'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
'There will always be hiccups given that the Namami Gange programme is spread over different sectors and involves several agencies.'
There is a link between objectives and commitments.
Economists expect Modi to announce big-bang reforms.
At a pre-Budget meeting, the FM was asked to ensure that NBFCs come out of the liquidity crisis they are facing with the help of RBI. They also spoke about the futility of trying to achieve a 3 per cent fiscal deficit target over the medium term.
Against a turbulent and uncertain background, Budget 2017-18 hewed a steady, forward-looking course, says Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the government.
Jagdish Chhokar, founder-member of the Association for Democratic Reforms says there should be a law to regulate the functioning of political parties.
'Growth is predicated on the misery of large sections of people.' 'Maybe Hindutva will be used to suppress any such unrest.'
'Will 'Make in India' be able to harness the demographic dividend so it does not become a disaster?' 'Will 'Digital India' live up to the lofty promises the government and private sector made as part of its recent launch?'
BJP's reversals in rural Gujarat has prompted many policy watchers to predict that the Budget would have incentives for the agriculture sector and the rural economy.
'If some measures are implemented quickly, they can help revive growth.'
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
There are a couple of proposals, however, whose goals are not easily achievable.
Mahesh Vijapurkar is hopeful that two Supreme Court directives and Gopinath Munde's confession that he spent Rs 8 crore to get elected to the Lok Sabha may lead to a possibility that the processes administered by the Election Commission may get cleaner, even if only over time.
Allowing it to lapse leaves you unprotected and can, in some cases, cause loss of premiums paid, experts tell Sanjay Kumar Singh.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
Jaitley has managed the difficult feat of sticking to the fiscal correction.
The FRBM report, to be submitted on Tuesday, is likely to have 'excuse clauses', absolving the government of meeting its fiscal commitments under certain conditions such as war or conflict, global economic meltdowns or natural disasters.
The larger virtue of maintaining fiscal credibility should not be unduly diluted by quibbles on the fiscal math, says Sajjid Chinoy.
Sitharaman said the government will bring in a new national education policy to transform India's higher education system into one of the best in the world.
Mr Jaitley should devise methods to attract better talents at the higher level.
Sale of expensive sarees rose by 1,751 per cent while consumption of honey by 380 per cent.
Of the seven surveys presented under Modi govt, predictions of three were quite close to the actual GDP growth rate, one saw the base year change in between, but the last three were way off the mark.
'A lot will depend on the first Aayog and the power it derives.'
There were heightened expectations from Budget 2017 after the impact of note ban on different sections but most remain unfulfilled.
Dilip Kumar Jha explains what the buyers must do to protect their own interest.
Counting of votes would be take place on March 3
The SBI said its officials were ferrying Rs 570 crore after the Reserve Bank of India asked them to, to address a temporary cash shortage in Andhra Pradesh.
Over the past six months Rajasthan has introduced some of India's most radical free-market labour, land and welfare reform.
It would be a good idea to create independent oversight committees for each regulatory institution and indeed, even for their appellate bodies, says A K Bhattacharya.
'... the government provides adequate cash and kind support for the poorest of the poor for survival... ...conditional cash and skilling support for the economically poor to raise their incomes to adequate levels... ...and make functional arrangements for providing unemployment allowance to the vulnerable poor during disasters like the present one.'
Senior bureaucrats say the government has planned a 'feel-good' Budget after the 'pain' of demonetisation.
The former finance minister also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the words he chose to attack his predecessor Manmohan Singh, saying he should remember that the Chair he sat on was used by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee and hence he should use right language.
The Budget has to provide for capex on roads, railways, defence and other infrastructure sectors.
A chunk of divestment till now has come from follow-on offerings in the Centre's two ETFs, Bharat-22 and CPSE. Now, there will be initial public offerings of Mazagon Docks, rail companies RVNL and IRFC and MSTC.
The extra borrowing implies Jaitley will have extra spending space in the Union Budget for FY19, the last full one before the 2019 general election
Structural changes to government finances could be focus of the Union Budget, says Mihir S Sharma.
Analysts mostly prefer domestic plays beside select films with foreign exposure.
'Assuming the official defence allocations represent the true picture, the $142 billion figure still represents a phenomenal increase and surpasses that of Japan ($42 billion), India ($40 billion), South Korea ($33 billion) and several other Asian countries put together and shows that China is flexing its military muscle.'
'The diversity of geography and demography of India is truly reflected in the challenges faced during the election process.' 'International observers have never been encouraged in India. The internal system of monitoring by neutral and senior government officers has become time tested and proving to be very useful during elections.' We, at the Commission, have to continuously strive to do things right and make sure that we conduct elections which are credible and transparent,' India's Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath tells Radhika Rajamani/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
