VDS schemes in the past offered amnesty to people declaring black money and paying tax. This policy has been criticised as it amounted to penalising honest tax payers by asking them to pay tax at higher rates.
In the Budget 2012-13, the government had pegged 2012-13 gross domestic product growth at 7.6 per cent (plus, minus 0.25 per cent).
In a clear indication that it is against the appointment of an American special envoy for the sub-continent, India said on Tuesday that there was a bilateral mechanism to improve Indo-Pakistan ties and third party intervention would not make any difference.Asked about US media reports that the incoming Obama administration may appoint former President Bill Clinton or some other person as special envoy, Pranab Mukherjee said that such news reports were speculative.
Emerging after a 20-minute meeting, Mukherjee told reporters that he has had a 'close relationship' with Karunanidhi since the 1970s.
'The inflow of FII or FDI has not distorted the market sentiments and therefore there is no question of putting any curbs.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel were also present.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on a day's visit, during which New Delhi is expected to share with her evidence on the Mumbai terror strikes, pointing towards involvement of 'elements' based in Pakistan.
The prime minister's decision is reportedly a fallout of the 'hue and cry' created during his Washington visit over the 2G spectrum issue.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday maintained that he will speak, if necessary, on the finance ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation issue only after talking to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
"There is no denying the fact that we voted against Iran at IAEA. The intention was to ensure that its nuclear issue does not go to the Security Council as it would entail sanctions and more problems," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while rejecting allegations that India's foreign policy was being affected by the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Who will take over the tasks of the prime minister and oversee the functioning of the government during the third week of September? This is the question that is being discussed in the corridors of power in Delhi, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be in the United States from September 21 to September 28 to attend the United Nations General Assembly session. United Progressive Alliance trouble-shooter and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will also be away, in Washington.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has ruled out any move to convert the short range surface-to-surface Prithvi missile into an anti-missile or a nuclear shield.
The UPA government had last year announced a nearly Rs 71,000 crore (Rs 710 billion) farm loan waiver scheme to offer relief to farmers, especially the small and medium ones who were unable to access fresh loans due to non-payment of dues. Noting that the full impact of failure of monsoon was yet to be assessed, the minister said the country would, however, be able to achieve six per cent plus economic growth during the current fiscal.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has done much damage to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday ruled out a Joint P Parliamentary Committee investigation into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation, but appealed to the Opposition to let Parliament function smoothly.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday termed the large-scale terrorist violence in Bangladesh as 'worrisome'.
Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vodafone Plc CEO Vittorio Colao, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas and Idea Cellular Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday met ministers and senior government officials to present the industry's concerns over telecom regulator Trai's proposals on the auction of spectrum.
The Vajpayee government had avoided using the air force for 18 days.
The rise in inflation based on wholesale prices in October from 9.72 per cent in September was mainly on account of higher prices of fruits and vegetables, manufactured goods and petrol.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also asserted there's been no pressure by the United States for India to enact financial sector reforms, particularly in the banking and insurance sectors, on the eve of President Obama's visit.
The Budget will be presented in the first week of July, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
In a sudden turn of events, the Centre has decided to put on hold the controversial decision about FDI in retail sector, in an apparent bid to break the Parliament logjam. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose party Trinamool Congress is strongly opposed to the decision, claimed on Saturday that Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke to her and told her that the FDI decision has been "suspended".
Amidst all-out efforts by the government and RBI to tame inflation, now hovering around 9 per cent, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said it would be ideal for the economy if it is managed at 5-6 per cent level.
Under severe attack over rushing senior ministers to the airport to meet Ramdev, the government is understood to have decided that senior ministers, especially Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will not meet him again for further talks.
The United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday expressed hope that India will get the support of all member countries during its negotiations on the nuclear deal but noted that it would be difficult to fix an exact timeframe for making the agreement a reality.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to meet on August 1 to discuss the India-specific safeguards agreement.
Food inflation rose to 18.32 per cent for the week ended December 25, because of rise in prices of food items like onion, milk and meat.
The ministry also plans to set up a compliance committee along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on a public-private partnership mode to look into issues of small and medium enterprises and help them comply with the environmental laws.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
The forward process is on, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tells NDTV 24x7.
As the tenth consecutive working day of Parliament was lost amid its standoff with the Opposition on the controversial 2G scam issue, government on Thursday said it did not know how to end the impasse but was trying to find a solution.
Pranabda hasn't given us any indication of the tough period when he realised Sonia Gandhi had decided to give the presidency not to him, but to then vice-president Hamid Ansari. He wrested the presidency from her, and handed her the biggest defeat of her UPA years, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Concerned over high credit cost and availability of funds, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said he will ask banks for a 'benign plan of action' while committing to stimulate economic growth by stepping up public expenditure and speeding up reforms.
"All over the world, changes have taken place. Therefore, in the functioning of the United Nations, in its structure and in its contents, it should reflect the contemporary realities," Pranab said.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday described as 'scandalous' Bharatiya Janata Party's contention that Pranab Mukherjee's resignation letter to the Indian Statistical Institute was forged, and said the UPA Presidential candidate must surely have taken note of this allegation levelled against him.
In significant remarks, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said only time will show what will be done by India but made it clear that nobody was talking about military action.India has handed over to Pakistan a list of 20 terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar besides Dawood Ibrahim, who are based in that country and are suspected to be behind terror attacks in India.
Following the increase, petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 68.64 a litre.
Union Finance Minister addressed students of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Ghaziabad (UP) during their annual convocation. Here is what he had to say.
Can an active politician like Pranab Mukherjee ever be an apolitical President. Join Dilliwalla on Wednesday, June 25, 2012 at 2pm IST for some answers.
An empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which decides on revising rates of the sensitive products, has not met since June last year even though crude oil prices have spiralled upward by about 50 per cent.
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