The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is seeking an expedited trial against Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis and INX Media money laundering cases, having submitted the required prosecution sanction to the court.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday makes history as she presents a record ninth consecutive Budget that is expected to unveil measures to sustain growth momentum, maintain fiscal discipline, and contain reforms that could buffer the economy from global trade frictions, including US tariffs.
The Congress party has strongly criticized the Union Budget, calling it 'lacklustre' and 'disappointing,' claiming it fails to address the needs of farmers, unemployed youth, and other key sectors.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's speech.
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
Here are some facts related to the Budget presentation in independent India.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will present a record eighth consecutive budget that is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth and ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a fresh case of corruption against former finance minister P Chidambaram's son and Congress MP, Karti Chidambaram, for allegedly giving relief to alcoholic beverage company Diageo Scotland over a ban on the duty-free sale of its whisky, officials said on Thursday.
In a recent public appearance, Mr Chidambaram was quite candid in saying that UPA-II misread the signals from its electoral performance in 2009.
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.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
Eminent economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday described the electoral bonds scheme as a scandal and welcomed the Supreme Court's recent judgment annulling it.
Wedding preparations for Parineeti Chopra and AAP leader Raghav Chadha are in full swing.
He argued that if inflation is low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target, why has the RBI not revised downward the bank rate fixed in June 2023?
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday nominated former home minister and Congress member P Chidambaram to the department-related parliamentary standing committee on home affairs.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
The fastest bowler in the nation enjoyed a relaxed evening at the Rushikonda beach in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
What he has said is shocking and shameful, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, noting that the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has repeated his remarks.
He has moved another application for direction to jail authorities to provide adequate security considering that he has Z category security.
'Das is friendly, but he finally does what he does. The quality of engagement is very good.'
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti's Mimi Didi, flew in from LA for the engagement ceremony.
DEA Secretary Arvind Mayaram is also expected to attend the event.
Presenting the Union Budget for 2013-14 in Parliament, Finance Minister P Chidambaram also quoted his favourite poet Tiruvalluvar towards the end of his Budget speech after referring to Stiglitz in the beginning.
'Once the Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared the law, we are obliged to accept it. However, it is necessary to point out that the majority has not upheld the wisdom of the decision; nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved,' the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.
Unions have also demanded raising the income tax exemption limit from Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs.
In 2013-2014, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said growth would be between 6.1% and 6.7%. In 2014-2015, India, he said, wants growth to be above 7%.
The Supreme Court in a 4:1 majority verdict upheld the government's 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes, saying the decision-making process was not flawed.
The court extended the judicial custody of Chidambaram after the Central Bureua of Investigation sought extension of the veteran Congress leader's judicial remand.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will head all the three committees.
Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: Jayanta Dey/Reuters The Congress also said demonetisation has come a full circle and added that the Rs 2,000 note was a "band-aid to cover up the foolish decision of demonetising" Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
Modi had challenge to the opposition to publicly declare that they are prepared to accord Indian citizenship to all Pakistanis.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Chidambaram, a senior Congress leader, in the INX Media money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that a final decision on expiry of tax benefits to export-oriented units and Software Technology Parks of India had not been taken yet, government sources indicated that an extension of the concessions was unlikely.
As the Budget 2008 gets ready to unfold, find out how much you know about the man behind it. Take the Rediff Business Quiz on Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday downplayed the lowering of India's credit outlook by global rating agency Fitch, saying it is not a cause of worry as economic fundamentals are strong.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the dismal state of the Indian economy and the terrifying rise in COVID-19 infections with each passing day.
"The government is wrong. It is wrong because it is clueless," Chidambaram said. "It is unable to look for the obvious clues because it is stubborn and mulish in defending its catastrophic mistakes like demonetisation, flawed GST, tax terrorism, regulatory overkill, protectionism, and centralised control of decision-making in the Prime Minister's Office."
"At the end of the year, we will do better than the budget estimates," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters when asked about sharp rise in fiscal deficit in April-May as per the figures released by the Comptroller General of Accounts on Monday. The fiscal deficit for two months touched Rs 73,201 crore (Rs 732.01 billion), 54.9 per cent of estimated fiscal deficit of Rs 1,33,287 crore (Rs 1,332.87 billion) for the fiscal, mainly on account of rising oil import bill.
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