Job creation, improving farm productivity, and mobilising public funds for infrastructure development were some of the issues that figured during the interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and economists ahead of the 2025-26 Union Budget. The prime minister on Tuesday met eminent economists and sectoral experts at NITI Aayog to hear their views and suggestions for the upcoming Budget. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2025.
In Motihari, his kin, however, were critical of the media for airing such footage.
Industry associations and companies in the United States, including the US Chamber of Commerce, Coalition of Services Industries and the iconic bike company Harley Davidson have called on the Donald Trump dispensation to push India to reduce tariffs, non-tariffs, and regulatory barriers to boost American exports.
Union labour minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said employment in the country has increased by 36 per cent to 64.33 crore in 2023-24 from 47.15 crore in 2014-15, which shows improvement in job creation during NDA period.
The Budget 2025-26 meets the expectations of fiscal consolidation, maintaining capital expenditure, and boosting consumption through tax cuts.
Here is a list of items set to become cheaper and costlier.
Market reaction to the Union Budget was overall neutral. The income tax "gift" wasn't enough to move the needle. There was some apparent rationalisation of Customs duty structure as well as cuts on import duties of some key components for the telecom and IT industry and duty cuts on vehicle imports. Other proposals related to development of agriculture and rural economy and renewables seem to be generally positive.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
With the talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions stalled since January, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday expressed readiness to resume the dialogue to resolve their objections to the three new agri laws, but the unions remained adamant on their demands for a repeal of the legislations and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
The Rural Development Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.88 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2025-26, around 5.75 per cent more than the allocation in the previous budget.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
'Due to this sudden phenomenon, guests stopped visiting the homes of these villages, girls and boys from these villages were not getting proposals; students were reluctant to attend schools and colleges for fear of being shamed.'
Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday, two days after he resigned from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha citing dissatisfaction with the party's current style of functioning and 'bitter humiliation'.
The crucial tenth round of meeting with 41 farm unions is scheduled for Tuesday. The talks have failed to yield any concrete results as the agitating unions have stuck to their main demand for repealing the agri laws and the government has ruled out any such step.
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
The decision, which comes ahead of the state assembly elections, underscores the cow's spiritual, scientific, and historical significance in Indian society, an official said. It highlights the integral role that cows have played in India's cultural landscape for centuries, he added.
With India's EV penetration at just 2.5 per cent, the market presents an opportunity -- provided Tesla gets its pricing right.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting that lasted for little over two hours, Tomar said the government is still hopeful that union leaders will come with alternatives to discuss in the next round of talks on January 15.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, stating that he had forged alliances 'by mistake' with the opposition party which 'did nothing' while in power.
A delegation of farmers will meet Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday, said the spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union.
He said that as compared to global models costing 2.5 to 3 US dollars per hour usage, India's AI model will cost less than less than Rs 100 per hour (1.16 US dollars per hour) after 40 percent government subsidy.
Farming and agriculture are crying out for a business model innovation, says R Gopalakrishnan.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday approved 139 Padma awards including seven Padma Vibhushans, 19 Padma Bhushans and 113 Padma Shris.
"If any dispute ends by apologising to the Bishnoi community, then what is wrong in it? If a mistake has been made knowingly or unknowingly, then what does Salman Khan lose in apologising?" the farmer leader asked.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best during the last six years even as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the opportunity to head the monetary authority of the country. Das, in a series of posts on X, on his last day of his six-year term as RBI Governor, also thanked the Finance Minister, various stakeholders and his colleagues at the central bank.
At 6.23 am on 29.1.2025, the 50.9 metre tall and weighing 420.7 ton Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F15 (GSLV-F15) is slated to blast off from the second launch pad carrying the 2,250 kg NVS-02 navigation satellite.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party as an 'aapda' (disaster) for Delhi, saying this 'aapda' had taken the national capital in its grip in the past 10 years.
'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
The government, in its proposal circulated among the leaders on Wednesday, offered to amend 7-8 issues, including providing a written assurance of minimum support price.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Union Budget strikes a fine balance between growth, employment, and fiscal consolidation, and promotes cooperative federalism. Replying to the discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25 and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Budget in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the government is on track to achieve the pre-announced fiscal deficit target of 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. Sitharaman, also a former defence minister, said the Agniveer Scheme to recruit people in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years, is aimed at keeping the armed forces fit, young and battle-ready.
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said no 'jatha' (group) of farmers will resume their foot march to Delhi on Tuesday. The farmers suspended their march after some were injured in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel. Pandher accused the Centre of being confused on how the protesters should proceed to the national capital, citing contradictory statements from different ministers. He also criticized the government's lack of response to the hunger strike of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, which has entered its 14th day.
Already tractor rallies have been held in places like Nawanshahr and Gurdaspur as a build-up to the proposed January 26 event, farmer leaders said. More are planned over the next two days.
Haryana has done well in terms of economic growth over the last couple of decades. For it to continue to lead the growth ladder, the new government has to work hard on multiple dimensions, recommend Shishir Gupta and Rishita Sachdeva.
Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Varun Gandhi has turned down the Oxford Union's invite to speak at a debate on whether India is on the right path under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he sees no merit or integrity in voicing domestic challenges at an international forum and that such a step will be a "dishonourable act".
Farmers from Punjab clashed with Haryana police at two border points between the states on Tuesday, facing tear gas and water cannons as they tried to break past barricades blocking their protest march to the national capital. The police lobbed tear gas shells -- some of them dropped from a drone -- and tried to disperse groups of stone-pelting protesters in the face-off that last several hours at Shambhu border near Ambala in Haryana.
This adjustment is aimed at helping workers cope with the rising cost of living, a labour ministry statement said.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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