New Delhi: It was an action packed week as 2008 ended and the New Year began. The government rung in 2009 by announcing its second fiscal stimulus package on Friday.
Click here to watch video
The package allows state governments to borrow Rs30,000 crore and has provisions for exporters, infrastructure projects and Foreign Institutional Investors.
In a coordinated move the Reserve Bank of India cut the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points to 4% and cut the repo and reverse repo rates by 100 basis points each. This is expected to pump in close to Rs20,000 crore of additional liquidity into the banking system.
Sri Lankan troops captured Kilinochchi, the headquarter of the Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday. It’s being seen as a bitter blow to the LTTE or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The military operation to take the separatist stronghold started in September.
Closer home it was a distressing beginning to the New Year in Assam as low intensity blasts killed five people and injured at least 60. The blasts occurred along the route Home Minister P Chidambaram was expected to take while visiting Guwahati. Police said the blasts were triggered by Ulfa militants.