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Highlights of Union Budget 2019 presented by Nirmala Sitharaman

News Network
July 5, 2019

* From 1.85 trillion dollars in 2014, the economy has reached 2.7 trillion US dollars; We can very well reach 5 trillion dollars in the next few years. The Indian economy will grow to become a 3 trillion dollar economy this year itself.

* The plan to reach $5 trillion economy will involve development of heavy investment in infrastructure, digital economy and job creation.

Employment

* 80 Livelihood business incubators and 20 technology business incubators to be set up in 2019-20 under ASPIRE to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries.

* Increase focus on skill sets required by the youth to apply for job opportunities abroad like language skills and artificial intelligence (AI).

* We propose to start a television programme on DD National, exclusively for startups. This programme will be designed and executed by startup's themselves.

Banks

* Government considering to go below 51% to an appropriate level of ownership stake in non-financial public sector undertakings on case by case basis.

* Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to be provided Rs 70,000 crore to boost capital and improve credit.

* PSBs will use technology, enabling customer of one PSB to access service across all PSBs as well.

* For purchase of high-rated pooled assets of financially sound Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore during 2019-20, one-time six-month partial credit guarantee to be given to PSBs.

* Proposals for strengthening regulatory authority of RBI over NBFCs have been made.

* Regulation authority over housing finance sector to be returned from National Housing Bank to RBI.

Railways

* Railway infra would need an investment of 50 lakh crores between 2018 and 2030; PPP to be used to unleash faster development and delivery of passenger freight services.

* Railways to be encouraged to invest more in suburban railways through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) structures such as Rapid Regional Transport System (RRTS); more Public Private Partner (PPP) initiatives to be encouraged in rail sector.

* Massive programme of railway station modernization to be launched in 2019.

GST

* Rs 350 crore allocated for 2% interest subvention for all GST-registered MSMEs on fresh or incremental loans.

* Government has already moved GST council to lower the GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5%. Also to make EVs affordable for consumers our government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs.

Connectivity

* FAME II scheme aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by right incentives and charging infrastructure. Comprehensive restructuring of National Highways Programme to be done, to ensure creation of National Highways Grid of desirable capacity. Government envisions using rivers for cargo transportation, which will also decongest roads and railways.

* 657 km of metro rail network has become operational in the country.

* The government has given a massive push to all forms of physical connectivity via PMGSY, Industrial corridors, Dedicated freight corridors, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Jal Marg vikas and UDAN schemes.

Swachh Bharat Mission

* Proposal to expand Swachh Bharat mission to undertake solid waste management in every village.

* India to be open defecation free (ODF) by October 2 2019. To mark this occasion, Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra to be inaugurated at Raj Ghat, on the same day.

Gandhi-pedia

* 'Gandhi-pedia' too to be developed on the lines of Encyclopedia to help promote Gandhian school of thought.

Education and research

* Establish a National Research Foundation to fund, to coordinate and to promote research in the country.

* National Research Foundation to be set up to strengthen overall research ecosystem in the country; funds available under all Ministries to be integrated with NRF.

* New National Educational Policy to be brought in to transform Indian educational system; major changes in higher as well as school system to be introduced.

* Rs 400 crore under head, World Class Institutions in 2019-20, more than three times the revised estimates of previous year. 'Study In India' to be started to bring in foreign students into Indian higher education system.

'Naari tu Narayaani'

* I draw attention to the women of India, 'Naari tu Narayaani'. This government believes that we can progress, with greater women participation.

* To further encourage women entrepreneurship, Women Self-help Groups (SHGs) Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India.

* An overdraft of Rs 5,000 will be allowed for every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan account.

* One woman in every SHG shall be made eligible for a loan of 1 lakh rupees under MUDRA scheme.

Rural

* By 2022, every single rural family except those who are unwilling to take the connection, will have an electricity and a clean cooking facility.

* In second phase of PMAY-Gramin, 1.95 crore houses to be provided to eligible beneficiaries, during 2019-20 to 2021-22; they will have amenities such as LPG, electricity and toilets.

Pension

* Pension benefit to be extended to around 3 crore retail traders and shopkeepers with an annual turnover less than Rs 1.5 crore under Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Man Dhan Scheme.

Space

* To harness India's space ability commercially, a public sector enterprise, New Space India Limited (NSIL) has been incorporated to tap the benefits of Isro.

Social stock exchange

* Electronic fundraising platform, a social stock exchange, to be set up to list social enterprises and voluntary organizations working for social welfare objectives.

NRIs

* Aadhaar card for NRIs with Indian passports to be issued after their arrival in India, without waiting for the mandatory 180 days.

* To provide NRIs seamless access to Indian equities, NRI portfolio investment route to be merged with foreign portfolio investment route.

Bahi-khata

* Sitharaman departed from the 'colonial' practice of bringing the Budget documents in a leather briefcase and instead switched to a four-fold red-cotton cloth called a 'bahi-khata'.

* This is the 89th Union Budget, which is the financial statement of the government, detailing its revenue and expenditure in the past, as well as estimated spending and projections for the coming year.

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News Network
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: Alleging that 2,426 companies have "looted" people's savings to the tune of Rs 1.47 lakh crore from banks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked if the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government will conduct a probe into it to punish those guilty.

"2,426 companies looted 1.47 lakh crore rupees of people's savings from banks. Will this government investigate this loot and punish the culprits?" Gandhi said on Twitter, without elaborating.

"Or will it allow them to flee like Nirav and Lalit Modi?" he asked.

Gandhi's attack came after media reports claimed that the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) had released a list of 2,426 borrower accounts that have been categorised as “wilful defaulters” with dues amounting to Rs 1,47,350 crore to the banking system.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: About 56 per cent of children were found to have no access to smartphones which have emerged as essential tools for online learning during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, according to a new study that surveyed 42,831 students at various school levels.

The study ''Scenario amidst COVID 19 - Onground Situations and Possible Solutions'' was conducted by child rights NGO Smile Foundation with an aim of analysing the access to technology.

The findings of the study showed that 43.99 per cent of surveyed children have access to smartphones and another 43.99 per cent of students have access to basic phones while 12.02 per cent do not have access to either smartphones or basic phones.

A total of 56.01 per cent children were found to have no access to smartphones, the study said.

"Concerning television, it was noted that while 68.99 per cent have access to TV, a major chunk of 31.01 per cent does not. Hence suggesting that using smartphone interventions for enhancing learning outcomes is not the only solution," it said.

At the primary level of education (class 1 to 5) 19,576 children were surveyed while at upper primary level (class 6 to 8) 12,277 children were surveyed. At secondary level of education (class 9 to 10) 5,537 children were surveyed and at higher secondary level (class 11 to 12) 3,216 children were surveyed.

The survey based on which the study was conducted used two approaches - over the telephone wherein the NGO reached out to the children whose database it already had -- students enrolled in various education centres of the NGO -- and second was through community mobilization wherein community workers went door to door to get answers.

The survey was conducted in 23 states, including Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, over a period of 12 days from April 16 to April 28.

The lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in March prompted schools and colleges to move to the virtual world for teaching and learning activities. However, many experts say the digital divide in the country may turn online classes into an operational nightmare.

As per official statistics, there are over 35 crore students in the country. However, it is not clear as to how many of them have access to digital devices and Internet.

Santanu Mishra, co-founder and executive trustee, Smile Foundation, said the findings clearly show that the digital divide is a real challenge, and multiple approaches need to be implemented to cater to all across the nation.

"As an exercise before we start any programme, we do a baseline study to understand the on-ground challenges so that our programmes can bring in real work and real change. With the onset of the pandemic, following indefinite school closures, it is more important than ever to understand the situation and how can we ensure that children are given quality education. Through this, we understand that customized modules need to be built in accordance with the channel of communication," he said.  

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News Network
June 30,2020

Six months since the new coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic is still far from over, the World Health Organization said Monday, warning that "the worst is yet to come".

Reaching the half-year milestone just as the death toll surpassed 500,000 and the number of confirmed infections topped 10 million, the WHO said it was a moment to recommit to the fight to save lives.

"Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world -- and our lives -- would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.

"We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over.

"Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.

"We're all in this together, and we're all in this for the long haul.

"We will need even greater stores of resilience, patience, humility and generosity in the months ahead.

"We have already lost so much -- but we cannot lose hope."

Tedros also said that the pandemic had brought out the best and worst humanity, citing acts of kindness and solidarity, but also misinformation and the politicisation of the virus.

In an atmosphere of global political division and fractures on a national level, "the worst is yet to come. I'm sorry to say that," he said.

"With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst."

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