As 2010 comes to an end, the mood in North Block is not that sanguine.
Securing the GDP estimates a month in advance would be a challenge and the government should take the Central Statistics Office on board before embarking on the new schedule for Budget presentation
The move can help mop up about Rs 1.2 lakh every day for the purpose.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
The government, however, asserted that the Budget will be presented as scheduled, rejecting the opposition's allegations that it will impact the upcoming assembly elections.
The impact of economic slump was visible in the Budget's fine print, as this step-by-step explanation show how the Budget math was worked out, reports Abhishek Waghmare.
'Ladakh has become a hollow UT.' 'Bureaucrats from Delhi rule Ladakh and there is no attention paid to the grievances of the people.'
The early tabling of the financial Budget ends a 70-year tradition.
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The opposition has attacked the Modi government over the National Democratic Alliance's last full-fledged budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day
The meeting is believed to be called to chalk out the strategy of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
As per the rules and regulations, members must not do anything that brings disrepute to the Parliament and affects their credibility, and members must utilise their position as Members of Parliament to advance general well-being of the people.
The real requirement for the finance minister's explanatory speech is to explain the measures taken in the Budget to influence inflation and growth not just through the announcement of a deficit goal, but more broadly through the impact on money supply, consumer demand, foreign trade and investment, explains Nitin Desai.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions for the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Karnataka.
Gandhi said he was "waiting with open arms".
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
The chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, K V Thomas, on Monday said a meeting with finance ministry officials has been deferred to February 10 in view of the Budget preparations.
Likely to be merged with Union Budget from FY18
Modi said he was "full of confidence" ahead of his "exam", the Budget, by 125 crore people
February 6 or 8 likely options; development will be the main theme
The BJP leadership believes these parties are flexing their muscles in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls for better seat-sharing deals.
Bank strike continued for day-two on Tuesday, led by nine unions of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country, opposing government's policy to privatise the lenders. Customers will be inconvenienced to get services such as cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances, remittance services. Government transactions related to treasury as well as business transactions will also be impacted. United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16.
Budget 2018 bears imprints of a government unsure of second term with clear majority, says Shekhar Gupta.
Expressing commitment to augment the country's infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday proposed to significantly enhance capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetizing assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). Sitharaman said NIP, that was launched in December 2019 with 6,835 projects, has now been expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure ministries have been completed. "For 2021-22, I propose a sharp increase in capital expenditure and thus have provided Rs 5.54 lakh crores which is 34.5% more than the BE of 2020-21," the finance minister said.
The government also announced that healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme will be extended to all ASHA and anganwadi workers and helpers.
Opposition parties have slammed the decision to change the long-standing practice, alleging it was being done with an eye on the assembly polls in five states.
Watch all the proceedings and live debates.
Several parties had requested that the session, which was originally scheduled to continue till April 8, be curtailed due to the five assembly elections being held in eight phases till April 29.
Following the address by President Ram Nath Kovind, the economic survey will be tabled in the two Houses.
'Are all roads in India privatised? Are governments not playing a role in airports or ports? If they (private players) want to set up lines for a specific requirement, I see no reason to object. It will expand the opportunity and passengers will also benefit.'
The Indian rupee may remain under depreciation pressure on account of plateauing of exports and subsequent widening of the current account deficit, said the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. It said the "risks to the current account balance stem from multiple sources". The country's current account deficit (CAD) widened to 4.4 per cent of the GDP in the quarter ended September from 2.2 per cent in April-June due to higher trade gap, as per latest data of the Reserve Bank of India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on Saturday proposed a budget of Rs 85,000 crore in 2020-21 for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes and Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes.
There was no law that prevented the government from presenting a sixth full Budget, or something similar to it.
Move is to encourage investment in the infrastructure sector.
Hussain said the new government had inherited an "empty treasury" while the prices of oil were shooting up.
The new Parliament building, whose foundation was laid in December 2020 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being constructed in its vicinity and the work is expected to be completed before the Winter Session.
Rationalisation of income tax slabs, infrastructure status for digital services and incentives to hydrogen storage as well as fuel cell development were some of the suggestions made by various stakeholders at the pre-Budget consultation meeting convened by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The customary pre-Budget consultation meetings were held with the finance minister virtually between December 15 and December 22, as per the finance ministry statement. More than 120 invitees representing seven stakeholder groups participated in eight meetings, scheduled during this period, it said.
The pre-budget Economic Survey, which is tabled in Parliament ahead of the Union Budget to present the state of the economy and suggest policy prescriptions, quite often misses on the GDP forecast, sometimes by a significant margin. This time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha on Monday soon after the President's address to both Houses of Parliament. She will present the Union Budget for the next financial year beginning April 1, 2022, on Tuesday.
Do the actual numbers bear out the claims made by the government or do they suggest something else? asks A K Bhattacharya.
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