Arun Jaitley had a tough fiscal hill to climb.
Presenting the Rail Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament on Wednesday, Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said that there will be no increase in the passenger fares of any class or category of trains.
A joint forum of central trade unions has given a call for a nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 to protest against the government policies affecting workers, farmers, and people.
The BEST workers' union went on strike to press for their demands, including timely payment of salaries.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
Dinesh Trivedi takes a dig at Mamata over cartoon row
The overriding objective of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) must be adequate economic return, not financial return.
Traders blame demonetisation for subdued demand in retail segment
Jaitley is now a minister without portfolio in the Narendra Modi government.
Budget should be a platform for govt to take bold steps.
The government is also considering mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only in card/digital mode.
The department of investment and public asset management is racing against time to launch the LIC IPO, which could become the largest-ever listing on the Indian bourses. This would lead to some delay in the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank.
Indian state's generosity is not restricted to its poorest citizens.
Can the newly-minted Jal Shakti ministry bring water to some 19 crore Indian households that have never had taps or heard the sound of flowing water, wonders Vinayak Chatterjee.
What happened in India in the week gone by? Here's the top stories that captured India's attention in the week gone by.
Eminent business journalist and author Tamal Bandyopadhyay discussed Budget with rediff.com readers on Tuesday.
Similarities between NDA and UPA on some key policy issues are now becoming too stark to be ignored, says A K Bhattacharya.
Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced 55 new trains in the Rail Budget 2006-07 for different destinations across the country.
Caution prevailed across the bourses ahead of the Union Budget.
'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 national budget 2019-20 had an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles scheme to boost electric mobility and increase the number of EVs in commercial fleets.
The traffic tells a story. During the lockdown, it took 45 minutes to zip through the deserted 35-km stretch from Chennai to reach the automobile heart of Sriperumbudur-Oragadam, where the big names of the car industry - Hyundai Motor India, Renault-Nissan India, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Apollo Tyres, and Royal Enfield - are based.
The investment limit for foreign entities in Indian stock exchanges will be enhanced from 5 per cent to 15 per cent on par with domestic institutions.
India's new policy commission has received a makeover and a dream team has been formed to head the Think Tank, NITI Aayog.
Govt is likely to find it hard to meet deficit target next year.
As part of the National Democratic Alliance government's media blitzkrieg to highlight achievements made during its one-year rule, three Union ministers will participate in a 'talkathon' session today during which they will answer questions posted on Twitter.
While an import duty is ruled out, a small excise duty on jewellery manufacturing can be on the cards.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Attacking the previous government, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the hike in rail fares was "thrusted upon" by the United Progressive Alliance, but it was a "bitter medicine" that had to be swallowed in the interest of sound health of the economy.
It doesn't matter that the man who has been given charge of Jayalalithaa's portfolios today started out opposing her.
Insisting that PM Modi has consistently cared for the farmers, Goyal said the Rs 75,000 earmarked for paying Rs 6,000 per annum to each of 12 crore farmers is not one time but a 'sustainable' provision.
Gandhi accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of bringing back the idea of a 'king of India' that was 'smashed in 1947" and targeted the PM saying that the 'idea of a king is back.."
A senior BEST official expressed hope of the stalemate getting resolved soon.
In 2014-15, capital expenditure in the April-September period was Rs 99,100 crore.
Officials said the oil marketing companies had provided data to the Income Tax department.
Much of the Q3 data will simply not be available for the CSO to factor in its calculation.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
An exercise to rationalise coal linkages which will optimize transport of coal and reduce cost of power is underway.
Tax incentives to have cascading effect on the capital goods industry.
With just a day left for the budget session of Parliament to wind up, the government finally scored a goal when it passed the Judicial Commission and Constitution Amendement Bills in the Lok Sabha, hurriedly obtained the President's signature in a matter of hours and by late evening brought the Constitution amendment part of the Bill to the Rajya Sabha for consideration.
