NITI Aayog

"Asian oil demand growth is expected to slow in 2022 as China's demand has been hit by a resurgence of Covid-19, with lockdown measures imposed across many major cities," said Lim Jit Yang, advisor for Asia-Pacific oil markets at S&P Global Commodity Insights. Based on the latest April outlook, China's growth will be flat this year, after growing by 550,000 barrels per day in 2021.

He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for indigenous products is going to change the electronics manufacturing scenario in the country. During an interaction with IANS, Saraswat said that the government should create a market for Indian manufacturers by making a policy that it will only purchase indigenous products.

Share prices have tumbled in Asia after a fire broke out earlier in the day at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe, BBC reported. Tokyo and Hong Kong faced the steepest falls, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei index 2.5 per cent lower and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down by 2.6 per cent.

Stock markets in Asia have tumbled to their lowest in nearly 15 months after America's central bank chief confirmed widely expected plans to increase interest rates this year, beginning in March, The Guardian reported. With investors also concerned about political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, supply chain problems, and rising oil prices, the prospect of sustained increases in the cost of borrowing by the world's most powerful economy sent a spasm of anxiety through financial markets on Thursday.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal came down vehemently on Niti Aayog and said, "It is highly unfortunate that Niti Aayog in the last seven years since it's inception had done absolutely nothing to support the 8 crore traders of India and now when the government is trying to create a level playing field in the retail sector, Niti Aayog is interfering in between and trying to derail the process."

Speaking at the Annual Conference of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Kant said that focus on small format mobility and establishing massive charging infrastructure would also be key growth drivers for the sector. The Chairman of TVS Motor Company, Venu Srinivasan observed that the auto sector is moving towards importing, assembling and making in India.

"The industry organisations have to 'restructure', 'resize' and 'redesign' and the role of the CII is to prepare and guide its membership to adapt to the new environment. The pandemic has presented the industry with an opportunity to be globally competitive by developing quality products and becoming a part of global supply chains."

Sources said that the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) will examine the names suggested by NITI Aayog and finalise the list of possible candidates in the financial sector for privatisation this year. People in the know also said that Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank are the top two candidates that has been favoured for privatisation

Healthcare has become one of the largest sectors of the Indian economy, in terms of both revenue and employment, said the report released by NITI Aayog's Member, Health, V.K. Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant, and Additional Secretary Rakesh Sarwal.

The corporates should also look at bringing small and medium enterprise and migrant workers in the value chain, thereby generating employment, wealth creation and promoting growth needed by the country, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said.