Coming down hard on the government for meagre increase in allocation for armed forces in the last few years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said the outlay cannot even fulfill the basic requirements of the armed forces.
A parliamentary committee has pulled up the finance ministry for not adhering to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act in cutting revenue deficit by 0.5 per cent of GDP for 2005-06 saying there should not be deviations every now and then.
Concerned over the exploitation of credit card holders, a parliamentary committee has suggested that the Reserve Bank of India should prescribe maximum interest rate that can be charged by banks from customers.
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, the Rajya Sabha officials said.
'Modi had not discussed demonetization with me prior to his announcement on 8 November 2016. 'I learnt of it along with the rest of the country. 'I was not surprised when he did not discuss the issue with me prior to making the public announcement. 'It fitted in with his style of making dramatic announcements.' A fascinating excerpt from Pranab Mukherjee's The Presidential Years: 2012-2017.
The RBI was not party to the decision to demonetize 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, which was taken at the highest level of India's political leadership.
Former Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi is likely to become the next chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee while Yashwant Sinha will replace him as head of the Standing Committee on Finance, BJP sources said.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
Dubbing the new income tax return Form 2F as "kathin" (difficult), a parliamentary committee has asked the government to withdraw the Form, including the controversial cash flow statement that salaried assessees have to file.
The Standing Committee on Finance, which met under the chairmanship of senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, has decided to finalise its report by March 2, enabling Parliament to consider the ambitious reforms in direct tax regime.
A parliamentary committee on Friday hauled up the finance ministry for fall in Tax:GDP ratio to 9.2 per cent in 2003-04 from 10.1 per cent in 1990-91
Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union minister Jayant Sinha's remarks to allege that it is the Modi government that wanted to do so.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumitra Mahajan will be appointed Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha on Friday. Other key parliamentary posts like that of Leader of Opposition, deputy Speaker, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and head of the all-important standing committee on finance will be keenly contested.
The government on Tuesday came in for sharp criticism on the divestment issue with a parliamentary committee asking it to come forward with a comprehensive policy document on the matter.
Industry's wait for new bank licences may get a bit longer as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) suggestions to amend the Banking Regulation Act will not be incorporated in the report of the Standing Committee on Finance in the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011.
The newer ones have not met the stipulation of opening 25 per cent of branches in rural and semi-urban areas, a parliamentary committee report has observed.
A Parliamentary committee has asked Reserve Bank of India to direct banks to channelise more funds to industry and other sectors instead of investing excessively in risk-free government papers.\n\n\n\n
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.
A parliamentary panel on Friday opposed the new bank licences to corporate houses and voiced concerns over the discretionary power vested with RBI for applying 'fit and proper' criteria for deciding on applications.
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.
First Rajya Sabha approved the Rs 45 lakh-crore spending proposed in the Budget, followed by the nod to the Finance Bill that contains tax proposals.
The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be 'extraordinarily generous' to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asserted that the party's fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue.
A Parliamentary panel that went into a Bill to create a pension fund regulator has favoured 26 per cent FDI in the sector, but found many lacunae in the legislation.
'What matters is meeting the needs and expectations of the people who have voted to provide governance for the country.'
Non-compliance, underreporting or misreporting will attract a penalty of 50-200 per cent. The authorities may during assessment even tax assets that are 15-20 years old
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.
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.
Merger of the three key ministries is expected to help in removing the hurdles in these areas.
The ministry has proposed similar penalty and jail term for adulteration, besides license suspension and cancellation
The much-delayed insurance bill and the goods and services tax bill are among the 39 bills that are expected to come up during the month-long Winter Session of Parliament beginning next week.
The DMK parliamentary party appears to be a house divided, reports R Rajagopalan.
The proposed bill seeks to raise FDI cap in the sector to 49% from the present 26.5%
The bank's response came to a clarification sought by stock exchange on recent reports on debit cards blocking in the wake of suspected data breach
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The implementation of the much-hyped Aadhaar Card scheme is in trouble following the Supreme Court's interim order on Monday, which observed that the card can be issued only to Indian nationals and the identification number cannot be made mandatory for availing of benefits of the government's subsidy schemes.
Lalu handled the obstacle of 'departmentalism' with ease.
The Opposition said that the government was 'bull-dozing'.
Select committees on Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and Coal Mines Bill recommended their approval without any change
This means taxpayers might continue to enjoy exemption on maturity of their investments
'There is no difference between the earlier government and the present government.' 'They are all following the economic policy based on the Chicago School of thought.' 'This school of thought says the government should have very little role in governing the country and the majority of the work should be handed over to the private sector.' 'This has not succeeded in the US.' 'Yet, it is being tried here by people like Arvind Subramaniam, Arvind Panagariya, Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan.'
The BMS said that creating workers who do not own their industry and without permanent commitment or relationship with the industry, will be a hazard for industrial growth.
