The finance minister's Budget presentation is a sombre affair, yes, but it wasn't as if the Lok Sabha was all serious through the speech.
Amid the din in which BJP and Congress members tried to shove each other and some members banged the door leading to the secretary general's desk, Birla adjourned the House for the day.
'It will take a long time for people's memory to be misled by a prime minister who is so arrogant and who refuses to acknowledge his own faults.'
There will be many steps which will be taken outside the budget.
Shashi Tharoor said that just by giving a good speech, good days do not come as for that there is a need to do some work.
The most common complaint of financial consumers is cumbersome processes, complicated products, usurious charges, and mis-selling of products, which finally don't deliver what is promised or as expect, notes Debashis Basu.
With an aggressive Opposition and unyielding government, important legislation could be the biggest casualty, as details of the helicopter contract surface.
Appealing to the opposition to allow smooth functioning of Parliament during the Budget session, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said all issues agitating them can be debated on the floor of the house.
Taking the battle on the land bill issue to social media, Congress on Saturday launched a "Zameen Wapsi" website on the eve of its farmers' rally which is expected to see the first major attack on the government by Rahul Gandhi after his return from leave of absence.
Opposition members displayed placards saying 'Save India', 'Save Democracy' and 'Save Constitution'.
But their trajectory and direction have been largely influenced by politics and the political leadership's understanding of how the economy needs to be managed, explains A K Bhattacharya.
A Trinamool Congress member on Wednesday used the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha to attack BJP over Tuesday's incident in the House where members came to the verge of a clash.
If eight states could join the VAT system much after the rollout date and after seeing how it works, why can't the same apply to states opposed to the farm laws, asks A K Bhattacharya.
'We have got our permutations and combinations in place.' 'We are also trying to garner support from some NDA allies.' 'Every section of society has suffered during the four years of Modi rule.'
Replying to a question during the debate on the General Budget in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Mukherjee said he was expecting a double-digit inflation rate in March itself. The general inflation was at 9.89 per cent in February.
Charging that the Budget had ignored the 'aam aadmi', on Thursday said the government failed miserably to address price rise and inflation that would bring down the economic growth rate.
Experts point to the bitter experience of countries including Mexico, Thailand, South Korea and Russia and desist from going forward with plans of issuance of such securities. They say rather than going abroad, the country should increase participation of foreign investor in the government securities which does not have any forex risk.
Reserve Bank will hold its first bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2016-17 on Tuesday.
The Budget session of Parliament, the first of the Narendra Modi government, ended on Thursday reflecting the changed political reality with fewer disruptions and adjournments, and more debates and discussions unlike in the recent past.
Pakistan has raised a 25,000-strong special force and put in place extensive measures to protect and manage its strategic assets, including its nuclear arsenal, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said.
There is a relation between pollution and climate change, the environment minister said, adding that 40 per cent of India's total power capacity will come from renewable sources before 2030.
The government on May 17 formed a five-member committee.
Chandrakant Khaire said his party -- the partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the National Democratic Alliance - was not consulted on the decision of NDA MPs sacrificing 23 days pay to protest the disruptions in Parliament.
Making a case for an optimal fiscal stance, the Economic Survey on Friday said growth leads to debt sustainability and not necessarily vice-versa. "This is because debt sustainability depends on the 'Interest Rate Growth Rate Differential' (IRGD) i.e. the difference between the interest rate and the growth rate in an economy. "With the Indian context of potential high growth, the interest rate on debt paid by the Indian government has been less than India's growth rate by norm, not by exception," it said.
Inflation, particularly of food items, too remained an area of concern, they said in the resumed discussion on the general Budget. Main Opposition BJP said the whopping Rs 4 lakh crore (Rs 4 trillion) gap in the resources was a matter of concern and the impact could be felt on inflation.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
The state of the economy did not deteriorate so sharply in the last eight days that the principles behind not announcing changes in tax rates in an Interim Budget had to be set aside. Nor can it be argued that the demand from industry and members of Parliament for some stimulus measures became so irresistible that the finance minister had to announce the tax rate changes in his reply to the Interim Budget debate.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the hike in rail fares as "unprecedented and anti-people" and demanded its roll back in the interest of common people.
Expressing hope for a responsible dialogue and debate in the Budget session, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday appealed to all political parties to help conduct smoothly the Parliament.
Global experience in allowing corporate groups to set up banks reveals that stringent regulation is the best defence against malpractice.
A key United States Congressional Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that imposes conditions on Pakistan for receiving American economic and military aid which will depend on the action Islamabad takes against terrorists and the menace of improvised explosive devices.
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, after approving more than two dozen official amendments, by voice vote, thus completing the Budgetary exercise for 2019-20 in the Lower House.
It is rare for Cabinet ministers to tick off state-owned companies publicly, yet that was what then petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan did for ONGC. Speaking at an event on June 29, Pradhan said he has asked India's premier exploration company to find fresh oil acreages fast. "Do it yourself through some joint venture (or) through a new business model. But the government cannot permit you to hold resources for an indefinite time." The reason for this stricture is India's rising dependence on imported oil and gas. Or, to put it another way, falling domestic production (see chart: "Crude truth"), especially from ONGC, which faces a simple problem.
However, the Republicans are unlikely to opt for this, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
'I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson'
The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other opposition parties had wanted to raise several issues in the Upper House but Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow them and adjourned the House till 2 pm. After the Chair did not allow them again when the House met, they boycotted it for the rest of the day.
'I can't help it if people don't love the minorities, the Dalits and Adivasis; they are as much of this country as any other Indian.' 'If I love them, it does not mean I do not love my country.' 'It is ironic and funny that they have laid such severe anti-national charges against me.'
But use of that word -- privatisation -- is not encouraged. This seems to be a classic case of reforms through subtle signals, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Rumours in the bureaucracy on his successor include the names of Sajjid Chinoy of JP Morgan, Rathin Roy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse and the principal economic advisor, Sanjeev Sanyal.
Interview with first woman president of the Ficci country head of HSBC India.
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