Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
Party sources said apart from the Railway and General Budget, the government wanted to initiate some key legislation during the session to send a political message to voters. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has also planned to hold a meeting of the secretaries of different ministries to know each ministry's priority agenda. "We have to set the government's agenda accordingly," Bansal said.
The Union Budget is likely to adopt a three-pronged strategy to bring about the second green revolution in agriculture and evolve methods to tap the $119 billion foreign exchange reserves to boost investment.
The industry's reactions to the Budget have been mixed.
The government has identified nine key focus areas in the AI national programme, including agriculture, education, Indian languages, smart cities, cybersecurity, transportation, and finance.
The country's exports grew 5.37 per cent year-on-year to $27.24 billion in January 2021, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharma and engineering sectors, according to provisional data of the commerce ministry. Trade deficit during the month narrowed to $14.75 billion from $15.3 billion in January 2020. It was $15.44 billion in December 2020. Imports in January 2021 rose 2 per cent to $42 billion.
At an event at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai, Modi first flagged off the the CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express and later another semi high-speed train linking the financial capital to Sainagar Shirdi temple town in Ahmednagar district.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 80 points up at 23,789 while the Nifty50 closed at 7,235, up 24 points.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the United States for a three-day state visit, has gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5 carat diamond, placed in Kashmir's exquisite Papier mache box, to First Lady Jill Biden.
While some like RPG's Spencer's and Wadhawan group's Spinach say it will encourage them to invest more in cold chains, others such as Aditya Birla Retail and Future Group said the announcement has come too late and helps fresh produce and chilled product suppliers more than retailers.
The price per kilogram of onion came down to Rs 2 to Rs 4, which angered the growers, who had stopped the auction at the APMC last week for a day.
The Centre is looking to convene a meeting of the all-powerful Goods and Service Tax Council in early January. The meeting is likely to focus on rectifying the inverted duty structure for a few more items and will also serve as a platform for pre-Budget discussions between Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and state finance ministers, Business Standard has learnt. "The current Winter Session of Parliament ends on December 23, followed by the Christmas-New Year period. "After that we would like to have a meeting of the GST Council, depending on whether there can be a quorum," a top government official said.
Lending his support to the ongoing farmers protests, he said in Lok Sabha that it was not an agitation of the farmers only but a movement of the country and the government will have to repeal the laws.
Budgetary sanction may dip below Rs 3,000 crore.
'Sri Anna' means the best among all the food grains," Modi said.
Sitharaman said the government also proposes Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana to address critical infrastructure gap in fisheries sector.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.
The Budget chose to stick to an ambitious disinvestment programme for 2016-17.
Sheela Bhatt recounts the tension, suspense and disruptions during P Chidambaram's interim budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
'I would want people to have food on their tables and their wages to rise.' 'Will that happen or not is the question that we need to ask and answer.'
The proposed commodity transaction tax of Rs 17 per lakh was part of the Union Budget 2008-09 that was approved by the Parliament in the last session and is yet to be notified. Asked about timeframe of notification, Pawar said, 'first you allow us to discuss and take a final view.'
'...Market-linked debentures, high-value insurance, exemptions from capital gains by investment in real estate, etc.' 'So, there are a number of measures directed at collecting a fair share from higher income individuals.'
The government on Tuesday asserted in Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss issues related to farmers both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests by the Opposition which forced repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
The Budget has unveiled measures that should now pave the way for India to progress from Make in India to 'Innovate in India'.
Indian companies are planning to increase investments in the new year to expand capacity, acquire companies, and go on a hiring spree, a survey of top executives showed. They, however, cited rising costs, weak consumer demand, and increasing interest rates as major concerns for 2023 which may impact their plans.
FM is planning on pre-budget cosultations with representatives of various sectors from Jan 7.
Social activist Anna Hazare said he won't be proceeding with the indefinite fast against the new farm laws and claimed that the Central government has agreed to some of his demands.
The government's policy of interference has broken the backbone of futures market in India
By throwing food at poverty that is result of faulty economics and lack of jobs, one is only trying to suicidal path.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the fiscal deficit slippage this financial year (2017-18) was largely statistical.
Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar speaks to Prasanna Zore/Rediff.com.
Bank credit is likely to grow at a four-year high of 11-12 per cent in fiscal 2023, on the back of better economic growth and budgetary support from the government, according to a report. In the fiscal ended March 2022, bank advances have likely grown at 9-10 per cent. "Healthy economic growth and budgetary support from the government should lift bank credit growth by 200-300 basis points to 11-12 per cent this fiscal," Crisil Ratings said in the report. The higher credit growth expectation is also supported by the improved resilience of the banking system, it added.
'The term 'pro-growth' must be qualified somewhat because, while a rising tide will lift all boats, it will not necessarily do so equally.'
Without making any direct reference to the three new farm reform laws or to the three-month-old agitation by farmers, Modi said there is a need for expanding options for the country's farming community to sell agri produce.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting to discuss the preparations for launching Doordarshan's 'Kisan TV' on May 26, to coincide with the first anniversary celebrations of the National Democratic Alliance government.
Shivakumar has got the all-important Major and Medium Irrigation and Bengaluru City Development, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
Niti Aayog will prepare the next list of central public sector companies for disinvestment in the next few weeks, its vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday and expressed hope that the proposed asset reconstruction and management companies to address banks' bad loan woes will do a good job like the UTI. Days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Union Budget for 2021-22 laying out various measures (including disinvestment proposals) to bolster the pandemic-hit economy, Kumar also emphasised that the Modi government has shown consistent commitment for the welfare of farmers and for the improvement of the agriculture sector. "Now the process has begun... We will complete preparation of the next list in the next few weeks, we have got the marching order," Kumar said about the list of public sector companies for the next round of stake sales.
The law will be applicable not only to crops but also livestock, dairy and poultry products
If the real economy is indeed looking up, then it no longer needs hand-holding and fiscal laxity
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