Taking a cue from the United Progressive Alliance government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday issued directives to her cabinet colleagues to strictly adhere to austerity measures by checking unproductive spendings.
Streets remained deserted and garbage cans overflowed as workers across Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy went on a 24-hour strike to protest austerity measures and tax hikes.
The government will get away with it, because of our perennial confusion between public and personal austerity, and our jaw-dropping incompetence with simple mathematics.
BPCL plans to save Rs 500-800 cr, while HPCL eyes 10% reduction in total costs.
In an interview to Sheela Bhatt, the yoga guru said, "Austerity should be a way of life. It is possible to do away with luxuries if you understand that public money is not for oneself, but for the poor people."
Terming the austerity drive launched by the Congress-led government as "hypocrisy", Janata Dal (United) National President Sharad Yadav on Saturday said if the Congress was serious about the issue, it should bring a bill to this effect in the Parliament.
In the current circumstances, aggressive efforts to rapidly reduce budget deficits may backfire and affect industrail output and jobs.
The good news is that salary hikes are expected, though it is uncertain when they will be implemented.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati dubbed the austerity measures initiated by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance as a "drama".
Some ministers have a different point of view from the current conventional wisdom in the Congress party and the UPA government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack on the Congress on Tuesday, alleging that the recent austerity guidelines issued by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was merely a case of 'bizarre tokenism to hoodwink the nation'. Commenting on the various steps taken by senior Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to cut down governmental expenditure, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "This is just hogwash."
The issue of austerity measures came up at the meeting of the Union Cabinet on Thursday with ministers seeking clarification on the economy drive launched by the government.The issue came up for an impromptu discussion when the Cabinet gave its approval to hike the Dearness Allowance for central government employees from 22 per cent to 27 per cent.
Uzbekistan lives comfortably in several centuries but is also a forward-looking nation, Deepa Gahlot discovers on a visit to this Central Asian country.
A day after the train carrying Rahul Gandhi was stoned, the Congress today said a balance has to be struck between security concerns and commitment to austerity.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee spelt out the details of the United Progressive Alliance's austerity measures on Friday, saying he has advised ministers to travel in the Economy Class domestically and in the Business Class during international travel. The Finance Ministry has asked the various ministries to ensure a 10 per cent cut in non- planned expenditure, except in expenses related to security.
Dikshit is said to have issued a letter to all ministers and Congress MLAs asking them to follow the decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and party president Sonia Gandhi in practicing austerity.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday finalised a plan to rectify the 'wrong trends' in the party under which guidelines were formulated for an austerity drive and to make its ministers more accountable.
"For boosting the morale of our workers, these posts are justified," said a top state BJP leader.
Finance Minister plans to cut the public spending target for fiscal 2013-14 by up to 10 per cent from this year's original target, as he wants to avert a sovereign credit downgrade. Can he balance political and economic demands?
In view of the austerity measures, the Prime Minister's delegation for G-20 Summit in Pittsburg in the US has been pruned a bit. At least two officials and three members of the official media have been dropped from the delegation that will leave for the four-day visit on Wednesday, official sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
There will also be a ban on purchase of new vehicles, the Finance Ministry said in a direction to all ministries and departments.
While growth in India and China is likely to remain robust, the rest of the world risks falling back into recession if developed countries embark prematurely on fiscal austerity measures, says a United Nations report, released in New York on Thursday.
Informing the Parliament about this, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, said the panic button should not be pressed.
Sharif, who recently assumed office for a record third term with a pledge to cut unnecessary expenses, gave directions to officials to cut the staff of the Prime Minister's Office by one-third so that administrative expenses can be curtailed.
Bureaucrats, police officers and the security clan spend public funds as lavishly as ministers do.
The Rajasthan government on Wednesday joined the austerity bandwagon, banning foreign tours by ministers and officers with immediate effect till June 30 next year.
The United Progressive Alliance government's austerity drive is expected to be extended to all Members of Parliament following an all party meeting, according to sources.Vice President Hamid Ansari will call an all-party meeting to decide on the issue once Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar returns from Rome. The chairman of the Rajya Sahba and the Lok Sabha speaker are expected to hold a discussion on the austerity drive.
Plainly put, this austerity drive is being carried too far and it has become a macabre Dickensian joke. Stop it and let us turn to serious business. Not only are the political class and their handmaidens in our media making much ado about nothing, they are insulting our common intelligence, says M K Bhadrakumar
While the US recovery is gaining traction, China's export motor is sputtering, Japan's bid to break out of deflation has not reached escape velocity, and demand in the euro zone is too weak to sustain a job-creating recovery.
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
Climbing down from its austerity drive, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday pegged working expenses of the Railways higher at Rs 39447.14 crore (Rs 394.47 billion) for 2003-04
With signs of economic revival becoming more pronounced, the government has relaxed the austerity drive undertaken last year and from April 1, government employees will be allowed to fly first class.
In the clip, Prasad and Sahni were seen enjoying fish and roti, with Prasad explaining that he eats quickly during election campaigns.
Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, is the latest to join a host of politicians taking to austerity and is likely to shift to the modest Karnataka Bhavan here from a 5-star hotel.
Even as problems on the external front look slipping out of its control, the government might keep its expenditure under check to limit its fiscal deficit at the budgeted 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product in the current financial year.
Never before in history have Cannes and its sidebars found space for eight Indian, or India-themed, films.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been receiving invitations for functions scheduled much after the Lok Sabha polls, which showed the 'entire world believes his return to power is inevitable'.
Morarji Desai was 81 when he was elected prime minister and ruled India for two years, from March 1977 to July 1999.
The government's austerity drive announced on Thursday , would lead to a saving of up to Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) or 0.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but poses risks to growth, Japanese brokerage Nomura has said.
'When Prabhas informed his mother that he is turning vegetarian, she threw a fit.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances