"Of the structural reforms, the GST has been the most historic in our country. Its chief architect is not with us today. I pay homage to the visionary leader late Arun Jaitely. GST has been gradually maturing into a tax that has integrated the country economically," she said during her budget speech.
PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that all people will be provided free of cost vaccines.
Other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and K C Venugopal.
The tax portal problem is a goof-up by both sides, and making Infosys the only villain in the story is quite unfair, argues Shyamal Majumdar.
'When the government wants to sell these assets, even if one set of assets gets caught in any quagmire, the whole process will fail.' 'The entire world is watching us.'
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday by 35 paise per litre, pushing the total increase in rates on petrol to Rs 36 per litre and on diesel to Rs 26.58 since early May 2020 when taxes on the two fuels were raised to record levels. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 107.24 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 95.97, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The latest increase that follows the unrelenting hike in international oil prices has pushed pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels.
The minister said demonetisation has increased the tax return filings and also increased the revenue of the states and the Centre immensely.
While Congress and the states ruled by non-NDA parties pushed for the Centre meeting its statutory obligation of covering the deficit, the Union government cited a legal opinion to say it had no such obligation if there was a shortfall in tax collections. The Centre as well as BJP-JD-U-ruled Bihar were of the opinion that the states should borrow to make up for the shortfall in the tax revenues that have been compounded by the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday assured farmer leaders led by Rakesh Tikait and Yudhvir Singh of support to their agitation against the new agriculture laws.
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
Last year, Sitharaman had ditched the long-standing tradition of carrying budget documents in a leather briefcase and went swadeshi with a 'bahi-khata'.
A five-member civil society delegation led by former Union minister Yashwant Sinha on Monday wrapped up its four-day visit to Kashmir asseted an atmosphere of fear was prevailing in the Valley.
Rather than talking endlessly about lost and marginal opportunities, India's climate envoys need to start thinking bigger, says Mihir S Sharma.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Budget on February 1.
Gandhi said that the BJP government has clearly mishandled the economy that was built by the United Progressive Alliance government, and is now resorting to selling the country's assets as a "last resort" to generate some money.
'We must encourage ambitious leaders and not stifle them.'
He said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.
The veteran Congress leader said people asked him why only he had been arrested, but he had no answer.
Kejriwal's apology spree began last month, with "sorries" to the BJP's Nitin Gadkari, the Congress's Kapil Sibal and the Akali Dal's Bikram Singh Majithia.
'Legally, anything can be promised in the manifestos. However, the SC has said the promises should not be unreasonable'
The Centre has started the process of identifying around 30 crore priority beneficiaries who will be given vaccine in the initial phase. The Centre will procure the vaccine directly and make it available free-of-cost for the priority beneficiaries.
"His (Chidambaram) arrest is good news. He is now cornered from all sides," Indrani Mukerjea told reporters in a sessions court where she was produced to attend trial in the case of killing of her daughter Sheena Bora.
In the Union budget, Rs 65,011.8 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, up from Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20.
The disagreement between the Centre and states continued over administrative powers.
Jaitley, 66, has become 'very weak' as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks, sources said, adding that he has developed some throat condition as well that prevents him from speaking for long.
On Monday, Chidambaram was brought to RML Hospital in the morning and later referred to AIIMS after he complained of stomach ache and illness. He was discharged in the night.
The All India Bank Officers' Confederation has condemned the purported "unsavoury attack" on SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a banking event last month in Guwahati. The association claimed that an audio clip has gone viral on social media that revealed the finance minister coming down heavily on the SBI chief, accusing him of poor credit uptick, during an outreach programme in late February.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government has come out with open and transparent Budget and has not made any attempt to hide anything under the carpet.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will likely consider on Saturday a GST rate cut for Covid-19 relief essentials and drugs for treating the black fungus disease and might leave the vaccines untouched. The meeting is being held following a report submitted by a Group of Ministers (GoM) to the GST Council on Monday. The GoM, set up by the Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various Covid items including vaccines, drugs, and equipment.
'But we are much better than what we all had expected and planned, and what all the prophets of doom had predicted.'
Is the 'caged parrot' at work again, asks Uttam Ghosh.
Ahead of the first meeting of the top decision-making body in nearly eight months, finance ministers of eight states ruled by non-Bharatiya Janata Party and like-minded parties -- Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala and West Bengal -- have devised a joint strategy to press for a zero tax rate on Covid essentials, sources said.
The heavy industries ministersaid that the proposal for the auto scrappage policy was ready and all stakeholders have provided inputs, therefore its announcement was likely very soon.
"The emphasis is on making every rule, law, policy people-centric, and public-friendly. This is the use of the new governance model and the country is getting its results," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the launch of a platform for 'Transparent Taxation -- Honoring the Honest'.
The apex court was hearing two separate petitions filed by Chidambaram challenging the Delhi high court August 20 verdict by which his anticipatory bail was dismissed in the cases registered by both the agencies-- CBI and ED.
'It's the court, not the government that decides where to put the people who indulge in corruption'
Mayawati alleged that the prime minister had crossed all limits of decency in terming the Bahujan Samaj Party her personal property.
Outlay for infra is also expected to see a significant increase in view of the government's Rs 111-trillion investment plan under the national infrastructure pipeline to develop social and economic infrastructure over five years.
Government officials were struggling to understand why the lenders denied emergency funds even after giving verbal assurances on providing Rs 1,200 crore.
The state of these public sector units is appalling and disinvestment or even closing some of them appears to be the only option to prevent exchequer from further bleeding.
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