Price rise has hit school fees the most since 2004 Up 433% In 9 Years Of UPA Rule

 The fact that inflation has been an area of concern for some years now is well known, but exactly what goods and services have seen prices rise most sharply? School fees, a CSO study shows, have seen the most dramatic spike over the tenure of the UPA, up 433% between March 2004 and March 2013. 

    The chart topper is quite ironic given the much-talked about Right to Education law enacted by the UPA. The CSO study tracks rural retail prices and shows school fees were Rs 48.7 per student on average in March 2004 and had risen to Rs 259.6 by March 2013. 
    Mango prices recorded the second highest increase, up 320% from about Rs 16 per kg to just over Rs 67 per kg on average over this nine-year period. Oranges (275%), black pepper (232%), beef (229%), and buffalo meat (228%) were the others at the top of the list. 
    Among more widely consumed items, mutton (210%), salt (182%) and moong dal unwashed (190%) have been others that have really burnt holes in pockets. Cigarettes too have on average become dearer by 188%. These are, of course, rural retail prices, so the actual prices and increases that the average urban Indian faces are likely to be different, in most cases higher. However, the broad trend is clearly unlikely to be very different between rural and urban areas. Rail fares down 7% in 9 yrs of UPA O n the positive side, some goods and services have seen prices stagnate or even decline over these nine years. Among them are postcards, inland letters and local railway fares. 
    The minimum rail fare for an adult has reduced from Rs 8.8 to Rs 8.1 in these last nine years, areduction of 7%. There has been no hike in inland letter cards, which cost Rs 2.50 in March 2004 and were priced at the same level in March 2013. Postcards too have seen their price remaining unchanged at 50 paise each. 
    The average price of a transistor radio was Rs 421 then and has risen to 481 – a modest rise of just under 10% in nine years.

Gold premiums hit another peak on scarce supplies Local prices were USD 150-160 an ounce higher than London prices, compared with USD 125 earlier this week, traders said. Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/commodities/gold-premiums-hit-another-peakscarce-supplies_1002968.html?utm_source=executive-briefing

ndian gold premiums hit another record on Thursday, driven by lower supplies to meet firm demand for weddings, which will continue till May. Local prices were USD 150-160 an ounce higher than London prices, compared with USD 125 earlier this week, traders said. "Only Scotia Bank, State Bank of India  and some trading agencies like MMTC etc are importing and most of it is going to exporters. There is no other option for domestic jewellers but to pay high premiums," said Harshad Ajmera, proprietor of JJ Gold House, a wholesaler in the eastern city of Kolkata. Most of the wedding demand is being met through recycling old jewellery or through smuggling, traders said. Gold is often gifted to brides in India, which is vying with China for the world's number one consumer. India, struggling with a record high trade deficit, has made it difficult and expensive to get supplies of gold by imposing a record 10 percent import duty on the metal, and stipulating that 20 percent of imports should be used for exports. "Imports have reduced to 25 percent of the normal average imports... domestic jewellers are facing the brunt of this in the wedding season," said an official with a private bank importing bullion. The government would wait till the first quarter of the next fiscal year and may not relax rules now after implementing a policy which has faced so much opposition, the official added. Imports plunged to 23.5 tonnes in October from a peak of 162 tonnes in May. Demand in the rest of Asia picked up after prices fell below USD 1,220 an ounce, dealers said. Premiums in Hong Kong and Singapore remained stable this week.