According to sources in the government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is firmly against activist Anna Hazare's demand for formally constituting a joint committee, with representatives from the civil society and the government, to draft a strong anti-corruption bill. Hazare has been on an indefinite fast in New Delhi since Wednesday to press for his demand.Mukherjee has stopped the government from issuing a notification to make the joint committee formal.
Cong leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, former Prez Pranab Mukherjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as well as CMs of six states to be present at the occasion.
To narrow the gap, corporates should join hands with the state and Central governments to create healthcare facilities through their social responsibility activities, he said.
Critics call fiscal deficit projections ambitious; government to meet Opposition, chief ministers to discuss issues after Budget session
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee attributed the 4.78 per cent spurt in inflation in November to rising prices of food articles. "Inflation has risen high mainly because prices of food articles have gone up," Mukherjee said.
Congress on Wednesday said Rahul Gandhi is the "future" of the party and the country, echoing senior leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's sentiments that he is going to be a "new leader" of the party.
India's economy is poised to grow by 7.5 per cent this fiscal and will top 8.5 per cent in the next fiscal on the back of a strong industrial recovery, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.
Some persons with accounts in a Swiss bank have paid taxes amounting to about Rs 180 crore so far, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said in Parliament. He did not disclose any name.
R Gopalan has been appointed as Secretary Economic Affairs. He will hold this position, in addition to his current charge as Secretary Financial Services.
The much-awaited talks to finalise the seat-sharing issue between Congress and Trinamool Congress for the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal ended inconclusively in Kolkata on Tuesday night.
'I think we will be able able to inspire confidence in the minds of prospective investors,' says Mukherjee.
The move comes in the backdrop of a slowdown in the foreign direct investments and its impact on the current account deficit.
At present, when Indian corporates declare dividends, a dividend distribution tax is slapped at 15 per cent.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shared with industry leaders in New Delhi on Sunday, his government's intent to wind down stimulus measures next year, Mukherjee told reporters in St Andrews, Scotland, that he had already told Parliament high fiscal deficit was not sustainable in the long run.
The Union Budget stepped up plan allocation for the health sector by 20 per cent with a focus on health insurance, which Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced would be extended now to unorganised sector workers in hazardous mining and associated industries.
Government has set up a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to streamline the financial sector laws.
Concerned over the misuse of subsidies provided under various schemes, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the government will provide a direct cash subsidy on kerosene and fertilisers to the poor from March next year.
Congress sources have told rediff.com that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will replace Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday, as home minister. The announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of hours after the all-party meeting called to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks.
State-owned oil firms have seen their losses on diesel sales widen to over Rs 6 per litre, even as a ministerial panel meeting on raising prices has not yet been scheduled.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday urged the states to strengthen PDS to enable the government insulate the poor from the adverse impact of inflation.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee late on Wednesday night rebutted the charges by Team Anna that he had told them the Gandhian's health was not government's concern, saying the remarks were "distorted."
Factory output growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production, fell sharply to 1.8 per cent in December 2011, from 8.1 per cent a year ago, mainly on account of contraction in mining, capital goods and poor growth in manufacturing sector.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the medium-term outlook for the economy is bright and presents an excellent opportunity to take the growth process forward.
Some tax reliefs are proposed to be announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, amid demands from various Opposition parties to review service tax proposal for the housing sector in the budget.
The emphasis would be on curbing subsidies and promoting private sector investment by continuing stimulus measures.
Inflation has remained stubbornly close to double-digit levels during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Ministries seek more discussions, Cabinet defers decision.
Expressing concern over rising inflation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said both the government and the central bank are working in tandem to bring it down to a comfortable level.
The government plans to borrow Rs 4.17 lakh crore (Rs 4.17 trillion) from the market. Last year it had borrowed Rs 4.47 lakh crore (Rs 4.47 trillion).
Brushing aside speculations of tension with ally Trinamool Congress, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said the two parties would form an alliance to fight the 2011 Assembly election.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will be meeting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to make a case for the extension of one of the most popular incentives to exporters, the Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme (DEPB), which is slated for expiry on June 30. DEPB is a duty reimbursement scheme, launched 14 years earlier.
Reflecting the growing strains in relations between the two United Progressive Alliance allies, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday criticised attempts of Trinamool Congress to marginalise Congress in West Bengal.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded an apology from the Opposition, accusing it of "destroying" Parliament after they rejected his offer of a special session to discuss the Joint Parliamentary Commitee issue on 2G scam.
In the Economic Survey, the government had projected that India's GDP growth would be between 8.75 per cent to 9.25 per cent this fiscal.
The hike in petrol price was necessitated because of increase in prices of crude oil in the international market, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
Food inflation numbers have moderated every week since early November when it stood at double-digit.
It is believed that a large majority of them are third country investors which use the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention with Mauritius for saving capital gains tax.
A new Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and the existing one withdrawn.
Going by the current pace, UIDAI seems unlikely to meet the target of issuing a million Aadhaar numbers a day to cover half the country by 2013.
