Highlights of Union Budget 2010-11

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget 2010-11 in parliament on Monday(28-02-2011).

Here are some of the highlights:

·        Exemption limit for the general category of individual taxpayers enhanced from

Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000. For senior citizens, the qualifying age reduced to 60 years from the present 65 years and exemption limit raised to Rs 2.50 lakh. Citizens over 80 years to have exemption limit of Rs 5 lakh. No Change in women tax exemption limit i.e1,90,000.

·        Total expenditure proposed at Rs 12, 57,729 crore. Increase of 18.3 per cent in total Plan allocation i.e Rs 4, 41,547 crores . Increase of 10.9 per cent in the Non-plan expenditure i.e Rs 8, 16,182 crores.

·        Indian economy expected to grow at 9 per cent with an outside band of +/- 0.25 per cent in 2011-12. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms.

·        Fiscal Deficit brought down from 5.5 per cent in BE 2010-11 to 5.1 per cent of GDP in RE 2010-11. Fiscal Deficit kept at 4.6 per cent of GDP for 2011-12. Fiscal Deficit to be progressively reduced to 3.5 per cent by 2013-14.

·        “Effective Revenue Deficit” estimated at 2.3 per cent of GDP in the Revised Estimates for 2010-11 and 1.8 per cent for 2011-12.

·        Priority sector home loans limit raised to Rs. 25 lakh from Rs. 20 lakh.

·        Current surcharge of 7.5 per cent on domestic companies proposed to be reduced to 5 per cent.

·        Rate of Minimum Alternative Tax proposed to be increased from 18 per cent to

18.5 per cent of book profits.

·        Central Excise Duty to be maintained at standard rate of 10 per cent.

·        Disinvestment in 2011-12 seen at 400 billion rupees.

·        Provision of Rs 1,64,415 crore, including Rs 69,199 crore for capital expenditure to be made for Defence Services in 2011-12.

·        Rs 6,000 crore to be provided during 2011-12 to enable public sector banks to maintain a minimum of Tier I CRAR of 8 per cent.

·        Rs 500 crore to be provided to enable Regional Rural Banks to maintain a CRAR of at least 9 per cent as on March 31, 2012.

·        Rs 5,000 crore to be provided to SIDBI for refinancing incremental lending by banks to these enterprises.

·        Rs 3,000 crore to be provided to NABARD to provide support to handloom weaver co-operative societies which have become financially unviable due to non-repayment of debt by handloom weavers facing economic stress.

·        Allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) increased from Rs 6,755 crore to Rs 7,860 crore.

·        Credit flow for farmers raised from Rs 3,75,000 crore to Rs 4,75,000 crore in 2011-12.

·        Allocation of Rs 2,14,000 crore for infrastructure in 2011-12.  This is an increase of 23.3 per cent over 2010-11.This also amounts to 48.5 per cent of total plan allocation.

·        National Food Security Bill (NFSB) to be introduced in the Parliament during the course of this year.

·        Allocation for social sector in 2011-12 (` 1,60,887 crore) increased by 17 per cent over current year. It amounts to 36.4 per cent of total plan allocation.

·        Allocation for social sector in 2011-12 (` 1,60,887 crore) increased by 17 percent over current year. It amounts to 36.4 per cent of total plan allocation.

·        Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme proposed to be increased by ` 10,000 crore from the current year to Rs 58,000 crore in 2011-12.

·        Plan to provide Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country in three years.

·        From 1st April, 2011, remuneration of Anganwadi workers increased from Rs 1,500 per month to Rs 3,000 per month and for Anganwadi helpers from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,500 per month.

·        Allocation for primitive Tribal groups increased from Rs185 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 244 crore in 2011-12.

·        21,000 crore allocated to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which is 40 per cent higher than Budget for 2010-11.

·        Target of providing banking facilities to all 73,000 habitations having a population of over 2,000 to be completed during 2011-2012.

·        Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries reduced from 65 years of age to 60 years. Those above 80 years of age will get pension of Rs 500 per month instead of ` 200 at present.

·        Rs 200 crore proposed to be allocated for Green India Mission from National Clean Energy Fund.

·        Rs 200 crore proposed to be allocated for launching Environmental Remediation Programmes from National Clean Energy Fund.

·        Special allocation of ` 200 crore proposed to be provided for clean-up of some more important lakes and rivers other than Ganga.

·        Rs 8,000 crore provided in current year for development needs of Jammu and Kashmir.

·        Allocation made in 2011-12 to meet the infrastructure needs for Ladakh (` 100 crore) and Jammu region (` 150 crore).

·        A new scheme with an outlay of ` 300 crore to be launched to provide assistance to States to modernise their stamp and registration administration and roll out e-stamping in all the districts in the next three years.

·        A new simplified form ‘Sugam’ to be introduced to reduce the compliance burden of small tax payers falling within presumptive taxation.

Highlights of Economic Survey 2010-11

The Economic Survey of India 2010-11 was tabled by the Union Finance Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee on 25 February 2011.

Here are the some of the highlights of Economic survey:

·        The Survey predicted the 9% growth for Indian economy in the next fiscal and estimated 8.6 percent growth in this financial year.

·        As per the survey, the inflation stood at 8.23 per cent in January 2011.

·        The economic Survey of India stated that the trade gap has narrowed to over 82 billion US dollars in the first nine months of the current fiscal and gross fiscal deficit is at 4.8 per cent which is 1.5 percent less than last fiscal(6.3%).

·        The Survey stated that the spending in social sector programmes increased by five percent of the GDP over past five years.

·        The Survey pointed out that Forex reserves of India are estimated to be over 297 billion US dollars. This is mainly due to growth in export sector.

·        Agriculture likely to grow at 5.4% in 2010-11.(For complete details Click here)

·        Industrial output grows by 8.6% ; manufacturing sector registers 9.1%.

·        Exports in April-December 2010 up by 29.5 %.

Review of the Indian Economy 2009-10

Indian economy grew by 8.4 per cent in the last quarter(Q4) of 2009-10, pushing up the overall growth to a better-than expected 7.4 per cent. The 7.4 percent growth is also an upward revision from the earlier estimate of 7.2 percent.

The gross domestic product (GDP) was Rs 44,64,081 crore (at 2004-05 prices), bettering the earlier government estimate of 7.2 per cent growth over the previous year's Rs 41,54,973 crore.

Central Statistical Organization(CSO) has revised all the previous three quarters. The first quarter GDP was revised downwards to 6 per cent against 6.1 per cent estimated provisionally. While the second quarter saw growth at 8.6 per cent against provisional estimates of 7.9 per cent, third quarter GDP rose by 6.5 per cent against 6 per cent.

Why there is a revised growth rates in the previous quarters?

Normally there will be no change in the quarterly figures, unless the annual figure firms up. This time it was done because, the base year was changed to 2004-05 from 1999-2000 earlier. The first two quarters Q1, Q2 of GDP were released on the basis of 1999-2000 base price, while the next two quarters Q3, Q4 were released on the basis of 2004-5 base price.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 6.7 percent during 2008-09.

India’s Economic growth rates for the year 2008-09 and 2009-10:

	Industry	2008-09	2009-10
1.	Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing	1.6%	0.2%
2.	Mining and Quarrying	1.6%	10.6%
3.	Manufacturing	3.2%	10.8%
4.	Electricity, Gas and water supply	3.9%	6.5%
5.	Construction	5.9%	6.5%
6.	Trade, Transport and Telecom	7.6%	9.3%
7.	Finance, Insurance and Real Estate	10.1%	9.7%
8.	Community, social and personal services	13.9%	5.6%
9.	GDP at factor cost	6.7%	7.4%

Per Capita Income:

The per capita income at current prices during 2009-10 is estimated to attain a level of

Rs. 44,345 as compared to the Quick Estimates for the year 2008-09 of Rs. 40,141, showing a rise of 10.5 per cent.

The per capita net national income in real terms (at 2004-05 prices) during 2009-10 is

estimated to attain a level of Rs. 33,588 (as against Rs. 33,540 estimated on 8th February,2010), as compared to the Quick Estimates for the year 2008-09 of Rs. 31,821. The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at 5.6 per cent during 2009-10.

Inputs: CSO.

Essay Writing in Bank Exams - 2010

Q) Write an essay on ‘Below Poverty Line in India’?

The Planning Commission of India recently adopted the Tendulkar Committee's methodology for poverty estimate that includes spends on education and health besides food, taking the number of the poor to a whopping 37.2 per cent from 27.5 per cent estimated earlier in 2004. This means that India now has 100 million more people living below the poverty line than in 2004.

National estimates of the percentage of the population falling below the poverty line are based on surveys of sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number of people in each group.

Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ more generous standards of poverty than poor nations. What does poverty in India actually mean? It is difficult for those living in an industrialised country to truly appreciate the level of poverty in our country.

In the West, even those living in poverty can live in well-constructed dwellings, with heating, clean running water, indoor toilet facilities, access to health care, and even a vehicle. But such luxuries are a distant dream for India's poor.

The earlier definition of India's poverty was based on calorie intake, according to which only 27.5 per cent of people were living below the poverty line as on March 1, 2004 and the number of BPL families were about 6.5 crore (65 million).

As per the methodology suggested by the Tendulkar report, the number would swell to 37.2 per cent of the total population and the number of BPL families to about 8.1 crore (81 million). The new poverty estimate which would reflect the impact of high growth recorded during the decade, would be available in 2011. The computation of the number of BPL families at the this stage assumes significance in view of the government's decision to enact the food security law under which 25 kg of foodgrain at Rs 3 per kg would be provided every month to a BPL family.

The EGoM on food, which had cleared the draft of the Food Security Bill last month, was reportedly asked by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi to have a re-look at the proposal and consider the possibility of raising the highly subsidised monthly foodgrain allocation to 35 kg from 25 kg and increasing the number of beneficiaries. Currently, a ration card holder is entitled to 35 kg of food grain every month. The Indian government spends only 1 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare facilities.

The government has found that 100 million more Indians are actually living below the poverty line than previously thought. Over 370 million Indians -- 40 per cent of the population -- are now eligible for subsidised food supplies.

According to the World Bank, more people are living in extreme poverty in developing countries than previously thought as it adjusted the recognised yardstick for measuring global poverty to $1.25 a day from $1.The poverty-fighting institution said there were 1.4 billion people -- a quarter of the developing world -- living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25 a day in 2005. Last year, the World Bank said there were 1 billion people living under the previous $1 a day poverty mark.

India's official poverty measure has long been based solely upon the ability to purchase a minimum recommended daily diet of 2,400 kilocalories (kcal) in rural areas where about 70 percent of people live, and 2,100 kcal in urban areas. Rural areas usually have higher kcal requirements because of greater physical activity among rural residents.

The National Planning Commission, which is responsible for the estimate, currently estimates that a monthly income of about Rs 356 (about $7.74) per person is needed to provide the required diet in rural areas and Rs 539 in urban areas. Factors such as housing, healthcare and transportation are not taken into account in the poverty estimates. The estimate is derived from the National Sample Survey, which measures monthly per capita consumer expense every five years.

The below poverty line population is currently estimated at 29 per cent in rural areas and 26 per cent in urban areas. The World Bank estimates that 1.4 billion people live below an income of $1.25 per day and that 2.6 billion live below the $2 level worldwide.

According to oneworld.net, despite sustained high gross domestic product growth in India, latest estimates of global poverty by World Bank suggest that India has more people living below $2 than even sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the Bank's new estimates, India is home to roughly one-third of all the poor in the world.

Source: Rediff

Current Affairs Quiz 2009 - 34

1. Which Country has surpassed the US to become Japan’s largest Trading partner?

a)China   b)India    c)Germany   d)Russia   e)South Korea

2. The GDP growth of India in the second quarter of 2009-10 is _______?

a)6.1%   b)6.6%   c)7.1%   d)7.7%   e)7.9%

3. Who is the Chairman of AEC(Atomic Energy Commission)?

a)Srikumar Banerjee   b)G Madhavan Nair   c)Anil Kakodkar   d)K Radhakrishna   e)J Mitra

4. The Central Government has sanctioned Rs  ________ to National Knowledge Commission for the education sector under the 11^th Five year plan ?

a)3 lakh crore   b)1 lakh crore     c)2 lakh crore     d)0.75 lakh crore   e)5 lakh crore

5. Recently which country lifted the 22-year-old ban on the entry of people with HIV+?

a)Mexico   b)UK   c)France    d)US   e)Canada

6. Around ____ of Dubai’s Population is made up of Indians?

a)26%   b)33%   c)40%   d)46%   e)52%

7. Which State government has sought an assistance of about Rs 1,162 crore from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) for development of agriculture to increase food production and improve food security during the next three years?

a)Karnataka    b)UP    c)Andhra Pradesh   d)Gujarat   e)none of these

8. ‘Arogyasi’ the most successful health insurance scheme launched by which of the following state?

a)Tamilnadu   b)Andhra Pradesh   c)Maharashtra   d)Kerala   e)Karnataka

9. Madhu Koda has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case. He was the former Chief Minister of which state?

a)Haryana   b)Chhattisgarh   c)Jharkhand   d)Bihar   e)none

10. Which Committee has suggested the minimum shareholding of Government equity of nationalized bank should be brought down to 33%?

a)T R Andhyarujina   b)Narasimhan Committee   c)Rangarajan Committee  d)Mukherjee Committee   e)Tarapore Committee

11. Who is newly elected President of Honduras?

a)Rafael Pinada Ponce  b)Porfirio Lobo   c)Roberto Mitcheletti   d)Maria Antonieta   e)none

12. Which Mutual fund is the first to provide facility to investors to trade in NSE after SEBI allowed mutual funds to be traded through stock exchanges?

a)Reliance Mutual fund   b)SBI Mutual fund    c)LIC Mutual fund    d)UTI Mutual fund  e)Prudential Mutual fund

13. Which country is not a member of G-33?

a)India   b)Cuba  c)Pakistan    d)China   e)All are members of G-33

14. L&T signed a joint venture  agreement with NPCIL to set up a company in _________ state for the production of special steel and ultra-heavy forgings with an investment of 1,725 crore?

a)UP   b)Punjab    c)Gujarat    d)Maharashtra   e)none of these

15. Which Country held a Cabinet meet in Everest Region to highlight the impact on Climate Change recently?

a)China   b)France    c)Maldives   d)UK   e)Nepal

16. Who has been selected for the first PCRF-NDTV National RTI Award?

a)Karan Thapar   b)Bharkha Dutt   c)Prannoy Roy   d)Shyamlal Yadav  e)Shireen Bann

17. Currently Praful Patel holds which of the following posts?

a)Indian Overseas Minister   b)Water Resources   c)IT & Broadcasting   d)Civil Aviation Minister   e)none of these

18. Roger Federer won the Wimbeldon Men’s Single Title 2009 by defeating?

a)Rafael Nadal   b)Robin Soderling   c)Andy Roddick   d)Andy Murray   e)Noval Djokovic

19. How many Emirates form a United Arab Emirates?

a)Five   b)Six   c)Seven   d)Eight   e)Four

20. ‘Real’ is the currency of which of the following countries?

a)South Africa   b)Mexico   c)Cuba   d)South Korea   e)Brazil

Is India Facing Recession ? POLL

Most important and basic question to know every indian that "India is facing recession ?"
#:Many of them(Indians) are confusing whether Recession in India is present or not ?? and most of them think that India is facing recession.

When Taking POLL into the account , Around 72% of them voted that India is facing recession. This also proves and strengthen the above statement(#).

But but.......INDIA is not facing "RECESSION".

India is only Experiencing "Economic Slowdown".

There is a difference between Economic Slowdown and Recession.

Recession: A true economic recession can only be confirmed if GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is negative for a period of two or more consecutive quarters.

Some of the Countries facing Recession are: US, UK and some parts of Europe, etc.
Some of the countries facing Economic Slowdown are: China, South Africa and some parts of Africa.