the Government - Electronic Gurudev

Sep112017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

No proposal to lower the excise duties on petrol and diesel: Finance Ministry

Economy, National

Consumers will continue to pay higher taxes on petrol and diesel as the government has no plans to lower the excise duty on fuel. This is because notwithstanding the robust collections from the Goods and Services Tax, the Centre continues to remain vigilant about its fiscal health. “There is no proposal to lower the excise duties on petrol and diesel. We are not looking at anything of the sort at the moment,” said a senior government official. While the dividend payment from the Reserve Bank of India at ₹30,659 crore is lower than estimated ₹58,000 crore and uncertainty over the projected ₹72,500 crore from disinvestment receipts, the Centre is keeping a close eye on its fiscal projections. Global prices still low A major source of comfort is the still low prices of crud...

Sep22017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

99% demonetized currency finds its way back into the system — It’s a success not failure & here’s why!

Opinion

The debate over the achievements of demonetization is not settled yet. Ever since the Reserve Bank of India put out its annual report which revealed that close to 99 per cent currency returned to the banks, political parties such as Congress, CPI(M) and TMC have attacked the government and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for undertaking a move that disrupted the country's growth momentum. Senior politicians like P Chidambaram and Mamata Banerjee called the demonetization a big scam which facilitated the conversion of black money. Their argument is fairly simple. They say that the government had expected dividend of close to Rs 4-5 lakh crore, however, the RBI data shows it got just Rs 16,050 crore. So, was it wise decision to lose one per cent GDP for just Rs 16,000 cror...

Aug242017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

Take speedy decisions, keep poor & ordinary citizens in minds while taking decisions, PM Modi to bureaucracy

National

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all wings of the government to work in a synchronised manner and pressed the bureaucracy to take speedy decisions, promising that honest decision-making with good intention would always be encouraged. Good governance should be a priority for the officers, he said during an interaction with a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries in the central government, according to a PMO statement. Modi asked the officers to focus attention on the 100 most backward districts of India, so that they can be brought up to the national average level, on various development parameters. The prime minister said the combination of development and good governance is essential for the welfare and satisfaction of citizens, the statement said about ...

Jun242017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

7th pay commission: Good news for 47 lakh central government employees

Economy

Now, there is some good news for Central government servants and people who are directly or indirectly connected with 7th Pay Commission and hiked salaries. According to a report, the government may finalise 7th pay commission allowances, including HRA (House Rent Allowance), later this month. According to National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) convenor Shiv Gopal Mishra, the 7th Pay Commission may be finalised by the end of this month, as reported National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) is a joint organisation of unions representing central government employees. Moreover, the employee union leader who held discussions with top government officials recently, also says that there is a possibility of central government officials getting higher HRA than that recommended by the 7th pay co...

Jun242017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

Centre has approved an international airport with a capacity to handle 30-50 million passengers in Greater Noida

Uttar Pradesh

An international airport with a capacity to handle 30-50 million passengers per year will come up at Jewar in Greater Noida in the next five to six years to ease the load on the Delhi airport, the government announced today. “In-principle clearance has been granted” for the greenfield airport at Jewar, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said at a press briefing in New Delhi. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has notified 3,000 hectares of land in Jewar for a “world- class” international airport, Raju added. Of the total land, 1,000 hectares will be acquired under the first phase of airport development, which will cost Rs 2,000 crore. The government expects the entire project to cost Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore. The metro service in Noi...

Jun52017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

CAG will audit GSTN: Arun Jaitley

Economy

Clearing the air on audit of the firm providing IT backbone for GST, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the Comptroller and Auditor General of India will audit the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). In a rebuff of party colleague Subramanian Swamy, he defended the equity structure of GSTN saying that he did not find anything wrong in government holding 49 per cent stake in the company. Swamy has repeatedly questioned the shareholding pattern in the GSTN, terming it "a shady organisation" that was a "grave security" issue. "The present structure of GSTN was decided by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) when Mr P Chidambaram was the finance minister. I have personally reviewed the entire structure and I saw no reason to disagree with him," Jaitley told CNBC TV18...

Mar232017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

Finance Bill relaxes corporate funding to political parties, but is it really evil?

Economy, Opinion

The Lok Sabha approved a proposal by the government as part of amendments to the Finance Bill, 2017 that relaxes conditions for corporate funding to political parties. One of the major points of controversy surrounding the move is the confidentiality provided to corporate and removal of limit on funding as regards to proportion of profit previously limited at 7.5 per cent. On the face of it, the move seems to make the political funding system more opaque. However, diving deep, it actually makes sense to remove these restrictions as it allows accounted money from corporate to flow into the political system rather than unaccounted money that finds its way into the system dubiously filtered through multiple channels. The move may fare better on merit in comparison to the previous system in...

Mar232017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

India gives a clear message – ‘Will reunite PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan with Jammu and Kashmir`

National

Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Thursday reiterated that the government would free Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan from the illegal occupation of Pakistan. The Union minister added that the government’s objective was to restore Jammu and Kashmir in its original format, that includes Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK. Notably, today is Pakistan's Republic Day. Pakistan Day, or Republic Day, commemorates March 23, 1940, when a resolution was passed in Lahore, to demand a separate homeland for the Muslims. Earlier this month, a committee headed by Pakistan's foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz had proposed to make Gilgit-Baltistan, the region north of the Line of Control in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, fifth province. Ind...

Feb182017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

Aadhar Card Now Mandatory for college students to benefit Scholarship schemes

Education, National

Aadhar Card Now Mandatory for Central Government Scholarship Schemes For School and College Students. The government has announced that Aadhar card is must in order to avail Central Sector Scholarship Scheme.Union Human Resource Development Ministry (HRD) has said that to avail benefit under the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University students, applicants will now have to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar card or undergo Aadhaar authentication. The notification issued by the ministry yesterday said those who are receiving these scholarships but don’t have an Aadhar card will have to apply for enrollment by 30th of June. Ministry said, the move brings in transparency and enables beneficiaries to get entitlements directly to and Aadhaar obviates the need for...

Feb102017 by Team - The Digital IndianNo Comments

Ms. Sitharaman said the government is working on eradicating bottlenecks for simplifying the regulations

National

India’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ project is aimed not just at getting more foreign investments into manufacturing in India, but stepping up investments in manufacturing in India — regardless of the origin of the investor. Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said the government expects more from India Inc as well. “We want them to commit more. There is lot of scope for making in India, and much more.” Ms. Sitharaman said the government was working on removing bottlenecks for Indian manufacturers by simplifying the regulations so that the manufacturing segment gets the much-needed boost. The government has embarked on the Make in India programme with the aim of reviving the manufacturing sector, so that the contribution to the GDP goes up to around 20...