Armed with permission to issue Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) of tax-free bonds in 2011-12, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will issue the first lot worth Rs 2,500 crore by mid-May.
While India won't be immune to global spillovers, we need to create the macro preconditions for sustained growth. Policy agility, prudence, and resilience will be key, suggests Sonal Varma.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday hinted that value added tax might not take off as scheduled in June as not all states have agreed to its implementation.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on the Food Security Bill.
The Bill at best makes the existing public distribution system a legal right, an aspect that seems of little consequence to the lords of high finance, whose primary anxiety is the FSB-by-numbers.
Jaitley promised the states that they would be fully compensated for any loss of revenue arising from implementation of GST.
'He is exposing the failings of the BJP, which is rankling the party.'
Investors need to evaluate how they stack up against other high credit quality fixed-income options before putting money in them.
A comprehensive Bill on insurance sector is likely to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Friday. \n
The 47th GST Council meeting that is currently underway is slated to discuss a host of issues, including a mechanism for compensating states for revenue loss, tax rate tweaks in some items and relaxed registration norms for small online suppliers. Further, the meeting of the Council, chaired by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, will also clear levying the highest tax of 28 per cent on online games, casinos and horse racing, besides, measures to curb tax evasion, especially devising ways to tackle high-risk taxpayers in GST. "The meeting is being chaired by Hon'ble Union Minister of Finance @nsitharaman and many important decisions are expected to be taken at the meet," PIB Chandigarh tweeted.
Unable to comprehend the deliberations in English in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has sought an interpreter for himself from the next meeting.
The joint drafting committee on Lokpal bill on Saturday had its first meeting when civil society representatives presented a new draft of the legislation to the government with both sides expressing hope that the new law will be brought in the monsoon session of Parliament.
The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday said they would oppose the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form at an all-party meeting convened by the government and stick to their demand for separate quotas for women from the minority community, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. the meeting has been convened by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is Leader of Lok Sabha, to find a way out of the impasse on the bill.
"I came in between" Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday, taking a dig at the leaders of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party who had formed a coalition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took up the four bills related to the GST, with the Opposition urging the government to insulate taxpayers from harassment and questioning how the new regime was "ideal" when 40 per cent of the revenue base of the GDP was kept out of its purview.
India, the world's largest edible oil importer, on Wednesday slashed customs duty on RBD Palm oil to 70 per cent from 85 per cent but traders here said it is unlikely to have any significant impact on imports.
In the Upper House of Parliament, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow adjournment notices moved by opposition members on the issue of price rise, prompting members of the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Shiv Sena to create an uproar.
'If something unfortunate happens to an earning member, the family loses the crucial income which would have gone towards paying off debts, meeting the cost of children's higher education, or towards the upkeep of elderly parents.'
Life insurers have decided to pass on service tax to customers. The chief financial officers of life insurance companies met last Wednesday and have decided to pass on the service tax burden to customers, confirmed officials of various life insurance companies.
Says govt is creating conditions for greater private investment
Select committees of the House have already submitted their reports
In a significant development, India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank, sources said. The fund has been set up to finance critical investments in a bid to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It was created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
The government on Friday asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to suggest ways to curb its rising subsidy bill on food, fertiliser and petroleum products without hurting the targetted population.
Seeking to give a big push to the Lokpal Bill, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to all political parties to support the legislation saying it is a "very very powerful instrument" in the fight against corruption.
Kumaraswamy's father HD Deve Gowda also downplayed GT Devegowda's comment.
One of the bold proposals in the Finance Bill, 2007, is amendments in the law relating to valuation of imported and export goods
The BJP alleges that the U C Banerjee Committee Report, which described the train fire as an accident, was made public with an eye on the polls.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had came out with a host of proposals last month.
Revised draft model Bill clearly says an agriculturist for the purpose of agriculture won't be liable for registration under GST.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said the government would introduce the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill that will simplify direct tax laws, in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning July 26.
Following is the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks at the all party meeting on the Lokpal issue in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
While going back to the old bill is only a face saver, there is little in the bill that will excite industry or the markets, says Shishir Asthana.
Under the Goods and Services Tax, effective midnight of June 30, most of the financial services would attract a higher tax of 18 per cent as against 15 per cent as of now.
The first step in tax saving through family tax planning is to adopt the concept of divide and rule. The simple rule is that each family member must have his or her independent source of income so as to legally become an independent tax payer under the provisions of the income tax law. Under the income tax law it is not possible to arbitrarily divide one's income amongst different members of the family - and then pay lower tax in the names of different family members.
Currently, the select committee is considering the Bill.
The commerce ministry is proposing a host of direct and indirect incentives such as deferral of import duties and exemption from export taxes to revamp Special Economic Zones through a new legislation, an official said. In the Union Budget this year, the government proposed to replace the existing law governing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with a new legislation to enable states to become partners in 'Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs' (DESH). The official said the commerce ministry has sought views of different ministries, including finance, on the new bill.
