1.   

India can grow at 8 percent: Ahluwalia

India can achieve eight percent growth provided difficult policy decisions are taken, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here Saturday. He called for greater attention to linking economic policy making with external and internal security. Speaking on 'Indian Economy and National Security' at the 49th Foundation Day of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses here, Ahluwalia said poverty had declined much faster since the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government came to power.

2.   

Exim Bank identifies 15 African countries for good investment

The Export-Import Bank of India has identified 15 African countries, including Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria, as good investment destinations, a top official has said. Many Indian companies keen to take advantage of the opportunities in Africa were holding back because of a lack of information on African economies, Exim bank's executive director David Rasquinha said. He said the top countries identified by Exim Bank were Algeria, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, and Uganda.

3.   

Agri production likely to be up by 10 pc this year

Even though heavy rain may have damaged crops across the state this year, production of foodgrains is going to be on par with the record output (15 lakh tonnnes) of 2010-11, due to soil moisture that will see the rabi area go up from last year's 45 to 65 lakh hectares this year. With this, the total agriculture production will be up by 10 per cent, according to state Agriculture Department.

4.   

RBI permits third party payments for export, import transactions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday permitted third party payments for export/import transactions subject to certain conditions. Among the key conditions RBI said that for export transaction firm irrevocable order backed by a tripartite agreement should be in place while for import transactions firm irrevocable purchase order / tripartite agreement should be in place. RBI also said that for the export as well as import transaction third party payment should come from a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliant country and through the banking channel only.