Highly-placed sources in the government say that none of the senior ministers had any inkling of Patel's resignation
Industry had sought this 3-month extension, specifically for players struggling to collate the information that are required to be disclosed in the GST forms.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revealed that the government wanted to give Hasmukh Adhia a post-retirement role, but Dr Adhia said he would not work for a single day after November 30.
He did not believe in any fiscal puritanism. In 2012, when it was almost certain that the government will breach the 2012-13 fiscal deficit target, he wrote that in abnormal times, abnormal measures are required to get back to normalcy.
The services sector, which plays the biggest role in shaping the economy, is facing loads of issues currently. The largest segments, financial and real estate, are struggling to cope with bad debts and low demand for houses.
Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia vacates his post on November 30 and Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, the second seniormost bureaucrat in the finance ministry, retires on January 31, the day before Jaitley presents the 2019-20 interim budget.
There was no law that prevented the government from presenting a sixth full Budget, or something similar to it.
The Financial Stability and Development Council meeting on Tuesday started with an air of tension in the room. An official present described the participants' body language as "tetchy". However, once presentations and discussions begun, the mood considerably eased.
September import growth was the second lowest this fiscal year, after the April growth figures of 4.6 per cent, bringing the trade deficit down to $13.98 billion
Senior policymakers say it is a tough task and the finance ministry may resort to the time-tested method of carrying forward part of the subsidy payment burden to the next fiscal year.
According to the data available on the Reserve Bank of India's website, net workers' remittances in April-June 2018 were $11.5 billion
From a commercial standpoint, reducing the price of each SKU, particularly with a small MRP (Rs 5 or below) is often a challenge, including availability of legal tender below Re 1
She would be the first Indian to be occupying the coveted post at IMF after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan
'The rupee falling from 69 to 72 was not normal or justified by the fundamentals.' 'And therefore I treat this as temporary.'
The IL&FS management is also talking to its second-largest shareholder, Orix Corporation of Japan, to infuse more funds into the company - in case any shareholder backs out during the rights issue.
Sources said valuation of all these assets was an ongoing process, and the mode and manner of disposal would be decided on a case-by-case basis
After the April-July fiscal deficit data was released on August 31, several analysts hinted that the government may need to go for cuts in capital expenditure to meet the fiscal deficit target.
Finance ministry tells PM fiscal deficit target will be met, capex expenditure won't be cut and GDP growth will surpass 7.5%.
Direct tax collections grew by a meagre 6.6 per cent during April-July of the current financial year against the Budget target of 14.4 per cent for 2018-19. Corporation taxes, in particular, grew at just 0.57 per cent, the lowest in the first four months in at least seven years.
The major beneficiaries have been the ministries of roads and highways, railways and power