-TheWire.in Were the budget estimates for corporation and income taxes in 2016-17 a good coincidence or were they supposed to have been be qualified with a note? New Delhi: For the first time in at least ten years, the budget estimates (BE) of India’s corporate tax and income tax revenue receipts have exactly matched their corresponding revised estimates (RE) – give or take a couple of decimal points. A key part of every...

-TheWire.in Re-promulgation of ordinances is illegal, the apex court ruled, in a judgment that will be applicable to all central ordinances, including demonetisation. Thanks to a recent Supreme Court judgment declaring the re-promulgation of ordinances unconstitutional, the government’s effort to validate demonetisation through ordinances may come to naught. The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, promulgated in December to give effect to demonetisation, faces the risk of becoming unconstitutional if re-promulgated after...

-Quartz India On Dec. 30, 2016, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi cajoled president Pranab Mukherjee into promulgating the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016. Two days later, on Jan. 02, 2017, the supreme court, in a separate matter, delivered a verdict that changed the law of ordinances in powerful ways. It scrubbed out old meanings, unearthed new ones, and further garrisoned judges’ hold on the constitution. A prohibitive change...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The Union cabinet cleared on Wednesday an ordinance to penalise those found holding a “high amount” of scrapped banknotes. The Specified Bank Notes Cessation of Liabilities Ordinance makes holding a large number of old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes a criminal offence that will attract a jail term and a monetary penalty of five times the amount of old cash one is caught with. The ordinance allows exchange...

-The Hindu A reasonable aim of 1,500 MT of coal production by 2022 and a calibrated renewable energy push should enable reaching ambitious targets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s style is to set ambitious targets with impossible-looking deadlines. Perhaps he is inspired by a Gujarati poet who said, “Nishaan chuk maaf, nahi neechu nishaan” (missing the target can be forgiven, setting a low target cannot). This challenges his colleagues and staff to accomplish...