The government of Pakistan's Punjab province has allocated millions of rupees in its budget for the largest centre of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which is a front for banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba. Besides a grant-in-aid of over Rs 61 million for the JuD centre -- known as 'Markaz-e-Taiba' -- the provincial government has allocated Rs 350 million for setting up a 'Knowledge Park' at the centre and other development initiatives.
India will replace its military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives with 'competent' Indian technical personnel even as New Delhi asserted that it remained an important development partner of the island nation.
The Sports Ministry budget on Wednesday got a substantial hike of Rs 350 crore in the union budget for 2017-18, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament.
The Budget would have been the perfect vehicle to introduce some bold initiatives.
That opportunity has been lost through this Budget, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Make in India -- are not covered here.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said swift and transparent decision-making and availability of optimal resources were needed for a country's combat readiness.
With the Budget-making exercise in full swing, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said Budget 2021-22 is expected to be prudent and growth oriented. Das before donning the hat of RBI Governor was a career bureaucrat and was directly involved in crafting of about 10 Budgets for the country including one in the aftermath of global financial meltdown in different capacities at the finance ministry. In view of unprecedented pandemic and its impact on the economy, he said the government has maintained fiscal prudence in the response to deal with the crisis.
Finance minister attempts a clean-up job, keeps projected expenditure growth low.
'When it is unpaid, sometimes, they don't take you seriously.' 'Work is not reviewed, and there is no effort in making interns learn.'
While most experts suggest the government loosen its purse strings and not worry about the fiscal deficit in a pandemic impacted year, it will be a tightrope walk for the government to increase spending without going overboard.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget.
The allocations for military have been made while outlays on the development and non-development budgets have been slashed by 50 per cent and 20 per cent respectively to create fiscal space for rehabilitating the flood-affected population.
In the last budget, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated Rs 85,010 crore for the education sector which was later revised to Rs 83,625.86 crore.
Jaitley said an effective multi-modal logistics and transport system will "make our economy more competitive.
Elections are not won or lost by expounding on such macro-economic matters. For the aam admi, what matters in manifestos are promises that will improve their quality of life, notes Vinayak Chatterjee.
For the modernisation of the armed forces, the Finance Minister allocated an additional Rs 5,000 crore.
The government told an all-party meeting Monday that it does not intend to bring any legislative business in Rajya Sabha during the first part of the Budget Session which is till February 11, sources said.
Mr Chidambaram could have done more to calm investors.
The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
Industry body CII has pitched for a reduction in personal income tax rates, decriminalisation of the goods and services tax and a relook at the capital gains tax rates as part of its agenda presented to the government for the forthcoming Budget. Arguing that the GST law already contains adequate penal provisions for deterrence against evasion of taxes, CII has suggested decriminalisation of GST law. Also, the applicability of prosecution provisions should not be based on the absolute amount of tax evasion but should be based on real intent to evade the taxes and a certain percentage of the tax payable, it stated.
The Union Budget on Monday evoked contrasting responses in the political arena with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hailing it as a vision for an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' and the Opposition describing it as a 'let down like never before' that was meant to 'deceive' people.
A 5 per cent increase in fees for various licences has been proposed without tweaking the existing tax structure. The BMC's total budget estimates for the next financial year are 8.95 per cent more than the last fiscal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has brought down the budgetary allocation for the fertiliser subsidy for FY21 to Rs 71,309 crore, from the RE of Rs 79,998 crore for FY20, while increasing food subsidy to FCI through "ways and means advance" to Rs 50,000 crore for FY21, from Rs 36,000 crore in RE for FY20, and under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to Rs 77,982 crore, from Rs 75,000 crore.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
The National Investigation Agency, set up in the wake of audacious strikes in Mumbai, has been allocated Rs 10 crore for 2009-10.
Research and development (R&D) spending by BSE 100 companies has grown steadily, rising from 0.89 per cent of revenue in FY20 to 1.32 per cent in FY24, averaging around 1 per cent over the period in-between, according to data compiled from Bloomberg and company annual reports. Also, these companies more than doubled their R&D spending in absolute terms over these five years: From Rs 25,041 crore to Rs 63,072 crore. While this reflects a prioritisation of innovation, corporate R&D investment remains relatively conservative.
Six of the seven Bills listed on the agenda of the Rajya Sabha have already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
Unimaginative increments, persistent refusal of funds have turned the military into an underfed child scared to ask for a full meal.
As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
The focus of the Union Budget is on providing basic amenities to the poor, middle class and youth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, and asserted that it is imperative that India becomes self-reliant.
The Army has now fallen behind the other two services for four years in a row.
With a rise in the number of cyber crimes and hacking, and many putting a question mark on safety of Aadhaar data, the FM might bring proposals in this regard and allocate funds separately.
In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal assures to begin the process of de-allocation of coal blocks against the errant companies from September 16 while strongly defending the government policy.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
Moody's Analytics said that the reduced political stability and the need for consensus building that is inherent with a coalition government, might erode investor confidence in the near term.
The upcoming Budget gives Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a chance to let states boost spending.
'If the Chinese intent is to be gauged based on its aggression in the South China Sea, greater forays in the Indian Ocean, a hawk's attitude towards Taiwan, flying its fighters repeatedly over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea and creating strategic assets globally, there would be a requirement for strategic partnerships for India,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
A combination of factors, including heavy investments in US Treasury bonds and dollar sales at a healthy profit, facilitated the Indian central bank in transferring a record surplus of Rs 2.11 trillion to the government for 2023-24 (FY24). The RBI's dollar purchases increased in FY24, supported by robust capital inflows endorsing the economy's health.
Here are the key highlights of the Interim Budget 2019-20 presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
