Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance has criticised the government for not doing a review of the tax exemptions given to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and an evalutation of the losses due to these.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
With 2014 polls in mind, FM may provide individual tax payers relief despite fiscal constraints.
The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on April 8 wherein the first part of the session will extend up to February 11, said the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Sunday.
In a relief to industry, the government has accepted a parliamentary panel's recommendation on allowing cartels to opt for the settlement scheme under the Competition Amendment Bill, according to official sources. The proposed Bill seeks to introduce a clause for settlement and commitment that offers any enterprise against which an inquiry has been initiated to file an application for settlement. The Parliamentary Committee on Finance had suggested including cartels in the scope for settlement "as a pragmatic recourse to the whole process".
But, govt plans to bring some provisions that can't wait.
Crucial financial sector reforms are again stuck, despite Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's appealing to political parties to help pass the legislations in this regard.
Civil society groups welcome the submission of a memorandum opposing Aadhaar and other anti-people policies to the prime minister along with a big truckload of signatures numbering 3.57 crore on March 14, says Gopal Krishna
The committee's objections are a curious mixture; some attack the very basis of the project, others question its implementation.
The committee's objections are a curious mixture; some attack the very basis of the project, others question its implementation.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.
According to a presentation by LIC to Parliament standing committee on finance, total investment at the end of March 31, 2012 was Rs 13.49 lakh crore or Rs 13.49 trillion.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
Opposition charged the government with making Parliamentary Standing Committees irrelevant.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel is learnt to have told the parliamentary panel on demonetisation that discussions between the central bank and the government on the process began early last year.
Let there be a rule that if the Budget is not passed and funds cannot be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India, there will be a government shutdown as it happens in the United States, says A K Bhattacharya.
Budget session will begin on February 23 and conclude on May 8
The session started on January 29 and was originally slated to end on April 8 but several members had urged Speaker Om Birla to end the session earlier as they focus on electioneering for the five assemblies.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
Rejecting the demand for referring Insurance Bill to a Select Committee, the government on Thursday said the Congress was 'stonewalling' the key reform measure to deny credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi before he goes to the United States.
The government will push for the passage of a long-pending bill to provide statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India in the winter session of Parliament.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
As the Narendra Modi government nears completing a year in office, the Congress on Wednesday stepped up its offensive against the prime minister accusing him of weakening democracy by running a "one-man show" while scoring maximum on "arrogance" and minimum on governance.
India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has observed that a massive shortfall in the budgetary allocation of over Rs 1,900 crore by the finance ministry to the industry department may have an adverse impact on the implementation of infrastructure (infra) projects in 2022-23 (FY23). While the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had sought Rs 10,267 crore from the finance ministry for FY23, it received Rs 8,348-crore allocation. For the National Industrial Corridor Development & Implementation Trust (NICDIT), the finance ministry has allocated Rs 1,500 crore instead of Rs 2,400 crore demanded for the project.
Board of Control for Cricket in India vice-president Rajiv Shukla says there is "nothing wrong" with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Yashwant Sinha, summoning its president, Shashank Manohar, and Indian Premier League chairman Chirayu Amin to reply to questions on financial transactions related to the Twenty20 league.
Union ministers said Parliament passing over two dozen Bills was evidence of increased productivity of Narendra Modi government 2.0.
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The Direct Taxes Code bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2010 and Standing Committee on Finance has given a report after its scrutiny.
The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker rejected Opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.
India-China relations have always attracted Parliament's attention and there have always been useful and productive and constructive discussions how to engage with China, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said he was confident of the DTC being recommended by the standing committee in the coming (winter) Parliament session.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday expressed firm commitment to enact the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill at the earliest, after expeditious examination of the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit won't be afraid to tangle with the toughest of them.
India must be prepared to deal with climate disasters, geopolitical confrontations, and social strife linked to global events, asserts Jayant Sinha, chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The parliamentary standing committee on finance on Thursday approved the repeal of IDBI Act, paving the way for conversion of Industrial Development Bank of India into a bank.
The code, which will replace the existing Income Tax Act 1961, aims to rationalise tax rates to bring more people and companies under the tax net.
The Committee, in an earlier report on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill, had favoured abolition of STT.
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