Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman performed yoga during a mass yoga session at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to celebrate the eighth edition of the International Day of Yoga, June 21, 2022.
At the same time, Rs 53.32 crore is for the President's Secretariat and Rs 36.22 crore for the expenditure on the President's household establishment, including staff salaries, which includes discretionary grants of the President.
In order to reduce government litigations, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the GST Council has fixed a monetary limit for filing appeals by the tax department before the various appellate authorities. It has recommended a monetary limit of Rs 20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs 1 crore for the High Court and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court for filing of appeals by the department before these legal forums, she said after the 53rd GST Council meeting held in New Delhi.
The government also announced that healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme will be extended to all ASHA and anganwadi workers and helpers.
It is possible to be blind to this and pretend to carry on as if nothing has happened but that will not change the reality, asserts Aakar Patel.
Here are the key highlights of the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' for the 2024 parliamentary polls.
The unemployment rate for women was last this low around Diwali in 2022. The unemployment rate has dropped for women from 14.9 per cent in December 2023 to 11 per cent in January 2024, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). It was higher in January 2023 at 13.5 per cent.
Interim Budget, the US Federal policy decision and quarterly earnings will be the major drivers for stock markets which may also see some consolidation this week, say analysts. Besides, investors would also focus on the trading activity of foreign investors and global trends for further cues. From the macroeconomic front, the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) data for the manufacturing sector is scheduled to be announced on Thursday.
Earlier in the day while addressing the media ahead of the session, PM Modi had said that this Parliament session may be of short duration but is big on occasion, and is of 'historic decisions'.
The revamped Special Economic Zone (SEZ) law is unlikely to see the light of the day before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, two people aware of the matter said. The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments to the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year. The plan, thereafter, was to introduce the Bill in the winter session of Parliament. Cabinet's approval remains pending.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
'On the final product, there can be an increase of a minimum of 10 per cent in February and March.'
Average monthly GST collection rose from Rs 90,000 crore during the first year of its implementation -- 2017-2018 -- to Rs 1.68 trillion during 2023-2024, representing an 87 per cent rise.
Continuing on the fiscally prudent path, the Modi government in the interim Budget refrained from announcing populist measures, which will help it trim the fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent of the GDP next fiscal and 4.5 per cent in FY26.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Has steering the economy out of its worst phase in decades turned Nirmalaji's hair white?
Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
He alleged that besides Modi and Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had also commented on the stock markets ahead of elections, which has never happened in the past.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
Dressed in colourful attire, members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday got their group photograph clicked in the old Parliament building, hours before legislative proceedings shift to the new Parliament House.
Rajya Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge made remarks on the manner in which political parties select women candidates from weaker sections and raised the issue of 'delayed' GST payments to non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.
'Now the political boss decides, and the ED acts.'
A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
'For me, if I want to buy a house to stay, I don't care about indexation because I don't want to sell that house.' 'The only thing that matters to me as a buyer is that the home price should be within my reach.' 'Any market, when speculators and investors go out, it will benefit the middle class.'
With the strain and anxiety of the longest Lok Sabha polls now behind the leaders, governance, with consensus, is the next step.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
The government will come out with a White Paper on the mismanagement of economy prior to 2014 with an aim to draw lessons.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the interim Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman offers the "guarantee" of strengthening the foundation of a developed India and carries the "confidence of continuity".
'Generating employment requires a shift in policy.' 'If not, the country will face economic, social and political challenges in the coming years.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman captivated her audience at the Women Directors Conclave.
Belying expectations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not tinker with the personal income tax rates in the Budget for 2022-23.
Actor Poonam Pandey is not being considered as the brand ambassador of the government's national campaign to spread awareness on cervical cancer, Union health ministry officials said on Wednesday.
Rediff.com spoke to registered investment advisors to figure out how best the extra Rs 17,500 saved ever year can be invested to create a decent corpus in the years ahead. This is what they said.
The decision to impose a 28 per cent tax on the full face value of bets placed on online games will be implemented from October 1 even though there was demand for a review from states like Delhi and Goa, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. The GST Council -- the highest decision making body of the new indirect tax regime that comprises Union finance minister and representatives of all states -- discussed the language of amendments that will be needed to enabling taxing online gaming, she said after the panel meeting.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
'If you invest in sovereign gold bond, you are going to get the price rise of gold over an eight year period.' 'You're also going to get that two-and-a-half percent which the Government of India is willing to give you, treating the money that you've invested in the sovereign gold bond as a kind of a FD or a deposit.' 'That kind of return you can never get anywhere else.'
The Budget should use the extra RBI surplus to better effect, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
Parliament will reconvene on March 12 for the second part of the Budget Session.
24 hours before campaigning ends in Thiruvanathapuram, Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers Shashi Tharoor and his BJP rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar are busy getting their message across to voters.
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