Government think tank Niti Aayog has suggested 100 per cent income tax exemption for donations and provision of working capital loans with lower interest rates for not-for-profit hospitals to strengthen healthcare services in India. In a report titled 'Not-for-Profit Hospital Model in India', the Aayog also pitched for involving high performing hospitals in public private partnership (PPP) models for managing primary health care (PHCs), operations of government facilities and PSU hospitals. "Income-tax exemption could be increased from the current 50 per cent exemption to 100 per cent exemption for philanthropy toward the identified not-for-profit hospitals.
For PPP projects, clause on consent requirement could be abolished or brought down to 50% of land owners, against the current 70%
Petrol costs less than a dollar in the OPEC region.
Petrol prices in India are amongst the highest in the world.
Ehsanullah Ehsan said that he will release a detailed statement later in which he will mention the agreement he made with the Pakistani security authorities.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Budget on February 1.
The vehicle scrapping policy will offer about 5 per cent rebate to those buying new cars if they junk their old vehicles, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday terming it a "win-win" situation. The voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22 provides for fitness test after 20 years for personal vehicles while commercial vehicles would require it after the completion of 15 years. "The 'Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernisation Programme' or 'Vehicle Scrapping Policy' will offer a rebate of about 5 per cent to buyers on new car purchases in lieu of scrapping of the old.
Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz with 64 and former president Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party with 43 seats are placed at number two and three respectively, the Election Commission of Pakistan said.
The World Bank has pegged Indian economic growth to take over Chinese by 2012 on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, but New Delhi has played down the projection by the multi-lateral agency saying the country is not in race with anyone.
India with a per capita GDP of $3,015 has one of the lowest ranks at 127, according to the IMF.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party has suffered setbacks in country's biggest ever by-polls for 41 national and provincial assembly constituencies, in which the ruling PML-N appeared to have consolidated its position.
In the Union budget, Rs 65,011.8 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, up from Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20.
Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said the discussions at the day-long meet involved an overview of five models of participative policy, framework of engineering, procurement and construction contracts and sectoral guidelines for foreign and domestic investment.
In 2013, the government awarded less than 1,500 km of road projects under the EPC mode after it found no takers for PPP projects.
In Sialkot, people found five empty ballot boxes near Kashmir Park in the Cantonment area, the report said.
The government which is proceeding with privatising six airports including those at Kolkata and Chennai, intends to give away 14 more to private parties for operation and development during the 12th Plan period, Rajya Sabha was told on Tuesday.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 'Gen-Next' politician of Pakistan, has said that his Pakistan People's Party would get back entire Kashmir from India.
The government on Thursday said it would expeditiously clear pending proposals in the infrastructure sector under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode while making regulations, governing this area, investment friendly.
Pakistani security agencies on Thursday arrested two suspects involved in the car bomb blast outside the house of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned Jamat-ud-Dawah (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, an official said.
'Saying the private industry will come and transform India's space programme is real moonshine!'
The National Highways Authority of India on Wednesday said it needs to borrow up to Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) per year for the next 15 years to implement Rs 9 lakh crore (Rs 9 trillion) worth of road projects in the PPP mode till 2031-32.
Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kochi airports have hiked their landing charges by up to 45 per cent, increasing the operating cost for airlines at a time they are facing financial constraints because of the two months of grounding and weak demand.
Ruling Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is expected to assign important responsibilities to his daughter Bakhtawar in the PPP women's wing.Zardari has held consultations with women workers of the PPP in this regard and decided to assign the responsibilities to Bakhtawar, who currently lives in Dubai.The PPP will be strengthened with Bakhtawar's participation in party affairs.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a five-year-long reform-based result-linked power distribution scheme worth Rs 3.03 lakh crore, for strengthening system of utilities to improve efficiency. Briefing after the CCEA meet here, Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said, "We have done a lot for power distribution reforms. It needs to be strengthened. Today, the Cabinet has approved the new scheme worth Rs 3.03 lakh crore, including Rs 97,000 crore central outlay." He said the funds would be given to power distribution companies (discoms) to strengthen their system.
Indian Railways is currently implementing a project that involves laying of a broad gauge line connecting Nangaldam to Talwara in Himachal Pradesh.
Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will make his first public appearance in an international arena as a representative of the party by leading a delegation to the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.Bilawal, 19, reached Beijing on Thursday as the head of the PPP delegation, invited by the Chinese Communist Party to the inauguration of the Olympics on Friday.Earlier, his father, PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari, was to lead the delegation.
The government also proposed promoting 'one product one district' for better marketing and export of horticulture crops. It also called on states for early implementation of three key central model laws on land leasing, agriculture produce and livestock marketing and contract farming.
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced slew of reforms for the masses.
Kanyakumari is the tip of India and will convey the symbol that from the tip of India, the Congress is on its way up.
The Niti Aayog vice chairman noted that green shoots of recovery are already visible in multiple sectors. In 15-16 sectors, businesses are coming back to pre-COVID levels," he said.
The ones chosen for operation, management and development through a public-private partnership model are Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati.
The petitions challenging the NRO had said the law violated fundamental rights as no government has the right to quash corruption cases. The petitioners also contended that the ordinance was contrary to the constitution and asked for it to be scrapped.
'You peel one layer, then another layer, then another, but in the end, you will see that there is no onion inside.' 'This package has been packaged well, but there is nothing much inside the package!'
The new agri-infra fund, the duration of which will be 10 years till 2029, aims to provide medium-to-long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
The central government's view of exploring public-private partnership (PPP) in the establishment of new institutes of higher learning has a private hand, right from the first step.
Over the past two years, some 30 mid-career bureaucrats are said to have joined the private sector as COOs, CEOs and partners in consultancies.
The US president had in past expressed dismay with the $2.3 trillion package that Congress passed Monday, which includes $900 billion in coronavirus relief and $1.4 trillion to fund the government until October, conflating the two bills and saying the spending goals were misguided.
Amidst all the doom that prevails in India, there are many reasons to feel good about its achievements and future prospects.