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 %.

Quiz General Awareness - 2010 44

1) Which Organization had sanctioned $150 million aid for the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)?

a)ADB    b)NABARD    c)World Bank   d)IMF   e)SIDBI

2) Which among the following is the winner of ‘Indian Car of the Year 2010’?

a)Maruti Suzuki Ritz    b)Honda Jazz    c)Fiat Grande Punto    d)Tata Nano   e)Skoda Superb

3) Who has been appointed as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC)?

a)Karia Munde    b)Meira Kumari    c)Jaswanth Singh    d)Pranab Mukherjee   e)Gopinath Munde

4) Who is the present Opposition leader of Lok Sabha?

a)Karia Munda   b)Nitin Gadkari   c)L K Advani   d)Sushma Swaraj   e)Rajnath Singh

5) China will overtake _________ as World’s biggest Gold Consumer for the first time in History?

a)US   b)IMF    c)Russia   d)Saudi Arabia   e)none of these

6) Vimal Kaushik has been appointed as the MD & CEO of __________?

a)Indian Bank   b)Nalco    c)HDFC   d)Maytas Infra   e)none of these

7) Recently which city has imposed speed limits for Vehicles plying on the roads?

a)Bangalore   b)Chennai   c)Hyderabad   d)Jaipur   e)Kolkatta

8) S.P.S Rathore has been arrested in the case of molestation of a budding tennis player. He was the former DGP of which state?

a)Andhra Pradesh    b)Punjab   c)Haryana    d)Uttar Pradesh   e)Gujarat

9) The Centre is planning to introduce an amendment to the Employees Gratuity Act to enhance the maximum gratuity amount paid to employees from Rs. 3.5lakh to ________?

a)5 lakh   b)6 kakh   c)7 lakh   d)10 lakh   e)15 lakh

10)Brinda Karat is associated with ____________?

a)Films    b)Sports    c)Journalism   d)Author   e)Politics

11)Rukhsana Kosser, the brave lady who killed L-e-T terrorist in J & K, has been chosen for the award __________?

a)Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak  b)Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak    c)Jeevan Raksha Padak   d)National Women Bravery award   e)Both d & e.

12)Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is celebrated on which of the following day?

a)Dec 9^th   b)Jan 9^th    c)Jan 21st    d)Oct  11^th   e)none

13)Who is the Chairman of NDA (National Democratic Alliance)?

a)Atal Bihari Vajpayee   b)L K Advani   c)Rajnath Singh   d)Goerge Fernandes   e)none of these

14)Which Country is going to use Mirrors to capture sunlight, produce steam and generate electricity?

a)India    b)Japan    c)US   d)Saudi Arabia   e)China

15)V M Balachandran had recently passed away. He was a ________?

a)Journalist    b)Author & Writer    c)Singer   d)both a & b   e)none

16)Ajit Lal, S.P Mishra, Ramanathan Krishnan & Jaideep Mukherjea, these names are famous in which of the following sport?

a)Badminton   b)Cricket   c)Lawn Tennis   d)Football   e)Hockey

17)K Chandrasekhar Rao is the president of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)(it is a political party) demanding separate state called as ‘Telangana’. TRS is a political party of which state?

a)Uttar Pradesh    b)Tamilnadu    c)Karnataka   d)Andhra Pradesh   e)none of these

18)How many Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are under the administrative/Government control of various Departments?

a)112    b)242    c)90    d)101    e)none of these

19)Who among the following entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for completing 26 hour long-aerobics marathon recently?

a)Dinaz Vervatwala    b)Amit Sharma    c)Vasanth Datla   d)Pradeep Darooka  e)none of these

20)Which City will host the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Summit in 2010?

a)Hyderabad    b)Ahmedabad   c)Chennai    d)Bangalore   e)Mumbai

Points:

5 Q – India. To know more visit this link.

10 Q – Brinda Karat belongs to the Political Party CPI(M).

11 Q - The Other Person who has been nominated for the award – Narendra Kaushi. Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are given to a person for  saving the life of a person. The award is given in three categories, namely Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak.7 persons were nominated for Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and 44 for Jeevan Raksha Padak. Besides a medal, the award carries lump sum monetary allowance which is given at the rate of Rs 75,000, Rs 45,000 and Rs 30,000 to the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak and Jeevan Raksha Padak awardee respectively.

16 Q – They are the first finalists from India in Davis Cup in 1966.

General Knowledge 2009 - 35

1. Which Country has honoured the International Freedom Award to ‘Dalai Lama’?

a)US   b)India    c)Russia   d)UK   e)none of these

2. The Minimum Support Price(MSP) for Common variety Paddy is ____?

a)850    b)900    c)950   d)1050    e)1080

3. Who has been presented the ‘2009 Golden Pen of Freedom Prize’?

a)Najam Sethi   b)Xavier Vidal-Folch   c)Rajdeep Sardesai   d)Vikram Chandra   e)none

4. US has decided to quit Afghanistan by the Year ________?

a)2011    b)2012   c)2014   d)2015   e)2017

5. Who has been awarded the ‘Golden Ball Award’for the year 2009?

a)Cristiano  Ronaldo   b)Lionel Messi   c)Kaka   d)Ronaldinho   e)Fabio Cannavaro

6. The First International Cruise Ship launched in which of the following places in India?

a)Vishakhapatnam   b)Mumbai   c)Kochi   d)Goa   e)none of these

7. The amalgamation of RRB’s is recommended by ______________ Committee?

a)Rangarajan Committee   b)Rakesh Mohan    c)Pranab Mukherjee    d)Vyas    e)none of these

8. Sonia Gandhi Placed at which place in the World’s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes Magazine?

a)3^rd    b)7^th    c)9^th    d)11^th    e)13^th

9. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung died on August 2009. He was the former president of which Country?

a)Japan   b)South Korea    c)North Korea   d)China   e)Myanmar

10. Who has been appointed an honorary member of the Order of Australia?

a)Adam Gilchrist   b)Sourav Ganguly   c)Ricky Pointing   d)Brain Lara   e)SteveWaugh

11. Who wrote the book “India : From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond”?

a)V S Naipaul    b)Chetan Bhagat    c)Shashi Tharoor    d)Amartya Sen   e)Abdul Kalam

12. Who won the Montreal Masters Final 2009?

a)Andy Murray    b)Andy Roddick   c)Rafael Nadal    d)J M Del Potro   e)Novak Djokovic

13. Which of the following statement is not true?

a)England defeated Australia to win the Ashes Series

b)Sonia Sotomayor was the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice of  U.S.A

c)Barcelona won the the UEFA Super Cup

d)Sunita Narain has been chosen for 2009 Raja Lakshmi Award

e)All are Correct.

14. A/c to 2001 Census, which state had the largest percentage of Hindus?

a)Andhra Pradesh    b)Uttar Pradesh    c)Himachal Pradesh   d)Madhya Pradesh   e)none

15. Recently Brad Hodge has announced his retirement from International Cricket. He belongs to which country?

a)England   b)New Zealand   c)Australia   d)South Africa   e)none

16. At Which of the following Places is the Indian Standard Time(IST) is determined?

a)New Delhi   b)Allahabad    c)Mumbai   d)Hyderabad   e)Kolkata

17. Which Country won the Hockey Series against India in August 2009?

a)South Korea    b)Pakistan   c)Germany    d)England   e)Syria

18. Which of the following countries had handed over Macau to China?

a)Russia    b)Japan    c)South Korea   d)Portugal   e)Germany

19. Which of the following cities is considered as the easiest city to do Business a report by International Finance Corporation?

a)Ludhiana    b)Hyderabad    c)Bhubaneswar    d)Jaipur    e)Guwahati

20. Who is the only Finance Minister to become the President of India?

a)Zakir Hussain    b)R Venkataraman    c)Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed    d)Shankar Dayal Sharma   e)Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan