The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea by jailed MP Rashid Engineer, facing trial in a terror funding case, seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Parliament session. Engineer, a Baramulla MP, was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who argued that he has no vested right to attend Parliament and there were security concerns. The court said though there might not be a vested right to attend the session, it could exercise its discretion. The NIA also argued that Rashid misused the telephone facility in Tihar jail and that allowing him to attend the session would be a security risk.
'The Budget needs to focus more on social welfare schemes.'
Reacting to the Interim Budget 2009-10 on Monday, the Bhartiya Janata Party claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government had failed to live up to the promises it made to the nation under its common minimum programme.
P Chidambaram presented the Budget for the 9th time.
The Indian government has come out with a nice name for its tried and tested 220MW pressurised heavy water reactor -- Bharat Small Reactor.
India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
The significant gainers in the interim sports budget are SAI, the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) and the corpus meant for giving incentives to sportspersons
While Communist Party of India-Marxist Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Interim Budget was nothing but a 'perorative' (lengthy and pompous) document and government had in fact lowered the expenditure on major social structure schemes, CPI leaders Gurudas Dasgupta and D Raja called it a 'lollipop' budget meant for the coming elections.
The 1.4% decline projected for 2025 is driven by a 5.6% (72,000) dip in the strength of railway employees to 1.2 million by next year.
The expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday and emphasised that the country's aviation sector has been galvanised in the past 10 years.
Fresh plans of privatisation or divestment in central public sector enterprises and public sector banks might take a back seat this financial year because these may require a large consensus among coalition partners.
'Personal income tax is growing by 27 per cent and most refunds have already been issued.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure and amenities will be taken up 'on our islands, including Lakshadweep' to address the 'emerging fervour' for domestic tourism in the country.
'... there are challenges to overcome and the country needs money for that.'
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
German car makers Audi and Mercedes-Benz on Monday cut prices by up to Rs 3.82 lakh, while Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra announced their intent to follow suit after Finance Minister P Chidambaram reduced excise on automobiles in the Interim Budget for 2014-15.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
Structural reforms, pro-people programmes and employment opportunities helped the economy get new vigour, the finance minister said. After contracting by 5.8 per cent in 2020-21, the economy recorded a growth of 9.1 per cent in 2021-22.
Presenting the interim budget for 2024-25, she said the government is working with an approach to ensure development that is all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive.
Goyal is expected to discuss the targets for the banks for 2019-20, as well as priority sector lending, recovery on non-performing assets, and the bankruptcy proceedings of various companies, which owe money to the banks.
The most worrying aspect of defence budgeting is that the military's long-term equipment planning is based on fundamentally flawed fiscal assumptions.
Watch all the the debates and proceedings.
'We crossed Rs 1.7 trillion in three months this financial year.'
The Delhi High Court granted two-day custody parole to jailed J&K MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, allowing him to attend the ongoing Parliament session. The court imposed certain restrictions on Rashid, including a ban on using a cellphone or addressing the media, and ordered that he be escorted by armed police personnel to and from the Lok Sabha. The decision came after a legal battle between the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which argued against the parole, and Rashid's lawyers, who highlighted the importance of his representation in Parliament during the budget session. Rashid's case is linked to funding separatist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and connections to designated terrorist Hafeez Saeed.
Nirmala Sitharaman has designed the revenue mix in such a way that while Centre's share in taxes would grow a massive 25 per cent, states' share would grow a dismal 6 per cent.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday proposed to borrow Rs 14.13 lakh crore by issuing dated securities to meet revenue shortfall in the next financial year starting on April 1.
The agency had received Rs 946.51 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2023-24, which was later increased to Rs 968.86 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday sought an apology from the Congress for the controversial statement by party MP that suggested a call for a separate south nation over fiscal injustice, but the opposition party's president said it stands for a united nation and will not tolerate any such call.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Budget for 2009-10 on July 6. Following is the Budget Speech of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee:
In line with India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, the largest share of aid portfolio has been granted to Bhutan with the allocation of Rs 2,068 crore.
The border forces of India and Bangladesh will hold their bi-annual talks next week in New Delhi, with issues such as border fence construction and attacks on BSF personnel and civilians by Bangladeshi miscreants figuring among the discussion points. The 55th Director General-Level Border Coordination Conference between BSF and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) will be organised at the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters in New Delhi between February 17-20. The conference will be the first top-level meeting between the two sides after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year. Discussions will be held on prevention of attacks on BSF personnel and Indian civilians by Bangladesh-based miscreants/nationals, how to prevent trans-border crimes, construction of a single-row fence, action against Indian Insurgent Groups in Bangladesh, issues related to border infrastructure, joint efforts for effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan, Confidence Building Measures and other issues.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
Budget-makers in North Block are looking to maintain this fiscal status quo, in spite of tax revenues nowhere close to where the government wants and in spite of possible higher expenditure commitments.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will have to do a tight-rope walk between staying fiscally prudent and general public expectations of lower taxes and a wider social security net, while at the same time firing the engines of the economy before general elections. Sitharaman will on Wednesday present her fifth straight Budget at a time when the economy is slowing due to global headwinds and specific sectors need attention. In the run-up to the Budget presentation, expectations are rife that she may tweak income-tax slabs to provide relief to the middle class and increase spending on the poor through programmes such as the rural job scheme while ramping up financial incentives for local manufacturing.
Hospitality and travel sector players on Tuesday demanded infrastructure status for the hotel industry besides measures such as tax exemption on LTA annually to boost domestic tourism ahead of the Union Budget. They also recommended removal of the current TDS levied on automated bookings for internal or closed user groups such as business travel platforms and reducing the total number of licenses required to establish a hotel. "A full-blown infrastructure status for the hotel sector and further rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a Central single window clearance for hotel projects are some of the major expectations from the Budget 2024," Roseate Hotels & Resorts CEO Kush Kapoor said in a statement.
The central government's fiscal deficit during 2023-24 at 5.6 per cent of the GDP was better than previous estimates of 5.8 per cent on account of higher revenue realisation and lower expenditure, according to official data released on Friday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit -- or gap between expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 16.53 lakh crore, or 5.63 per cent of the GDP, which grew 8.2 per cent in 2023-24.
Former railway minister and Mamata Banerjee described the Interim Railway Budget for 2009-10 as 'election-oriented' and an eyewash to secure votes.
Although it is only going to be an interim budget this time, the Finance Ministry on Friday organised the ritual 'halwa' ceremony, which heralds the beginning of the quarantine for staff that will be associated with the preparation of the secret document.
With India's inclusion in global bond indices starting next financial year, the central government believes there will be greater scope for shifting to borrowings via long-term government securities (G-sec) from short-term instruments. This change may be factored into the FY25 interim Budget. "While this has been our focus, the inclusion of India in global bond indices gives us the opportunity to accelerate the shift towards longer tenure G-secs," an official said, requesting anonymity.
Sitharaman added that no Union finance minister can play with the Finance Commission's recommendations.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances