"The PMJDY has been the foundation stone for the Modi government's people-centric economic initiatives. "Whether it is direct benefit transfers, Covid-19 financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, life and health insurance cover, the first step was to provide every adult with a bank account, which PMJDY has nearly completed," Nirmala Sitharaman said on the sixth anniversary of the scheme.
Various indicators make it amply clear that there are grave challenges facing the new government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, reports Indivjal Dhasmana.
As protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme intensified, the Army, Navy and the Air Force on Friday announced that they will start the enrolment process under the new model by next week while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the youths wanting to join the armed forces to start preparing for the induction.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
'The shadow banks are currently facing a liquidity and solvency crisis.' 'The danger is that it could potentially engulf the entire financial system because shadow banks have borrowed huge amount of money from banks, mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies.'
'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
Arun Jaitley had a tough fiscal hill to climb.
'From March 2020 to November 2021, the combined wealth of the billionaires of this country has doubled.'
In the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a total of Rs 1,52,369 crore has been set aside for capital expenditure that includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
Employees across segments, including those involved in specialised jobs such as technology, compliance and risk management, have started leaving the bank fold in hordes, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Equity-linked savings scheme, PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana are recommended instruments.
'Many enter the civil services with the desire to do good work but get beaten by the system, step back or become part of it.' 'Ten fantastic officers out of 100 can completely change the game.'
Taxpayers can claim a deduction on tuition fees for a maximum of two children.
In an indication of easing financial stress among borrowers, the number of unsuccessful auto-debit requests through the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) platform declined in July, reversing a three-month trend that started with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the NACH data, of the 86.4-million transactions initiated in July, 33.23 per cent, or 28.7 million transactions, failed, while 57.7 million were successful. Compared to June, this is a significant improvement in bounce rates.
Aadhaar now has legal backing but it still faces challenges of privacy and data sharing
The world's largest postal service is stepping in to help deliver lifesaving medicines during a countrywide lockdown aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
China on Friday hiked its defence budget to $209 billion, maintaining a single-digit growth for the sixth consecutive year with a 6.8 per cent increase in 2021.
Individuals often postpone tax planning till the end of the financial year. As the deadline for showing proof of investments draws near, they invest randomly in any product that will help them save tax for that year. Later, they realise that it is not suited for them, so they abandon it. Tax planning should not be a standalone, one-off activity, but should be in sync with your overall financial plan, says Sanjay Kumar Singh.
Presenting the Union Budget for the year 2012-13, the Finance Minister informed the Lower House of Parliament that the enrolments into the other system have already crossed 20 crore (200 million) and the Aadhaar numbers generated upto date has crossed 14 crore (140 million).
The curious thing is that savings instruments have not really kept pace with changing needs, although people have access to a wider variety than before.
Anil Rego, CEO, Right Horizons, answers your personal income tax queries.
The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
'We get an overzealous army of tax inspectors pushing the economy too hard,' says Ajay Shah.
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
"Our armed forces have shown utmost restraint in tackling terrorists in Kashmir Valley despite grave provocations," he said in his address on the All India Radio on the eve of Independence Day.
Auto-debit payment bounces have gone up for the second consecutive month in May, emphasising the stress building up due to a halt in economic activities as authorities lock down various parts of the country to stop the spread of the virus in the second wave. According to the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) data, in May, of the 85.7 million transactions initiated, 35.91 per cent, or 30.8 million transactions, failed.
'The government must provide more funds to enable the armed forces to fight and win tomorrow's wars,' states Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The NPR data can be used for transparent and efficient delivery of social benefits by linking it with various beneficiary oriented government schemes, they said.
Besides opening up the possibility of a policy that allows vintage cars retrofitted with electric batteries to ply on roads, this also gives a clue to how cars older than 15 years that are banned can be valued again by a similar conversion to EVs, says Ritwik Sharma.
Four recent instances help us understand why Prime Minister Narendra Modi could truly be called the chief human resources officer (CHRO) of the country.
Taking strong exception to complaints and grievances of people concerning the customs and excise sectors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said strict action would be taken against erring officials.
In analysing census data from 2007-2011, researchers found that the at-birth sex ratios of Asian Americans are the same as white Americans. Arthur J Pais reports
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while addressing the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on "Recapturing India's Growth Momentum" in Washington on Thursday, said that the leading think tank need not launch an initiative to explore how India will vote in 2014, declaring that the Indian polity will vote the Congress back into power.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said all pending complaints of sexual harassment at SAI institutes will be disposed off
'MFs have a combined exposure of Rs 3.2 lakh crore to NBFCs, out of which Rs 1.1 lakh crore matures by September 2019.'
Tokyo residents are deeply divided on whether they should go ahead with the Olympics mid-pandemic
The document, shared by the prime minister on the occasion of the first anniversary of his second term on his Twitter account and web portal, detailed the steps taken by his government for the progress and development of the country. The document is divided into 15 heads ranging from ease of doing business, ease of living, to eliminating corruption and the country's fight against coronavirus.
'People do not want a 'maha milavat' (highly adulterated) government of those who assembled in Kolkata.'
Even as Chinese troops continue squatting on territory that we claim as our own -- this was the lowest allocation for defence in percentage terms since the 1950s, reveals Ajai Shukla.
