Pranab Mukherjee's speech was so boring that half of the Treasury benches were found napping. Newsmen peeped from the Press Gallery to see the mood of the MPs.
The much-delayed Women's Reservation Bill may not come up in the Budget session of Parliament as it has to be scrutinised by a new Parliamentary panel. A Union minister, who declined to be identified, said work needed to be done on the Bill which was before the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.
One per cent TDS will apply on non-agriculture immovable property of over Rs 50 lakh on the basis of sale price or the stamp duty value, which ever is higher, after an amendment in the Income Tax Act.
In the wake of uproar over the massacre of 76 security personnel in a Naxal attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned till 2 pm on Thursday.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Union Budget in Parliament on Monday, announced that it is proposed to add one handloom mega cluster each in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and one powerloom mega cluster in Rajasthan.
Cheer up, the coming Union Budget might just make your imported tipple more affordable - on a par with local booze.
What would you like the finance minister to do in this Budget? Tell him.
The Congress has, however, countered this saying someone who is not an MP of Rajya Sabha cannot be called to the House and there cannot be any discussion/reflection on or about an MP of Lok Sabha.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday threatened to block proceedings in the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament if Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was not sacked over his controversial remark on 'Hindu terror'.
'There are many options before opposition parties and this nation has a wealth of leadership.'
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Party and Samajwadi Party, came together in a show of unity on Thursday and accused the Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session washed out, while asserting that if this attitude continues, the country will move towards a "dictatorship".
'We need to look beyond the current approach'.
Presenting the Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal also said Rs 35,000 crore has been given under the One Rank One Pension scheme in the last three years.
The deficit stood over Rs 8 trillion in the first seven months of the current financial year. Non-tax revenues, comprising transfers from the RBI and dividends of the public sector units, shored up the Centre's revenues.
'The performance of any government is benchmarked on five parameters -- India's external security, the state of the economy, social cohesion, internal security, and India's relations with the world or its foreign policy. On each of the benchmarks in the past nine years, the NDA-BJP government has come up completely short'
Divestment also was not covered. One would have expected divestment to be a major instrument for raising fund for various projects, as was the case in the last 3-4 budgets but we did not see it at all.
Finance firms in these SEZs likely to get tax breaks.
Buoyed by about 19 per cent jump in tax collection, the government may further moderate taxes in the Budget with the Economic Survey on Monday prescribing a tax reform mantra to unburden India Inc.
Communist Party of India's member of Parliament Binoy Viswam on Monday submitted a notice to move a privilege motion against Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for his statement in Parliament last year on the Pegasus spyware issue.
Besides advancing the presentation of the Budget to perhaps the first week of January, , there are four new initiatives that could be rolled out from the next Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
While the Congress will go on fast on April 9, BJP MPs will go on a day-long fast on April 9.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said he does not see a 'middle path' to end the logjam in Parliament as the Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue was 'non-negotiable' and the question of an apology over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the United Kingdom does not arise.
'We want to send a notice to the BJP that Rajputs are no longer their slaves.'
The Budget session of the Parliament would be adjourned sine die on March 24. The session would be resumed on May 23 and will continue till June 8.
The Union minister asked Gandhi to "follow the law "and secure acquittal from a higher court.
The legislation was passed by 125 votes in favour and 61 against.
Accelerated development of highways will be taken up with 2,500 km access controlled highways and 9,000 km of economic corridor. In addition, there will be 2,000 km each of strategic highway projects and port connectivity projects, she said.
'... and without necessarily calling them Economic Surveys.' 'One should stick to the main focus, which is to give people a good perspective on how the economy is doing.'
To begin, the Budget has no doubt attempted to address uncertainty.
'In his 2014 election campaign, Mr Modi had boasted that he would apply the Gujarat model to the rest of India. We just have to ensure he doesn't start with Parliament,' says Shashi Tharoor in this fascinating excerpt from his new book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.
Recommending an end to all cesses and surcharges on taxes, and free pricing of fertiliser and fuel ahead of the Union Budget for 2009-10, the Economic Survey on Thursday suggested aggressive divestment and financial sector reforms to bring the economy back to high growth track.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
IMF's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Thursday said it would be damaging for India to start tightening policy support in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and also stressed on reducing wasteful expenditures in the upcoming Budget. Delivering NCAER's '9th C D Deshmukh Lecture' virtually, Gopinath said there is scope for the Indian government to provide more direct support to people.
What effect is the Budget going to have on your daily life? Find out how what's cheaper and what's costlier after the Budget.
What effect is the Budget going to have on your daily life? Find out how what's cheaper and what's costlier after the Budget.
'The fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP seems achievable.'
"Religious festivals seem to have become occasions to intimidate and bully others -- a far cry from when they were occasions for joy and celebration. Instead, there is intimidation and discrimination only on account of their religion, food, caste, gender or language," Gandhi said.
The acrimony started when BJP member Sushil Modi demanded the removal of Union Minister Taslimuddin.
In his speech in the Lok Sabha on February 7, Rahul made several allegations against the government over the Hindenburg-Adani row.
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