Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government would follow an inclusive policy wherein both APL and below poverty line families will get foodgrains at cheaper rates. He added that the annual subsidy burden on the government would come around to Rs 50,000 crore.
The farming community expects much more substance from the government, Ajay Vir Jakhar.
'We are looking at the Budget with the hope that it will address all issues even at the cost of exceeding the fiscal deficit target.'
Political analysts said Sirisena's move to install Rajapaksa as the prime minister could lead to a constitutional crisis as the 19th amendment to the Constitution would not allow the sacking of Wickremesinghe as the premier without a majority.
"Emerging fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of things, blockchain, and big data can take India to new heights of development, and improve the quality of life of its citizens," he said, adding for India, this is not just an industrial transformation, but a social transformation.
The new PM would be more than unwise to attempt steering away from India into an all-encompassing Chinese embrace that would ultimately swamp Bhutanese identity, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Among the panels announced on Thursday is the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) to be headed by the prime minister with Shah as the other member.
Indian elections are puzzling, to say the least. In Rajasthan, despite rolling out several pro-poor policies -- such as free medicine and a pension scheme for the poor -- the Congress lost resoundingly. In Mizoram, it won resoundingly, for precisely that reason -- pro-poor policies.
The BJP still does not have a majority in Upper House of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, and this will pose hurdles to the party's legislative reform agenda
The economy has shown sharp resilience in the past and has also bounced back in good time. We could hence expect a similar trajectory next year, observes Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings.
The trade deal, officials say, can lead to an effective trading bloc against the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
'A mother, a farmer and cattle owner, all have valuable knowledge, but academia has failed to acknowledge their wisdom.'
From NITI Aayog to industry leaders to the Reserve Bank of India, all are apprehensive that any major increase in MSP, following the 2018-19 Budget announcements, would push up prices, if not immediately, in the next six to eight months after the decision is taken.
Younger party leaders are livid with the Murli Manohar Joshi-headed manifesto drafting committee for not taking their suggestions, reports Archis Mohan.
At a pre-Budget meeting, the FM was asked to ensure that NBFCs come out of the liquidity crisis they are facing with the help of RBI. They also spoke about the futility of trying to achieve a 3 per cent fiscal deficit target over the medium term.
Since 2000, India has had three serious droughts.
'The corporate sector says by 2022 they will create 300 million jobs.' 'In the last 70 years we didn't do it, how will we do it in 5 years?' 'Only agriculture can bail out the economy. Unfortunately, it is not being looked into.'
'No one cares about fiscal deficit now. Or for that matter, inflation.' 'The focus is on growth and growth alone.' 'RBI needs to break the risk aversion of banks and infuse adrenaline in their veins', says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Up to 90 per cent of the decrease in potential food production is linked to smog, made up of black carbon and other pollutants.
'The so-called economic reforms are for the rich.' 'The government should not facilitate and entertain this kind of lust for land by the capitalists.'
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the decision to snap ties with the NDA on Saturday night, amid stepped up agitation by farmers in Punjab over the three legislations which were recently passed by Parliament amid Opposition protests.
As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
Malik said the step will enable good governance, bring self-reliance and employment opportunities to people Jammu and Kashmir and most importantly the feeling of unity and equality with the rest of the country.
There's a looming water crisis facing the country, and it comes down to how the states are faring in water resource management.
Is the Budget sufficiently prudent? It probably is but at the cost of substantial under-provisioning for the many grand sounding schemes announced in it, says Nitin Desai.
NITI Aayog spent a considerable time on restructuring the setup.
Record liquidity infusion by the central bank in the banking system during the financial year 2020-21 amid sluggish economic activity resulted in banks investing more in safe government papers than in extending loans, data from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. This trend has not been seen in nearly two decades, barring 2016 - the year of demonetisation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured at the all-party meeting that the government is ready to discuss all issues.
India has been maintaining that China has no locus standi in commenting on Jammu and Kashmir.
'This four-member committee cannot supersede the four-five member ministerial committees, 25 top-level government bureaucrats, with whom we have had nine rounds of discussions each of which lasted for more than six-seven hours.'
Cohn served as Trump's chief economic advisor since the beginning of the Administration. During his stay at the White House, he led coordination of Trump's pro-growth domestic and global economic policy agenda, including the passage of historic tax cuts and reforms in December 2017, the official said.
Substantial gains can still be made with good policies and initiatives.
In a bid to augment its revenue, the postal department would soon commence life insurance business, Union Minister for IT and Telecom A Raja has said.
British Virgin Islands, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Mauritius and Singapore were the top five nations where Indian firms made investment of $9.6 billion in the last three years.
The average land given to the rural landless is small and falling, from 0.95 acres in 2002 to 0.88 acres in 2015 - a 7.4 per cent drop over 13 years-and a slowdown is evident in the process of taking land away from rich landlords, the RTI data reveal.
India's economy could prove to be the "most resilient" in the subregion of South and South-West Asia over the long term, according to a report by the UN, which says a positive but lower economic growth post COVID-19 pandemic and the country's large market will continue to attract investments. The report titled 'Foreign Direct Investment Trends And Outlook In Asia And The Pacific 2020/2021', and compiled by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), stated that inward FDI flows to South and South-West Asia slightly decreased by 2 per cent in 2019, from $67 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2019. The growth, however, was mainly driven by India, which accounted for 77 per cent of the total inflows to the subregion and received $51 billion in 2019, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
Farmers with land sizes less than 0.01 hectare have an average annual income of Rs 54732 and annual consumption of Rs 61296, thereby, a debt of Rs 6564 each year. Compare this with the minimum pay for a government employee, says Devanik Saha.
A day after being sworn-in, the new ministers took charge of their portfolios. Here's a look at the various new ministers on their first day at work.
'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
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