Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday broke hearts of fairer sex by increasing import duty on gold bars, but tried to be even handed by raising income exemption limit for women by Rs 10,000 and by exempting excise on branded jewellery.
The Union Cabinet has been summoned for an unscheduled meeting Tuesday morning before the start of Parliament's day's sitting, strengthening speculation that the government may be pushed to tabling the Liberhan Commission report on Babri Masjid demolition.
Former Union law minister and civil activist Shanti Bhushan has urged the government to hold an open debate on the Lokpal Bill so that the people of India get to know the stance taken by the various members of the drafting committee.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, chairman of the Lokpal Bill Drafting committee, is yet to respond to Bhushan's demand.Bhushan, who is one of the five representatives of the civil society on the panel, said the government was backtracking.
The five-year Foreign Trade Policy, to be unveiled on August 27, is expected to give incentives to Indian exporters to widen their global markets beyond the United States, the European Union and Japan in the face of the economic crisis in these key destinations.
Economists and experts said on Tuesday the Union Budget presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday has not shown any fiscal prudence. They were speaking at a post Budget analysis session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Ahmedabad.
The Union government is on a social sector roll. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had indicated that the United Progressive Alliance government was going to make the social sector the centrepiece of the upcoming Budget. According to Dilip Ghosh, special secretary, Panchayat Raj department of West Bengal, the Centre has indicated that the demand for grants for these projects should be hiked at least 50 per cent more than the present allocation.
Budget is the annual fiscal exercise that attracts a lot interest, as it is a plan that sets goals, outlines resources to meet these goals, provides details of the government's receipts and payments, and frames the taxation policies for the country.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has trained its focus and its guns on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and has asked him to answer their long list of questions on the 2G spectrum issue, wanting to know why he has been changing his stand on both 2G and jailed former Union minister A Raja.
Tax payers will be looking forward to some relief from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who is expected to raise the income tax exemption limit to at least Rs 2 lakh in his budget proposals.
Cigarette pricing in India can go the liquor way as ITC, the undisputed leader in the sector, may consider state-specific pricing for its popular brands. This comes after the ad valorem duty imposed in the Union Budget, coupled with the varying value added tax (VAT) rates across states.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was saddled with a number of handicaps when he presented the Union Budget 2012-13 on Friday morning.
The Union Budget has proposed to extend concessional basic customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from excise/countervailing duty to six specified life-saving drugs and vaccines, even as the stress has been laid on vaccine security.
"The roadmap given by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee makes it clear that this budget will increase financial burden on common people," CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters outside Parliament.
There have been many innovative and helpful developments in the Indian education sector in the last 4-5 years.
Battling charges over escape of Warren Anderson days after the Bhopal tragedy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday sought to give a new spin on the issue, saying Arjun Singh took the decision on then Union Carbide chief executive officer's exit keeping in view the law and order situation.
The government on Monday constituted a Group of Ministers to look into pricing and auctioning of spectrum for 3G telephony that will revolutionise the way data is received and transferred on mobile phones.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discusses Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Parliament on Friday with Business Standard's A K Bhattacharya.
The Union Budget 2010-11 presented by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on Friday, supports the strategy for the development of agriculture and related sectors.
The Union Budget 2010-11 presented by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on Friday, provides boost to the research and development (R&D) activity across all sector of economy.
Budget is the annual fiscal exercise that attracts a lot interest, as it is a plan that sets goals, outlines resources to meet these goals, provides details of the government's receipts and payments, and frames the taxation policies for the country.
With the Union Budget barely a month away, various industry bodies see this as an opportunity to draw Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's attention to their sectors and put forth their demands so that he can address these issues in the forthcoming Budget.
Tougher to find today than two weeks ago, there are still a few value buys left in the market.
Select life saving drugs, LCD TVs, mobile phones, branded jewellery, sports and leather products, packaged software and footwear are among items that would cost less, while gold bars and coins, silver, set-top boxes and cosmetic surgery would turn costlier after the Budget.
The NIA, which came into existence in February this year with the appointment of Radha Vinod Raju as its first director general, has to accomplish important tasks in next 100 days.
"To enable students from economically weaker sections to access higher education, it is proposed to introduce a scheme to provide them full interest subsidy during the period of moratorium," he said. However, only those students whose family income is less than Rs 4.5 lakh per annum will be eligible under the scheme. These students will avail the benefit for a moratorium period which is one year from completion of the course or six months from joining a job.
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 Union Budget just a week away. While economists and analysts are busy making predictions about the biggest annual financial event in the country, common people are no less interested either.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed to introduce a service tax of five per cent on hotel room charges and three per cent on air-conditioned restaurants that serve liquor.
Giving in to demands from Anganwadi workers, the government on Monday said it will double their remuneration while a special development fund for women self-help groups was also announced as part of its initiatives for the fair sex.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget 2010-11 in parliament on Friday. A look into the hihghlights.
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 government decided to table in Parliament on Tuesday the report of the Liberhan Commission that probed the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, a day after the leakage of the findings set off a political storm.
Equity infusion of Rs 4,000 crore into Air India, proposed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Union Budget 2012-13, will improve the debt-equity ratio of the airline to a level considered comfortable and help open the doors of banks for them.
From April 1, 2010, section 80CCF would provide an additional tax deduction, over and above the existing 80C deduction, in respect to investments made in long term infrastructure bonds.
There are also concerns on the central government finances for the current fiscal, he said, adding, performance during the first half on the fiscal front poses some risks in both receipts as well as expenditure estimates.
Taking into account all the increases, inflation will be around 0.4 per cent in the wholesale price index, says Pranab Mukherjee.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated this to media persons during a lunch hosted by him at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday.
While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is aiming for a return to the path of fiscal prudence, various departments of the central government appear to be out of sync.
Hazarika and Deshmukh were given the Bharat Ratna posthumously.
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