With the fiscal deficit likely to shoot up during 2011-12, leading economists urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to expedite tax reforms to increase revenue and take steps to bring economy back on high growth path.
US President Barack Obama had earlier said that the companies which provide jobs at home would get bigger tax breaks.
India, which imports 12 per cent of its oil from Iran, will not scale down its petroleum imports from Tehran despite US and European sanctions against the Islamic republic, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on the Food Security Bill.
The government on Tuesday attributed higher economic growth projected in the mid-year economic analysis for this fiscal than the Economic Survey to robust economic expansion in the first half.It, however, cautioned against the impact of fragile European recovery on Indian economy.
In the backdrop of Dayanidhi Maran's exit from the Union cabinet over the 2G scam issue, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday discussed the current political situation with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi and asserted that the alliance between the two parties would be strengthened.
The Finance Minister said government set targets assuming normal conditions.
Central goal of the Budget must be to restore confidence in the prospects for rapid growth in India.
Principal Advisor in the Planning Commission and former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen did not share RBI's views.
A crucial meeting of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the leaders from Telangana once again resulted in no concrete decision being taken on the issue of separate statehood.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley feels ministers in the Manmohan Singh government are either "arrogant or sulking" and that it was tough to have a dialogue with them.
Meeting on Tuesday to decide on letting foreign airlines buy into domestic ones.
The hike in prices of petroleum goods led to protests in several parts of the country and many state governments announced the withdrawal of value added tax on petroleum products to lessen the impact of the hike on the common man.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to discuss bilateral and regional issues.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday strongly refuted observations by US think-tanks, the government and industry that India has gone slow on economic reforms and insisted that a series of reforms are in the process, which will lead to the next round of growth.
"Food inflation is still negative... There is a declining trend... If this trend continues, then the overall inflation will be manageable, says Mukherjee.
The controversial note, made by the finance ministry and sent to the Prime Minister's office on March 25, 2011, involved two Cabinet ministers -- finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram, who was the finance minister at the time of the 2G scam in 2007-08.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Washington, DC on Monday to participate in the India-US economic partnership dialogue, during which he is expected to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government expected a reasonably good growth rate of seven per cent in the ongoing 2011-12 financial year.
Sector to see funding push; tax reforms as well as sops to wait longer.
The UIDAI chairman said people have started relaising the benefits of aadhaar numbers and how it could help them in multiple ways -- from opening a bank account to avail the benefits of various social welfare schemes.
The tsunami of recession that originated in the Wall Street and spread to Europe did not affect India because our banks are conservative, said Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi while addressing a seminar at the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas in Jaipur on Sunday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is "directly and openly" trying to put all the blame for the economic slowdown on former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and charged that he was equally responsible for the state of affairs.
The joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill met in New Delhi on Tuesday for the last time amid "fresh and serious" differences between the government and Anna Hazare team.
After startling revelations of a possible security breach in his office came to the fore, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that investigating agencies found nothing during their probe at his office. In September last year, Mukherjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to order a "secret inquiry" about the presence of "planted adhesives" in 16 key locations in his office, a leading English daily had reported.
India's economic revival also depends on the government's capacity to push through some critical policy reforms in the coming months, says the Economic Survey 2008-09, which was\npresented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament on Thursday.
This is the first time in almost six years, for which data with base year 2004-05 is available, that food inflation has shown a decline on an annual basis.
Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan, considered close to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, was selected as the new Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday morning.
He further added that India needs $1 trillion investment in infrastructure during the 12th Five-Year Plan.
United States President Barack Obama on Monday began talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a wide range of bilateral and other issues. After a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Obama drove to the Hyderabad House from Rajghat to begin restricted talks with the prime minister, which would be followed by delegation-level talks. The two leaders are expected to issue a joint statement covering a number of issues ranging from security, trade and economy.
Anna Hazare-led activists on Monday reacted sharply Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for accusing the civil society of trying to undermine democracy and said his statement betrayed a "distorted understanding of democracy and arrogance of power".
Mukherjee, along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal and Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, held meetings with BSP leader Satish C Mishra and RJD chief Lalu Prasad as the debate was underway in the Rajya Sabha in effort to woo them
Under pressure from civil society to take concrete action on black money, the government said on Monday it has enough tools to deal with transactions arising from non-cooperative jurisdictions and would take action as and when necessary.
Swami Agnivesh has questioned the statement of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also the chairman of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee, that nobody can dictate terms to Parliament, the highest constitutional body that governs the country.
On the eve of consideration of Lokpal Bill by the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool Congress on Wednesday mounted difficulties on the government by giving notice for amendment to the crucial legislation in which it wants references to formation of Lokayuktas to be dropped.
"It is the job of Parliament to legislate. We (government) had several rounds of discussion with him (Anna Hazare) and his team. We know their viewpoints. About nine rounds of meetings have already been held with them. Thereafter also, through interlocutors some discussions also took place with them," Mukherjee told media persons at his south Kolkata residence.
India's finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is all set to become the next President of the country.
He said with an aim to make the FDI policy user friendly, all prior regulations and guidelines have been consolidated into a comprehensive document.
While maintaining that merit and not nationality should guide selection of the new International Monetary Fund chief, India will in all likelihood support French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde for the job.
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