Budget 2018: An Exercise in Mindlessness

'Our focus will be on introducing new technologies to improve passenger comfort.' 'We are planning to introduce closed-circuit television and wi-fi facility on every train and in every station.' Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com As Indian Railways undergoes a major transformation, the Union Budget has unveiled its largest ever capital expenditure plan, with Rs 73,065 crore earmarked for safety-related initiatives alone.   Against this backdrop, Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, ...

'This year, the surprise package is going to be the GST' 'This year is the year of consolidation'  'Healthcare and social spending is a big thing for this Budget. The focus is legitimate' In an interview with Doordarshan News, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the fiscal deficit slippage this financial year (2017-18) was largely statistical. He told A K Bhattacharya that the glide path of the economy would remain consistent.   This is the first time that you have slipped in meeting ...

About railways sector, the Survey said that it is facing stiff competition from other modes of transportation and the government is initiating various transformative measures to keep railways on track. India will need about $4.5 trillion in the next 25 years for infrastructure development, of which it will be able to garner about USD 3.9 trillion, the Economic Survey said.   "The Global Infrastructure Outlook reflects that rising income levels and economic prosperity is likely to further ...

This will encompass the sale of Air India, a number of other privatisation initiatives, mergers, initial public offerings, the Centre’s two exchange-traded funds, buybacks and offers-for-sale, and even monetisation of land assets. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com Buoyed by the success of this year’s divestment programme, the finance ministry could set an even higher target of Rs 900 billion-1 trillion (Rs 90,000-100,000 crore) for 2018-19.   This will encompass the sale of ...

For the first time in the history, Indian Railways will allow transfer of train tickets. But, a lot of terms and conditions have been attached here. Besides, Indian Railways has now committed an investment of Rs 75,000 crore, for upgrading signalling system, ...

Current BJP Govt’s last Union Budget has been announced, and there have been mixed reactions from the business community, and the public at large. While socialists and liberals are rejoicing on the fact that India has created world’s largest healthcare ...

On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the last full budget of the Modi government. Arun Jaitley, who arrived in the Lok Sabha to present the general budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, was the center of attraction between journalists and ...

IMAGE: BJP president Amit Shah with party leaders B S Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and others during a day-long fast to protest against the disruption of parliament proceedings by the Opposition, in Dharwad, Karnataka on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who observed a fast along with fellow Bharatiya Janata Party MPs to protest the washout of the second leg of the budget session of Parliament, on Thursday travelled to Tamil Nadu to participate in several events.

'An obsequious man, wearing a bright turquoise Nehru jacket over his kurta-pajamas, hovers behind Lalu attending to his needs.''The needs mainly consist of providing him with sips of mineral water and, after drinking, mopping the folds of Lalu's leathery chin with a towelette, that sports the large label of Roman Baths.''Periodically, there is a rumpus when Lalu gets up from his chair and leaves the room to rinse his mouth outside the door, through the grill into the bushes.''A handful of Lalu ...