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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local....

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local. This reversal owes much to policy. The recent rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which trimmed rates across categories from garments to home furnishings, has given consumption a timely push. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s September rate cuts, combined with income tax relief and easing interest rates, have strengthened household budgets just as inflation softened. The middle class, long squeezed between rising costs and stagnant wages, has found reason to spend again. Retailers report that shoppers filled their bags with everything from lab-grown diamonds and casual wear to consumer durables and décor, blurring the line between necessity and indulgence. The effect has been broad-based. According to Crisil Ratings, 40 organised apparel retailers, who together generate roughly a third of the sector’s revenue, could see growth of 13–14 percent this financial year, aided by a 200-basis-point bump from GST cuts alone. Small traders too have flourished. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimates that 85 percent of total festive trade came from non-corporate and traditional markets, a robust comeback for brick-and-mortar retail that had been under siege from online rivals. This surge signals a subtle but significant cultural shift. The “Vocal for Local” and “Swadeshi Diwali” campaigns struck a patriotic chord, with consumers reportedly preferring Indian-made products to imported ones. Demand for Chinese goods fell sharply, while sales of Indian-manufactured products rose by a quarter over last year. For the first time in years, “buying Indian” has become both an act of economic participation and of national pride. The sectoral spread of this boom underlines its breadth. Groceries and fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 12 percent of the total, gold and jewellery 10 percent, and electronics 8 percent. Even traditionally modest categories like home furnishings, décor and confectionery recorded double-digit growth. In the smaller towns that anchor India’s consumption story, traders say stable prices and improved affordability kept registers ringing late into the festive weekend. Yet, much of this buoyancy rests on a fragile equilibrium. Inflation remains contained, and interest rates have been eased, but both could tighten again. Sustaining this spurt will require continued fiscal prudence and regulatory clarity, especially as digital commerce continues to expand its reach. Yet for now, the signs are auspicious. After years of subdued demand and inflationary unease, India’s shoppers appear to have rediscovered their appetite for consumption and their faith in domestic enterprise. The result is not only a record-breaking Diwali, but a reaffirmation of the local marketplace as the heartbeat of India’s economy.

Farmer mauled by tiger in village in UP's Pilibhit

  • PTI
  • May 19
  • 2 min read

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PILIBHIT: A tiger mauled a middle-aged farmer to death on Sunday, triggering an uproar among the villagers against the forest department.


The incident occurred late Sunday evening near Chatipur village, when 45-year-old farmer Ram Prasad was irrigating his sugarcane field, about 500 metres from the Haripur forest, authorities said.


According to police, the tiger, which had been hiding in the nearby bushes, pounced on the farmer and dragged him for nearly 500 metres.


Hearing his screams, farmers working in the nearby fields rushed to the spot, but Ram Prasad was already fatally injured, suffering wounds on his neck, back, and abdomen, officials said.


Sehramau North Station House Officer Sanjay Kumar Singh said his body was sent for post-mortem.


Villagers staged a protest against the forest department for failing to control the increasing tiger attacks in the region.


Haripur Range Forest Officer Shaheer Ahmad confirmed that the incident occurred in the Khutar range and said a team had been dispatched to the spot to investigate.


This was the second fatal tiger attack in the area in the last four days.

On May 14, a 50-year-old farmer, Hansraj, was killed near Najirganj village.

His partially eaten body was found in a field.


Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajit Pratap Singh and Circle Officer Pragati Chauhan visited the scene and persuaded the villagers not to block the Pilibhit-Puranpur highway.


Divisional Forest Officer of Social Forestry, Bharat Kumar, said that a team has been deployed to track the tiger and efforts are underway to capture it.

Local villagers alleged that there is a complete breakdown of forest management in the region, with tigers frequently straying into agricultural fields and human settlements.


"Despite repeated incidents, no concrete action has been taken by the forest department. The big cats roam freely near our homes," a villager said.


The villages of Haripur Kishanpur, Najirganj, and Chatipur, all located along the open borders between Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and the Khutar range, have become vulnerable due to their proximity to the forest.


According to forest officials, there are over 70 tigers in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

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