Finance MInister Arun Jaitley Presents Union Budget 2015-2016

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today presented the Union Budget of India for the year 2015-2016; this happens to be the first full-fledged budget of Modi government. From the outset, this seems to be a business-friendly budget, aimed at attracting greater investment for Indian economy.

The finance minister announced an unprecedented corporate tax-cut. The tax has been slashed down from 30% to 25%; the cut would come into force in the next four years.

The government seems to have done a few things for the poor as well by introducing the social security system.

Few major announcements made by the finance minister are:

• Five ‘ultra mega’ power projects will be built to fill the yawning gap between the supply and demand of power.
• The government will invest around 70 thousand crores on the infrastructure development.
• Introduction of ‘universal social security’ that will provide the poor with an access to subsidized insurance and pensions.
• Implementation of a uniform countrywide goods and services tax (GST) by April 2016 to boost trade between different states; there are a number of different taxes in different Indian states at the present moment that make trading between them a nightmarish exercise.
• The government will transfer the welfare money direct into the recipient’s bank account to eliminate corruption and wastage.
• Wealth tax will be abolished; it will be replaced by a surcharge of 2% on the super-rich (people with an income of one crore or more).

Mr Jaitley said that the will achieve its goal of cutting the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of the GDP for the year 2014-2015 from 4.5% for the year before.

Presenting the budget, Jaitley said that the country is growing at the high rate, the inflation is down, and foreign exchange reserve is sufficient.

"We inherited a sentiment of doom and gloom. The investment community had almost written us off. We have come a long way since then. We have turned around the economy, dramatically restoring macroeconomic stability and creating the conditions for sustainable poverty elimination, job creation, durable double digit economic growth," the finance minister said.

Some experts have billed this budget as the most significant since the path-breaking budget of 1991 that liberalized the Indian market.

Experts are of the opinion that there are loop holes here and there, but if the welfare projects like the Universal Social Security is implemented as it is imagined, then the budget is nothing less than a path-breaking  one. Millions of Indian poor will come under the safety net.

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Suresh Prabhu Presents the Railway Budget, No Hike In The Passenger Fare

Suresh Prabhu Presents the Railway Budget, No Hike In The Passenger Fare

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has presented the first full-fledged rail budget of Modi government. The announcements made by the minister are in agreement with PM Modi's all three initiatives - Swachch Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), Make in India, and Digital India. Here are the main points of the rail-budget 2015-2016:

1. There will be no fare-hire for the passengers.

2. Around 8.5 lack crore rupees will be invested on the development of the railways over the next five years.

3. Aiming the passengers who travel in the unreserved category, the ministry has announced 'Operation Five Minutes' that will let those passengers buy a ticket in five minutes.

4. Bio-toilets and airplane-type vacuum toilets will be introduced to the Indian rails.

5. Surveillance cameras in select coaches and ladies compartments will be incorporated; woman safety will be provided without compromising on privacy.

6. Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.

7. Speed of the trains in the nine railway corridors will be raised from 130 KMPH to 200 KMPH so that journey between major locations like Delhi to Calcutta or Delhi to Mumbai can be completed overnight.

8. More stations will be introduced with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity and mobile charging facility will be given to all the compartments.

9. Online booking for wheelchairs for senior citizen and physically handicapped people will be allowed.

10. 24x7 railway helpline no - 138 and security helpline no - 182 will be introduced from March 2015.

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Electricity At Half The Rate And Free Water Plan Of Delhi Government Will Be Implemented From 1 March

Electricity At Half The Rate And Free Water Plan Of Delhi Government Will Be Implemented From 1 March

Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodiya has said today that those who are consuming less than 400 units will be provided electricity at half the price by the Delhi government. 20000 litres of water will be given free per household. The announcements will be implimented from 1 March.

"We had promised to reduce power tariffs, the families using power till 400 units will get it on half the price. This will be effective from the 1st of March. Those families using more than 400 units will have to pay the entire bill," Sisodiya told the media.


Electricity at half the rate and cheap water to every household are two major points of AAP's 70-piont election manifesto.  

AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had called a meeting of all the departments and ministers few days ago to draw a course of action for the welbeing and development of the capital city.

Kejriwal had earlier asked all the relevant departments to come up with a detailed roadmap on how they will fulfil AAP's plan to provide the city dwelers with cheap electricity and free water.

Kejriwal has also directed the CAG to conduct an audit of the private power distribution companies in the capital.

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Spouses of H1B Visa Holders Will Get Work Permits In the US After 26 May

Spouses of H1B Visa Holders Will Get Work Permits In the US After 26 May

The US has announced on Tuesday that it will provide work permits to the spouses of the H1B visa holders from 26 May. This move is supposed to help a number of talented professionals who go to the US but are not eligible to work.   

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin to take applications from H1B spouses from 26 May. Once the USCIS approves the Form I765 and the H4 dependent spouse receives an Employment Authorization Card, he or she becomes eligible to work in the US.

The USCIS is expected to receive around 179600 applications in the first year, and after that 55000 per year in the subsequent years.  

The Indian-Americans have welcomed this move of the US government.

Former chief counsel at USCIS Lynden Melmed has said that the Australian and Canadian governments in recent years have made similar moves. And that has forced the US government to make the same accommodation. He noted that the waiting period for the green card could be over ten years in some cases; the length of time can be career ending for the professional.

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Mother Teresa Did Social Service But Her Motive Was Religious Conversion: RSS Chief

Mother Teresa Did Social Service But Her Motive Was Religious Conversion: RSS Chief

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat has raised serious question on the intensions of Mother Teresa and the services she rendered to the poor and destitute people of India. And with that statement, he seems to have given rise to another controversy. RSS has refused to buy the belief that Bhagwat has criticized the Nobel laureate who devoted her life to serve the poor of the nation.

The RSS Chief was addressing a function of a local NGO in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He said that no one can deny or undermine the services that she did, but there was an aim behind the services rendered, an aim to convert people to Christianity.

"People like Mother Teresa did good work and service. But the aim was to convert the poor to Christianity. This kind of service is devalued if conversions are done in the name of service or work," Bhagwat spoke.

Senior Congress leader and former CM of the state, Ashok Gehlot has called the statement 'unfortunate'. "She left her country and spent her life to provide service to the poor. It is really a very unfortunate statement," Gehlot responded. 

Rajasthan state Congress president Sachin Pilot also vehemently condemned the statement, he said, "By giving these kinds of statements, they are trying to create a religious divide. Mother Teresa comes from which religion does not matter, what matters most is the service she provided to the poor." 

After the RSS Chief came under fire from all quarters, the RSS came in his rescue and said that the statement was misinterpreted and was taken out of the context.  

"Media reporting wrongly. At Bharatpur Ex-DG BSF said that Mother Teresa did Seva with motive of conversion," said a tweet on RSS' official Twitter handle.

Born on 26 August 1910 as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Macedonia, Mother Teresa came to India in 1929. She an Indian citizen in 1948 and remained one till her death in 1997. She was awarded the India's highest civilian award 'Bharat Ratna' in 1980 for her contribution in the field of social work. Mother was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1979 in recognition of her work "in bringing help to suffering humanity."

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