Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced a stimulus package for the economy, the third this financial year, cutting excise duty and service tax two percentage points each, effective midnight, and extending previous excise cuts beyond March 31, 2009.
Amid fears of double-dip recession, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday called for concerted action by G-20 nations to provide impetus to the world economy and deal with the related problems.
The praise for peasants, most of whom are subsistence farmers, comes ahead of general elections due in a few months. The minister presented statistics to hard-sell the government's initiatives to prop up the agriculture sector and improve the conditions of roughly about 60 per cent of the country's population depending upon it.
The government has pegged fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent of gross domestic product for the next financial year, against the revised figure of 6 per cent in the current financial year. The fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal was 2.5 per cent. However, fiscal measures initiated in the wake of the global economic downturn and reduction in revenue collection have impacted resource mobilisation resulting in widening of deficit.
Railways were now less dependent on budgetary support than five years earlier due to the efforts of Lalu Prasad in making the sector financially self-reliant, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.
GDP growth in 2010-11 stood at 8.5 per cent.
Expressing concern over rising inflation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said both the government and the central bank are working in tandem to bring it down to a comfortable level.
The RBI on Thursday hiked key policy rates for the 10th time since March, 2010, in a bid to tame inflation, which crossed the 9 per cent mark in May.
Defying Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee's warning of expulsion, two party members of legislative assembly, who decided to contest the assembly election as Independents after being denied tickets, on Monday said under no circumstances they would withdraw from the fray.
The meeting, slated for 1300 hours, could not commence on time and was delayed by over half an hour.
Stressing that the Cabinet notes meant for Group of Ministers should be in line with the procedures, a Cabinet secretariat circular cites Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pointing out mistakes galore in the notes submitted to him for one of many GoM meetings he chairs.
A homemade crude bomb of low intensity was hurled today outside the Sonargaon Pan-Pacific hotel in Dhaka where President Pranab Mukherjee is staying. No one was injured in the blast which took place around 2 pm., said Apoorva Hassan, the officer in-charge of Tejgaon police station.
Bangladesh on Sunday rolled out the red carpet for President Pranab Mukherjee who arrived in Dhaka on a three-day state visit to boost bilateral ties amidst a general strike called by Jamaat-e-Islami to protest conviction of its three top leaders for the 1971 war crimes.
Congress sources said the party will first discuss its choice of the Presidential nominee within the UPA and then consult the Left parties.
In a stern warning to Pakistan, India on Wednesday said it was 'determined to take strongest' possible steps to ensure that there is no repetition of incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks.
Congress sources have told rediff.com that Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram or External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will replace Shivraj Patil, who resigned on Sunday, as home minister. The announcement is likely to be made in the next couple of hours after the all-party meeting called to discuss the Mumbai terror attacks.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till Tuesday after the tabling of the Budget.
The minister further said that he would respond to the issues in his reply to the discussion on the Finance Bill 2011, later during this session.
The move comes in the backdrop of a slowdown in the foreign direct investments and its impact on the current account deficit.
As President Pranab Mukherjee completed his first year in office on Thursday; he focused on education and health care, while interacting with governors across the country through a new video conferencing facility from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget presentation on Monday was in sharp contrast to his colleague Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's disorderly and oft-disrupted performance.
The government on Tuesday attributed higher economic growth projected in the mid-year economic analysis for this fiscal than the Economic Survey to robust economic expansion in the first half.It, however, cautioned against the impact of fragile European recovery on Indian economy.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Wednesday assured Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that land acquisition issues for the proposed Tata Steel plant in the neighbouring country would soon be resolved.
Supporting Reserve Bank's hawkish stance on monetary policy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the increase in the key rates was necessary to contain inflation.
India has said any unilateral armed action against Iran is totally 'unacceptable and undesirable' and should be disapproved of by the international community. "In respect of Iran, I entirely agree with the Egyptian Foreign Minister that there should be no armed engagement. In fact we are against any coercive engagement," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after holding talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit in Cairo on Thursday night.
Home Secretary Gopal Krishna Pillai, who is retiring on Thursday after 39 years of service, told rediff.com in an exclusive interview, that, "No bugging took place" in the office of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Concerned over a spike in crude oil prices in international markets due to turmoil in West Asia, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday the government is monitoring the situation and will manage it.
The India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday monsoon rains are expected to be below normal at 95 per cent of the long period average, with margin for error of plus or minus 4 per cent.
India will not tolerate obstruction in fencing along LoC, says defence minister
Against the backdrop of Beijing's negative role at the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Vienna, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Dr Singh told Yang that India was pleased to get the NSG waiver last week, official sources said.
President Pranab Mukherjee will be honoured by Bangladesh government on Monday in recognition of his contribution to the struggle that led to the birth of this nation 42 years ago.
UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee rejected Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that his letter of resignation from the Indian Statistical Institute was "fabricated".
The CD, which will have 1940s' film songs, will remind Pakistanis of undivided India and the undivided talent in the Bombay film industry. The first song is Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya by Kundan Lal Sehgal from the film Shahjahan. The album signs off with the title track of Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna by Sonu Nigam.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has said it is satisfied with the positive dialogue its delegation had with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and hoped it will pave the way for early tripartite talks on the Gorkhaland issue."We are expecting tripartite talks on the Gorkhaland issue soon as the dialogue with Mukherjee was positive," GJM press secretary Benoy Tamang said.
The finance minister also provided some relief to readymade garment manufacturers by raising the abatement available for levy of taxes on retail price of some branded garments and textile made-ups.
The Congress on Monday downplayed reports of a disagreement between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee over Dr Singh's offer to appear before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee over the 2G spectrum issue, saying Mukherjee was only underlining the legal position. "The finance minister has himself clarified his statement. Mukherjee was only underlining the legal position that it was not binding on the PM to appear before the PAC," Cong said.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded an apology from the Opposition, accusing it of "destroying" Parliament after they rejected his offer of a special session to discuss the Joint Parliamentary Commitee issue on 2G scam.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee on Monday quit his job from Steel Authority of India Limited to join politics and contest the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has brought about a coup in North Block by bringing an Indian Foreign Service officer Venu Rajamoni as Joint Secretary to head multilateral institutions division.
India Inc on Tuesday described Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as industry's Sachin Tendulkar saying the veteran leader was steering the economy "with ease of a seasoned player" in difficult times.
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