Junior Digest

Mumbai, Aug 11,2023: Noting that the high debt level of poor countries poses risks to their sustainable development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that the international community must collaborate and find stronger ways to coordinate debt restructuring for low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries facing debt distress.

Addressing the G20 Event on Global Economy: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Way Forward in virtual mode, the Minister said the Indian G20 presidency has placed great importance on the management of global debt vulnerabilities, demonstrating a commitment to voicing the concerns of the global south.

Sitharaman said a primary focus of India’s G20 presidency in 2023 has been to strengthen multilateral development banks (MDBs) to address the shared global challenges of the 21st century.

The Minister said that MDBs are facing increasing demands from donor and borrowing countries to expand their lending operations beyond their core development mandates.

“However, MDBs are currently not equipped to address this rising demand for their resources adequately. To explore possible solutions that can constructively contribute to the efforts that MDBs are undertaking, the Indian G20 Presidency set up an expert group on strengthening MDBs,” she noted.

Referring to the recommendations given by the expert group, Sitharaman said these suggestions, if implemented within each MDB’s governance framework, can significantly enhance their capacity to address diverse financing challenges in the future with a focus on the priorities of the global south.

She stated that India has been holding the G20 Presidency for more than eight months now, and during these months, India has helmed and piloted a huge amount of work under various G20 tracks.

New Delhi, Aug 3,2023: The GST Council chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday approved amendments in the GST laws to provide clarity on taxation of supplies in casinos, horse racing and online gaming.

Addressing media after the 51st GST Council meeting held through video conferencing, Sitharaman said that the Council today took up law amendments to implement 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing and casinos.

The GST Council in its last meeting had recommended that the actionable claims supplied in casinos, horse racing and online gaming may be taxed at the rate of 28% on full face value, irrespective of whether the activities are a game of skill or chance. The Council had also recommended that the law may be amended to provide clarity in the matter.

The Council in its meeting today also recommended inserting a specific provision in IGST Act, 2017 to provide for liability to pay GST on supplier located outside India supplying online money gaming to a person in India.

The Council approved GST on valuation of supply of online gaming and actionable claims in casinos at entry level.

Sitharaman said that during the meeting, Delhi sought review of decision on online gaming. She said that Sikkim and Goa though were in favour of higher GST but felt that the decision would hurt them.

BRUSSELS, April 14,2022: Payment for Russian gas in roubles by European Union buyers as demanded by President Vladimir Putin would break the EU’s sanctions regime against Moscow, an internal European Commission note said.

Putin has warned Europe it risks having gas supplies cut unless it pays in the Russian currency as he seeks retaliation over Western sanctions for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In March, Moscow proposed that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank, where payments in euros or dollars would be converted to roubles.

The European Commission’s note, making clear it is technical, preliminary, and based on an unofficial translation of the Russian Presidential Decree of March 31, said the law added several new layers of obligations on EU gas buyers, taking the effective completion of the purchase out of their hands.

“This mechanism would lead to a breach of the existing EU restrictive measures adopted in respect of Russia, its government, the Central Bank of Russia, and their proxies,” the internal note, seen by Reuters, said.

The government of the Netherlands will instruct companies not to pay for Russian gas in roubles, a Ministry of Economic Affairs spokesperson said on Thursday, citing the decision by the European Commission.

Putin’s decree imposed an obligation on EU gas buyers to open at least two special accounts – one for euros or dollars and one for roubles – with Gazprombank and channel all gas payments through the bank.

The EU buyer would still pay Gazprombank in the contract currency – euros or dollars – but the purchase would only be complete once Gazprombank exchanges the currency into roubles in a deal with the Russian central bank, and deposits the roubles in the second account, the note said.

“The effect … is that a payment is completed not in the currency established under the contract at the moment it is deposited in the accounts … but rather only at an unknown and undefined moment once the foreign currency … is converted into roubles and credited to the second special account,” the Commission note said.

It noted that the process would be entirely overseen by Russia, depriving European companies of control of the funds from the moment of payment and introducing unpredictable additional costs.

“The Russian State, through its central bank, has total control over the foreign currency … which it can manipulate entirely to its own benefit,” the note said, pointing to, for example, the applied exchange rate.

Earlier on Thursday, the Austrian news agency APA reported that Putin told Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer during their meeting this week that Austria’s supply of gas can continue to be paid for in euros.
Austria gets 80% of its natural gas from Russia and opposes an immediate European Union gas embargo on Moscow, arguing it is not possible to suddenly switch to alternative suppliers.

Panaji (Goa) , June 16,2023 : Audit institutions of countries have a crucial role to play in the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) for good governance, transparency and accountability, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu said on Thursday.
CAG Murmu also inaugurated the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) engagement group meeting in Goa as part of India’s G20 presidency.
Speaking to ANI, CAG Murmu said, “Today, digital platform and digital infrastructure is used globally. So the IT application is already being used by the supreme audit institutions. Governments are adopting the technology. We will see how to carry out audits on digital platforms and how to make capacity building in our organisations. That is the concern for all the participations of SAI and we have been working on this technology.”
He further said that during the SAI20 meeting, the experts provided various new dimensions on the subject.
“We celebrated comprehensively on experience sharing. The experts did give us various aspects on this subject with a new dimension. In due course of time, the Supreme audit institutions will collaborate, share their knowledge and will come out with some standard guide,” he said.
The CAG said that they are planning to introduce computer education courses in recruitment to cope with technological development.
“Our officers are very competent. Mostly, they are from the engineering background and we are exposing them to various training, and capacity building. We are also planning to introduce some kind of priority Computer Education in the cutting as recruitment because in future more and more technology will be used. So, our auditor cutting edge is should be aware of this technology so that they can appreciate all the new development appropriately,” he added.

Jan 01,2023:Croatia has switched to the euro and entered Europe’s passport-free zone – two important milestones for the country after joining the European Union (EU) nearly a decade ago.
At midnight on Sunday, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and became the 20th member of the eurozone.
It is now the 27th nation in the Schengen zone, the world’s largest passport-free travel area, which enables more than 400 million people to move freely around its members.
“It is the season of new beginnings. And there is no place in Europe where this is more true than here in Croatia,” tweeted EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, as she arrived in Croatia to mark the occasion.
She met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar at a border crossing with EU member Slovenia.
Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of 3.9 million people that fought a war of independence in the 1990s, joined the EU in 2013.
Experts say the adoption of the euro will help shield Croatia’s economy at a time when inflation is soaring worldwide after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food and fuel prices through the roof.
But feelings among Croatians are mixed. While they welcome the end of border controls, some fear the euro switch will lead to an increase in the cost of living as businesses round up prices when they convert them.

New Delhi, April 27 ,2022: Targeting Opposition-ruled States for high fuel prices, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked them to reduce value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel as it amounts to “injustice to the people”.

“I am not criticising anyone, just discussing,” said the PM while listing out the States that did not reduce VAT on fuel during the steep hike when the Centre had done its bit by cutting excising duty.

“For some reason, States like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Jharkhand did not agree to slash VAT on fuel. The burden of high prices continued to be on the citizen,” he said in a virtual interaction with Chief Ministers. These States that have not cut VAT have earned an extra ₹11,945 crore as compared to States that cut rates.

The Centre had reduced the tax on fuel prices in November 2021. The Prime Minister underlined that the effect has not been passed on to the common citizen because some State governments did not cut VAT. The PM listed the fuel prices in cities across the country and flagged higher rates in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. The price of petrol across these States are hovering between ₹115 per litre and ₹120 per litre. As against this, the BJP-ruled States, which had reduced tax, have seen petrol prices hover around ₹102-106 over the last few days.

Excise duty cut
“In order to reduce the load of petrol and diesel prices, the Central government has reduced the excise duty and had requested the States also to reduce taxes. Some States reduced taxes but some States did not pass on the benefits to the people, leading higher cost of petrol and diesel there. This is not only injustice towards the people of the State but harms the neighbouring States also,” PM Modi said.

According to him, Karnataka and Gujarat undertook the tax reduction for the welfare of the people despite revenue loss (of around ₹3,500-5,000 crore) while their neighbouring States earned revenue by not reducing tax, of around ₹5,000 crore.

The PM said 42 per cent of the revenue at Centre goes to State governments.

He said just as India strongly fought a long battle against Covid, the same must be done for economic issues given the impact of global issues like the ongoing “war-like situation”.

June 08,2022:Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has risen the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 4.90 per cent on Wednesday. The top bank has decided unanimously to keep the policy stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation.’

“The MPC unanimously decided to raise the rates on the back of inflationary pressures and higher supply shocks,” said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Inflation is likely to remain above 6 per cent in the first three-quarters of the current fiscal. “Our steps will be calibrated, focussed on bringing down inflation to the target level,” he said.
Last month, in its off-cycle monetary policy review the central bank hiked the policy repo rate by 40 basis points or 0.40 per cent to 4.4 per cent. This was the first increase in the policy repo rate in nearly two years. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to banks.
Inflation has been above the RBI’s 2-6 per cent target band since the beginning of this year. As per the latest available data, India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation surged to an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April. It has been above 6 per cent since January 2022.

In April, the RBI revised upward the inflation forecast for the current financial year to 5.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 4.5 per cent announced in February.

New Delhi, Mar 11,2023: The gross direct tax collections up to March 10, 2023, registered a growth of 22.58 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis at Rs16.68 lakh crore, data released by Finance Ministry said on Saturday.

This is a provisional data. Direct Tax collection, net of refunds, stood at Rs 13.73 lakh crore, 16.78 pc higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year, the data showed.

The collection is 96.67 per cent of the total budget estimates and 83.19 per cent of the total revised estimates of direct taxes for the current fiscal year, the Finance Ministry said.

As far as the growth rate for Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) in terms of gross revenue collections is concerned, the corporate income tax (CIT) during the period registered a growth of 18.08 pc while personal income tax (PIT) grew by 27.57 percent.

After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections was 13.62 pc and that in PIT collections was 20.73 pc.

Refunds amounting to Rs 2.95 lakh crore have been issued during April 1, 2022 to March 10, 2023, which are 59.44 pc higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year, the data showed.

New Delhi, July 24,2023: SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch on Monday said the financial markets regulator is working on a mechanism for instant settlements of transactions on the stock exchanges.

“Certainly one of the things that we think is not very far off is even instantaneous settlements on the stock exchange,” Buch said in a press conference.

“We are working on that, we are engaged with the ecosystem and we believe that in the not very far future we will have a mechanism which will facilitate instantaneous settlement of transactions on the stock exchanges. That’s where we are headed,” she added.
In late January this year, India started following a market-wide Transaction+1 (T+1) settlement system for equities. Earlier, it was a T+2 cycle. The new T+1 system was first introduced by the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in 2021 and has been implemented phase wise starting from the smallest companies by market capitalisation to larger ones.
The T+1 system means that the transactions must be done within a day, or 24 hours, of the completion of a transaction.
For example, under T+1, if an investor bought shares on Monday, the money would be credited to the customer’s demat account on Tuesday.

The instantaneous settlement, once it is implemented, will put money into the hands of the investors on a real-time basis.
Separately, the financial market regulator SEBI’s Board last month approved the proposal for reducing the time period for listing of shares of a company through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) from the existing 6 days to 3 days, from the date of issue closure.
The revised timeline will be made applicable in two phases — voluntary for all public issues opening on or after September 01, 2023, and mandatory on or after December 01, 2023, SEBI had said. SEBI said the decision to halve the days follows extensive consultation with all stakeholders
Extensive stress testing has been done to confirm that the transition to T+3 would be smooth.
The reduction in listing timeline is expected to benefit as issuers would receive their funds and allottees would receive their securities in a shorter time period.

Also, the subscribers who were not allotted shares would receive their moneys back quickly, and the resources of all stakeholders — like stock exchanges, banks, depositories, brokers in the public issue process — will remain deployed in the market for a shorter period.

LONDON,Oct 20,2021: Major economies will produce more than double the amount of coal, oil and gas in 2030 than is consistent with meeting climate goals set in the 2015 Paris accord to curb global warming, the United Nations and researchers said on Wednesday.

The U.N. Environment Programme’s (UNEP) annual production gap report measures the difference between governments’ planned production of fossil fuels and production levels which are consistent with meeting the temperature limits set in Paris.

Under the pact, nations have committed to a long-term goal of limiting average temperature rises to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to attempt to limit them even further to 1.5C.

The report, which analysed 15 major fossil fuel producers, found they plan to produce, in total, around 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting the degree of warming to 1.5C, and 45% more than is consistent with 2C.

The size of that gap has not declined much since UNEP’s 2020 report, it added.

The countries analysed in the report were Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Representatives from nearly 200 countries will meet in Glasgow, Scotland, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 for climate talks to strengthen action to tackle global warming under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Despite efforts to strengthen climate targets, most major oil and gas producers plan to increase production until 2030 or beyond, while several major coal producers plan to continue or even increase output, the report said.

The plans of the 15 countries analysed envisage fossil fuel production increasing until at least 2040.

This would lead to about 240% more coal, 57% more oil, and 71% more gas in 2030 than what is required in order to curb the rate of global warming to 1.5C.

Of the three fuels, gas production is projected to increase the most between 2020 and 2040, based on the governments’ plans.

The International Energy Agency said in May that investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal supply projects if the world is to hit net zero emissions by mid-century.

“The research is clear: global coal, oil, and gas production must start declining immediately and steeply to be consistent with limiting long-term warming to 1.5C,” said Ploy Achakulwisut, a lead author of the new report.

The report was produced by UNEP, as well as experts from the Stockholm Environment Institute, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and think-tanks E3G and ODI.

Feb 01,2022:Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022, the fourth budget of Modi 2.0, today.

There were a host of measures for a number of sectors, aimed at boosting growth amid high & rising inflation and continuing Covid uncertainties.

There, however, were remarkably few changes to the personal income tax structure in a year that had seen demands from various quarters for some sort of relief or another in times of a pandemic.

Among today’s assortment of announcements, the decision to tax receivers of digital asset transfers at a high 30% caught some serious attention.

Aside from that, the announcement of a digital rupee was another big news item in a budget that saw no major populist giveaways.

Here’s a sector-wise detailed reading of the various measures the Finance Minister announced today.

Economy
Capex target expanded by 35.4 per cent — from Rs 5.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore. FY23 effective capex seen at Rs 10.7 lakh crore
Capex target expanded by 35.4 per cent — from Rs 5.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore. FY23 effective capex seen at Rs 10.7 lakh crore
India’s growth highest among all major economies; we are now in a strong position to withstand challenges
The goal is complementing macro-growth with micro-all-inclusive welfare, digital economy and fintech, tech-enabled development, energy transition and climate action
ECLGS cover expanded by Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh crore
Top focus of the budget this year are: PM Gati Shakti, Inclusive Development, Productivity Enhancement, Sunrise Opportunities, Energy Transition, Climate Action, Financing of investments
Productivity-linked incentive schemes in 14 sectors have received excellent response; received investment intentions worth Rs 30 lakh crore
Economic recovery benefitting from public investment and capital spending. This Budget will provide impetus to growth
In 2022-23, states will be allowed fiscal deficit of up to 4 pc of GSDP

Expenditure and deficit & other key numbers
Proposed fiscal deficit of 4.5% of GDP by 2025/26
Projected fiscal deficit of 6.4% of GDP in 2022/23
Revised fiscal deficit for 2021/22 at 6.9% of GDP
50 year interest free loans over and above normal borrowing allowed for states
Scheme for financial assistance to states for capital investment outlay to be Rs 1 lakh crore for 2022/23
Public issue of Life Insurance Corporation expected shortly
Initiatives from last year’s budget have been provided adequate allocations in this budget
Receipt from disinvestment proceeds in next financial year pegged at Rs 65,000 crore, lower than the current year’s mobilisation of Rs 78,000 crore.
Taxes
Govt vows a stable and predictable tax regime

Govt to provide one-time window to correct omissions in ITRs filed, updated returns to be filed within 2 years
Any cess or surcharge on income not allowed as business expenditure
1 per cent TDS on transfer of virtual assets above a threshold, gifts to be taxed
Surcharge on long-term capital gains capped at 15 per cent
The government will tax income from digital asset transfers at 30%

No deduction allowed while computing income except cost of acquisition
Loss cannot be set off from any other income
Gift of cryptocurrencies to be taxed at receiver’s end
A new provision to allow taxpayers to file an updated return
Updated return can be filed within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year.
Alternate Minimum Tax for cooperative societies to be cut to 15%
Proposal will reduce surcharge on cooperative societies to 7%, for those whose income is between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore
Tax deduction limit increased to 14% on employers contribution to NPS account of state govt employees

Duties on Industry
Import duty on certain chemicals being/to be cut
Customs duty exemption on steel scrap will be extended for another year for MSMEs
Will revoke customs duty on stainless steel, flat products, high steel bars
Beginning October 2022, unblended fuel to get additional duty of Rs 2/litre
Import duty on cut and polished diamonds and gemstones to be cut 5 per cent and on sawn diamond to nil.
Customs duty concessions to be given to certain consumer electronic devices to promote manufacturing across wearables, hearables and specific mobile phone components
Jobs
ECLGS extended till March 2023, 60 lakh jobs eyed in next 5 years
Efforts of central, state governments leading to jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities
Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood to be launched.

This will aims to skill, reskill, upskill citizens through online training.
API based skill credentials, payment layers to find relevant jobs and opportunities
Infra & manufacturing
Desh stack e-portal to be launched to promote digital infra
Strategic transfer of ownership of Air India completed now
Four multi-modal national parks contracts will be awarded in FY23
PM Gatishakti masterplan for expressways will be formulated in next financial year
100 PM Gati Shakti terminals to be set up in next three years
Focus on public investment to modernise infrastructure over the medium term, leveraging tech platform of Gati Shakti via a multi-modal approach
PM Gati Shakti will pull forward the economy and will lead to more jobs and opportunities for the youth
Concessional corporate tax rate of 15 pc would be available for 1 more year till March 2024 for newly incorporated manufacturing companies

Steps on digital currency
Launch of blockchain-bassed digital rupee starting 2022-23
To launch scheme for taxation of virtual digital assets
Losses from sale of virtual digital assets cannot be offset against other income
Income from virtual digital assets to be taxed at 30%

Housing & urban planning
Rs 48, 000 crore is allotted for PM Awas Yojana
In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for identified beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana; 60,000 houses will be identified as beneficiaries for PM Awas Yojana in rural & urban areas
60,000 crore allocated for providing access to tap water to 3.8 crore households
A high-level committee for urban planners and economists to be formed for recommendations on urban capacity building, planning implementation, and governance
5 existing academic institutions for urban planning to be designated as Centre for Excellence with endowment fund of Rs 250 cr
Modern building by-laws will be introduced
A high-level panel to be set up for urban planning
Govt to promote use of public transport in urban areas
Proposal to reduce Minimum Alternative Tax to 15 pc for co-op societies, at par with corporate
MSMEs & startups
Rs 6,000 crore programme to rate MSMEs to be rolled out over 5 years
MSMEs such as Udyam, e-shram, NCS & Aseem portals will be inter-linked, their scope will be widened
They will now perform as portals with live organic databases providing G-C, B-C & B-B services such as credit facilitation, enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities

A fund with blended capital raised under co-investment model facilitated through NABARD to finance startups in agriculture & rural enterprises for farm produce value chain
Startups will promoted for Drone Shakti
PE/VC invested Rs 5.5 lakh crore in startup, expert committee will be set up to suggest measures to help attract investment
Existing tax benefits for startups, which were offered redemption of taxes for 3 consecutive years, to be extended by 1 more year

Agri
Govt to pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations
2022-23 has been announced as International Year of Millets
Railways will develop new products for small farmers and MSMEs

A rationalised scheme to increase domestic oilseed production will be brought in to cut down imports
Kisan Drones for crop assessment, land records, spraying of insecticides expected to drive a wave of technology in agri sector
Ken Betwa river linking project worth Rs 44,605 crore announced

Draft DPRs for 5 river links have been finalised
Finance startups to be incentives to aid rural enterprises
Natural farming will be promoted along Ganga river corridor
Govt will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country to boost sustainable agricultural productivity and income of farmers

A fund under co-investment model will be facilitated through NABARD to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise relevant for farm produce value chain
A completely paperless, e-bill system will be launched by ministries for procurement
Financial support will be provided to farmers to take up agro-forestry

Electric Vehicles
Battery swapping policy to allow EV charging stations for automobiles will be framed
Private sector will be encouraged to create sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service, improving the efficiency in the EV ecosystem

Education & skilling
States to be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet needs of natural, zero-budget & organic farming, modern-day agriculture
One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels
This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12
Digital university to be set up to provide education; to be built on hub and spoke model
1-Class-1-TV Channel to be implemented to provide supplementary education to children to make up for loss of formal education due to Covid
To launch National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) to cater to dynamic industry needs
Finance & inclusion
Rs 1 lakh crore financial assistance to states to be provided in 2022-23 to catalyse investments
Proposed to introduce Digital Rupee by RBI using blockchain technology, starting 2022-23
Measures will be taken to step up private capital in infra sector
Digital Rupee to be rolled out by 2023
100% of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provide online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts
This will be helpful especially for farmers and senior citizens in rural areas, enabling inter operability, and financial inclusion.
IBC amendments to enhance efficiency of resolution process
Facilitate cross-border insolvency resolution

IBC amendments to enhance efficiency of resolution process
Facilitate cross-border insolvency resolution
75 digital banks in 75 districts will be set up by scheduled commercial banks to encourage digital payments
The use of surety bonds as a substitute for bank guarantee will be made acceptable in government procurements

International arbitration centre will be set up in GIFT city to provide faster dispute resolution
World-class university to be allowed in GIFT IFSC free from domestic regulation
Payment of annuity and lump sum amount to the differently abled dependent during the lifetime of parents/guardians, i.e., on parents/ guardians attaining the age of sixty years

75 digital banks in 75 districts will be set up by scheduled commercial banks to encourage digital payments
The use of surety bonds as a substitute for bank guarantee will be made acceptable in government procurements
International arbitration centre will be set up in GIFT city to provide faster dispute resolution
World-class university to be allowed in GIFT IFSC free from domestic regulation
Payment of annuity and lump sum amount to the differently abled dependent during the lifetime of parents/guardians, i.e., on parents/ guardians attaining the age of sixty years
Healthcare
An open platform for the national digital health ecosystem will be rolled out
It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities
95 per cent of 112 aspirational districts have made significant progress in health, infra
For mental health counselling, a National Tele Mental Health Program will be launched
Telecom
Spectrum auction will be conducted in 2022 for the rollout of 5G

Scheme for design led manufacturing to be launched for 5G ecosystem as part of PLI scheme to enable affordable broadband and mobile communication in rural and remote areas
5 pc of USO Fund to be provided for R&D and technology upgradation
Contracts for laying optical fibre in villages to be awarded under BharatNet project under PPP in 2022-23
Data centre and energy storage system to be given infrastructure status; move to provide easy financing
To award contracts to lay optical fibre in rural areas, completion in 2025
Women & Children
Recognising the importance of ‘Nari Shakti’, 3 schemes were launched to provide integrated development for women and children
2 lakh Anganwadis to be upgraded for improving child health

Ease of Business & living
75,000 compliances have been eliminated and 1,486 union laws repealed to make it easier for businesses
India to launch the next phase of Ease of Doing Business EODB 2.0 and Ease of Living.
Voluntary exit for corporates to be cut down to 6 months from 2 years
Special Economic Zones Act to be replaced with new legislation
Defence
Govt committed to reduce import and promote self reliance in defence sector
68 per cent of capital for defence sector to be earmarked for local industry
Defense R&D will be opened up for industry, startups and academia with 25% of defense R&D budget
Private industry will be encouraged to take up the design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through SPV model
68% of capital procurement budget in defence will be earmarked for domestic industry in 2022-23 (up from the 58% last fiscal)
Transportation including Railways
400 new generation Vande Bharat trains to be manufactured in next 3 years
2,000 km of rail network to be brought under indigenous technology KAWACH for safety and capacity augmentation
Railway Ministry to be allocated Rs 140367.13 crore – Rs 20,311 crore more than the revised figures of the previous fiscal
National highways network to be expanded by 25,000km in 2022-23
Highways expansion to cost Rs 20,000 crore in 2022-23
One product one railway station will be popularised
Climate & Net Zero
Energy transition and action on climate to be major priority for govt
Risks of climate change are strongest externalities for the world
Funds will be used for projects that will help reduce carbon intensity of the economy
Sovereign green bonds to be launched to fund green infra, to be part of government’s borrowing programme in FY23
Proceeds to be deployed in public sector projects
4 pilot projects for coal gasification to be set up
Rs 19,500 cr additional allocation for PLI for manufacturing high efficiency solar modules has been made
Low carbon development strategy opens up employment opportunity
Travel
ePassports will be rolled out in 2022-23 for convenience in overseas travel
E-passport with embedded chip will be rolled out
Mix & Match measures
Task force on animation visual effects, gaming, comic promotion to be set up
Villages on northern border of India will be covered under a new vibrant village programme to enhance development
Rs 3062.60 crore allocated under sports budget for financial year 2022-23, an increase of Rs 305.58 crore over last year
A new scheme called PM Development Initiative for North East to be launched
National Ropeways Development Programme to be taken up in PPP mode with the aim to improve connectivity, besides promoting Tourism

SARAJEVO, Nov30,2022: Croatia, which will enter the euro zone on Jan. 1, passed its first budget in euros on Tuesday, targeting a general deficit of 2.3% of gross domestic product based on the projection of 0.7% economic growth for 2023.

The budget was adopted with 77 votes in favour and 50 against in the 151-seat parliament.

“This is Croatia’s first budget denominated in the euro,” Finance Minister Marko Primorac said as he presented the budgetary plans.
“The introduction of the euro will strengthen our economy, it will be an anchor of stability, will make us more resistant and protected from external shocks and crises and will contribute to the improvement of investment climate,” Primorac told lawmakers.

In July, European Union finance ministers formally approved Croatia – an EU member state since 2013 – becoming the 20th member of the euro common currency at the start of 2023.

Aug 05,2022:The Reserve Bank on Friday raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, the third straight increase since May in an effort to cool stubbornly high inflation and defend the rupee.

The repurchase rate was raised by 50 basis points to lift the interest rate to the pre-pandemic level. The 5.40 per cent repo rate was last seen in August 2019.

Announcing the rate hike, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das did not offer any indication of a change in the stance or a possible pause in the next policy due in late September.

The Reserve Bank of India’s six-member rate-setting panel voted unanimously on the rate hike decision while sticking to its resolve to withdraw the accommodative stance.

It, however, retained GDP growth projection at 7.2 per cent for the current fiscal ending March 31, 2023, and kept the inflation outlook for the year unchanged at 6.7 per cent.

“Inflationary pressures are broad-based and core inflation remains elevated. Inflation is projected to remain above the upper tolerance level of 6 per cent through the first three quarters of 2022-23, entailing the risk of destablishing inflation expectations and triggering second-round effects,” he said.

The RBI targets inflation at 2-6 per cent.

On the rupee depreciating against the US dollar, he said at a 4.7 per cent decline, the rupee fared much better than several reserve currencies as well as many of its EME and Asian peers.

“The depreciation of the Indian rupee is more on account of the appreciation of the US dollar rather than weakness in macroeconomic fundamentals of the Indian economy. Market interventions by the RBI have helped in containing volatility and ensuring the orderly movement of the rupee,” he said.

New Delhi, Dec 30,2021: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would hold a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Ministers of all States and Union Territories (with legislature) in New Delhi on Thursday.

While meeting with State Finance Ministers generally take place ahead of the Budget, demands and suggestions put forth by poll-bound states would be keenly noted in the interaction tomorrow.

Given the rising trend in Corona cases in various parts of the country, states are expected to demand more funds to deal with the challenge.

Higher spending on infrastructure could be another key area of discussion.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman today concluded pre-Budget meetings for forthcoming Union Budget 2022-23 which saw participation by as many as 120 invitees representing 7 stakeholder groups.

The stakeholder groups made several suggestions on various issues that included increased R&D spending, infrastructure status for digital services, incentives to hydrogen storage and fuel cell development, rationalisation of income tax slabs, investments in online safety measures etc., among others.

New Delhi, Oct 29,2021: The government has reappointed Shaktikanta Das as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor for three years.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the reappointment of Das for a period of three years beyond December 10, 2021 or until further order.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the reappointment of Shri Shaktikanta Das, lAS Retd. (TN:80) as Governor, Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years beyond 10.12.2021 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” said a Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) communication dated October 28.

Mar 10,2022: For investors, these are unprecedented times.
The world has been rocked by a deadly pandemic. Europe is at war; Russia in an economic chokehold. The United States is experiencing its highest inflation in 40 years and it’s likely to get worse. Currency and equity markets are gripped by a scale of volatility unseen in years. The status quo of the traditional geopolitical order faces a crisis. And commodities are trading like meme stocks.
Enter cryptocurrency – a $3 trillion market that promises to liberate people from the grip of the global financial system.

Cryptocurrencies have become increasingly mainstream. Five years ago, the market was valued at just $14bn – a fraction of what it is today.
The US government, among others, is trying to get in on the digital asset boom, seeking to regulate and reinvent a sector operating largely out of its reach.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order requiring the government to assess the risks and benefits of creating its own central bank digital currency (CBDC).

While taking inspiration from cryptocurrencies and following some of the same principles, CBDCs are not regarded as crypto as they are regulated by a central authority. The White House will also look into mitigating crypto risks for consumers and leading economic and technological competitiveness and innovation in the sector.

China debuted its version of a CBDC, the digital yuan, during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games last month.

According to the Pew Research Center, 16 percent of Americans have dabbled in trading, using, and investing in cryptocurrencies. That figure is likely to rise considerably, crypto industry figures told Al Jazeera.

“I think we may refer to 2022 as the year of the big catalyst for crypto because what governments did is actually force adoption,” Ran Neuner, host of CNBC’s Crypto Trader, told Al Jazeera. “They put people in a position where they had no choice but to flee to the other system.”

‘What governments did’
The US and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russia over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

The world’s largest credit card networks, Visa and Mastercard, and internet payments giant PayPal announced over the weekend that they are suspending services in Russia. That means that credit and debit cards issued by Russian banks will no longer work outside of Russia. Russian businesses also will not be able to accept cards issued from outside the country.
“It’s the most ridiculous thing,” Neuner said. “Russians that are living in the US but have bank accounts in Russia have had their credit cards cut off. Essentially, people are forced onto the alternative financial system.”

Russians have also been barred from using SWIFT – an international bank messaging system vital for transactions. Russia’s central bank has had its assets seized and hundreds of companies in the tech, oil, media and consumer goods sectors have pulled their operations from the country. Last week, the rouble hit an all-time low.

If your participation in the global financial system is dependent on the appeasement of the US and its allies and if you’re not in good standing with those people, they kick you out of that system, maybe you’re going to look for a different global financial system to participate in.

Why Bitcoin is the most decentralised cryptocurrency
Bitcoin is the world’s most well-known fully decentralised cryptocurrency. The majority of the digital coin’s trading is done on a peer-to-peer basis. There is no middleman, unlike with banks, and transactions are recorded on a blockchain – a digital ledger maintained by a network of computers.
Bitcoin was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous for the anonymous person or entity that basically wrote the code. Nobody funded it, nobody invested in it –it’s open-source software. There was economic incentive for people to join the network to mine Bitcoin and over time, that incentive led to the creation of what Bitcoin enthusiasts consider the strongest computer network in the world.

To change something in the Bitcoin infrastructure, a proposal must first be submitted and then approved by many different players in the Bitcoin universe, including the people who mine the Bitcoin and the nodes – those who run the software.

This infrastructure is what makes Bitcoin resilient to nation-state attack and meddling.

‘The analogy here is Gmail versus email’
In addition to the decentralised Bitcoin network, there are centralised and decentralised trading platforms where one can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin and thousands of other digital currencies and assets.

Centralised exchanges, which include platforms such as Coinbase, Binance and Kraken that embrace government oversight, have recently come under pressure to ban all Russian users — not just sanctioned individuals — from their platforms.

Coinbase announced earlier this week that it had blocked 25,000 Russian-linked cryptocurrency addresses. The platform said the addresses were linked to Russian individuals or entities it believed to have engaged in illicit activity. Last week, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, reportedly removed Iranian users from its platform.

A truly decentralised network like Bitcoin protects users from this.

“The analogy here is Gmail versus email. Google could block certain addresses at the application level. But the smtp email protocol still works,” Ryan Selkis, founder of crypto research firm Messari, told Al Jazeera.

A Kraken spokesperson told Al Jazeera that freezing digital assets of citizens from an entire country does not necessarily punish those who are responsible for illicit activity.

“We hope a solution can be found that doesn’t cause serious and unnecessary harm to the individuals, families, and businesses who ultimately played no part in the decision to invade Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.

‘A potential future state’
Sanctions only work if people are using your currency. But if Russia and China decide they’re going to use Beijing’s digital central bank digital currency or Moscow decides to create its own, sanctions will no longer pack a punch.

In January, the US Federal Reserve said that its very own CBDC could be critical in maintaining the US dollar’s dominant global role. The central bank warned of “a potential future state” in which countries’ CBDCs could reduce the dollar’s global use and dominance.
China may have an opening in meeting the needs of Russia’s new economic reality.

In response to the Visa and Mastercard blockade, Sberbank and other Russian banks are reportedly considering using China’s credit card company UnionPay to issue cards.

China’s digital yuan could also become more mainstream.

“A digital yuan could allow the Chinese Communist Party to maintain control and surveillance over all domestic transactions, but include privacy protections that make the yuan more exportable as a reserve,” Selkis said.

WASHINGTON, April 24,2022: The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held “fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country.

Sri Lanka, an island country of 22 million people, is struggling to pay for imports amid a crushing debt crisis and sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves that has fueled soaring inflation. Prolonged power cuts and shortages of fuel, food and medicines have sparked nationwide protests.
Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry has been in Washington this week talking to the IMF, the World Bank, India and others about financing help for his country, which has suspended payments on portions of its $51 billion in external debt.

The World Bank’s emergency response package includes $10 million to be made immediately available for the purchase of essential medicines, funds shifted from its ongoing COVID-19 health preparedness project, a World Bank spokesperson said.