Tuesday, June 2, 1998
Consumers to pay more as reforms roll on
While not wavering in his commitment to further the process of economic reforms, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has presented a tough, if somewhat pro-swadeshi, budget which is almost certain to hit the middle classes. While petrol costs have gone up by around Rs 4 a litre, the 8% hike in import duty will also add to an across-the-board price hike.
It's interim, dubs Oppn
The Opposition yesterday vehemently attacked the 1998-99 Union Budget saying the Government would have no option but to soon present a supplementary budget in the wake of tough economic sanctions imposed on India. Former Finance Ministers and Congress leaders, Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee, termed the Budget as an "interim" one and felt it would lead to stagflation. Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy said there was no option for the Vajpayee Government but to present a supplementary Budget.
Pak failed to sell story on Indo-Israel N-deal
Underneath the animated babble about an apocalyptic end to one-fifth of humanity in South Asia in a nuclear conflagration reverberates feverish stories about Jewish conspiracies and Islamic bombs. Do India and Israel have hush-hush nuclear ties? Will Pakistan sell its bomb technology to Islamic countries for big bucks? Will the Gulf nations bankroll Islamabad if the sanctions render it a basket case? The India-Israel nuclear kinship story was first floated in the Pakistani media and has since gathered momentum with some Arab publications taking note of it.
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