Highlights of Union Budget 2019 presented by Nirmala Sitharaman

News Network
July 5, 2019

* From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; We can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years. The Indian economy will grow to become a 3 trillion dollar economy this year itself.

* The plan to reach $5 trillion economy will involve development of heavy investment in infrastructure, digital economy and job creation.

Employment

* 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries.

* Increase focus on skill sets required by the youth to apply for job opportunities abroad like language skills and artificial intelligence (AI).

* We propose to start a television programme on DD National, exclusively for startups. This programme will be designed and executed by startup's themselves.

Banks

* Government considering to go below 51% to an appropriate level of ownership stake in non-financial public sector undertakings on case by case basis.

* Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to be provided Rs 70,000 crore to boost capital and improve credit.

* PSBs will use technology, enabling customer of one PSB to access service across all PSBs as well.

* For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore during 2019-20, one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to be given to PSBs.

* Proposals for strengthening regulatory authority of RBI over NBFCs have been made.

* Regulation authority over housing finance sector to be returned from National Housing Bank to RBI.

Railways

* Railway infra would need an investment of 50 lakh crores between 2018 and 2030; PPP to be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services.

* Railways to be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) structures such as Rapid Regional Transport System (RRTS); more Public Private Partner (PPP) initiatives to be encouraged in rail sector.

* Massive programme of railway station modernization to be launched in 2019.

GST

* Rs 350 crore allocated for 2% interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh or incremental loans.

* Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs.

Connectivity

* FAME II scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by right incentives and charging infrastructure. Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme to be done, to ensure creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity. Government envisions using rivers for cargo transportation, which will also decongest roads and railways.

* 657 km of metro rail network has become operational in the country.

* The government has given a massive push to all forms of physical connectivity via PMGSY, Industrial corridors, Dedicated freight corridors, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Jal Marg vikas and UDAN schemes.

Swachh Bharat Mission

* Proposal to expand Swachh Bharat mission to undertake solid waste management in every village.

* India to be open defecation free (ODF) by October 2 2019. To mark this occasion, Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra to be inaugurated at Raj Ghat, on the same day.

Gandhi-pedia

* 'Gandhi-pedia' too to be developed on the lines of Encyclopedia to help promote Gandhian school of thought.

Education and research

* Establish a National Research Foundation to fund, to coordinate and to promote research in the country.

* National Research Foundation to be set up to strengthen overall research ecosystem in the country; funds available under all Ministries to be integrated with NRF.

* New National Educational Policy to be brought in to transform Indian educational system; major changes in higher as well as school system to be introduced.

* Rs 400 crore under head, World Class Institutions in 2019-20, more than three times the revised estimates of previous year. 'Study In India' to be started to bring in foreign students into Indian higher education system.

'Naari tu Narayaani'

* I draw attention to the women of India, 'Naari tu Narayaani'. This government believes that we can progress, with greater women participation.

* To further encourage women entrepreneurship, Women Self-help Groups (SHGs) Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India.

* An overdraft of Rs 5,000 will be allowed for every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan account.

* One woman in every SHG shall be made eligible for a loan of 1 lakh rupees under MUDRA scheme.

Rural

* By 2022, every single rural family except those who are unwilling to take the connection, will have an electricity and a clean cooking facility.

* In second phase of PMAY-Gramin, 1.95 crore houses to be provided to eligible beneficiaries, during 2019-20 to 2021-22; they will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets.

Pension

* Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than Rs 1.5 crore under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.

Space

* To harness India's space ability commercially, a public sector enterprise, New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been incorporated to tap the benefits of Isro.

Social stock exchange

* Electronic fundraising platform, a social stock exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives.

NRIs

* Aadhaar card for NRIs with Indian passports to be issued after their arrival in India, without waiting for the mandatory 180 days.

* To provide NRIs seamless access to Indian equities, NRI portfolio investment route to be merged with foreign portfolio investment route.

Bahi-khata

* Sitharaman departed from the 'colonial' practice of bringing the Budget documents in a leather briefcase and instead switched to a four-fold red-cotton cloth called a 'bahi-khata'.

* This is the 89th Union Budget, which is the financial statement of the government, detailing its revenue and expenditure in the past, as well as estimated spending and projections for the coming year.

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News Network
March 21,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 21: Election Commission (EC) on Thursday directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of Narendra Modi-led government to put an end to bulk WhatsApp messages labelled 'Viksit Bharat Sampark.' It has also sought a compliance report immediately from the ministry.

EC had received several complaints that such messages are still being delivered on citizens’ phones despite the announcement of Lok Sabha elections and the model code of conduct (MCC) entering into force.

In response, the govt informed the commission that although the letters were sent out before MCC came into force, some of them could have possibly been delivered to recipients with a delay because of systemic and network limitations.

In the past few days, several WhatsApp users have received messages from 'Viksit Bharat Sampark' seeking feedback and suggestions from the public. 

The message comes with a PDF that has a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioning government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ayushman Bharat, Matru Vandana Yojana, etc, and seeking suggestions from the citizens over government initiatives and schemes.

The letter which addresses users as 'my dear family members' had sparked political controversy. Congress has called the PDF file attached with the message a ‘political propaganda’.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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Ottawa, Mar 16: An Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were killed in a "suspicious" fire which tore through their home last week in Canada's Ontario province, police said on Friday.

A fire engulfed a home at the Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive area of Brampton on March 7, a press release by the Peel Police said.

After the blaze was put out, investigators located what was believed to be human remains within the gutted house, but the number of people killed couldn't be ascertained at the time.

The charred remains were on Friday identified as those of three family members: 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo; his wife, 47-year-old Shilpa Kotha; and their 16-year-old daughter, Mahek Warikoo.

Police said that they resided at the address before the fire.

Peel police Constable Taryn Young on Friday said the fire had been deemed suspicious, the CTV news channel reported.

"At this time, we are investigating this with our homicide bureau, and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental," the report quoted Young as saying.

"There's not much left to it," Young said when asked about the possible cause of the fire.

"Looking into something like that as a fire marshal, I'm sure it's very tough when there is not much left to look at. But we are exhausting all avenues," she said.

The deceased family's neighbour, Kenneth Yousaf, said that the family had lived on the street for about 15 years, and he never noticed any problems with them.

Yousaf said he was alerted to the fire last week by a family member, who heard a big "bang." "When we came out, the house was on fire. So sad. Within a few hours, everything was down to the ground," the report quoted Yousaf as saying.

In a press release, police said they are continuing to investigate the deaths of the three family members and urged anyone with information to come forward.

"The circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact Homicide detectives," police said.

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News Network
March 15,2024

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Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi would formally kickstart the BJP's Lok Sabha election campaign in Karnataka on Saturday from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's home turf— Kalaburagi.

He is scheduled to address a mega public meeting at the district headquarters town's N V Ground at 2 pm.

Kharge, who had represented Kalaburagi (Gulbarga Lok Sabha segment) twice in the past, lost to BJP's Umesh Jadhav by a margin of 95,452 votes in the 2019 general elections here— the octogenarian leader's first electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades.

BJP has once again fielded Jadhav from the segment.

Speculations are rife that the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, who has the role of managing the party nationally and coordinating with the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc, may not contest the coming polls and, instead, the Congress is likely to field his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani, a businessman, who also manages educational institutions.

On March 18, Modi will be in Shivamogga, the home district of veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, and is scheduled to address a huge public meeting at 2 pm.

Yediyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is the sitting MP from Shivamogga and has been re-nominated by the party. Yediyurappa's other son B Y Vijayendra, who represents Shikaripura assembly constituency in the district, is the state BJP President.

BJP has announced candidates for 20 seats in the State, which has a total of 28 constituencies.

After being ousted from power by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP now is making a strong bid to regain the lost ground in Karnataka.

The BJP won 25 out of total 28 seats in the previous elections, and had ensured the win of a party supported independent candidate in Mandya. The then ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance had come a cropper winning just one seat each.

It is a role reversal of sorts for JD(S), which joined the NDA last September and has forged an electoral alliance with the BJP. The regional party is expected to contest in three seats— Mandya, Hassan and Kolar.

Sharing details of Modi's visit, state BJP General Secretary Sunil Kumar on Wednesday said BJP National President J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath along with other leaders will visit different Lok Sabha constituencies for campaigning in the coming days.

Speaking about the party's poll preparations, he said: "We have divided 28 Lok Sabha constituencies into eight clusters for Lok Sabha elections. Keeping in view the local political and geographical background, programmes and strategies are being worked out in those eight clusters."

Several senior leaders including Shah and Nadda have already visited one of these clusters, Kumar said, adding, "Workers' convention, well-wishers' contacts have been made and election preparations are on in all these eight clusters. In the second phase, large public meetings will be held."

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