New Delhi, May 14: Official data on Wednesday showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government had done a much better job in controlling retail inflation — especially in food and fuel — compared to the UPA era.

According to a post by BJP leader Amit Malviya on the X social media platform, “double-digit inflation (over 10 per cent) seen during the UPA era is no longer a concern, reflecting effective governance and price control in the past decade”.

“Since 2014, retail inflation has not crossed 8 per cent, in contrast to the UPA’s 2004–14 average of 8.1 per cent, with 10.4 per cent during 2009–14,” he mentioned, citing the official data.

On the other hand, from January 2012 to April 2014 period during the UPA government, inflation was above 9 per cent in 22 out of 28 months, hitting double digits nine times.

Malviya, the BJP Information Technology cell chief, pointed out that retail inflation in April 2025 fell to 3.16 per cent, the lowest in nearly 6 years, continuing a downward trend.

For FY 2024-25, retail inflation was 4.6 per cent, the lowest since 2018-19, marking three consecutive years of decline.

“Overall, the data indicates better inflation control, especially in food and fuel, under the NDA government compared to the UPA era,” he observed.

The BJP-led NDA government had succeeded in containing inflation with the implementation of concrete steps such as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana which provides more than 80 crore citizens with free rations (extended till 2029), ‘Bharat’ brands launched for retail sale of cereals and pulses at affordable rates through NAFED, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar.

Besides, under the Price Stabilisation Fund, a dynamic buffer stock of pulses is maintained and calibrated release of stocks from the buffer is done to ensure the availability and affordability of pulses to consumers.

The government is continuously offloading the wheat and rice from the central pool under Open Market Sale Scheme to augment availability in the market and control retail prices.

As far as fuels are concerned, the LPG subsidy and the price of cylinders has been reduced to benefit both PM Ujjwala and regular consumers, prices of non-subsidised LPG were reduced by Rs 100 per 14.2 kg cylinder, effective March 9, 2024.

New Delhi, May 13: The shares of Zhuzhou Hongda Electronics Corp Ltd, the Chinese defence company that manufactures the PL-15 missile, dropped sharply by 6.42 per cent or 2.56 Yuan to 37.33 Yuan on Tuesday, after India’s air defence system successfully intercepted and destroyed the missile during the conflict with Pakistan.

Over the past month, the company’s shares have declined by 7.37 per cent, or 2.97 Yuan. However, the stock showed a brief 5-day recovery of 7.58 per cent.

The stock plunge came after Indian defence forces confirmed that the PL-15 missile, supplied to Pakistan by China, failed to penetrate the country’s multi-layered air defence system.

On the night of May 9 and 10, Pakistan launched a series of air attacks targeting Indian Air Force bases and military facilities using advanced weaponry, including the Chinese PL-15 missile and Turkish-made Byker YIHA III kamikaze drones.

However, India’s air defence successfully intercepted all threats.

The PL-15, a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile used by Pakistan’s JF-17 and J-10 fighter jets, was neutralised by indigenous defence systems.

This interception has raised questions about the real-world effectiveness of China’s missile technology, possibly triggering the decline in investor confidence in Zhuzhou Hongda.

India’s Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, displayed images of the intercepted weapons, showcasing how the Indian defence network had destroyed high-tech missiles and drones.

He credited India’s self-reliant defence capabilities, particularly the indigenous ‘Akash’ air defense system, as a crucial factor in neutralising the threat.

The Akash system, alongside vintage systems like Pichora and advanced platforms including MANPADS, short-range missiles, and fighter aircraft, formed a coordinated defense shield under the Integrated Air Command and Control System.

The Turkish Byker YIHA III drone, capable of carrying high-explosive payloads and designed for low-altitude, high-speed attacks, was also intercepted near Amritsar.

This drone was intended to cause significant damage to military or civilian targets, but failed to breach India’s defenses.

Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), explained the multi-layered coordination among the Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy, describing a defence posture that was both measured and impenetrable.

Between May 9 and 10, India’s multi-layered air defence grid was put to the test as waves of drones, launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), attempted to penetrate Indian airspace. “Not a single PAF drone could breach the defence shield,” Lt Gen Ghai stated.

Mumbai, May 12: The ceasefire between India and Pakistan has paved the way for a sharp rally in the market and with this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are likely to resume their equity purchases in India, analysts said on Monday.

Sensex and Nifty surged more than 2.7 per cent in the morning trade.

According to market watchers, the prime mover of the rally will now be the FII buying, which has been sustained for 16 continuous days except last Friday when the conflict escalated.

“Domestic macros like expectations of high GDP growth and revival of earnings growth in FY26 and declining inflation and interest rates augur well for the resumption of a rally in the market,” said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

FIIs favour large caps like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Bharti, Ultratech, M&M and Eicher. Midcap IT and digital stocks are other segments to watch.

Pharma stocks may come under near-term pressure from US President Donald Trump’s latest announcement regarding reducing prices of drugs in the US.

“There are rumours of impending US deal with China on trade but details are yet to come. If a deal materialises that would be good for the global economy,” said Vijayakumar.

The hallmark of FPI investment in recent days has been the sustained buying by FIIs. FIIs bought equity through the exchanges consecutively for 16 trading days ending 8th May for a cumulative amount of Rs 48,533 crore.

“They sold for Rs 3,798 crore on 9th May when the India-Pak conflict got escalated. Now that ceasefire has been declared, FIIs are likely to resume their equity purchases in India,” said analysts.

It is important to understand that FIIs were continuous sellers in India in the first three months of this year. The big selling began in January (Rs 78,027 crore) when the dollar index peaked at 111 in mid-January.

Thereafter, the intensity of selling declined. FIIs turned buyers in April with a buy figure of Rs 4,243 crore.