The suspense over the possible composition of the National Democratic Alliance cabinet is nearly over.
The finance ministry on Wednesday allowed all private sector banks to participate in government-related business, like collection of taxes. pension payments and small savings schemes. At the moment, only few large private sector are allowed to conduct government-related business.
New exchange will provide an electronic platform for trading.
The aim of the exercise was to further simplify GST forms and make the filing process more user-friendly, the finance ministry said in a tweet, reports Dilasha Seth.
Budget planners for now have been told to prepare with the assumption that GST will apply from April 1.
G C Murmu rarely speaks in public and when he does, his statements are always in lockstep with the thinking within this government.
The Union government will limit its investigations to financial irregularities and tax violations by the Indian Premier League (IPL), its 10 franchisees, as well as the broadcaster. The government does not want to interfere in the functioning of existing sports institutions, a top functionary of the finance ministry said.
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.
It emphasised that agricultural infrastructure needs considerable investments and hence Section 80IA benefits must be extended to all such investments like IT infrastructure, computers, VSAT, solar panels, water harvesting facilities, storage etc.
It is unclear if he would be renamed the finance minister soon after his return.
Glimpses of the protests in Colombo against the worsening economic crisis
PSB executives said loans to group holding company IL&FS and entities might still be treated as "standard".
While the Raj Bhavan had on Thursday night said it placed the unprecedented 'dismissal' order on hold, the DMK regime asserted it would pick an appropriate action plan to counter and fight the move against the minister by Ravi, even though he backtracked from it.
Many farmers in drought hit states are seeking MGNREGA work but the state government's coffers do not have enough fund to pay the salaries of these workers.
This alternative is being planned as the existing projects continue to be delayed due to land acquisition troubles. The ministry is thinking of adding new track lines to its existing eastern and western DFCs passing major areas in the proposed stretches, senior officials said.
Kaushik Basu, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, said, "All I can say is, we are very serious about fiscal consolidation, and intend holding on to our fiscal targets, even if the crude price rises on a sustained basis."
He said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.
Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday downplayed the row over the finance ministry note on Home Minister P Chidambaram's stand on the 2G spectrum issue, saying there is no scope for any worry over the document and inferences drawn out of it were "not correct". Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" for such a long time. "I have seen the note. I don't think the note has anything on which we should express worry," Khurshid said.
Union Commerce and Industries Minister Kamal Nath on Friday said he disagreed with the finance ministry on the controversial fringe benefit tax, saying the tax laws should be made simpler.
The Bharatiya Janata Party rejected this was any sort of demonetisation and instead reminded the Congress that even during the rule of Manmohan Singh, old currency notes were taken off circulation.
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.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has unilaterally withdrawn the defamation case filed against Arun Jaitley, the Union finance minister.
Retirement fund body EPFO's trustees on February 5 will decide on amending its scheme to provide a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000, which will immediately benefit its 27 lakh pensioners.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has written to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha who is likely to consult the parliamentary affairs ministry before framing his response on the government's plans to advance the budget presentation to February 1, sources said.
'The finance minister has messed up the economy.'
Former Defence Minister A K Antony also demanded making public the inter-governmental agreement with France. He wondered how India would bridge the gap with respect to China and Pakistan by acquiring just 36 aircraft when the original plan was for 126.
From the seas to the stars, this partnership will now be deepened by the defining role of technology, the statement said.
On July 31, one of the five shortlisted companies, IRB Infrastructure, had said it would not bid for MTHL.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked administrative ministeries to work out viable plan for disinvestment of BHEL and Coal India, including dividend payment, so as to achieve Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) target in the current fiscal.
Finance ministry sources have countered CAG audit finding of central government wrongly retaining Rs 47,272 crore of GST compensation cess meant for states, saying temporary retention cannot be termed as diversion.
Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked various ministries to try to spend more than their capital expenditure targets as well as explore public private partnerships for viable projects. During a meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap, she also urged the ministries and their CPSEs to ensure clearance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) dues at the earliest. This was the fifth review meeting by the finance minister with ministries and departments on the infrastructure roadmap.
The announcement of a deferral is expected to be part of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech on February 29.
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