Nitin Sethi &Amp;Amp; Abhishek Waghmare

Stories by Nitin Sethi &Amp;Amp; Abhishek Waghmare

'Climate change could push up cereal prices by 29%'

'Climate change could push up cereal prices by 29%'

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2019

A report authored by UN's panel of scientists from across the world on climate change and sent to the governments of 197 countries has ominous news on the climate change front.

PAN cards not linked to Aadhaar will be cancelled from Sep 1

PAN cards not linked to Aadhaar will be cancelled from Sep 1

Rediff.com   11 Jul 2019

To validate and continue using the existing PAN cards, citizens will have to link them to Aadhaar. Or else, they will be permitted to use Aadhaar instead for filing returns and while making other high-value transactions, specified under the Income Tax Act.

Nirmala Sitharaman's first Budget puts brakes on some funds for states

Nirmala Sitharaman's first Budget puts brakes on some funds for states

Rediff.com   10 Jul 2019

Nirmala Sitharaman has designed the revenue mix in such a way that while Centre's share in taxes would grow a massive 25 per cent, states' share would grow a dismal 6 per cent.

Government's fuel tax earning explained in charts

Government's fuel tax earning explained in charts

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2019

Consumption of petrol and diesel will contribute more than half of the Centre's exclusive share in GST in FY20, reports Abhishek Waghmare

Budget 2019 - Is the Rs 6.63 trillion GST target too ambitious?

Budget 2019 - Is the Rs 6.63 trillion GST target too ambitious?

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2019

A well-established tax system would have a predictable buoyancy - how fast the collections grow as a proportion to the growth of the economy. But that is not the case with GST. It is still undergoing substantial changes as the government responds to structural as well as administrative glitches.

How Haryana govt helped Patanjali to buy lands illegally

How Haryana govt helped Patanjali to buy lands illegally

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2019

When agricultural holdings get fragmented over years, the state government has the power to step in and help farmers pool their land parcels for improving land productivity, after which the pooled land is divided up into larger plots. Instead of the fragments they hold, a farmer gets a single contiguous patch of an equal size. But, it is done only for agricultural holdings. In Kot village, however, the consolidation has been ordered for the entire village land, including the hilly forested commons, which are already pooled. This is not the first time that the Haryana government has attempted such a consolidation of Kot common lands.

Patanjali's maze of firms that do shady land dealing in Haryana

Patanjali's maze of firms that do shady land dealing in Haryana

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2019

Restricted by state government orders, the ownership of such land could not be formally registered, so the advances made continued to be reflected in the accounts as 'advances against land'.

How Patanjali 'broke' laws to acquire land in Aravalli hills

How Patanjali 'broke' laws to acquire land in Aravalli hills

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2019

The land acquisition, the consolidation process in Kot and a slew of other decisions by the Haryana government to open the hills to privatisation and commercial activity run contrary to court orders, environmentalists' demand, and at times the Union government's measures to protect the Aravalli hills, say Nitin Sethi & Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava.

Have banks passed on the benefits of RBI's rate cut?

Have banks passed on the benefits of RBI's rate cut?

Rediff.com   11 Jun 2019

In the last three years, public sector banks have responded to the RBI's policy rates more strongly than private banks.

Does the economy need fiscal stimulus? Debate rages on

Does the economy need fiscal stimulus? Debate rages on

Rediff.com   11 Jun 2019

The reform priorities are clear: enhance savings, improve productivity. Just 25 basis points of moving interest rate up or down would not boost investment: Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy.

Reimagining environmental governance won't be easy

Reimagining environmental governance won't be easy

Rediff.com   30 May 2019

Successive governments focused on altering the clearance processes but largely gave a pass to the second, and essential, element of environmental regulations for monitoring pollution levels and how industries followed conditions laid down for clearances.

2 steps East, 2 steps South helped BJP cross 300 mark

2 steps East, 2 steps South helped BJP cross 300 mark

Rediff.com   24 May 2019

Modi garners nearly 37% vote nationally, courtesy West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka and Telangana.

Realty hits green hurdle as NDA's reforms end up in court

Realty hits green hurdle as NDA's reforms end up in court

Rediff.com   16 May 2019

The ease with which city-level master plans are altered and land-use patterns changed without considering carrying capacities or the overall environmental footprint of urbanisation in different states has already created water and air pollution crises in several emerging and existing cities.

Explained: How service sector gained and govt actually lost revenue post GST

Explained: How service sector gained and govt actually lost revenue post GST

Rediff.com   10 May 2019

Across 10 prominent services, revenue to the government reduced by 20 per cent in the first year of GST compared to the last year of the service tax regime. This happened despite tax liability against these services growing by 50 per cent in one year.

In Solapur will Bhim-AIMIM combine end national parties' run?

In Solapur will Bhim-AIMIM combine end national parties' run?

Rediff.com   15 Apr 2019

'The Dalit vote traditionally went to the Congress, but everyone knows by now that the Congress and the BJP are the same. We all stand united behind Balasaheb (Prakash Ambedkar) this time.'

Why RBI's key panel expects inflation to stay low

Why RBI's key panel expects inflation to stay low

Rediff.com   11 Apr 2019

Data suggests that households too are expecting inflation to subside, with the three-month-ahead and the one-year-ahead expectations declining by 40 basis points, reports Abhishek Waghmare.

Railways to IAS: Where are the Women?

Railways to IAS: Where are the Women?

Rediff.com   4 Apr 2019

Women's representation in government jobs is less than 15%.

India's spending on space tripled in 10 years

India's spending on space tripled in 10 years

Rediff.com   28 Mar 2019

India's spending on space research almost tripled from Rs 4,163 crore in 2009-2010 to Rs 11,538 crore in 2018-2019.

Caution: You are still being watched!

Caution: You are still being watched!

Rediff.com   24 Mar 2019

The government claims the existing safeguards under the law are adequate, lawful, towards a legitimate purpose and provide for a "proportionate interference" in citizens' right to privacy, reports Nitin Sethi.

Pakistan has more women MPs than India

Pakistan has more women MPs than India

Rediff.com   22 Mar 2019

With just 11.8 per cent, the nation lags behind its neighbours and peers when it comes to women's representation in national legislatures.