No longer Bengal's finance minister, Amit Mitra, Mamata's principal chief advisor, will still advise and aid the 'chief minister and finance department on all matters relating to management of state finance', represent the 'state government in national and international events/meetings/committees' and examine 'important proposals/files and policy issues relating to financial matters referred to him for advice/views'.
Later on while speaking to the reporters, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP legislators were forced to stage protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.
Expressing commitment to augment the country's infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed to significantly enhance capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetizing assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Sitharaman said NIP, that was launched in December 2019 with 6,835 projects, has now been expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure ministries have been completed. "For 2021-22, I propose a sharp increase in capital expenditure and thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE of 2020-21," the finance minister said.
The economics and pricing of the Covishield vaccines and the government's own decision to pay higher prices raise more than a few questions, observes Prosenjit Datta.
During his visit to Modi's home state Gujarat, Trump along with the Indian prime minister would participate in a grand roadshow, planned along a 10-km decked-up stretch from the Ahmedabad airport to the Sabarmati Ashram. The US president would then visit the Sabarmati Ashram and then address a gathering, likely to be attended by over one lakh people.
With the farmers' protest against the three new laws and in support of legalising the minimum support price (MSP) going strong, state governments have announced a slew of measures in their annual Budgets to placate farmers. The Centre kicked things off in the Union Budget by assuring farmers that the MSP would continue and coming out with a report card to demonstrate its commitment. However, these efforts don't seem to have yielded tangible results. In their respective Budgets, states chose to go a step further by announcing a variety of measures.
The Union government's role and the prices announced by the vaccine makers raises far too many disquieting questions, observes Prosenjit Datta.
Though COVID-19 will wreak more damage to the finances of the Indian population, the insurance sector is unlikely to get hurt.
The Delhi assembly has chosen former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha as 'margdarshak' to guide the city government's budget.
'Gaganyaan' is set for December 2021 launch and is likely to include a woman astronaut.
To meet the revised estimates for 2019-20, the central government will have to garner Rs 5.03 trillion in total revenues in March, which has seen the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic so far and the resultant lockdown.
After a marathon discussion lasting nine hours, the motion was defeated with 87 members opposing it and 40 supporting in the 140-member house with two vacancies.
When emerging from this crisis, the govt must consider a fresh approach to reviving growth, revisiting the Centre-state fiscal balance, and devising a re-imagined GST 2.0, suggests T N Ninan.
Congress members also vociferously pressed for a discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General report.
Mayawati said marvelous memorials and parks built to honour "ignored" gurus and sants born in Dalit and OBC communities are a new grand identity and tourist attractions in the state.
The BJP said it will seek a floor test in the Madhya Pradesh assembly on March 16.
Parrikar has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment for the last one year and has undergone treatment in the United States as well as at AIIMS Delhi and a private hospital in Mumbai.
Parrikar, who is suffering from pancreatic ailment, presented a revenue surplus state budget sitting on his chair in the state assembly, with a tube inserted through his nose.
The shortfall in the Centre's GST collections has raised concerns over it meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP, reports Ishan Bakshi.
This permission was given some time late last month, before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 31 issued the indicative borrowing calendar for the states for April-June and the one for the Centre for April-September.
The Karnataka CM with only 37 JD-S MLAs in the assembly is on shaky ground and overly dependent on the Congress for every decision, reports Bibhu Ranjan Mishra.
India's rank in the World Bank's ease of doing business index cannot get better unless more attention is paid to bringing about procedural reforms in the way states run their governments and provide various approvals for trade and industry, says A K Bhattacharya.
Siddaramaiah announces free LGP gas, universal health scheme in budget
As FY20 Budget fiscal measures need to be better understood, a reversal of the stance back to neutral will allow MPC flexibility to respond to incoming data.
Kishor, who has been vocal about his opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), said Kumar needs to spell out whether he is with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi or those who support Nathu Ram Godse.
Earlier, the Uttarakhand high court had refused to quash the ongoing CBI probe into the sting operation, following which the agency had summoned the chief minister.
The bench made it clear the tentative view was expressed by it as the matter would take some time for hearing.
Attacking the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday took potshots at the Congress, saying 'Hand' (the party's symbol) betrayed the state's interests.
The state has close to 280,000 employees and 180,000 pensioners.
The six-time MLA, who holds the record of presenting the most number of state Budgets (14 times), on Tuesday resigned from the primary membership of BJP before filing his nomination papers for the post of Speaker.
At his pre-Budget consultations with Finance Ministers of states, he is understood to have said that it was time to wrap up lose ends on GST.
The ripples from November 8 may be seen in next year's state budgets.
For the sake of transparency, and to reduce undesirable bond market volatility, clarity on these would be welcome, preferably before the budgets for the next fiscal year get finalised, says Neelkanth Mishra.
With an eye on next year's panchayat polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday showered more sops on the Muslim community, including new loan schemes and an employment bank. The announcement comes days after she declared a monthly honorarium and housing subsidy for imams in the state.
Despite Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis' ambitious plan, 40 per cent of the state is reeling from drought and its water tanker economy is booming. As of February 2019, the state government declared drought in 151 of the 358 talukas.
The state government has decided to seek suggestions and views of common men in formulating the 2012-13 state budget. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is also the Finance Minister, said the government has decided to invite written and online suggestions from people, in order to ensure their participation in the budget making process.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in New Delhi has managed to quieten B S Yeddyurappa, who has been demanding his reinstatement as Karnataka chief minister, at least for now. Further talks on leadership change in state can only take place on April 1, the former CM was told.
This race among parties to woo the farmers mainly stems from the analysis of political pundits that the peasant class played a crucial role in the defeat of the BJP in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.
Can the newly-minted Jal Shakti ministry bring water to some 19 crore Indian households that have never had taps or heard the sound of flowing water, wonders Vinayak Chatterjee.
The central government has announced national mourning on Monday.
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