Friday, February 27, 2015

2015-16 NDA Govt Budget Saturday Feb 28,2015

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam tweets his Budget expectations, says "I wish a #Budget2015 which focuses on two things..equitable education and quality health care for all..This is best investment we can make."

"A budget 'Made in India' will 'Make India', strengthening all sections of society. All inclusive,policy driven, measurable,accountable," tweets BJP leader Kiran Bedi.

Ahead of Union Budget 2015-16, Sensex opens over 200 points up, Nifty up by over 70 points in opening trade

Arun Jaitley carrying his briefcase of Budget documents outside his office in North block. Along with him is Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha

Cabinet approves Union Budget 2015-16. It will be presented by Arun Jaitley in Parliament at 11 am.

At 11.07 A.M - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents Union Budget 2015-16 in Parliament

Taxatiom

1	Abolition of Wealth Tax.
2	Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
3	Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.
4	No change in tax slabs.
5	Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.
6	100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
7	Service tax increased to14 per cent.

8 Employee Provident Fund has been made optional. Firstly, the employee may opt for EPF or the New Pension Scheme (NPS). Secondly, for employees below a certain threshold of monthly income, contribution to EPF should be optional, without affecting or reducing the employer’s contribution.

Agriculture

1	Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
2	Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
3	Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.

INFRASTRUCTURE

1	Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
2	Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation
3	PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.
4	Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
5	Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

EDUCATION

1	AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
2	IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
3	PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.
4	Kerala to have University of Disability Studies
5	Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
6	IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

DEFENCE

1	Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.
2	Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

WELFARE SCHEMES

1	GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.
2	Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
3	MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.
4	Housing for all by 2020.
5	Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
6	DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
7	For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1,000 a year.
8	New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80 .
9	Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
10	Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.
11	Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

1	Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
2	Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro

TOURISM

1	Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.
2	Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.

GOLD

1	Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
2	New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
3	To develop an Indian gold voin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.

FINANCIAL SECTOR

1	Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India
2	NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs 500 crore and above to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses
3	Permanent Establishment norms to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country does not lead to “adverse tax consequences.”

Major announcements made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are:

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the Union Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha on Saturday.

Five "ultra mega" power projects of 4,000 megawatts (MW) will be built to ease the energy crisis
Spending on infrastructure will be raised by $11.3bn (£7.32bn) to boost growth
Creating a "universal social security" that would give poor Indians access to subsidised insurance and pensions
Implementation of a uniform countrywide goods and services tax (GST) by April 2016
Welfare money to be paid directly into people's bank accounts to eliminate corruption and wastage
Wealth tax to be abolished and replaced by a surcharge on the super rich
Corporate tax to be cut by 25% over next four years

Russia opposition politician Boris Nemtsov shot dead Friday Feb 27,2015

Former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say. An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin and he died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.

Boris Nemstov at around 23:40 (20:40 GMT) on Friday Feb 27,2015 while crossing Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge accompanied by a woman, Russia's interior ministry said.

Boris Nemtsov(55)served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s.
He had earned a reputation as an economic reformer while governor of one of Russia's biggest cities, Nizhny Novgorod.
Falling out of favour with Yeltsin's successor, Validmir Putin, he became an outspoken opposition politician.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says.
President Putin has assumed "personal control" of the investigation into the killing, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
It "bears the hallmarks of a contract killing," said Dmitry Peskov.
In a recent interview, Boris Nemtsov had said he feared Mr Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine.

People came during the night to leave flowers at the scene

Flowers left at the site of Boris Nemtsov's killing, Moscow, 28 Feb 2015

Thousands march in Russia to mourn Putin critic Boris NemtsovSunday March 01,2015

Carrying flowers, portraits and signs that said “I am not afraid,” tens of thousands of people held a sombre on Sunday in Moscow to mourn opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, whose slaying on the streets of the capital has shaken Russia’s beleaguered opposition.

The mourners marched to the bridge near the Kremlin where Nemtsov was gunned down shortly before midnight Friday. Chanting “we’ll not forget, we’ll not forgive” and waving Russian flags, the crowd filled the road along the Moscow River embankment. Many tied black ribbons to railings along the way.

The mood was sombre, with heavy security. Police helicopters flew overhead and police boats patrolled the river.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

After spending Rs 5,500 crore, 77 crore Indians now have Aadhaar numbers as on February 15,2015

As many as 76.83 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated as on February 15,2015 and about Rs 5,512.18 crore has been spent until January this year on the project, NDA Govt said.

"A total of 76.83 crore Aadhaars have been generated as on February 15, 2015, out of a total population of 121.01 crore (Census 2011)," Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
"The government has approved an outlay of Rs 13,663.22 crore for the period 2009-17, of which an expenditure of Rs 5,512.18 crore has been incurred as on 31 January 2015," the minister said.

Aadhaar number generation is an on-going process, which is voluntary in nature. Aadhaar is a proof of identity. However, it does not confer any rights, entitlements or privileges upon the Aadhaar holders in terms of any benefits or welfare of citizenship.

Various schemes run by government leverage Aadhaar numbers to provide beneficiaries of such programmes due entitlements.

Schemes under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) leveraging Aadhaar numbers are related with pension, education scholarship, women and child welfare, housing subsidy, LPG subsidy, fellowship programmes of recognised universities, the minister informed the house.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was formed in January 2009 to issue Aadhaar numbers.

UIDAI was set up as an attached office of the Planning Commission, which is now replaced by NITI Aayog.

It is now proposed to be set up as a statutory authority by the name of National Identification Authority of India upon passage of the National Identification Authority of India, Bill 2010

BJP,PDP Seal J& K Alliance Friday Feb 27,2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prople's Democratic Oarty(PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed met in New Delhi on Friday Friday and sealed the alliance between the BJP and the PDP to form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting was held at 7 Race Course, the official residence of the prime minister.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said, “I had a fruitful meeting with PM Modi and discussed many issues.”
“Both BJP and PDP have reached a common ground and have developed consensus on a common minimum program (CMP),” Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said

''BJP and PDP got majority in Jammu and Kashmir areas respectively. Then we thought we should respect people's mandate and contemplated on giving a stable government to the electorate,” Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said.
Mufti maintained that both the BJP and PDP had held hectic parleys over the past two months and arrived at consensus over the CMP.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed termed the BJP-PDP alliance as coming together of 'North Pole and South Pole'.
Sayeed refused to comment on the Cabinet berth sharing in the government saying everybody will get to know on the swearing-in ceremony day, which is scheduled for March 01 (Sunday).
“PM Modi will attend the oath-taking ceremony,” Mufti Mohamm
ad Sayeed confirmed.
Sayeed asserted the historic coalition is a political alliance first, and then an alliance for governance.
“The PM has the mandate of people of the nation today; it is an opportunity for both of us to solve the problems of J&K,” Mufti Mohammad Sayeed asserted.

Note

New Maruti Swift Dzire Facelift Launched in India

Maruti Suzuki India has finally launched the 2015 Swift Dzire facelift in the Indian market in the price range of Rs. 5.07 lakh - Rs. 7.81 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

"We present new DZire as India's most fuel efficient car returning fuel efficiency of 26.59kmpl," said R.S. Kalsi, Executive Director Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India.