The proposed bill seeks to raise FDI cap in the sector to 49% from the present 26.5%
Says Finance Ministry is working on tax structures as suggested by the Parliamentary committee
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
By doing away with the 1 per cent inter-state tax over and above the GST rate, the government has met one of the three key demands over which Opposition Congress has been blocking the Bill in the Upper House
Rajya Sabha returns Finance Bill to Lok Sabha; budgetary process over in both Houses, President nod needed now.
After capping anonymous cash donations to political parties at Rs 2,000, the government is amending law to make it mandatory for them to file returns on income by December every year or risk losing tax exemption status.
Moody's currently assigns 'Baa3' rating on India, with a stable outlook. 'Baa3' means medium grade with moderate credit risk.
However, BJP has not given any assurance of support and conveyed to the Finance Minister that the matter will be discussed within the party and take a call, sources said.
Opposition on Thursday forced deferment of consideration of the contentious Mines and Minerals Bill in Rajya Sabha till on Friday.
Years before the Supreme Court struck down as 'unconstitutional' an opaque political funding tool that allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley -- the prime mover of electoral bonds -- had termed them legitimate and transparent.
After securing Congress support for a rise in the foreign investment cap in the insurance Bill, this is another key reform Bill where the Centre has managed a broad consensus.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the instances of people running away and evading the legal process was increasing and this needed to be stopped, as the current laws do not allow fully dealing with the severity of the problem.
Amid the Reserve Bank expressing reservations over the Unit Linked Insurance Products (ULIPs) ordinance, the Finance Ministry on Tuesday said a bill to replace the ordinance would be placed in the forthcoming session of Parliament beginning July 26.
The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari.
The Sensex closed the day at 27,490, higher by 479 points.
Managing your money in January will set the trend for rest of the year, says Adhil Shetty.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that his office has been kept under the purview of the Jan Lokpal Bill, whose broad contours have been finalised, and the bill will be taken up in the cabinet early next week.
These have to be passed in this session to meet the September 15 deadline for switching over to the new indirect tax regime, Jaitley said.
The restructuring exercise of the NHAI includes increasing the number of part-time members of the authority from the existing two to six, who would be from non-government sector. It also includes appointment of six full-time members, against five at present, one each for finance, administration, public private partnership, two members for projects and one for technical.
The government on October 12 announced the LTC cash voucher scheme under which central government employees can purchase any goods or services with GST rate of 12 per cent or above to avail the benefit.
The Bill neither plans to make the Aadhar mandatory or limit its issuance to citizens.
Has Vijay Shekhar Sharma given up on the bank? For now, he seems to be on a save-OCL mission. The bank will face its logical end, observes Tamal Bandopadhyay.
The proposals, to be based on the recommendations of the Shome panel, are likely to be introduced in the Finance Bill to be presented by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Budget for 2012-13.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011, provides for market based returns and wide coverage based on several investment options in the pension sector with an aim to building confidence in the subscribers.
'The BJP's numbers in this government are almost the same as those enjoyed by the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao when the reform process was kicked off in 1991.' 'As before, the only constraints on the prime minister's actions are internal, not external.' 'They come from his own assessment of the political consequences of any action,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
The bills were passed by voice vote.
Several income tax proposals, including 30 per cent tax on income from trade in cryptocurrencies will come into effect from Friday. Also, the revised norms for levy of 1 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) on sale of immovable property exceeding Rs 50 lakh will come into effect from April 1, the beginning of the new financial year. As per the revised norms, TDS of 1 per cent shall be deducted on consideration or stamp duty value, which ever is higher, as against the earlier provision of consideration.
The Bill could be introduced in Lok Sabha very soon.
The BJP, which has two MLAs in the MDA government, backed the Cabinet decision.
In a major boost to education sector, the Union Cabinet has cleared the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which promises free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14.
Ahead of a scheduled discussion in Parliament on the Finance Bill, 2012, for its clearance next week, top bosses of Vodafone Plc met senior functionaries of the government on Tuesday to discuss tax issues that have emerged due to the proposed retrospective amendments in the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said government will soon come out with a draft Food Security Bill.
The much-delayed insurance bill and the goods and services tax bill are among the 39 bills that are expected to come up during the month-long Winter Session of Parliament beginning next week.
To check black money menace, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a new bill that would give more powers to the tax department in tracking illicit wealth stashed abroad and provide for strict penal actions for such offence.
The session started on January 29 and was originally slated to end on April 8 but several members had urged Speaker Om Birla to end the session earlier as they focus on electioneering for the five assemblies.
The proposal in the Finance Bill to amend provisions of Section 179 of the Income Tax (I-T) Act relating to tax liability of directors of private limited companies from April 1, 2022, could increase risks for directors of medium and small-sized firms in case of non-payment, said experts. While the language of the provision is quite broad, the title of the section limits itself to 'liability of directors of private companies in liquidation'. The Bill proposes to align the title with the scope of the provision, thereby ensuring that orders under this section can be issued even if the relevant company is not under liquidation.
Bank, bankruptcy reforms, Nabard Bill amendment on agenda.
The government has proposed to implement GST from April 1, 2016, and the new Finance Commission may be set up ahead of its schedule to look into the issues related to the new indirect tax regime.
Opposition, including Bharatiya Janata Party, Left and other parties, on Tuesday walked out of the Lok Sabha, charging the government with indulging in one scam after another and saying they would not be party to the passage of the Finance Bill and the Railway Budget.
