-The Hindu Budget making is a complex exercise, especially in a country like India. Therefore, the parameters to judge the annual budget are also many. For me, the arithmetic of the budget is the first. According to the statements made by the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, one expected the fiscal deficit targets to be adhered to. However the Finance Minister has extended it from two to three years....

-The Hindu FM's Budget speech dwelt on agriculture, public investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and social sector spending. States to be equal partners in economic growth; move to making India cashless society; social sector programmes to continue. Some of the challenges mentioned by the Finance Minister are: poor agricultural income, decline in manufacturing ; and the need for fiscal discipline. Here are sector-wise highlights: TAXATION 1 Abolition of Wealth Tax. 2 Additional 2% surcharge for the super...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Finance Economic Outlook, Prospects and Policy Challenges Macroeconomic fundamentals in 2014-15 have dramatically improved. Highlights are: * Inflation has declined by over 6 percentage points since late 2013. * The current account deficit has declined from a peak of 6.7 percent of GDP (in Q3, 2012-13) to an estimated 1.0 percent in the coming fiscal year. * Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee, exerting downward pressure on long-term interest...

-The Hindu The Adivasis of Central India, who settled in the tea gardens of Assam decades ago, are still devoid of their basic rights. The even greater tragedy of the coordinated murderous December 23, 2014, attack on unarmed Adivasi forest dwellers in Assam, which left dead more than 70 people including children and women, is that the assault targeted one of the most oppressed and dispossessed communities in that entire region. A meticulously...

-The Hindu Govt. trying to broker deal with Congress, promises changes in land ordinance Rejuvenated by the BJP's rout in the Delhi Assembly elections and Nitish Kumar's return as Chief Minister of Bihar, the Opposition, a day ahead of Parliament's budget session, remained unwilling to co-operate with the government, especially on the passage of the ordinances that are priority on the government's legislative agenda. At an all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister...