New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) After the presentation of the Union Budget 2026-27 on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will interact with around 30 college students from different regions of the country, according to an official statement issued on Friday.As part of this initiative, the college students will also get to witness the presentation of the Union Budget live from the Lok Sabha Gallery, offering them a chance to view one of the most significant Parliamentary proceedings of the …
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Kathmandu, Jan 29 (IANS) India on Thursday handed over more than 250 vehicles to Nepal as part of election-related assistance, as the Himalayan country prepares to hold parliamentary elections on March 5.This marks the second tranche of election assistance to Nepal, following the handover of more than 60 double-cab pickup vehicles and other supplies on January 20.The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said the Government of India will provide around 650 vehicles for the upcoming elections, which will b…
New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) The traditional Halwa ceremony, which marks the final stage of preparations for the Union Budget 2026-27, was held on Tuesday at the Budget Press in North Block. The ceremony took place in the presence of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.The Halwa ceremony is an important ritual that signals the beginning of the ‘lock-in’ period for officials involved in preparing the Budget.Once …
New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) In what may further escalate Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions, Kabul on Wednesday announced that medicines imported from the neighbouring country will not be sold after February 9, urging traders to complete all related commercial transactions before the deadline, according to reports. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has stated that only 19 days remain before an earlier decision to this effect becomes operative, after which medicines imported from Pakistan will no…
New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Over 4.53 crore accounts have been opened to empower the future of girls, under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) in the last 11 years, the government said on Wednesday.Launched in January 2015 under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, the scheme was designed as a bridge between financial security and social transformation.By encouraging families to plan early for their daughters’ education and well-being, SSY has helped instill a sense of confidence, inclusion, an…
New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) The government on Tuesday said it has released Rs 213.9 crore as untied grants under the 15th Finance Commission for rural local bodies in Assam.This represents the first instalment for the financial year 2025–26, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj said in a statement.“It has been released for all 2,192 eligible Gram Panchayats, 182 eligible Block Panchayats and 27 eligible Zilla Parishads across the state, said an official statement.In November last year, the Centre rel…
New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) More than 3.96 lakh MSME loan applications amounting to more than Rs 52,300 crore have been sanctioned by the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) under the digital credit underwriting programmes (between April 1 and December 31, 2025), the government said on Monday.The PSBs launched Credit Assessment Model (CAM) based on digital footprints for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) last year.According to Ministry of Finance, this credit assessment model leverages the digital…
New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) The ‘World Inequality Report 2026’ has listed Pakistan as a country in which inequality in income and wealth among its citizens is at alarming levels.”In Pakistan, inequality remains high and shows limited progress over the past decade. The top 10 per cent of earners capture 42 per cent of total income, whereas the bottom 50 per cent receive only 19 per cent. Wealth inequality is even more concentrated, with the richest 10 per cent holding 59 per cent of total wealth…
New Delhi, Jan 10 (IANS) The strategic interventions by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has improved the financial health and robustness of banking sector significantly, with gross NPA ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) declining to 2.22 per cent and that of scheduled commercial banks (PSBs) declining to 2.58 per cent, an official statement said on Saturday.Furthermore, the Provision coverage ratio (PCR) of SCBs increased from 49.31 per cent in March 2015 to a healthy 93.14 pe…
New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The government-backed SWAMIH Investment Fund is expected to deliver more than one lakh homes across the country, providing much-needed relief to over four lakh people who were stuck in long-delayed housing projects, Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.The Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Investment Fund was launched in November 2019 after approval by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The initiative was created to provi…