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  • The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to investigate alleged irregularities in bulk Form 7 applications during Uttar Pradesh's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, take corrective steps and submit a compliance report. The Commission's counsel told the court that its officers had found the bulk applications false and had not acted on them
  • The INDIA bloc postponed its symbolic public impeachment proceedings against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to October 31 because of rain and reiterated plans for its November 1 march to Ramlila Maidan
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused opposition leaders of spreading rumours and attempting to create chaos amid the West Asia crisis, while Home Minister Amit Shah challenged them to seek a special parliamentary session to discuss their allegations against the Election Commission. Shah said the BJP was ready for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls
  • Amit Shah announced that the BJP would implement a Uniform Civil Code in Uttar Pradesh if it returned to power in next year's Assembly election. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned why the BJP had waited through two terms in government before making the promise
  • The political dispute over the proposed sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to Fairfax intensified as Rahul Gandhi questioned the government's decision and raised concerns about employee protections and reservation policies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the transaction, saying the bank had been revived through recapitalisation and that due process had been followed
  • Congress has asked Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, State Election Commission and Kolkata Municipal Corporation to provide an online voter-roll search facility and email-based filing of claims and objections for the civic polls. The CPM has separately sought the relocation of three municipal returning officers' offices to north Kolkata to make access easier for voters
  • The Madras High Court directed Tamil Nadu's Cyber Crime Division to monitor online platforms for content amounting to criminal intimidation of sitting judges and ordered police to act against threats and personal abuse. It declined to impose a blanket ban on peaceful discussion or criticism of judicial decisions, distinguishing criticism of judgments from intimidation of judges
  • Six people, including five passengers and the pilot, were killed when a helicopter travelling from Badrinath to Dehradun crashed in Uttarakhand's Joshimath valley after losing communication and tracking contact. Operator Trans Bharat Aviation grounded its entire fleet as a precaution while authorities conducted search and rescue operations
  • The Reserve Bank of India intensified cybersecurity scrutiny of banks after a rise in attacks, asking lenders to demonstrate compliance with existing rules, examine vulnerabilities in application programming interfaces and explain preparations for AI-related risks. The review follows a leak of data belonging to 3,900 SBI customers and more than 700 unauthorised transfers worth about $2 million from two non-bank lenders
  • India's foreign-exchange reserves fell by $1.27 billion to $719.75 billion in the week ended October 23, marking a seventh consecutive weekly decline and the lowest level in more than two months. RBI data also showed bank credit grew 17.94% year-on-year to ₹232.54 lakh crore by October 15, ahead of 16.6% growth in deposits
  • The Sensex rose 308.49 points, or 0.42%, to close at 74,459.53 on Friday, while the Nifty 50 gained 116.35 points, or 0.51%, to settle at 23,053.10, crossing the 23,000 mark. IT stocks led the rally, with the Nifty IT index gaining over 2%, while mid-cap and small-cap shares came under pressure, with their respective indices falling 0.93% and 1.85%. For October, the Sensex gained 2.7% and the Nifty 1.9%, ending a two-month losing streak
  • Manisha Bhanwala became the first Indian woman to win a senior wrestling world title, defeating American Abigail Nette 8-6 in the 59kg freestyle final after trailing 0-6. India finished the women's freestyle competition with four medals, its best-ever haul at the championships
  • India defeated Japan 4-1 in the men's Asian Champions Trophy in Jalandhar to register a third consecutive victory. Abhishek Nain scored twice, while captain Harmanpreet Singh and Vishnukant Singh added one goal each
  • New Zealand beat India by 87 runs in the fourth T20 International at Auckland, with Glenn Phillips scoring 107 off 49 balls as the hosts posted 259-7. India were restricted to 172-9 but retain a 3-1 lead in the five-match series
  • Supreme Court wonders how scammers know who keeps huge funds in their accounts, says bank staff is involved in digital arrest scams and asks RBI to mandate indemnification by banks of money lost by customers in digital arrest scams
Congress conducts 'public impeachment' of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in mock Parliament at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's house /////// Rahul Gandhi says Kumar is not going to survive as CEC
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A Pragmatic And Growth-Oriented Budget

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-02-02 06:34:04

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The 2022 Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should be hailed for many reasons, not the least being the conscious attempt to steer clear of populism and focus on growth. With elections due in five states, including the most crucial one in UP, there were chances that the government would use Budget sops to lure the electorate giving a go by to economic sense. In not doing so, the Budget has showed that the economy is more important than narrow electoral considerations.

There are two ways to put money in the hands of the people. The first way is to give it to them directly by way of bank transfer. The other way is to give the economy a huge boost through increased government spending on infrastructure projects that brings business for big and small companies and increases job opportunities and salaries, thereby putting money in the hands of the people. The Budget this year has rightly adopted the second route as it is the route which builds the economy and does not make people dependent on doles.

The 35% increase in capex and the promise to invest in infrastructure - highways, roads, low-cost housing, among others - will provide orders for core industries like steel, cement and building materials. The chain effect will kick start the economy and increase job opportunities. The extension of the loan guarantee scheme for MSMEs for one more year and further infusion of Rs 50000cr for the hospitality sector are good measures as this sector was the worst affected due to Covid. This measure will also contribute to creation of jobs as there were huge job losses in the MSME sector and it is the one that creates the most jobs.

If there are no further Covid shocks, this Budget is designed to take the economy to greater heights. Although allocations towards food subsidy and MGNREGA have been lowered substantially, the option to intervene in case of any distress through out-of-Budget spending is always available to the government. The push for digitization is also good as the rollout of 5G in the next FY will create a foundation for next-gen technologies and India cannot afford to be left behind.

Image courtesy: sansad tv

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