2 Sep : The government on Thursday decided to release an additional 2.5 million tonnes of foodgrains to states for distribution among the poor, following a warning from the Supreme Court over rotting foodgrains.
But the foodgrains would be distributed at rates prescribed for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and not free.
“The government is considering an overhaul of PDS including upgrading the number of eligible BPL families. This is expected to increase the number of BPL families eligible for assistance and corresponding increase in allocation by central government.”
“As an interim ad-hoc …

1 Sep : President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday visited cloudburst-hit Leh and assured the victims all help in their rehabilitation.
Interacting with the victims at a relief camp here, Patil said they will be given all possible support for their rehabilitation and that the country stands in solidarity with them.
“We are with you at this time of tragedy. I have come to meet you. We love and sympathise with you,” she said while distributing shawls and sweaters to the people living in the relief camp.
The cloudburst on the intervening night of …

1 Sep : Laying the foundation stone of a Rs 6,000 crore power equipment manufacturing plant near Tirupati, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the nation needs to bridge the gap between demand and supply of electricity for sustained economic growth.
“Availability of affordable power is of critical importance to development of agriculture and industries,” Singh said.
Stressing upon the need to bridge the gap between demand and supply of electricity, he said that it was the “only way to achieve higher rates of economic growth on sustainable basis.”
India has installed capacity of …

31 Aug : The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed with Switzerland will allow India access to banking details of its citizens in that country including for enforcement purposes, but it will be operational with prospective effect, Govt told the Lok Sabha.
“This (DTAA) will provide us an opportunity to have the relevant bank information for taxation purposes,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement.
However, he said the new provision will be applicable only for prospective information and not for past information.
Mukherjee and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had signed the …

30 Aug : The Government on Monday tabled the much-awaited Direct Taxes Code bill (DTC) in the Lok Sabha which proposed to raise the exemption limit on income tax from the current Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs two lakh.
The bill, introduced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeks to widen income tax slabs to levy 10 percent rate on income between Rs 2 lakh to 5 lakh, 20 percent on between Rs 5-10 lakh and 30 percent above Rs 10 lakh.
For senior citizens, tax exemption is sought to be raised to …