India extends a warm welcome to its 'close friend' Mr.Barack Obama

     India rolled out a grand red-carpet welcome to one of its 'dearest' friend Barack Obama who is on a three-day visit to India. His visit hit the headlines of almost all Indian newspapers & will also serve as a image-booster to Indian Prime Minister Modi whose government is already riding high on series of electoral victories. Obama's visit will help Modi to strengthen his 'Make in India' campaign as both sides are expected to sign multi-billion dollar worth of deals.

The 'Air Force ONE' lands at New Delhi's IGI airport, PM Modi on the tarmac

Mr & Mrs Obama disembarking 'Air Force one'

 Indian PM Modi extends a warm welcome to President Obama

President Obama boards 'The Beast'

Obama waves hands at cheering crowd

Spectacular pics of India's 66th R-Day celebrations

     India today displayed its military might & cultural heritage in its spectacular Republic day parade in the presence of US President Barack Obama who is the Guest of Honour of this grand event. Here are some eye-catching pics of India's colourful & joyous R-Day celebrations. 

US President being received by India's President & Prime Minister

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee arrives at the parade venue

Guest of Honour US President arrives at R-Day parade venue

Indian PM Modiji welcomes US President

Indian Army's front-line battle tanks on display

 

India's Pinaka MBRL systems on display 

India's supersonic cruise missile 'BrahMos' on display

 Aerial shot of India military's spectacular parade

 

Indian Air Force steals the show

Spectacular fly-past by India's fighter jets

President Obama witnessing the fly-past of IAF planes

 

India's Presidential palace on the eve of 66th R-Day

 

Rashtrapathi Bhavan (Presidential palace) in all its majestic grandeur

India braces up to welcome US President Obama

India's central bank slashes interest rates to spur growth

     The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has surprised the markets by trimming down interests rates in a bid to spur growth in Asia's second-largest economy. In this unscheduled & unexpected move, the central bank has cut its repo rates by about 25 basis points to 7.75%, its first cut since March 2013. The RBI was not scheduled to meet on monetary policy until February 3. As per the most recent inflation data, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of India has eased to just 0.1% largely because of decline in oil prices. This has given the central bank more room to cut down key interest rates. Following the announcement, the Indian stock markets have surged by more than 2.4% in a single trading session. The BSE Sensex gained more than 650 points to cross 28,000 mark & NSE Nifty gained some 198 points to reach 8,474 points. The realty index jumped 7.8% while the banking stocks surged 3.25%. The Indian Rupee to its part rallied against USD, strengthening by about 53 paise to close at a two-month high of 61.65 per USD.

        

On Thursday, Indian share markets were the star-performers in Asia