There is no mention of saving Vizag steel plant, or long-pending projects such as Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi, Jhanjavathi, and Taraka Ramatheertha Sagar, it says

The government stuck to the theme as it raised the capex outlay for the coming financial year to Rs.11.11 lakh crore, an increase of 11%

The continued focus on increased capital investments will result in generation of employment opportunities while MSME-centric initiatives will help them compete globally; the Budget also promotes sustainable growth  

‘The underlying theme was clearly fiscal consolidation with an ability to maintain the infrastructure spends at the existing run rate’

A look at the last power-focused smartphone from a company that generally does mid-rangers well!

Khelo India assigned ₹900 crore of the overall allocation of ₹3,442.32 crore for sports development

Horizon Europe raises stakes in global technology race

As part of the ritual, ''halwa'' is prepared in a big ''kadhai'' (large frying pot) and served to the entire staff involved in the Budget making exercise of the ministry.Halwa was served while maintaining COVID protocol with all present in mask and those distributing sweets were wearing gloves.

Surprisingly good for casual undemanding listening and complete with a bunch of features

This basic smartwatch tracks a lot of parameters and also lets you easily call contacts from your wrist

Implemented in 2004, STT is designed to combat tax evasion on capital gains and has undergone various adjustments to its rates and structure since its inception.

For a while now, rumours have been rife about Jr NTR joining hands with KGF director Prashanth Neel. Well, we have good news for the fans as an official confirmation about the project will be made on May 20th, i.e., on

Testimony of Marc Rosenblum, MPI Senior Policy Analyst, before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

War is the great distraction. Right or wrong, foolish or wise, it suspends all the usual political and economic rules. Suddenly a chancellor who has spent five and a half years telling us “there is no money” can find ready billions for warfare.

Discover 110 and Discover 125 - the two budget commuters by Bajaj Auto won't be getting updated to BS6 emission norms and this can be due to multiple reasons. We explain!

TVS Radeon and Hero Splendor Plus, the two popular entry-level commuters have been launched in BS6 avatars very recently. Here's how the two fare against each other on paper.

In what could be seen as a silver lining for employees, as many as 50% of the organisations have reported no change in the planned salary hike budgets despite the headwinds that the novel-coronavirus pandemic has brought.

Reaction to the Chancellor's Summer Budget 2015 A radical budget with big surprises, as well as much of that was expected. A good budget for UK plc, with corporation tax rates to be reduced to 18% by 2020, the rates of VAT, incom...

The Chancellor set out a number of measures of interest to the property sector in his Pre-Budget Report on 24 November 2008. The key ones are: a reduction in the rate of VAT from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent for the period 1 December 2008 to 31 D...

Health Minister David Clark has rejected claims he and other Government ministers have been "gagged", as he fronted today to announce a $160 million boost to Pharmac health spending.An email from the Prime Minister's office, obtained...

ISLAMABAD: Textile Industry has submitted with the government its budgetary proposal for budget 2020-21 asking for abolishing turnover tax, reduction of corporate tax to 25 percent and withdrawal of...

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ISLAMABAD: Textile Industry has submitted with the government its budgetary proposal for budget 2020-21 asking for abolishing turnover tax, reduction of corporate tax to 25 percent and withdrawal of...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

ISLAMABAD: Textile Industry has submitted with the government its budgetary proposal for budget 2020-21 asking for abolishing turnover tax, reduction of corporate tax to 25 percent and withdrawal of...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has drafted tax proposals for Budget 2020-21 mainly focusing on “simplification of laws and removing tax anomalies,” Dawn has learnt from knowledgeable sources.

Unconfirmed reports are that the government is likely to announce a ‘tax-free budget’, an official in the FBR told Dawn, adding a final decision will be taken after consulting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Eidul Fitr.

Also read: Govt, IMF agree to put on hold $6bn programme

Meanwhile, Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has already termed the next year budget a ‘corona-budget’.

It will depend on the IMF whether it considers Pakistan’s proposal to lower tax target for TY21. The Fund had proposed a tax target of Rs5.1 trillion for the next year, which is higher by 30pc from the FY20’s proposed collection.

Consultation with IMF after Eidul Fitr

For the current year, the IMF has lowered the FBR tax target to Rs3.9tr, from Rs4.8tr to subside the impact of Covid-19 on businesses. However, achieving this benchmark also depends on the revival of activity before and after Eid and the entire June, the official added.

Another senior tax official told Dawn that the Fund officials meeting with Pakistani economic team will determine the direction of the next budget whether it will be tax-free or have some taxation to achieve the following year’s target.

The official said the FBR has already completed its homework on budget proposals for the next year and is currently working on identifying anomalies that should be removed.

“We are also working on simplification of tax laws to facilitate taxpayers,” the official said.

At the same time, the FBR is also engaging all stakeholders to identify problems related to taxation for redressal. “We will also consider tax incentives in the next budget for some sectors to help them revive their business,” they added.

Some of the proposals on the table from stakeholders are the revival of zero-rating for the five export-oriented sectors, allowing lower rates of sales tax on domestic sales of textile, clothing, waiver of CNIC conditions for traders and reducing the sales tax rate to 5pc from 17pc. “These are the demands of the stakeholders,” the official said.

Tax officials privy to budget-making said the FBR will try to avoid the introduction of new tax measures but will defend the continuation of those already in place. “It will be best to preserve our existing tax measures for now and see onward in the year how it progresses,” the officials commented.

At the moment, the focus is on the ease of doing business and facilitating taxpayers through information technology support. As the economy will revive, the FBR will support any new taxation proposals, they continued.

However, a senior tax official said the FBR cannot do away with maximum existing tax measures. “We need money for running the government machinery,” he said, adding other measures like printing of notes will add to inflationary pressure in the country.

The FBR has already worked out the impact of ongoing lockdown and closing down of businesses on the country’s revenue collection. The IMF has approved the incentive package for the construction sector on the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan to create employment.

“We are under an IMF programme so all budget proposals will be discussed with them,” the official said.

The FBR estimates a revenue loss of Rs450 billion in the first quarter (July-September) of next fiscal year in case the partial lockdown remains. It further projects that in case the partial lockdown extends, the tax body will see another shortfall in revenue realisation to the tune of Rs350bn.

According to the official, the FBR will try to recover some portion of the shortfall in the second half of the year. However, the government will have no other options but to seek a loan to bridge revenue shortfall. “You cannot bridge such a huge gap with new tax measures,” the source said.

Moreover, the FBR estimates also show that imports will remain on the lower side in the first half-year and so is the case of exports until orders revive. The domestic economy will revive to some extent while revenue collection from the services sector will be much lower from last year’s level.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020

Our response to the climate challenge will define our collective future for generations to come. We must act. We must act swiftly, collectively, and decisively.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría announced today at the One Planet Summit in Paris the launch of the “Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting”, a strategic initiative to assess and drive the alignment of national budgetary processes with the Paris Agreement and other environmental goals.

“We are launching the “Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting” within the framework of our zero-emission objective,” French president Emmanuel Macron said at the global climate financing summit. The OECD has brought together a cross-disciplinary group of environmental, tax, budget and fiscal affairs experts who will partner with countries to help them assess and improve their budgets and fiscal policies for climate resilience.

The Paris Collaborative on Green Budgeting was launched by the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría at the One Planet Summit in Paris on 12 December 2017. It aims to design new, innovative tools to assess and drive improvements in the alignment of national expenditure and revenue processes with climate and other environmental goals.

Virgin Australia said it has no intention of shutting Tigerair down, but an aviation analyst said buying the budget airline would bring the company down if they keep Tigerair running.

The value of the Plug In Car Grant has been cut to £3,000 from midnight tonight - and expensive models will no longer be eligible for the subsidy, the DfT and OLEV have confirmed.

Motorists could be stung with significantly higher car tax after the government suggested it could bring it back in line with C02 emissions to hit owners of the dirtiest models hardest.

The new government's candour that meaningful reforms must permeate into the institutions beyond the budgetary process itself is a start. The India Together editorial.

Ponniyin Selvan, the historical drama directed by the veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam, is one of the most anticipated upcoming projects of the Tamil film industry. The project, which is being made with a massive budget, is produced by the popular banner

Jaitley explains in Zee Business interviews.

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines commented Thursday on teacher contract talks that have been ongoing since July.; Credit: Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC

A budget deficit is preventing the Los Angeles Unified School District from offering teachers more than a 5 percent raise, Superintendent Ramon Cortines said Friday.

"I want some resolution," Cortines told reporters, but he said the district is now projecting a shortfall of $160 million heading into the next school year.

United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 31,000 teachers, declared an impasse Thursday in the contract negotiations. The two sides have been bargaining since July.

The teachers haven't had a pay increase in eight years, and their salaries are below that of neighboring districts. 

"You are not going to recruit and retain the quality teachers you need," UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl told KPCC's AirTalk this week. The union is seeking an 8.5 percent raise as well as smaller class sizes, more counselors and nurses, and revised teacher evaluations.

Cortines said the district's pay raise offer of 5 percent, retroactive to July 2014, would help make salaries more competitive. But he said the projected deficit is why LAUSD can't afford more.

Projections for the deficit have changed over the months. Last October, it was $365 million; in January, $88 million; and this month, $160 million. 

Teachers union representatives said California schools are receiving more money this year than any time since the recession. Gov. Jerry Brown's Local Control Funding process, which gives local districts more resources for education, is projected to garner the district $240 million more next school year. 

Cortines said he hopes to reach an agreement and he cautioned against any walkout.

"You talk about a budget deficit? It will exacerbate the budget deficit, because parents have other options," Cortines said. "They can go to other schools, private, parochial schools, they can go to charter schools, etc."

Cortines said a mediator is being called into the talks to help resolve the impasse.

The superintendent also repeated his doubts that the district can currently afford to put a computer in the hands of every district student. The program, a key initiative of his predecessor, John Deasy, used bond funds to pay for iPads and other devices.

Cortines said a statement elaborating on his remarks to reporters that "as we are reviewing our lessons learned, there must be a balanced approach to spending bond dollars to buy technology when there are so many brick and mortar and other critical facility needs that must be met."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Scientists have calculated carbon budgets for croplands in Europe, based on field measurements from nine sites across Europe. They found that significant soil carbon losses occurred from cropping even though some farmers used measures to enhance carbon-sequestration. These results may challenge findings from some other modelling studies if they turn out to be typical for all EU croplands.

A new study has combined measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes with estimates of other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farming operations for 15 European crop sites over several years. It estimated that the sites lost on average 138g of carbon per m2 per year. The total GHG balance (including non-CO2 emissions) was equivalent to an average carbon loss of 203g of carbon per m2 per year.

Leverage these offers to up your security game without spending a bomb.

Amid the covid 19 crisis, the Global Inhouse Centre of Canadian financial services company, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre India, is baselining projects that can be accelerated, re-scoped and deferred.

Locally managed carbon budgets for housing and transport could be highly effective in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to researchers. They have suggested a policy framework with standardised methods to monitor city carbon budgets with local flexibility for remaining within these budgets.

A step-by-step approach to planning cost-effective river restoration is outlined in a new study. The study describes a method that compares different combinations of restoration measures and could be useful in helping decision-makers meet ecological objectives on limited budgets.

The updated iPhone SE will start at $399, or less than half the price of its leading flagship devices and be available as of Friday.

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – Drivers along the Franconia-Springfield Parkway (Route 289) bridge over Accotink Creek now have better protection from oncoming...