India

New Delhi, Mar 1: With Congress gunning for HRD Minister Smriti Irani with a Privilege Motion, BJP today hit back in Lok Sabha by pressing for similar action against the opposition party's Chief Whip Jyotiraditya Scindia for "defamatory" remarks against Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. BJP's Chief Whip Arjun Ram Meghwal accused Scindia of "misleading" the House on February 24 by alleging that

New Delhi, Mar 1: In a major development, the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday informed Parliament that a Law Commission is reviewing the sedition law. The Ministry of Law and Justice has asked the Law Commission to study the usage and provisions of Section 124A (sedition law) of the IPC. It is noteworthy that the development has come close on the heels of the arrest of JNU students Kanhaiya Kumar

New Delhi, Mar 1: The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a plea seeking quashing of criminal prosecution, suspension and other actions taken against Gujarat cops in the 2004 alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jahan in view of recent testimony of jailed LET operative David Headley. Headley, the Pakistani-American terrorist, had told to a Mumbai court that Jahan was a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)

New Delhi, Mar 1: Opposition on Monday dubbed as "mere rhetoric" projection of the budget as pro-poor and said government will not be able to "fool" farmers with "hollow promises". Predictably, BJP hailed the budget calling its measures for rural India "historic". In a sharp attack on the government, Congress said it has "failed to create an immediate stimulus" to address economic challenges

Mar 1: India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley offered residents with undisclosed income a one-time amnesty from prosecution as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver on his poll promise of unearthing black money. The window for declaring assets will open on June 1 for four months, Jaitley said in his budget speech on Monday. Taxpayers can get immunity from prosecution by paying

New Delhi, Feb 29: Mobile phone bills might see a marginal increase as a result of new a tax proposed in the Union Budget 2016. The finance minister Arun Jaitley has announced an additional 0.5% tax on all taxable services under the new Krishi Kalyan Tax aimed at benefiting the farming community. This tax will be over and above the service tax already levied on services.This means users will have

New Delhi, Feb 29: The Budget for 2016-17 today offered sops for small and marginal income tax payers, hiked the surcharge by 3 per cent on earnings above Rs 1 crore, levied a pollution cess on petrol, diesel cars and SUVs and offered a one-time compliance window for domestic black money holders slapping a tax and penalty of 45 per cent. Presenting the third Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

New Delhi, Feb 29: Aiming to double farmers income by 2022, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced an allocation of nearly Rs 36,000 crore for the farm sector while raising the agri-credit target to Rs 9 lakh crore for the next fiscal. He also allocated Rs 15,000 crore for interest subvention on the farm credit, Rs 5,500 crore for the new crop insurance scheme and Rs 500 crore to boost

New Delhi, Feb 29: Amid debate over balancing growth and financial management, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today adhered to the fiscal consolidation roadmap by proposing to keep the deficit at 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2016-17. He also assured that development agenda will not be compromised and a committee would be set up to review the working of Fiscal Resposibility and Budget Management (FRBM)

New Delhi, Feb 29: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today listed 'nine pillars' including tax reforms, promoting ease of doing business and ensuring fiscal discipline, that will transform India. Unveiling the Budget 2016-17, he said the pillars also include emphasis on governance reforms. The other pillars, he added, include focus on agriculture and rural areas with a view to doubling farm income by