The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
Sale of expensive sarees rose by 1,751 per cent while consumption of honey by 380 per cent.
There are a couple of proposals, however, whose goals are not easily achievable.
'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?'
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 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.'
Jaitley has managed the difficult feat of sticking to the fiscal correction.
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.
The larger virtue of maintaining fiscal credibility should not be unduly diluted by quibbles on the fiscal math, says Sajjid Chinoy.
Mr Jaitley should devise methods to attract better talents at the higher level.
Dilip Kumar Jha explains what the buyers must do to protect their own interest.
Counting of votes would be take place on March 3
There were heightened expectations from Budget 2017 after the impact of note ban on different sections but most remain unfulfilled.
'A lot will depend on the first Aayog and the power it derives.'
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 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.
Senior bureaucrats say the government has planned a 'feel-good' Budget after the 'pain' of demonetisation.
Over the past six months Rajasthan has introduced some of India's most radical free-market labour, land and welfare reform.
'So why didn't the police make it very clear that this is the line of investigation, this is what we are doing.' 'Nobody knows what kind of report was done.' 'Was she checked for (sexual assault)?'
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.
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.
'If the museum in his memory inspires and instils among Brahminical British Indians an attitude of equality towards Dalits, the edifice would be worth it,' reports Ashis Ray.
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
The Budget has to provide for capex on roads, railways, defence and other infrastructure sectors.
Digital campaigns compared to billboards or even print ads not only have the power to reach wider audiences but also reduce the campaign costs. The focus on social media by political parties at election time, therefore, is hardly misplaced.
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.'
'When corporates have a stake in the government through contributions to political parties, democracy, which is supposed to work for the common man, doesn't.'
'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.
''Even without major reforms, with a business as usual scenario, and with current inflation trends, we should be clocking around 11 to 12 per cent nominal growth.' 'That is not happening and is a source of worry,' Rathin Roy tells Arup Roychoudhury.
For India, it is business as usual with the government muddling along.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Whatever happens in any part of the world affects us.'
The more market driven the economy becomes, the more its government sector should function in its basics like the rest of the economy.
The higher salaries and pension outgo will be equivalent to about one per cent of the GDP.
As a percentage of the military budget, the navy's share has fallen from 19 per cent in 2010-2011 to just 15.5 per cent this year. With the Indian Navy's annual budget declining steadily, security planners are reluctant to green light crucial projects, discovers Ajai Shukla.
The probe into selections for banks such as Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank followed the arrest of Syndicate Bank CMD S K Jain for alleged graft.
The counting for all five states will be held on March 11.
'We are looking at the Budget with the hope that it will address all issues even at the cost of exceeding the fiscal deficit target.'
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