The ministry of civil aviation will seek a complete rollback of service tax levied on domestic air travel in the recent Budget, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday.In his Budget speech on February 26, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed a service tax of 10 per cent on both domestic and international travel. Earlier, the service tax was restricted only for international travel.
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.
Exudes confidence that RBI's rate cut move will revive investments and business sentiment; India to get $6.25-bn ADB assistance over three years
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the 25 basis points rate hike by the Reserve Bank will help in moderating inflation to a comfortable level without hurting growth.
"The commitment to moderate levels of inflation has led to higher interest rates. In this environment, banks need to keep a strong vigil on their asset quality. These are turbulent times and we should watch every step that we take," Mukherjee said at 106th foundation day of Bank of India in New Delhi.
A senior official in the finance ministry said the Central Board of Direct Taxes addressed the nine areas of concern in the Code identified by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the economic recovery led by a robust revival in industrial growth is still not broad-based and is primarily guided by government stimulus measures.
The delegation, which was led by Communist Party of India-Marxist member of the Parliament Basudeb Acharia, told Mukherjee that the urban cooperative banks have been put to 'extreme hardship' due to the hefty 30 per cent tax on profits.
He also said an impressive industrial growth of 16.8 per cent in December suggests the economy will grow by over 7.5 per cent in 2009-10 and over 8 per cent in the next fiscal.
Several of these measures have cooled down the rate of price increase in cereals and pulses, Mukherjee told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Accepting a major demand of the cash-strapped aviation industry, the government on Tuesday said it would soon launch the process to allow foreign airlines 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers.
The Union Budget is in the wings. While economists, analysts and political pundits are busy making predictions about the biggest annual financial event in the country, common people are no less interested either.
Meeting on Tuesday to decide on letting foreign airlines buy into domestic ones.
The Individual tax payer exemption limit to be raised to Rs 200,000 from Rs 180,000.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Veerappa Moily will oversee the smooth transition of power in Andhra Pradesh.
The GoM has proposed that 26 per cent of the net profit of mining projects should go to the displaced tribals and other affected locals.
The Union finance ministry has set up a special investigation unit to 'regulate' the funding and donations made to political parties.
The Finance Ministry should encourage local manufacturing of currency paper to check counterfeits and exempt its production from excise duty, a high level committee has said.
In the Budget 2011-12, the government had announced a gross borrowing of Rs 4.17 lakh crore (Rs 4.17 trillion) from the market, lower than Rs 4.47 lakh crore (Rs 4.47 trillion) during last fiscal.
Vikas Khemani, President & Head-Institutional Equities, Edelweiss Securities, feels Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee could really make Union Budget 2012-13 an important one.
Expressing regret over the fact that Parliament was not functioning smoothly despite the government's best efforts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday sought constructive cooperation from all parties to make the House live up to the role the founding fathers envisioned for it. "It is unfortunate that despite our best efforts, Parliament has not been running smoothly," Dr Singh said while giving the K Karunakaran Award to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Taking exception to the government's 'comparative' analysis of the two drafts of the Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare team on Monday asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to treat both its versions as the joint drafting committee's outcome enjoying 'equal weightage'.
Finance ministry sources said Mukherjee merely pointed out to the Lok Sabha Secretariat that any change in salaries has to go through a process under the ministry of finance, while Lok Sabha sources expressed ignorance about the finance ministry raising any objection.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this while presenting the Union Budget for 2010-11 in the Parliament on Friday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this while presenting the Union Budget for 2010-11 in the Parliament on Friday.
Tells finance ministry to allow companies a five-year timeframe
Among those attending the meeting from the government side were Defence Minister AK Anthony, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. The Left parties were represented by the Communist Party of India's A B Bardhan and D Raja, and the CPI-M by Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri
The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet is unlikely to take any final call on the partial revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act as proposed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, top government sources told rediff.com.
The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet is unlikely to take any final call on the partial revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act as proposed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, top government sources told rediff.com.
Banerjee wants the two top leaders of the United Progressive Alliance to nudge the Planning Commission into including some of her most important initiatives in the Railway Budget.
Mitra will take over from P V Bhide after January 31.
Pranab Mukherjee will begin the fortnight-long pre-budget brainstorming sessions with various stakeholders.
The five-day meeting, whose pre-plenary sessions began today, will provide a platform for high-level discussion and co-operation and would evaluate the progress by APG members in implementing the international standards to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, a statement said.
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 will hold a pre-Budget discussion with state governments on January 13.
The government on Tuesday said inflation is not an immediate concern and will continue with the fiscal stimulus measures till the economy recovers fully.
From withdrawing the stimulus to implementing the Finance Commission proposals, the FM has his task cut out.
The US corporate world wanted India to address issues relating to foreign investment in infrastructure and insurance sectors.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday conferred with his top colleagues as Uttar Pradesh government sought nearly 50,000 central paramilitary personnel for tackling any possible law and order problem after the Allahabad high court judgment next month in the Ayodhya title dispute.
Team Anna on Saturday clubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with 13 other cabinet ministers, whom they accused of corruption, which the Congress dismissed as "unsubstantiated averments" that need not be responded to.
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