News Analysis India

Tag: Finance Minister

  • Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana: Monthly Rs 1,000 honorarium scheme for Delhi women expected to roll out in Sep-Oct, says Atishi

    The Delhi government’s new scheme under which Rs 1,000 will be given to adult women is likely to be rolled out in September-October, Finance Minister Atishi said on Tuesday, adding she expects it to translate into more women votes for the AAP in the Lok Sabha polls. Atishi presented her maiden budget with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore in the Delhi Assembly on Monday.

    In an interview to PTI, Atishi said the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana will be notified after the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha polls is lifted and expressed hope that the scheme will roll out from September-October.

    Another key scheme that will be rolled out in the 2024-25 fiscal is the Business Blasters scheme in Delhi government-run universities. Under the scheme, Rs 2,000 seed money is given to Class 11 and Class 12 students.

    “The government will be giving a seed money of Rs 25,000 to each selected team of student at its universities for start-ups. We expect 1,000 teams will be part of the scheme,” she told PTI.

    The AAP is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the Congress, as part of the opposition INDIA bloc. Talking about the party’s prospects in the elections, she said the AAP is in a “strong position” and is in a “direct fight” with the BJP in the elections.

  • White Paper on UPA decade: Congress lacked 'neeyat and niyam', says FM Sitharaman

    White Paper on UPA decade: Congress lacked 'neeyat and niyam', says FM Sitharaman

  • Uttarakhand Finance Minister, aides booked for beating up man in road-rage case

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prem Chand Agarwal and his aides including the gunner Vinod Rana were booked on Wednesday for allegedly beating up a man in a road-rage case in Rishikesh, police said.

    The minister, his gunner, and a few others were seen beating up a man in a video that has gone viral.

    In the video, Agarwal could be seen standing near his vehicle on the roadside and talking to a resident of Shivaji Nagar, Surendra Singh Negi. Suddenly, the minister could be seen slapping the resident. The minister’s gunner Vinod Rana and a few others soon joined in beating up the man.

    Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami summoned the minister and ordered the DGP to conduct a fair and transparent inquiry.

    Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Dalip Singh Kanwar told The New Indian Express, “Two persons named Surendra Singh Negi and Dhirendra Singh Prajapati have been named as accused on a complaint lodged by the minister’s gunner.” Similarly, the minister and a few others have been named as accused on a complaint lodged by Surendra Singh Negi.

    Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party workers took to the streets terming the incident as a “direct attack of power on the common man”. The Congress workers staged protests across the state and burnt effigies of the finance minister, raising slogans against him.

    BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt strongly condemned the incident involving the cabinet minister Premchand Agarwal. He also expected public representatives to “behave in a restrained manner” in public places.

    Congress state spokesperson Garima Dasauni also slammed Agarwal over the incident, saying, “Those who are responsible for law and order in the state, when they are violating the law by beating common people, how will there be rule of law in the state”.

    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prem Chand Agarwal and his aides including the gunner Vinod Rana were booked on Wednesday for allegedly beating up a man in a road-rage case in Rishikesh, police said.

    The minister, his gunner, and a few others were seen beating up a man in a video that has gone viral.

    In the video, Agarwal could be seen standing near his vehicle on the roadside and talking to a resident of Shivaji Nagar, Surendra Singh Negi. Suddenly, the minister could be seen slapping the resident. The minister’s gunner Vinod Rana and a few others soon joined in beating up the man.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami summoned the minister and ordered the DGP to conduct a fair and transparent inquiry.

    Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Dalip Singh Kanwar told The New Indian Express, “Two persons named Surendra Singh Negi and Dhirendra Singh Prajapati have been named as accused on a complaint lodged by the minister’s gunner.” Similarly, the minister and a few others have been named as accused on a complaint lodged by Surendra Singh Negi.

    Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party workers took to the streets terming the incident as a “direct attack of power on the common man”. The Congress workers staged protests across the state and burnt effigies of the finance minister, raising slogans against him.

    BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt strongly condemned the incident involving the cabinet minister Premchand Agarwal. He also expected public representatives to “behave in a restrained manner” in public places.

    Congress state spokesperson Garima Dasauni also slammed Agarwal over the incident, saying, “Those who are responsible for law and order in the state, when they are violating the law by beating common people, how will there be rule of law in the state”.

  • BJP MPs felicitate Modi, Sitharaman for ‘pro-poor’ Budget

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:   Congratulating itself on the Union Budget, the BJP in its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday felicitated PM Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The PM described the Budget 23-24 as “pro-poor” and “inclusive” while Sitharaman said the proposals took care of the middle class while keeping the focus on the country’s poor.

    Specially designed garlands were presented to the two amid thunderous applause. Party chief JP Nadda credited the PM with conceptualizing the “pro-poor budget.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi showered praise on Sitharaman for bringing out a “well-balanced and all-inclusive budget.”

    “It is an all-inclusive Budget that touches every section of our society, especially the poor and the deprived sections”, the PM said. The PM, however, kept up the political pitch. He advised his party MPs to reach out to their respective constituencies and discuss what the Budget has for them. The PM told the MPs that whenever the Budget is presented, there are a few people who speak negatively. “This year’s Budget has been hailed as pro-people even by those who are opposed to the BJP ideology,” he said.

    He dismissed the Opposition charges that the Budget proposals were prompted by crucial polls in nine states this year and then the Lok Sabha polls early next year. “It is not a poll-driven budget but a budget focused on the betterment of the poor. It is an all-inclusive budget.” The PM told the party MPs that if they wanted to get re-elected, they should always be in dialogue with the people, especially those belonging to the poor and middle class in their constituencies.

    He said if the party MPs interact with the people directly, there will be no anti-incumbency. “I think all of us should go to our constituencies and stay connected with the people,” he said. Sharing details of the meeting with the media later, Joshi said that the PM also directed the MPs to organize “MP sports competitions” (Saansad Khel Spardha) in their respective constituencies.

    NEW DELHI:   Congratulating itself on the Union Budget, the BJP in its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday felicitated PM Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The PM described the Budget 23-24 as “pro-poor” and “inclusive” while Sitharaman said the proposals took care of the middle class while keeping the focus on the country’s poor.

    Specially designed garlands were presented to the two amid thunderous applause. Party chief JP Nadda credited the PM with conceptualizing the “pro-poor budget.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi showered praise on Sitharaman for bringing out a “well-balanced and all-inclusive budget.”

    “It is an all-inclusive Budget that touches every section of our society, especially the poor and the deprived sections”, the PM said. The PM, however, kept up the political pitch. He advised his party MPs to reach out to their respective constituencies and discuss what the Budget has for them. The PM told the MPs that whenever the Budget is presented, there are a few people who speak negatively. “This year’s Budget has been hailed as pro-people even by those who are opposed to the BJP ideology,” he said.

    He dismissed the Opposition charges that the Budget proposals were prompted by crucial polls in nine states this year and then the Lok Sabha polls early next year. “It is not a poll-driven budget but a budget focused on the betterment of the poor. It is an all-inclusive budget.” The PM told the party MPs that if they wanted to get re-elected, they should always be in dialogue with the people, especially those belonging to the poor and middle class in their constituencies.

    He said if the party MPs interact with the people directly, there will be no anti-incumbency. “I think all of us should go to our constituencies and stay connected with the people,” he said. Sharing details of the meeting with the media later, Joshi said that the PM also directed the MPs to organize “MP sports competitions” (Saansad Khel Spardha) in their respective constituencies.

  • ED ‘completely independent’; not used for vindictive purpose: FM Sitharaman

    ED's conviction rate is very low. Yet, there is a sense that it's a process, which has become very difficult for civil society institutions, which have been under investigation.

  • FM has more interest in Uranus, Pluto than taking measures to tackle inflation: Congress

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying she is more interested in Uranus and Pluto than in steering the country’s economy towards recovery.

    A day after the government released its inflation data, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said the finance minister was busy tweeting pictures from NASA’s webb telescope rather than explaining to the country how she planned to rein in inflationary trends.

    Sitharaman had on Tuesday retweeted images unveiled by the NASA from its new powerful space telescope.

    Vallabh also accused the Modi government of polarising society and creating disharmony instead of tackling rising inflation, unemployment and the depreciating Rupee.

    The Congress leader said with such data on rising inflation, it was expected that the finance minister would come out with a plan on how to tackle inflation, but she has different priorities.

    “She has an interest in Pluto, Jupiter and Uranus. Unfortunately, our finance minister is showing the way to Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter and is unable to show the way forward to our economy,” he told reporters.

    “It has become very evident in the last eight years where the focus of the BJP government has been. Polarisation and disharmony have taken a front seat whereas distressing issues such as rising inflation, unemployment and depreciating Rupee are nowhere on its agenda. The country witnessed the highest unemployment in the last 45 years,” he alleged.

    Vallabh also alleged that the BJP has brought about a “doom with 7s”, with retail inflation at 7.01 percent, unemployment at 7.8 percent and the Rupee depreciated 7 percent in the last six months vs the US Dollar.

    “While these are worrying data points, the BJP government is in deep slumber,” he said.

    “What has the government done to bring relief to the common Indian as far as inflation is concerned,” he asked, noting that increasing GST on items such as flour will only propel inflation.

    The Congress leader also asked why there is a complete silence on part of the Modi Government on the issue of tackling a barrage of macro-economic indicators going wrong.

    With the RBI’s projection for inflation at 7.4 percent for the next quarter, he asked what are measures that the government has in mind.

    “Any government can bring relief to the common mass only when sympathy leads over apathy. The ED and CBI are not tools that bring relief. Unless the BJP government moves beyond petty politics and starts looking beyond ED politics, common Indians will continue suffering,” he alleged.

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets heads of FedEx, Mastercard, others during US visit

    By PTI

    WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met CEOs of large American firms like FedEx and Mastercard and discussed various opportunities for investment in India as the country is poised to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world.

    The Finance Minister is in the US to attend IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2022. FedEx President and CEO-elect Raj Subramanian, during the meeting with the Finance Minister, mentioned that he is positive about India and has significant expansion plans, including in skilling.

    Appreciating the government’s commitment to integrated development through PM Gati Shakti Master Plan, Subramanian said the company is looking at R&D Centres in India.

    Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Rs 100 lakh crore national master plan for multi-modal connectivity that aims to develop infrastructure to reduce logistic costs and boost the economy.

    PM Gati Shakti targets to cut logistic costs, increase cargo handling capacity and reduce the turnaround time.

    The plan aims to lend more power and speed to projects by connecting all concerned departments on one platform.

    As per the Economic Survey 2021-22, India is projected to grow at 8-8.5 per cent during the current financial year ending March 2023. Sitharaman also held a meeting with Accenture Chair and CEO Julie Sweet.

    “Ms Sweet lauded the proactive & transparent approach of the GoI & said @Accenture is adding a presence in more Tier-II cities in India & focusing on upskilling talent to prepare for emerging opportunities. Ms Sweet also informed that 47% of their workforce in India are women,” the finance ministry said in a tweet.

    During the meeting with Mastercard CEO Miebach Michael, Sitharaman informed about the government of India’s commitment to Digital Financial Inclusion with a focus on women and SMEs by developing world-class homegrown technology solutions.

    “FM Smt.@nsitharaman enquired from Mr @MiebachMichael @Mastercard on how lessons from India’s #FinancialInclusion programme can be used to develop solutions for the world,” the ministry tweeted.

    Mastercard informed the Finance Minister about its plan to set up huge data centres in India and the company’s focus on training and digitisation of small businesses.

    In another such engagement, she also met the global CEO of the consultancy firm Deloitte Punit Renjen.

    “Mr @PunitRenjen mentioned that @Deloitte is expanding its India operations to smaller cities like Coimbatore & Bhubaneswar. Besides, he said, @Deloitte has developed tools to improve the access of rural poor to health facilities & also committed for #ClimateAction in India,” a separate tweet said.

  • Post removal of Article 370, terror activities declined & investment environment created in J-K: FM

    She added, 250 “unjust and discriminatory” state laws too have been removed, and 137 were modified.

  • Govt looking into governance lapses that happened at NSE: Finance Minister

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government is looking into the governance lapses that had happened at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) but declined to comment on whether there was an adequate correctional step in terms of actions taken against those who were held responsible for the lapses.

    Earlier this month, markets watchdog Sebi penalised NSE and its former MDs and CEOs, Chitra Ramkrishna and Ravi Narain, and others for various violations in a case related to the appointment of Anand Subramanian as Group Operating Officer and Advisor to then MD Ramkrishna.

    The regulator also imposed a fine of Rs 3 crore on Ramkrishna, Rs 2 crore each on the NSE, Narain and Subramanian and Rs 6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who was then the Chief Regulatory Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.

    Sitharaman told reporters here on Tuesday that the government was looking into the governance lapses that had happened at the exchange.

    “I have no comment to make on whether there was an adequate correctional step in the sense of penalising or anything taken against those who were held responsible for it. I have no view this way or that way till I really get to the bottom of what is available before me. I am looking into it but I won’t be able to comment on it at the moment,” Sitharaman said.

    She was responding to queries, including on whether the penalties imposed were adequate.

    Ramkrishna was MD and CEO of NSE from April 2013 to December 2016, Narain was the MD and CEO of the exchange from April 1994 till March 2013.

    Thereafter, he was appointed as Vice Chairman in the non-executive category on the NSE’s board from April 2013 and remained so till June 2017.

    According to the Sebi order, Ramkrishna was steered by a yogi dwelling in the Himalayan ranges in the appointment of Subramanian as the exchange’s Group Operating Officer and Advisor to MD.

    The unknown person or yogi according to Ramkrishna was a “spiritual force that could manifest itself anywhere it wanted and did not have any physical or locational co-ordinates and largely dwelt in the Himalayan range”.

    Sebi had also noted that in spite of being aware of the irregularities on the appointment of Subramanian, NSE and other officials, including former MD and CEO Ravi Narain did not record the matter in the minutes of the board meeting in the name of confidentiality and sensitive information.

    While passing a 190-page order in the matter, Sebi had also barred NSE from launching any new product for a period of six months.

  • Congress questions ‘silence’ of PM, FM on banking fraud by ABG Shipyard

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday stepped up its attack on the BJP government asking why the prime minister and the finance minister were silent on the big banking fraud of Rs 22,842 crore by ABG Shipyard.

    The opposition party also asked why Rishi Agarwal, the promoter of the Gujarat-based company, had been not arrested till date.

    Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to make India’s economy of USD 5 trillion but instead gave the country bank frauds of Rs 5.35 trillion in the last 7.5 years.

    He claimed that according to an RTI reply by the RBI, recovery rate in 2020-21 of these frauds is 0.7 per cent. He also claimed that the average daily loss to the banking industry due to frauds was Rs 195.5 crore.

    “After Rs 22,842 crore of public money was swindled, the ease of committing fraud in the country is the new scheme launched by the Modi government for bank fraudsters,” he told reporters.

    Vallabh said the biggest bank fraud of Rs 22,842 crore happened under the Modi government and after a 5 year delay, the CBI finally registered an FIR on February 7, 2022, against ABG Shipyard, owned by Agarwal and others, for duping 28 banks.

    “The Modi government is running ‘Loot and Escape’ and ‘ease of committing fraud’ as a flagship scheme for bank fraudsters.

    The fraudsters’ lists include Nirav Modi i.e. Chhota Modi, Mehul Choksi, Ami Modi, Neeshal Modi, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Jatin Mehta, Chetan Sandesara, Nitin Sandesara and many others, and Rishi Agarwal and others are the new entrants in the list of fraudsters.

    “Why are the PM and the FM mum on India’s biggest banking fraud of Rs 22,842 crore? Why has Rishi Agarwal, the promoter of ABG Shipyard, not been arrested till date,” the Congress leader asked.

    He also questioned the status of Agarwal’s citizenship and why the RBI is behaving as a mere spectator without any action.