There shall be two dates for grant of increment - January 1 and July 1 every year
He was commenting on a reply given by Jaitley to a question in Rajya Sabha.
The resilience of the economy and strength of domestic demand will continue to make India an engine of growth amid the rapidly evolving global trade landscape as a result of US tariffs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in London on Tuesday.
Budget has laid emphasis on increasing social spends
According to the report, Indian economy is headed for a "perfect storm" worse than 1991 because government's cashflow by March 2013 is threatening to be Rs 110,000 crore (Rs 1,100 billion) more in the red than the expected Rs 500,000 crore (Rs 5,000 billion).
Rajiv Kumar, the 25th chief election commissioner of India, has demitted office after a nearly three-year tenure marked by both electoral successes and allegations of bias from opposition parties. Kumar oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, among other major elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms across various aspects of the Election Commission's functioning, including structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation, and administration. However, he faced criticism from opposition parties and activists on several issues, including the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines, alleged fudging of voter data, and being "lenient" on the ruling BJP. While the Commission responded to the allegations, Kumar often defended himself and the poll authority through poetry. In his farewell address, Kumar expressed concerns about the timing of petitions raising doubts over poll processes and the impact of freebie promises on the fiscal health of the state. He also criticized the practice of showing early trends on counting day by news channels, calling it "nonsense". Kumar's tenure was marked by numerous controversies, with opposition parties and activists alleging bias and irregularities. While the Election Commission defended its actions, the allegations cast a shadow over his time in office.
The Planning Commission projected the Centre's fiscal deficit to come down to three per cent of the gross domestic product.
In line with the recommendations of the 12th and 13th Finance Commissions and the second Administrative Reforms Commission, the operational guidelines suggest shifting from the present cash-based accounting system to an accrual basis of accounting.
The party's national executive meeting chaired by its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged price rise and unemployment as "burning issues"
Ahead of the general elections, a slew of states and also the Centre had doled out sops to the marginalised sections, including the farmers and the poor.
'If you align your ambition with India's rise, the peak of your careers will unfold alongside the peak of India's power.'
There will be a dramatic alteration in the role the Centre and the states will play to shape India's fiscal and economic destiny, report Nitin Sethi and Ishan Bakshi.
Andhra Pradesh has been demanding a Special Category State status from the Centre ever since the state's economic powerhouse Hyderabad, which housed several IT and pharmaceutical companies as well as PSUs, went to Telengana in the bifurcation
Gyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batch Kerala Cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Kumar, who was previously an Election Commissioner, will serve until January 26, 2029. His appointment comes amidst controversy as the Congress party demanded the government defer its decision until the Supreme Court concludes its hearing on a petition challenging the composition of the selection panel. Kumar's tenure will see him oversee several state assembly elections, including Bihar, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
In view of the severe drought and growing prices of essential commodities, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a crisis management group of Ministers (GoM) for monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis.
With less than five months left for the report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission to be submitted, its chairman N K Singh said the report will have fiscal road map for states, depending on their current situation.
Economists say there aren't many options with the government at present, given the drought-like situation which would only spur its spending.
A day before unveiling the Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Thursday which will take stock of the economy and also the impact of stimulus on industry.
Former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi says Centre has held back a report he submitted to the President, to end what he called "a nightmare of accounts that militates against good governance".
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will hold a pre-Budget discussion with state governments on January 13.
'All of us have believed in decentralisation. You may not like property taxation, neither do I. My solution is that the Centre does the tax collection, but we can give a matching grant instead of redistribution,' says the outgoing CEA, Arvind Subramanian.
Amid the opposition UDF's sloganeering against him, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Friday delivered the customary address to the assembly with the policy document outlining the Left government's administrative achievements and criticising the Centre for allegedly pushing the state to financial constraints by reducing its resource allocations.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
The first Karnataka legislative assembly session, after the formation of the new government will be held on starting Monday next week in Bengaluru.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may have earned plaudits for projecting a decline in the fiscal deficit to 5.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2010-11, but his targets for revenue deficit reduction are relatively modest and represent a departure from the 13th Finance Commission's recommendations.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said that financial year 2009-10 was ending with clear signs of economic rebound and the growth would rise to about 8.5 per cent in the next fiscal.
Divestment also was not covered. One would have expected divestment to be a major instrument for raising fund for various projects, as was the case in the last 3-4 budgets but we did not see it at all.
The report for the period ended March 2009, presented in the assembly by Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi, who holds charge of the finance department, said revenue receipts between 2008-09 increased by Rs 4770.97 crore (Rs 47.7 billion) mainly due to grants-in-aid and share of Union taxes from the Centre.
The Y V Reddy-headed commission said the states should use extra fiscal space for productive assets
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of cooperative federalism is expected to be on display in the 2015-16 Budget.
The government on Thursday decided to ask the 13th Finance Commission to map the road for achieving fiscal deficit targets by including off-budget subsidies like oil, food and fertiliser bonds estimated at over Rs 100,000 crore (Rs 1,000 billion) in the Budget.
Jaitley said focus is on larger expenditure on social sector.
The government, it would seem, is reserving its firepower to spend on big-ticket items that will be announced in the Budget, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
Sitharaman exhorted the states to work together with the Centre, stating that while the Union government sets the direction of economic growth, it is for the states to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
The government has made several region-wise and sector-wise allocations in its annual plan and budget proposals.
The government should speed up the disinvestment process to generate funds for meeting the new needs such as environment protection, 13th Finance Commission chairman Vijay Kelkar said.
The panel, to be headed by Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Shymala Gopinath, will review the structure of the National Small Savings Fund and give recommendations on making schemes more flexible and market-linked.
The BJP chief exuded confidence that the party would retain power at the Centre in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with more strength.
