-PTI Amid widening fiscal deficit, Prime Minister's economic advisory panel today suggested aligning diesel prices to global market in a phased manner and also raising excise and service taxes to pre-crisis level of 12%. Releasing the Review of the Economy: 2011-12, Chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) C Rangarajan also pitched for deregulation of urea prices. Expressing concern over high fiscal deficit which is expected to overshoot the target of 4.6%...
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Karnataka CM Sadananda Gowda's 287 aides cost exchequer Rs 70L every month by ND Shiva Kumar
Karnataka chief minister has 287 people, including principal secretary, advisors and dalayats (who do menial jobs), to assist him and together they take home Rs 70 lakh as salary every month. This excludes security personnel who guard chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda round the clock. An RTI query revealed there are 237 personnel for the CM at Vidhana Soudha, 21 people assist him at his home office 'Krishna' and 29...
More »Last straw on the fisc back by Soumya Kanti Ghosh & Rajiv Kumar
The huge expenditure on the food bill, with the attendant leakages, could well make fiscal recovery impossible In the first part of this article, we have estimated the actual cost of implementing the food security bill in its current form. In this part, we now examine the fiscal sustainability of the same. The current state of the revenue and expenditure trends of the Central government (refer table) show that while revenue...
More »BJP’s Team B by Dhirendra K Jha
The mask is off. Team Anna and his lieutenants are batting for the BJP On 30 October last year, when Mohan Bhagwat claimed that Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement was actually supported by the RSS, the remark conveyed palpable nervousness and attracted criticism from Team Anna. Three months later, as Team Anna launches its voters’ awareness campaign in UP, there is not even an attempt to keep its secular mask intact. The mask,...
More »Quraishi takes complaint against Khursheed to President by J Balaji
Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has written a strong letter to President Pratibha Patil complaining against Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khursheed for challenging the Commission on the “nine per cent sub-quota for minorities issue” even after being censured by it. Mr. Quraishi sought her “immediate and decisive” intervention to ensure that the Election Commission (EC) discharged its functions and Duties in accordance with the Constitution and law in Uttar...
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