After books by a former media adviser to the Prime Minister and a top bureaucrat, a member of the outgoing Planning Commission has added grist to the mill saying it was Sonia Gandhi who called the shots on all appointments and policies of UPA governments.
Batting for the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry, the Planning Commission on Friday said concessions to special economic zones should be at par with those provided to infrastructure projects.\n\n
The Planning Commission may suggest an increase in education fees for higher education to Finance Minister P Chidambaram this year. Do you think this hike is justified?
The government will also set up an IIM at Shillong.
As part of the initiative, Planning Commission is organising a one-day conference on 'Building Infrastructure: Opportunities and Challenges' on October 7.
'All of us have believed in decentralisation. You may not like property taxation, neither do I. My solution is that the Centre does the tax collection, but we can give a matching grant instead of redistribution,' says the outgoing CEA, Arvind Subramanian.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday warned that sector-specific regulators could become 'tension points' between them and the ministries and said there should be a common regulator for transport and energy sectors.
Both sides have already agreed on restructuring of the schemes and curtailing the subsidy bill, Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting.
India may be trying to become a crude oil refining hub but the country's apex planning body has raised doubts on the feasibility of adding more refining capacity.
Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, was informally recommended to the post by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Economist Arvind Panagariya is the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, while economist Bibek Debroy and scientist V K Saraswat are the two full-time members of the Aayog.
Though there is a demand from the states for continuance of the 75:25 funding pattern under the SSA, at present, the Plan panel is not considering the pattern change.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the country would need to spend eight per cent of its GDP on the sector during the 11th Plan to ensure a 10 per cent economic growth.
Officials said as part of the reorganisation in the Commission, a move is afoot to strengthen the PEO with new roles, powers and jurisdiction.
Ahluwalia said that emerging markets would need to focus more on FDI and bonds among other measures to make up for the fall in bank credit.
After Raj Babbar's comment -- that a hearty meal in Mumbai can be bought for Rs 12 -- another Congress leader on Thursday claimed that just Rs 5 was sufficient for a meal in Delhi.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia says investors are aware the government is addressing various problems in the economy.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said investment in infrastructure will have to be about $350 billion in the next five years to propel overall growth of economy to over 8 per cent.
Six activists belonging to Communist Party of India-Marxist and its youth wing Students Federation of India, including two women, were arrested in New Delhi on Monday for allegedly assaulting West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission office two weeks back.
The Planning Commission in its draft approach paper to the 11th five year plan would stress on doubling agricultural growth and bridging regional imablances among other things.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat account for 85 per cent of India's maize production.
It is likely to take at least six months for the proposed new state of Telangana to see the light of the day as the move involves a number of steps, including adoption of state re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority.
The tug of war between the finance ministry and the Planning Commission over more resources for plan projects worsened, with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia saying he was keen on getting more money for the 11th Plan.
Major economic policy reforms in India that require legislative changes is most likely to slip away until the next general elections, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday.
This is more than double the money that the state got during the Xth plan.
Ahluwalia also said that markets in India has withstood the pressures of the time very well and has come a long way over the years.
The Planning Commission and the finance ministry have discordant views on the size of the 2007-08 Plan.
The pipeline for well-qualified and experienced policy economists at senior levels of government has broken, leading to a growing dearth of suitable candidates for top economist positions.
Communist Party of India-Marxist's student wing Students Federation of India on Thursday claimed that none of its activists were involved in the heckling of West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra in New Delhi and described the incident as "unfortunate".
The government has plans for the third round of spectrum auction and may put on block 2G GSM airwaves in Delhi and Mumbai circles, and CDMA spectrum in 13 circles that remained unsold in the previous sale held in March, according to sources.
According to reports, the Trinamool Congress workers are staging rallies, holding protests in Kolkata and other parts of the state to protest against the SFI attack on their leaders.
An upset West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday cancelled her scheduled meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and left for Kolkata, a day after she was gheraoed and her minister Amit Mitra manhandled by Left protesters in New Delhi.
Delhi Police have registered a case against unknown persons for manhandling West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission office.
Violence has erupted in Bengal on Tuesday after Students' Federation of India activists heckled West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra.
Urban households having car, air conditioners or computer/laptop with internet should be automatically excluded from the list of poor, suggested a Planning Commission-appointed expert group.
The Planning Commission on Thursday said the surge in global oil prices should be passed on to customers, but favoured having some provisions to safeguard the interests of vulnerable sections of the society.
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