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By:

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.

Powerful earthquakes rock Thailand and Myanmar, triggering collapse of Bangkok high-rise

  • PTI
  • Mar 28
  • 3 min read

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Bangkok: A high-rise building under construction in Bangkok collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar midday on Friday, police said, and possible casualties are not yet known.


A dramatic video circulated on social media showed the multi-story building with a crane on top collapsing into a cloud of dust, while onlookers screamed and ran.


Police told The Associated Press they were responding to the scene near Bangkok's popular Chatuchak Market and had no immediate information on how many workers were on the site at the time of the collapse.


The midday temblor was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock and people in Bangkok evacuated from their buildings were cautioned to stay outside in case there were more.


"All of a sudden the whole building began to move, immediately there was screaming and a lot of panic," said Fraser Morton, a tourist from Scotland, who was in one of Bangkok's many malls shopping for camera equipment.


¿I just started walking calmly at first but then the building started really moving, yeah, a lot of screaming, a lot of panic, people running the wrong way down the escalators, lots of banging and crashing inside the mall.¿


Like thousands of others in downtown Bangkok, Morton sought refuge in Benjasiri Park -- away from the tall buildings all around.


"I got outside and then looked up at the building and the whole building was moving, dust and debris, it was pretty intense," he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Germany's GFZ centre for geosciences said the earthquake was a shallow 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), with an epicentre in Myanmar, according to preliminary reports.


In Mandalay, the country's second-largest city and close to the epicentre, the earthquake damaged part of the former royal palace and buildings, according to videos and photos released on Facebook social media.


While the area is prone to earthquakes, it is generally sparsely populated and most houses are low-rise structures.


In the Sagaing region just southwest of Mandalay, a 90-year-old bridge collapsed, and some sections of the highway connecting Mandalay and Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, were also damaged.


Residents in Yangon rushed out of their homes when the quake struck. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.


In the capital Naypyitaw, the quake damaged religious shrines, sending parts toppling to the ground and some homes.


In Bangkok, alarms went off in buildings as the earthquake hit around 1:30 pm and startled residents were evacuated down staircases of high-rise condominiums and hotels.


The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments.


Water from high-rise rooftop pools sloshed over the side as they shook and debris fell from many buildings as the long-lasting earthquake rattled the city.


"I have experienced earthquakes twice before in Myanmar, but that was only one second, one big bang, but here it went on for at least, I'd say, a minute," said Zsuzsanna Vari-Kovacs, a Hungarian resident of Bangkok, who had just finished eating at a restaurant when the quake hit.


"My husband was in a high-rise, I think that's even worse."


Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention said the quake was felt in almost all regions of the country.


Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra called an emergency meeting to assess the impact of the quake.

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