-The Economic Times The austerity measures announced by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are likely to help the government save between Rs 800 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, said a senior finance ministry official. The government has decided to cut down on foreign travels of ministers and official delegations and has put a ban on creation of plan and non-plan posts The figure is based on preliminary estimates.  In addition, the 10% cut...

-The Hindu In yet another move to curb wasteful expenditure after launching an austerity drive in Ministries, Central departments as also autonomous bodies, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday pitched for streamlining the delivery mechanism for distributing subsidised commodities such as food ration, cooking gas and all other targeted government schemes for the ‘Aadhaar' platform. In a letter to Chief Ministers of 16 States and Union territories, Mr. Mukherjee said: “...given the...

-The Hindu In a bid to banish the spectre of open defecation within a decade, the government has increased its spending on toilets for rural areas, hiking the amount to be spent for a household latrine from the existing Rs.4,600 to Rs.10,000. On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the increased allocation for the Total Sanitation Campaign — now renamed the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) — from Rs.1,500 crore in...

Finance ministry asks automobile sector to submit a report on the impact of such a move within a week’s time The government appears to have made up its mind to increase excise duty on diesel cars to neutralize the advantage of the state subsidy that has prompted motorists to increasingly favour vehicles powered by the fuel that’s Rs.30 a litre cheaper at the pump than petrol. Indications that the government is leaning...

India is setting up a Rs.5,000 crore credit guarantee fund to facilitate easy education loans to needy students by providing protection against defaults to banks. The move was endorsed at a meeting of the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE), the highest education advisory body to the government that comprises academicians, industry experts and state education ministers, human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal told reporters Wednesday. “CABE members endorsed the initiative to...