P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget for the eighth time.
The government has been trying to make the tax laws simpler every year; however, there are numerous amendments required in the tax laws.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday unveiled the budget for fiscal 2020-21, vowing to boost income of Indians and their purchasing power, in a bid to revive domestic economic growth that has slumped.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
President Murmu reached the new Parliament building in a six-horse buggy accompanied by the Presidential Bodyguards riding horses.
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
All public sector bank branches will have an automated teller machine by March 31, 2014.
The bills were passed by voice vote.
What has been the impact of this Budget on your daily life?
Presenting the Union Budget for 2013-14 in Parliament, Finance Minister P Chidambaram also quoted his favourite poet Tiruvalluvar towards the end of his Budget speech after referring to Stiglitz in the beginning.
Last year, Sitharaman had ditched the long-standing tradition of carrying budget documents in a leather briefcase and went swadeshi with a 'bahi-khata'.
"The ray of hope being seen by the world will glow brighter -- for this, I firmly believe the finance minister will make all efforts to meet these aspirations," Modi said.
Trivedi presented the Railway Budget in the Parliament on Wednesday.
Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the government was not keen to suspend MPs from Lok Sabha, but opposition members came with requests for suspension after action was taken against some of their colleagues.
The BJP accused Congress leaders of colluding with foreign forces to destabilize India and demanded Sonia Gandhi to disclose her role in a George Soros Foundation-funded organization's activities. The ruling party also attacked Rahul Gandhi, calling him a "pawn" for his protests against the Adani issue.
Modi said the policies of the government will empower the downtrodden and turn them into a "power house" for the development of the country.
Soon after Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the Union Budget 2013 in Parliament, Trinamool Congress leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi joined us for the Budget chat.
The government will come out with a White Paper on the mismanagement of economy prior to 2014 with an aim to draw lessons.
"The Railway Minister has presented a very responsible, practical and implementable budget," Chidambram told reporters outside Parliament.
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 world has recognised India as a bright star as the country is recording healthy economic growth despite global uncertainties, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. India's growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal is the highest among major economies and the Indian economy is on the right track, she said in her Budget speech.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present the Rail Budget on July 1.
Could it have been more reformist? Of course, but this is an election year Budget, observes Akash Prakash.
More than three crore signatures submitted to PM seeking scrapping of Aadhaar.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
Moody's Analytics said that the reduced political stability and the need for consensus building that is inherent with a coalition government, might erode investor confidence in the near term.
The first Budget of Independent India was presented by R K Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned twice in the afternoon session when it took up the discussion on the Budget after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address and the motion was passed.
Alternatively, the government may go in for a five-day session to blunt criticism that it was running away from debates.
Admitting there were challenges before the economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said at a post-Budget media conference that another set of decisions and measures would be announced during the Budget's passage in Parliament.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced increasing customs duty on imported footwear and furniture. In her second Budget presentation, the finance minister also imposed health cess on import of medical equipment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday used her trademark 'bahi-khata', a ledger wrapped in a red-coloured cloth, to carry Budget documents as she arrived in Parliament House to present her third straight Budget. Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman finance minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers. She used the same last year and again on Monday.
Sources in the Rural Development Ministry said the actual expenditure incurred in 2020-21 will be higher than the allocated funds and it will at least be at par with this year's total estimated expenditure of MGNREGS.
The Bench did not agree with the submission that in the past, Centre had postponed presentation of Budget due to assembly polls.
Finance Minister presented the Budget in Parliament on Thursday.
Unions claimed that about 10 lakh staff and officers of public sector banks and some private sector banks are participating in the strike.
The session will commence with the maiden address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. The address essentially highlights the government's achievements and policy priorities.
The political discourse hit a new low on Monday with Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri making disparaging remarks targeting Rahul Gandhi and the Congress paying him back in the same coin.