The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
WC star Azad beats state BJP heavyweight Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
Khardah is no ordinary constituency. It is the electoral battleground of two economists-turned-finance ministers.
Actor-turned-politician and sitting MP Locket Chatterjee has been fielded from Chunchura and another MP Nishit Parmanik from Dinhata. Also, a number of film personalities have been nominated as candidates in the high-stakes battle for West Bengal.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra expressed confidence in GST.
He termed this as 'intolerance' towards the constitutional head of the state, and expressed confidence that the media will not be a 'silent spectator' to such episodes.
'The life of his political career is dependent on success in this constituency.'
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.
Delhi is set to get its third woman chief minister, after Congress' Sheila Dikshit and Bharatiya Janata Party's Sushma Swaraj, as Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has been chosen to succeed Arvind Kejriwal.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday assured that West Bengal would be provided all assistance to tide over its financial crisis.
He was replying to query on the status of Mamata Banerjee's demand for the financial assistance.
Revenue deficit of the state is the highest among Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
Many anticipate that by the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP may come to power, says Mohammad Sajjad.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
Banerjee had last week sought an appointment with Modi.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is often accused of being parochial -- she has, on many occasions, been blamed for being tilted in favour of her home state of West Bengal, at least as far as railway projects are concerned.
Deliberating on the acute financial crisis the new government faced after taking over from the Left Front regime following Assembly elections, Banerjee said, "I have sought a financial package from the Centre to rejuvenate the economy.
He pointed out that wages under the NREGA have been increased from Rs 61 to Rs 100 which would lead to earnings of Rs 10,000 annually 'irrespective of qualification'. Mukherjee, who is the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief urged party workers to pinpoint failures in implementation of the scheme at the block and panchayat levels.
No longer Bengal's finance minister, Amit Mitra, Mamata's principal chief advisor, will still advise and aid the 'chief minister and finance department on all matters relating to management of state finance', represent the 'state government in national and international events/meetings/committees' and examine 'important proposals/files and policy issues relating to financial matters referred to him for advice/views'.
In an important step towards setting up of Tata Motors' small car project at Singur, the West Bengal government signed the land lease agreement with the auto major on Friday.
The situation has came to such a pass that the state finance minister Asim Dasgupta recently had to raise the VAT rates on luxury items by one per cent to 13.5 per cent.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Following is the gist of the controversy over sudden transfer of West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, who retired on Monday, to Delhi and related rules.
Mamata Banerjee has announced a Rs 500 crore relief package to assuage those who lost their money to the Saradha chit fund. As West Bengal is dancing on the edge of bankruptcy, this money will be raised from taxes on tobacco. Having already seen their savings go up in smoke the people of West Bengal must now puff away whatever is left, says T V R Shenoy.
Ms Banerjee's triumphal declaration of having attracted investments worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore at the summit, are numbers that no one but she and the enigmatic state finance minister Amit Mitra believe, points out Kanika Datta.
The asset quality of microfinance portfolios worsened in the quarter ending June 2024 due to the impact of heatwaves on borrowers' incomes and collections, coupled with rumours of loan waivers, according to Sa-Dhan. Jiji Mammen, executive director and chief executive officer of Sa-Dhan, said loans with 90+ days past due (dpd) rose to 1.2 per cent in June 2024, compared to 0.9 per cent in June 2023. The 90+ dpd also increased from 1.16 per cent in March 2024.
If the fiscal deficit target of 4.9% of GDP has to be met for 2024-2025, which the government must in view of the uncertainties and challenges emerging both domestically and globally, the finance ministry may see in the composition of the current year's capex a sliver of hope, notes A K Bhattacharya.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will seek Rs 15,000 crore from the Centre for building a "mini Chinese Wall" along the coastal area of the Sundarbans to protect the area's 4.1 million people from further cyclones and high tides. The area was recently hit by cyclone Aila.
The state government decided to provide the subsidy to bus, minibus and taxi operators in the state effective from August 1, Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told the Assembly while speaking on the West Bengal Appropriation (No 2) Bill, 2010.
There were no proposals for additional resource mobilisation in her budget. But she has been helped by an all-time high annual Plan allocation of Rs 41,426 crore (Rs 414.26 billion) for 2010-11, up Rs 1,142 crore (Rs 11.42 billion) from 2009-10.
Many individual states experienced higher inflation than the all-India figures during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Retail inflation figures in Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been higher than national numbers every month of this financial year, shows a Business Standard analysis of state-wise figures, after the March inflation data was released on Friday. Experts noted that persistent high food inflation along with differences in the weights of rural and urban indices plays into the regional variation in inflation rates.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.
Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds.
The fitment committee under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, comprising central and state officials, has begun a rate rationalisation exercise afresh, checking the possibility of dropping some of the rates, particularly the 12 per cent slab, to achieve a revenue-neutral structure, a senior official with direct knowledge of the matter
Briefing reporters on her visit, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the Singapore Foreign Minister K Shanmugam has invited Banerjee to improve relations and she has accepted it.
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