-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill opens the door to mass surveillance. This danger needs to be seen in the light of recent attacks on the right to dissent. No other country, and certainly no democratic country, has ever held its own citizens hostage to such a powerful infrastructure of surveillance. The Aadhaar project was sold to the public based on the claim that enrolment was “voluntary”. This basically meant that there was...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Over 10 Years, Subsidies Grew Fastest: 7 Big Budget Numbers
-IndiaSpend.com As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents his third budget on Monday, February 29, 2016, our analysis of how seven parameters changed over 10 years (2006 to 2015) reveals that subsidies grew fourfold. The rise in subsidies was echoed by the Economic Survey, which said that of the Rs 2.4 lakh crore ($34.8 billion) subsidy bill, Rs 1.03 lakh crore ($14.9 billion) goes to those who do not need it. “Bounties for...
More »Rich feed off subsidies worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore: Economic Survey -TCA Sharad Raghavan
-The Hindu “Commodities that are primarily consumed by the rich have a low tax rate” India’s rich feed off subsidies worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore a year that are meant for the poor, according to the Economic Survey. And this figure only considers the subsidies on six commodities, two public utilities — the Railways and electricity — and one small savings scheme, the Public Provident Fund. “There are a fair amount of...
More »Subsidies: Plug subsidy leaks to help fiscal consolidation
-Business Standard Conventional subsidy bill of Rs 2.44 lakh crore, or 1.7 per cent of GDP, in 2015-16 If lower tax rate is equivalent to subsidising, the National Democratic Alliance government is clearly targeting the 'well-off' segment of the population. Unlike the previous years, the Economic Survey 2015-16 has dealt with the issue of subsidy by giving only a box on petroleum subsidies, while devoting a chapter with nine-and-a-half pages to 'Bounties...
More »PDS all set to reap digital dividend -Sandip Das
-The Financial Express With almost all ration cards in the country digitised and 40% seeded with Aadhaar, several states have now installed electronic point of sale (ePOS) devices at their fair price shops (FPSs). With almost all ration cards in the country digitised and 40% seeded with Aadhaar, several states have now installed electronic point of sale (ePOS) devices at their fair price shops (FPSs). The ePOS devices that track the...
More »