Officers now know that they need to deliver conclusions. There are no 'ifs' and 'buts'. Chidambaram has laid down clear timelines for targets.
The Congress survey thinks that in the absence of a Congress-SP alliance, Mayawati will win more than 40 out of 80 seats in UP. The survey is an eye-opener for the Congress. It seems that inspite of the ongoing rhetoric and sometimes ugly exchanges between SP leader Amar Singh and Congress leaders, it is most likely the Congress and SP will sew up an alliance to defend their turf against Mayawati once elections are announced.
The much-awaited auction of third-generation (3G) spectrum, essential to launch high-speed value-added mobile telephony services, will not happen this financial year.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Monday announced in Lok Sabha that a statutory inquiry, to be conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, had been ordered in the Coromandel Express mishap. Making a suo motu statement in the Lower House soon after the interim budget was presented, Prasad said the cause of the accident is being investigated. He also announced relief to the victims of the mishap.
India's gross domestic savings rate increased from 29.8 per cent in 2003-04 to 30.7 per cent in 2007-08, said union Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio while presenting the Interim Budget for 2009-10 on Monday in parliament.
The CRPF bagged the lion's share -- Rs 1,698 crore. It got Rs 7,208.18 crore this year against Rs 5,510.10 crore in 2008-09. The BSF, entrusted the task of keeping vigil along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and the country's 6,622 km borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, got Rs 1,156.23 crore more compared to last year's Rs 5,376.99 crore. The elite commando force NSG, which played a sterling role in Mumbai terror attacks, has got Rs 44.63 crore more.
Borrowings will account for 29 paise of every rupee the government will earn in FY'10 and it would spend 20 paise towards servicing debt, as it battles dwindling tax resources on account of economic slowdown.
However, he disappointed big time by not announcing any relief in taxes or change in the tax structure to bring relief to the common man.
The industry's reactions to the Budget have been mixed.
Vice Chairman Harivansh regretted that 78 hours of business were lost due to disruptions and that the House functioned for only 27 hours.
Agriculture credit is likely to exceed the target of Rs 7,00,000 crore while farm exports are expected to increase to over $45 billion in the current fiscal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.
The presentation of the Interim General Budget for 2009-10 was on Monday interrupted briefly as the Lok Sabha adjourned after JD(S) member M P Veerendrakumar complained of uneasiness.
Two premium new long-distance trains and plan to convert a strategically important metre gauge line into broad gauge were announced on Wednesday for the Northeastern region in the Railway Budget, but opposition BJP and AGP dubbed the sops as "frustrating".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day address in 2007 had announced setting up of 6,000 new high quality schools, one in every block of the country. The education sector as a whole received Rs 41,978.21 crore as against Rs 37,366.57 crore (Rs 373.66 billion) in the revised estimate of 2008-09 budget, showing a jump of Rs 4,611.64 crore (Rs 46.11 billion).
An analysis of the frequency of various watchwords in the finance minister's Budget speech shows that he was perhaps trying to hold on to his ideas without treading on anybody else's toes, says A K Bhattacharya.
With Deputy Governor Viral Acharya and another member Chetan Ghate voting for a status quo, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das and three others outvoted them for reduction in repo rate to 6.25 per cent from the existing 6.50 per cent.
Nirmala Sitharaman is proving to be a better finance minister than her initial rookie status might have led people to expect, observes T N Ninan.
Buoyed by the proposed public offerings in six companies, including Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Gas Authority of India Ltd, the government on Tuesday set an ambitious target of mobilising Rs 16,000 crore
It is unclear if he would be renamed the finance minister soon after his return.
India's current account deficit (CAD) will be contained at USD 45 billion this financial year, well below the record high level of 2012-13, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday.
The Air India Group has started vacating its offices, which are currently being operated from government-owned properties, from this month, as part of its strategy to consolidate workspaces across the country. The loss-making Air India and its international budget arm Air India Express were taken over by the Tata Group on January 27 this year, after successfully winning the bid for the airline on October 8, last year. Besides these two airlines, Tata Group also holds a majority 51 per cent stake in Vistara, its joint venture airline with Singapore Airlines (SIA), and a 83.67 per cent stake in budget carrier, AirAsia India.
Foreign brokerage Goldman Sachs on Monday said it expects new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to peg the fiscal deficit target for FY15 at 4.3 per cent, up from the 4.1 per cent stated by his predecessor P Chidambaram.
Employees of around 150 firms may lose out on PF benefits as their companies failed to get an exemption certificate from the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
In line with the relief package for tea growers announced in the Interim Budget, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday sought a three-point package including two per cent reduction in interest rate on Special Coffee Term Loans.
A great monsoon and the rising FII investment in Indian markets have contributed to the 'feel good' factor.
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh while presenting the Interim Budget for fiscal 2004-05 in Parliament on Tuesday said 50 per cent of dearness allowance of the pay will be merged with basic salary of central government employees.
Besides LTCG tax relief, permitting taxpayers to declare two houses as self-occupied brings a huge relief.
With an eye on the forthcoming general elections, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday presented a feel good, populist interim Railway Budget in Parliament, cutting mail and express train fares by 2 per cent and keeping freight rates unchanged.
Credit rating agency ICRA on Tuesday warned that fiscal deficit will cross 4.8 per cent of GDP during 2003-04, as it was projected by the government in the interim budget.
In a bonanza to its employees ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the government on Friday decided to merge 50 per cent of dearness allowance with the basic pay
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