the first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is projected to drive the GDP growth with an 11.5 per cent expansion. Private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) has been projected to grow by 7.7 per cent, while government final consumption expenditure (GFCE) has been projected to grow by a much lower 3.1 per cent. According to the NSO’s estimates, trade deficit would jump to 7.1 per cent of GDP in 2022-23 from 4.8 per cent in 2021-22.
The economy grew 9.7 per cent in the first half (April-September) of FY23, the data for which was released on November 30.
The first Advance Estimates of GDP by NSO have incorporated the factory output data of an additional month (October) as well as some lead ind.....
A third of the global economy will be in recession this year, the IMF chief has said, and warned that 2023 will be "tougher" than last year as the US, EU and China will see their economies slow down.
Kristalina Georgieva, the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made these grim assertions on Sunday during a CBS news programme "Face the Nation."
It comes at a time when the ongoing conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of abating after more than 10 months, with spiralling inflation, higher interest rates and the surge in coronavirus infections in China fuelled by the Omicron variant.
"We expect one-third of the world economy to be in recession," Georgieva said on the news programme.
The year 2023 will be tougher than last year because the economies of the US, the EU and China will slow down, she said.
"Even in countries that are not in recession, it would feel like a.....
Prasar Bharati is “evaluating” the possibility of coming up with an OTT platform months after it signed an agreement with YuppTV to expand the global reach of Doordarshan’s DD India channel, a senior official said on Friday.
“That is something we are working upon, evaluating,” the Prasar Bharati official said during an informal interaction with reporters while replying to a question when will the broadcaster come up with an over-the-top (OTT) platform.
Prasar Bharati had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with YuppTV, an OTT platform, in March last year to make DD India available in various countries including the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, besides Europe and the Middle East.
With the Union Cabinet earlier this week approving a scheme worth more than Rs 2,500 crore for modernization, upgrade and expansion of All India Radio (AIR) and Door.....