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‘India marching towards growth and prosperity’: Piyush Goyal

OpIndia Staff
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‘India marching towards growth and prosperity’: Piyush Goyal

In his initial remarks ahead of Budget 2019, Acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal illustrated the achievements of the Modi government. He said India is marching towards growth and prosperity.


Goyal also remarked that the goal was to have a New India by 2022 where everyone had a house, where everyone has access to toilets and basic healthcare. He also asserted that under the Modi government, India had risen from being the 11th largest economy in the world to being sixth.

Goyal also remarked that due to the policies implemented by the Modi government, India is now the fastest growing major economy in the world. He also boasted about the manner in which the government has drastically brought down the rate of inflation in the country.


The fiscal deficit is expected to be 3.4% this year.


The Modi government has taken great steps to combat corruption, the Acting Finance Minister said. The Benami Properties Act has helped greatly in checking corruption, he said. He also mentioned various other steps taken by the government which has prompted even the richest of the rich to take great steps to clear their debts.


NPAs have come down drastically as well and India received FDI worth $239 billion under the Modi government, Goyal remarked. He also elaborated on the achievements of the Ayushman Bharat scheme which recently reached the 10 lakh figure in helping those requiring treatment.

Goyal also remarked that more than one and a half crore houses have been constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. And it’s expected that every household will have an electricity connection by March this year.

5 things Congress might say after the Modi government presents Budget 2019

OpIndia Staff
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5 things Congress might say after the Modi government presents Budget 2019

We are moments away from the Modi government presenting the Budget 2019. This year, because Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is away for health reasons, Minister Piyush Goyal has stepped in and is all set to deliver the Budget speech. Several people have speculated about what the Modi government might offer in this all-important Budget right before the 2019 elections, however, if history bears witness, the Congress’ reaction is going to be rather predictable.

Here are 5 things that Congress might say after the Budget 2019 speech has been delivered:

This is a populist budget by the Modi government

No matter what the Modi government announces or fails to announce, the Congress is probably going to call the Budget 2019 a “populist” budget. Forget the fact that the Congress has always thrown fiscal prudence to the wind with the fiscal deficit reaching its highest under the Congress government. Even in the Assembly elections recently, Congress promised blind hand-outs to pretty much every section of the society. But when it comes to the Modi government, a government which has maintained fiscal prudence through its 4 years, Congress is sure to deride the government for a ‘populist’ Budget.

Budget 2019 has everything for ‘Mr A’ and nothing for farmers and poor

The Modi government has been extremely cautious and in every budget, they have ensured that there are enough incentives for the poor and farmers. However, no matter what the Modi government announces, Congress is bound to say that the Budget has EVERYTHING for “Modi’s friends” like “Mr A” and nothing for farmers and the poor.

This is not an interim budget

Forget the fact that Congress has made some big announcements in the past interim budgets when they were in power, the Congress is bound to raise a stink alleging that the Modi government has breached convention and presented a “full budget” and not an “interim budget”.

Modi is losing

“The Modi government has presented this budget because it has not done anything in the past 4 years and Modi is losing”. I am sure we will hear this line with absolutely no proof as to why the Congress thinks so.

No farm loan waiver, Modi doesn’t care about farmers

Farmer loan waiver is Congress’ favourite pet rattle. Even though the Congress has failed spectacularly in delivering farm loan waiver in the three states where they are in power and Karnataka, where they are in alliance with JD(S), they keep raising this bogey to garner support. Modi government is unlikely to announce farmer loan waiver in its entirety as the Congress wants it too and is used to announcing. Congress, despite failing in their promises, is bound to raise the ‘farmer loan waiver’ bandwagon.

As we are moments away from the Budget, we will soon find out if our prediction holds true!

Budget 2019: What can we expect?

K Bhattacharjee
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Budget 2019: What can we expect?

Budget day is finally upon us. And as usual, speculations are running rife regarding what it might entail. Senior BJP leaders have often equated the General Elections in 2019 with the Third Battle of Panipat. From that perspective, it will be safe to assume that there will be at least a few significant announcements in the Budget.

Let us have a look at what we can expect from the Budget.

1. Income Tax exemption slab to be raised to Rs. 5 lakh

There have been reports of middle-class disenchantment with the NDA government. To quell such sentiments and to ensure that the middle-class stays firmly with the BJP, the last budget presented by the Modi government may consider exempting Income Tax on income up to Rs. 5 lakh per annum. Other sops for the middle class is also likely to feature.

2. Populism

A wave of populism has been rising across the country. With Congress President Rahul Gandhi making the promise of a Universal Basic Income for the unemployed, it is to be expected that the BJP will incorporate some extremely populist measures to counter the Mahagathbandhan’s populist tactics. Targeted Basic Income might feature in the budget as one such measure.

3. Sops for farmers

Farmer distress has been a huge issue across the country. The opposition has been trying hard to project the Modi government as anti-farmer. Therefore, it is only natural that the government will take the extra step in its last budget to counter the narrative. Interest free loans, equipment and fertilizer at subsidized rates or even loan waivers may feature in today’s budget.

4. Sops for small businesses

The business-class has always been a core voter-base for the BJP. Of late, accusations have been made that they have suffered a lot due to the implementation of GST and demonetization. Therefore, the MSMEs are likely to be rewarded by the Modi government in their last budget. Lower corporate taxes for them is a strong possibility.

Rahul Gandhi eats dosa in a five star hotel, friendly media spins it as a humble move

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi eats dosa in a five star hotel, friendly media spins it as a humble move

The congruous relationship between the Congress party and some ‘pliable’ media houses are not a secret anymore. The controversial media group NDTV, which often indulges in anti-India propaganda and the likes of India Today group have always stood behind the first family of the Congress by pushing the narrative of the political party under the guise of “independent” journalism.

On Friday, both NDTV and India Today ended up being a laughing stock after social media users found that they had published a bizarre report glorifying Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s stopover at a restaurant to have South Indian delicacy dosa and filter coffee.

India Today report on Rahul Gandhi’s Dosa stopover

India Today even went on to mention how Rahul Gandhi is ‘often known’ to visit restaurants in ‘mostly middle class and upmarket areas’ in Delhi. Not sure whether India Today meant the Sagar Ratna Rahul Gandhi visited was middle class or upmarket since the outlet he visited is situated inside Hotel Ashok, a five-star hotel. If the average cost for two at Sagar Ratna outlets is Rs 600-750, the one Rahul Gandhi visited costs around Rs 1,200.

NDTV, the foster channel of the Congress, which also performs the duties of managing public relations for Congress President Rahul Gandhi seemed to be very happy to report Rahul Gandhi’s dosa endeavour following his stopover at one of the restaurants in opulent Lutyens Delhi.

NDTV report on Rahul Gandhi’s Dosa event

Social media reacted to the ‘so-called’ independent media’s attempts of indulging in public relations management of Rahul Gandhi and called out the inherent bias of these media groups.


Another social media user went on to note the desperation of the NDTV as it posted the same report multiple times in a span of a few hours to promote Rahul Gandhi’s Dosa event.


Congress party with its media ecosystem seems to have managed the issues extremely well in both creating and sustaining narratives for decades now. Recently, we had reported regarding a similar public relation event of the Congress party ‘directed’ by a reporter belonging to India Today group.

NDTV, often known to be the country’s greatest embarrassment in the field of journalism has maintained a very close relationship with the first family of the Congress party. Recently, a journalist who worked for NDTV had revealed how NDTV used to take editorial orders from PMO during the UPA era.

NDTV, once a hot shot during the Congress regime, seems to have been rejected by the people as there are several instances of them being caught for not only spreading fake news but also sometimes alleged to have revealed sensitive details.

NDTV is not only under severe challenges of stable revenue generation and credible journalism but is also facing an existential crisis. The promoters of the channel, Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy have been alleged to have indulged in massive fraud and are being investigated by the present government. After these facts came to the fore, many usual suspects from the media started to malign the NDA government by resorting to fake news.

Manish Tewari makes an outlandish charge, alleges ‘parts of the budget has been leaked’

OpIndia Staff
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Manish Tewari makes an outlandish charge, alleges ‘parts of the budget has been leaked’

The Congress party has developed a penchant for furthering conspiracy theories and outlandish claims everytime there is a significant event in India. Whether it’s their Rafale “scam” theory which has been trashed over and over again or their theories about EVM tampering every time they lose, Congress has clearly tossed caution to the wind in a bid to fear monger. Today, when the Country is moments away from the Budget 2019 being presented, Congress leader Manish Tewari has floated another charge: That the budget has been leaked in parts to the media and others.

Congress leader Manish Tewari has taken to Twitter to attach photographs and allege that parts of the budget has been leaked to the media.


The photograph attached by the Congress leader is not a media article or information from any reliable source. It is merely a list of speculative points being furthered as ‘government sources’, which is the pet phrase of the media in any case.

Several people have been speculating what the Modi government may offer in the Budget 2019 considering it is their last budget before the make-or-break 2019 General Elections. Many have speculated that the government will stick to fiscal prudence, however, several others have predicted the Modi government opening up its coffers to offer a Tax rebate for the middle class, a big announcement for farmers and the poor and also, some headway in terms of a targeted basic income scheme.

All of this is, however, just speculation. Budgets have been prone to analysts speculating what the government might offer, however, for Congress leader Manish Tewari to take to Twitter and float a bizarre conspiracy theory with nothing to offer as proof is not just irresponsible but malicious.

This is a reminder of how Congress tried to silently organise an “EVM hacking expose” but gave their plan away when Kapil Sibal was spotted overseeing the “event”. In fact, after all the noise they made, eventually, the “hackers” said that they had no proof that EVMs could be hacked.

Yesterday, after Congress leader Randeep Surjewala lost Jind bypoll, Congress floated the ‘EVM hacked’ theory. It is surprising how EVMs magically get hacked only where they lose and not where they win. And this mentality is evidence of the fact that Congress is now only focussing on fearmongering and rabblerousing before the 2019 elections.

Cow meat smugglers speed away seeing police, 4 quintals of banned meat recovered from abandoned car: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Cow meat smugglers speed away seeing police, 4 quintals of banned meat recovered from abandoned car: Reports

In another incident of cow meat smuggling in Uttar Pradesh, a policeman was almost run over by two smugglers when they sped away seeing the police.

According to a report in Jagran, late on Wednesday night, policemen on patrol noticed a car standing at a puncture repair shop near the petrol pump in Gajraula area. Two young men who had stopped for repairing the punctured tyre reportedly panicked seeing the police vehicle and started speeding away in the car.

Being suspicious of their behaviour, the police vehicle also gave chase. While passing near the local police station on their way, the police constable standing near the station tried to stop the car.

The smugglers almost ran the constable over as they kept speeding away in their car. The car allegedly ran over his foot. Noticing that the police vehicle was still chasing them at a distance, the smugglers then reportedly abandoned the car at a desolate location and escaped on foot.

When the police vehicle chasing the car arrived and examined, they found 4 quintals of cow meat inside the car. The report has quoted the veterinarian called by the police as saying that prima facie, the meat found inside the car is cow meat, however, samples will be sent to a laboratory to officially confirm it.

Pilibhit police have lodged a case against the beef smugglers based on the registration number of the vehicle. Police officials have stated that they have found clues and soon the smugglers will be arrested too.

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed rampant cattle and beef smuggling in recent times. After the Bulandshahr incident, the Yogi government has instructed the police to take a tough stand against cattle smugglers.

Pilibhit itself has seen many incidents of cattle and cow meat smuggling in recent times. in December, 10 smugglers were caught with 500 kgs of cow meat. There have also been instances of smugglers attacking and firing upon policemen to avoid arrest.

Pilibhit is the constituency of union minister Maneka Gandhi, who is a fierce animal rights activist.

Karnataka crisis: Trouble mounts for Congress as Deve Gowda says he has been in pain over alliance with Congress

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka crisis: Trouble mounts for Congress as Deve Gowda says he has been in pain over alliance with Congress

Former Prime Minister and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s father HD Deve Gowda has now expressed displeasure over the JD(S)-Congress alliance in Karnataka.


Deve Gowda said that it has been six months since HD Kumaraswamy swore-in as the chief minister and “all kinds of things have happened in these six months.” Sending out a strong message to the coalition partner Congress, he said that this is not the way to run a coalition government if every day you need to request them not to make unparliamentary remarks.

Earlier, few Congress MLAs had gone on record to say that they consider former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah as their chief minister. A visibly upset Kumaraswamy had even offered to step down as the chief minister saying that the Congress MLAs were crossing the line.

Read also: Congress tries to pacify cry-baby Kumaraswamy, sends show cause notice to MLA who spoke against the CM

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has earlier expressed his unhappiness over the coalition government. A few days back, he had become emotional and said to the party colleagues that he was functioning like a clerk and not like a chief minister because of Congress’ interference in the functioning of the government. Kumaraswamy was also reportedly heard complaining that he is working under “tremendous pressure”.

The rift between Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) has been widening recently as both parties have tried to outdo each other to grapple as much as power in the coalition government. The recent cabinet expansion has further widened the rift, with leaders from both the parties are openly conspiring against each other. In July last year, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government Kumaraswamy had cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.

Recently, there were speculations that the coalition may be heading towards a breakup with reports that Kumaraswamy’s brother HD Revanna had met the BJP leaders in Karnataka.

Leaked NSSO report on unemployment not finalised and verified, not correct to use it as final: NITI Aayog

Aditi
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Leaked NSSO report on unemployment not finalised and verified, not correct to use it as final: NITI Aayog

The NITI Ayog has said that the “leaked” National Sample Survey of Office (NSSO) report which showed the unemployment rate during July 2017-June 2018 at 6.1 percent, a 45-year high, is not verified. Hours after the NSSO report came out in media, the NITI Aayog clarified that it was a draft report which is still being processed and that the data in the report is not finalised.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said that the Government did not release the data which is still being processed and will release the report when it is ready. The government think-tank said that the Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data shows that 4.8 million additional jobs have been created. “Data collection method is different now we are using a computer-assisted personal interviewee in the new survey. It is not right to compare the two data sets, this data is not verified. It is not correct to use this report as final.” Kumar added.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that enough jobs are being created but there is a lack of good quality jobs. “The NITI Aayog analysis shows that we are creating 7-8 million jobs. Conventional estimates had suggested that there are 12 million new entrants per year. New estimates suggest that because of higher education and declining women’s labour population, the country needs 7 million jobs”, Kant said.

After the report was leaked earlier in the day, the opposition started attacking the government. Congress President Rahul Gandhi had termed it a “national disaster”.

Martyred Army soldier Aurangzeb’s father Mohammad Haneef likely to join BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Martyred Army soldier Aurangzeb’s father Mohammad Haneef likely to join BJP

Martyred rifleman Aurangzeb’s father Mohammad Haneef, who is a former sepoy of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, is likely to join BJP during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir on February 3. Aurangzeb’s family resides in Poonch district in J&K.

Aurangzeb was posted at the 44 Rashtriya Rifles camp at Shadimarg in Shopian when he was brutally murdered by terrorists in Pulwama in June last year. He was on his way back to home for Eid celebrations when he was abducted by the terrorists. His body was found in Gussu village about 10 km away from Kalampora, in Pulwama district. He was awarded Shaurya Chakra posthumously. The last video of Aurangzeb which was allegedly shot minutes before he was killed by the terrorists had become viral on social media. Aurangzeb was seen fearlessly speaking to the terrorist, presumably, who was not visible in the video.

After Aurangzeb’s death around 50 boys had reportedly left their job in the Gulf to join the Army and the police. His had appealed to PM Modi to end militancy in the area to avenge Aurangzeb’s death. According to reports, Aurangzeb’s father’s name has been forwarded to the BJP President Amit Shah for consideration.

Congress says Modi govt should not bring full-fledged budget, here are some major changes they made in interim budget while in power

OpIndia Staff
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Congress says Modi govt should not bring full-fledged budget, here are some major changes they made in interim budget while in power

For the last few weeks, it was being speculated that the Modi government was planning to present a full budget instead of an interim budget. Reacting to the reports, Congress party had strongly opposed the reported move, saying government does not have the mandate to bring a full budget. Congress leader Manish Tewari had said that “the Congress party strongly demands that the NDA-BJP Government follows constitutional propriety and only presents a vote-on-account on February 1, 2019”. In a vote of account, the government in its last year seeks the parliamentary approval for expenses for the remaining few months in its term, and no changes in the tax regime is made.

Although traditionally governments have been presenting Vote on Account in their last years, that is always not the case. Congress governments themselves had brought changes in tax rates in the interim budgets presented in the last year of their rules.

In the interim budget for the year 2014 presented by finance minister P Chidambaram, several changes were made in tax rates. In that budget, the excise duty on Small cars, motor cycles, scooters and commercial vehicles was reduced from 12% to 8%, excise on SUVs was reduced from 30% to 24%, and for large and mid-segment cars it came down from 27/24% to 24/20%.

Tax changes in 2014 interim budget

Similarly, various taxes like CENVAT, customs duty, CVD etc on mobile handsets, soaps, construction machinery etc were reduced to encourage domestic production.

Other than changes in taxes, P Chidambaram had also announced that the government had accepted the principle of One Rank One Pension for the defence forces. The finance minister had allocated ₹500 for the scheme. This was a major policy decision incorporated in an interim budget.

Major policy decisions had been made in several other interim budgets too earlier. Therefore, even if Piyush Goyal announces some major policy decisions or makes changes in tax structure, Congress party has no right to oppose the same. The finance ministry has already announced that it will be presenting an interim budget, not full budget as reported by media reports.

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