Congress President Sonia Gandhi will not be attending the swearing-in of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal Chief Minister in Kolkata on Friday.
The Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday hoped that the steps taken by the government and those by the Reserve Bank of India would bring the inflation down to six percent by the end of this financial year.
India's economy will revert to the pre-crisis growth level of 9 per cent in the next financial year.
The finance ministry has offered less than half of the Rs 31,700 crore (Rs 317 billion) sought by the oil ministry to make up for revenue losses incurred by the state-owned retailers on sale of LPG and kerosene. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Thursday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to seek compensation for the public sector oil firms for their losses but the meeting remained inconclusive.
The manual, released by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, details various aspects about the Budget, including the constitutional provisions, structure of government accounts and budget preparation.
The money, together with disinvestment proceeds, is crucial for Mukherjee to meet his fiscal deficit target of 5.5 per cent for 2010-11 from 6.7 per cent in 2009-10.
Attacking the government over the issue of price rise, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Wednesday if the United Progressive Alliance dispensation was sincere in addressing the "burning issue" they should agree on a discussion in Parliament under a provision that entails voting.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said that the Budget 20010-11 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is in line with the path of fiscal consolidation and economic revival.
Mukherjee could not implement nine of the promises he made in his Budget for 2009-10 and most of these pertained to significant areas of the economy.
The TERC, which comprises, among others Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, will also review the state of play in the Doha Round of talks for a multilateral trade agreement under the aegis of World Trade Organization, sources said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday stuck to his conservative estimate of economic growth at 8.5 per cent this fiscal and said the economy will be on the high expansion path at 9 per cent in 2011-12.
Quoting medieval India's political thinker Kautilya as well as Mahatma Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday punctuated his Budget speech with words of wisdom, wit and humour.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the Euro Zone crisis is impacting the country's growth and will hurt exports in coming months.
Amid rupee's free fall and slowdown in western markets, the government is likely to announce incentives in the foreign trade policy (FTP), scheduled for June 5, to boost exports.
The issue of controversial cartoons in textbooks generated heat in the Lok Sabha with members demanding immediate action in the matter saying the sketch has hurt sentiments of a section of the society.
The Congress core group met at the prime minister's residence late on Wednesday night and weighed options to deal with the demand made by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to sack Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
The government is considering to roll back 10 per cent excise duty on branded garments, due to large scale protest by industry bodies in many parts of the country, including West Bengal, which goes to polls next month.
Borrowing at 29 paise will account for the largest share of every rupee that the government will use for financing the Union Budget 2010-11, while will it spend the most - 21 paise - on central plan.
The ministry wanted to use spectrum in the 700-MHz band for mobile TV services.
Move is to encourage investment in the infrastructure sector.
Grappling with the situation arising out of Anna Hazare's fast, the government on Tuesday held hectic consultations to find a way out of the logjam with Team Anna demanding that it mandate somebody officially for opening a political dialogue on the Lokpal issue.
'Life has been full of rewards, full of sadness.'
Hints at taking support from Opposition if allies continue to show reservations
A Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejree is likely to meet on Monday to vet London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources' $ 9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India.
Accusing the Opposition of not allowing the government to put forth its views in Parliament on Anna Hazare's detention, two senior ministers on Tuesday said such an attitude was "not fair" in a parliamentary system. Leader of the Lok Sabha and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Opposition created a pandemonium in Parliament forcing its adjournment.
At a meeting of the Institute of International Finance, a global association of financial institutions, Standard Chartered Bank Chief Economist, Gerard Lyons, raised doubts over the Centre's projections of reducing fiscal deficit from 2010-11's estimate of 5.1 per cent. "I am skeptical whether fiscal deficit can be reduced as planned," he said.
In the pre-budget Economic Survey 2010-11, the Union finance ministry made a strong pitch for the pro-growth impact of investment in human capital adding, "fortunately, there is awareness of this in India and efforts are afoot in terms of budgetary allocation and actual initiatives to boost the development of skill and human capital."
In a big relief from cumbersome tax filing process for the salaried class, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday proposed to exempt them from filing tax returns unless they have other sources of income.
With a high-powered ministerial panel on fuel pricing being scrapped, a cabinet committee may consider raising the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy indicated on Wednesday but refused to say when the issue would be taken up.
Refusing to swayed by the International Monetary Fund 's growth projection of around 9.5 per cent for 2010, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said he would be happy if the economy clocks a growth rate of over 8.5 per cent in the current fiscal.
This will be the last visit of Zoellick as President of World Bank as he is retiring on June 30.
Budget 2011-12 is likely to announce significant measures to deepen the corporate bond market. Among the several measures on the government's agenda is allowing banks to provide guarantees for bonds issued by companies.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made it clear that the government would not travel the path of unbridled divestment. The 10 per cent cap on offloading shares of profit-making public-sector undertakings (PSUs) would stay for the next four years, as Mukherjee said he preferred a cautious approach towards divestment.
The first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks on Thursday saw Leader of the Opposition L K Advani expressing concern over the relief to the victims and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hitting back, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of exploiting the 26/11 terror attacks for political gains
The National Advisory Council, headed by United Progressive Alliance Chairman Sonia Gandhi, will also meet on Thursday to look at the Food Security Bill, a crucial component of the second UPA government's promise to provide cheap and plentiful food to the poor.
As the role of the powers-that-be in the government comes under the scanner, pressure is being mounted on the two ED officers investigating the 2G case from the highest level, particularly the finance ministry.
The empowered group of ministers has been reconstituted after Pranab Mukherjee, who was heading it, resigned as Finance Minister to contest the Presidential elections.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday the Reserve Bank of India's move to keep almost all rates unchanged is line with the discussions he had with the apex bank's governor and the government's thinking on fiscal and monetary policies.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
Last year, the World Bank Group launched South-South Experience Exchange Facility to promote the idea that the development sucesses in one country can pull people out of poverty in another.
