While some have praised the Budget, others have expressed their displeasure.
While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors' gallery located above the main chamber.
The Union finance ministry has set up a special investigation unit to 'regulate' the funding and donations made to political parties.
Among those who submitted their respective ministry's suggestions was Minister of Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy who called on the finance minister in New Delhi on Tuesday.
A day before unveiling the Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Thursday which will take stock of the economy and also the impact of stimulus on industry.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said 'yes' in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha when asked whether the chairman of the Empowered Committee of the State Finance Minister has expressed the opinion that it was not feasibile to implement GST from April 1, 2010.
In an hour-long chat on rediff.com on Wednesday, experts Vinay Mahajan and Devang Mehta offered some valuable tips.
Confident of meeting the schedule of introducing the goods and service tax in the beginning of the next fiscal, state finance ministers will meet the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee around mid-June on various issues relating to the new tax system.
High food prices have pushed 44 million people into poverty since June.
Recent slide in inflation no consolation amid exceptional shrinkage in industrial growth.
Move is to encourage investment in the infrastructure sector.
The government on Wednesday said radio wave auctions for third generation mobile phone services, or 3G, will be completed by end of March.
The country's economy is estimated to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2009-10 from 6.7 per cent last fiscal. Inflation on Monday rose to 8.56 per cent in January from 7.31 per cent in the previous month on various food items turning costlier.
The Income-Tax Department has turned down a proposal by the Department of Economic Affairs to go slow on refunds to taxpayers.
Noted educationist and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya was on Monday posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Ahead of the monetary policy review, RBI governor D Subbarao is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on October 23.
Excise duty on petrol will remain at Rs 14.35 a litre and diesel at Rs 4.60 per litre.
Some tax reliefs are proposed to be announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, amid demands from various Opposition parties to review service tax proposal for the housing sector in the budget.
Government on Friday did not rule out setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe into the Indian Premier League controversy with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying a decision would be taken after 'due diligence.'
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 on Friday said the agreement signed with Switzerland for sharing banking information on demand is likely to come into force by September.
What Shekhar Gupta would have really liked to know from Pranabda: Why did Sonia prefer Dr Singh to him as PM? Why did he deny finance first, why did he accept it 5 years later, and why did he make such a mess of it? How did he force Sonia to nominate him for President and not Hamid Ansari? And how does he justify that most toxic legacy -- the Vodafone tax amendment?
The two major changes include: keeping an option open for supplying more than 3 kg of subsidised foodgrains to general households and widening its reach to include lactating women, destitute and aged people and providing nutritious food to children.
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.
There is a serious move afoot to reschedule the second half of the budget session of the Parliament with sources disclosing that leader of the Lok Sabha and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would discuss the rescheduling of dates in the meeting of floor leaders of political parties which he has called on April 5.
The Left parties were on Tuesday subjected to ridicule by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who suggested that they were not keeping pace with the "moving" world and contended that the UPA would have met its Waterloo if it had followed economic prescription of erstwhile allies.
A group of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday allowed Air India to raise Rs 7,400 crore (Rs 74 billion) by issuing government-guaranteed bonds or by other means.
For 2010-11, the country hopes to achieve a gross domestic product growth of 8.5 per cent (plus or minus of 0.25 per cent), the finance minister said.
The old India was economically fragmented. New India will create one tax, one market, one nation, said Jaitley.
The Finance Ministry will soon unveil the simpler income tax return form 'Sugam', which is aimed at reducing compliance burden on small businessmen and professionals.
MSI chairman R C Bhargava said auto sector would like to see GST benefits linked to greener/cleaner cars. The government gave tax cut on EVs but hybrid should be given duty cut. There should be tax cut on CNG vehicles.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India chief also reviewed the high-level of inflation with the Finance Minister, ahead of the quarterly review of monetary policy next week, amidst expectations of another hike in key interest rates.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shared with industry leaders in New Delhi on Sunday, his government's intent to wind down stimulus measures next year, Mukherjee told reporters in St Andrews, Scotland, that he had already told Parliament high fiscal deficit was not sustainable in the long run.
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.
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.
During a short halt at Tabriz airport in Iran on his way back home, Mukherjee gave Vrishti Beniwali a brief account of the summit, euro zone crisis and what it meant for India.
The government on Tuesday said inflation is not an immediate concern and will continue with the fiscal stimulus measures till the economy recovers fully.
In his Budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that the government is committed to the universalisation of the Integrated Child Development Services scheme in the country. Expressing grave concern at the low level of female literacy in the country, Mukherjee said the aim of the National Mission for Female Literacy would be to reduce the current level of female illiteracy by half in three years.
Pranab Mukherjee proposed the enhancement of the overall plan budget for higher education by Rs 2,000 crore over the Interim Budget estimates. He further announced the allocation of Rs 2,113 crore for IITs and NITs, which includes a provision of Rs 450 crore for new IITs and NITs. The finance minister also proposed to allocate Rs 827 crore for opening one central university in each uncovered state.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances