Saturday, December 11, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

How Indian Budget is Prepared

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/21budget3.htm

The Budget process is a massive exercise. The exercise has different stages and each stage kicks off at a different stage of Budget making process.

The two sides of the Budget

Like our family budget, the nation's General Budget has two major parts: Revenue and Expenditure.

Assessing the revenues from different central taxes is the primary function of the Department of Revenue and the expenditure estimates for the current and the next year for various expenditure heads are assessed by the Department of Expenditure. The Department of Expenditure also assesses the resources of the public sector undertakings (PSUs).

The Budget division is a part of the Department of Economic Affairs. The Finance Secretary coordinates the overall Budget-making process. All of them keep the finance minister informed and seek directions from time to time. The Chief Economic Advisor assists the concerned departmental officer in this process.

1) Resources (Revenues) side

Leaving aside the tax receipts, the other sources of the revenue which go into the Budget are the dividends paid by the PSUs on the government shareholdings, including the interim dividends and the capital receipts on account of the divestment of the government share holdings.

How the Budget affects the Sensex

Besides external receipts on account borrowing from international agencies like World Bank, ADB, etc, are also estimated and included in the assessment of the gross budgetary resources of various programmes under various ministries.

Resources of the public sector undertakings, including their operating surplus and the borrowings by them, also constitute an important component of the gross budgetary resources and goes to fund their plan.

The general policy is to fund the plans of the PSUs through their own resources except in some strategic and economically vital areas where the budgetary support is provided based on the recommendations of the Planning Commission.

This assessment of the Internal and External Budgetary Resources(IEBR) conducted by the Department of Expenditure forms part of the total plan resources and is also reflected in the budget documents.

Tax? 10 things to do before March 31

To estimate the earnings of PSUs, the government invites CMDs or the finance directors of the PSUs to the North Block. A joint secretary level officer of the ministry of finance holds one-on-one meeting with the PSU chairmen and estimates revenue.

He passes on the information to Expenditure Secretary, who in turn, passes on the information to Finance Secretary. This exercise starts usually in the month of August/September. This revenue forms a part of plan expenditure.

Now comes role of the ministries of the government. Each ministry has a financial advisor. The financial advisor is called by the ministry of finance and asked about the expenditure of the amount allocated to his ministry. Generally, ministries are not able to spend the allocated amount but some may overspend as well.

Based on the inputs of different ministries Revised Estimate (RE) is prepared. Revised Estimate means as to how much is actually required by the ministry.

India's 10 fastest growing cities

As a part of the expenditure management, the government has issued instructions to various ministries to adhere to the quarterly expenditure schedule and to avoid bunching of the expenditure in the last quarter.

Additional funds are also provided in the RE stage. Important is the estimates of the non-plan requirement for the next year.

Plan allocations are to be provided by the Planning Commission later based on the total gross budgetary support (GBS) indicated by the ministry of finance. This exercise starts in the month of October-December.

As is known, the Department of Revenue, the ministry of finance has two boards -- Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). By mid-January, these boards give the figure of tax collection up to December 31. For remaining three months, tax collection is assumed on the basis of previous trends.

The boards also estimate the tax revenue expected in next financial year. The integrity of the budget making depends on the realistic nature of these estimates particularly in the face of the fiscal discipline imposed by the FRBM Act.

It is a happy development in the past two or three years the estimates are generally not very wide off the mark.

2) Expenditure side

Parallel to all this, the Planning Commission goes into stock-taking mode. It starts meeting with individual ministries in the month of September-October and reviews ongoing schemes of the ministries, considers allocation for them, etc. It may decide to stop some ongoing scheme or merge two similar schemes.

Thus, an estimate of Plan Budget is prepared. The Planning Commission conveys to the ministry of finance that it requires so and so amount to run planned schemes for next financial year.

The finance minister and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission discuss the demand in detail. This way Plan Expenditure is ready. Different ministries are also asked to tell about their fund requirement, which forms a part of budget estimate.

Side by side, Department of Economic Affairs meets representatives of trade unions, industry chambers, economists and other groups. In the Budget-making exercise, suggestions of different stakeholders are kept in mind.

FM has to decide with his team

By this time, the finance minister is in a position to estimate as to how much it will get through taxes and how much it has to spend in coming financial year.

The finance minister has other constraints also. He has to abide by FRBM Act and cut fiscal deficit. Keeping in mind all these, the finance minister -- with his team -- decides whether some new taxes should be levied to collect more tax, how to widen tax net in order to earn more revenue. While doing so the suggestions from various interest groups are duly taken into account.

GDP assessment

The Department of Expenditure and the Department of Economic Affairs sit to decide GDP assessment for next year. Generally, a nominal growth in GDP is projected. Actual growth in GDP is nominal growth of GDP reduced by inflation figure.

The Budget Speech of the FM

Now comes the Budget Speech. It is fine-tuned to the last minute. Around February 15, some of the Budget documents are almost ready and goes for printing to a press located in North Block itself. Security agencies cordon off the press and entry is almost prohibited.

The D-Day: The finance minister delivers the Budget Speech in Parliament. Normally, on February 28, the finance minister delivers the Budget Speech in Lok Sabha. After which Budget documents are made available.

These are also put on the Web site www.finmin.nic.in.

However, 2008 being a leap year, this time the Budget would be presented to Parliament on February 29.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/feb/21budget3.htm

Planning Commission (India)

Planning_Commission_(India)

Planning Commission (India)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Planning Commission
Agency overview
Parent agency	Ministry of Finance
Website
www.planningcommission.nic.in

The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.

History

Rudimentary economic planning, deriving the sovereign authority of the state, first began in India in 1930s under the British Raj, and the colonial government of India formally established a planning board that functioned from 1944 to 1946. Private industrialists and economist formulated at least three development plans in 1944.

After India gained independence, a formal model of planning was adopted, and the planning commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India was established. Accordingly, the Planning Commission was set up on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman. Planning Commission though is a non statutory as well extra constitutional body, i.e has been brought by an executive order.

The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 and two subsequent five-year plans were formulated till 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan Conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and 1969, the fourth Five-year plan was started in 1969.

The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast changing political situation at the Centre and the years 1990-91 and 1991-92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural adjustment policies.

For the first eight Plans the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive investments in basic and heavy industries, but since the launch of the Ninth Plan in 1997, the emphasis on the public sector has become less pronounced and the current thinking on planning in the country, in general, is that it should increasingly be of an indicative nature.

Organisation

The composition of the Commission has undergone a lot of change since its inception. With the Prime Minister as the ex-officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is presently the Deputy Chairman of the Commission.

Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as part-time members of the Commission, while the full-time members are experts of various fields like Economics, Industry, Science and General Administration.

The Commission works through its various divisions, of which there are three kind:

General Planning Divisions
Programme Administration Divisions

The majority of experts in the Commission are economists, making the Commission the biggest employer of the Indian Economic Services.

Functions

1. Assessment of resources of the country

2. Formulation of Five-Year Plans for effective use of these resources

3. Determination of priorities, and allocation of resources for the Plans

4. Determination of requisite machinery for successful implementation of the Plans

5. Periodical appraisal of the progress of the Plan

6. To formulate plans for the most effective and balanced utilization of country's resources.

7. To indicate the factors which are hampering economic development.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Some people wonder why I am "obsessed" or "criticize" or "am against" Ms Arundhati Roy.

I am fixated with her coz she is misusing her Right to Freedom of Speech & Expression. Freedom to express oneself does not cover sedition, either directly, or indirectly; overtly, or covertly.

I have always found her manner of putting things across impressive, as well as incisive, and do not agree to some people's opinion that she is a bad writer. She has a terrific & powerful command over words & language. The fact is, she knows what she is saying.

In the framework of our judicial system, she had specifically referred to in the precise context of Afzal Guru, whom she claims is denied adequate justice by the Indian Judicial System.

I agree that there are flaws in our judicial system, but which judicial system is "Perfect"?

We have had an example where even a former Prime Minister had to go to jail. Compare it with the system in USA where a former President, who had misused his office & had to unceremoniously resign, was "Pardoned" by his successor!

Realities are acknowledged and understood, in Kashmir, Punjab, Assam, Tamil Nadu, & the Seven Sisters. But mindless violence is not the way out. And extreme versions of Maoist philosophy are found in almost every country, the 'Shining Path' being a classic example. But it failed, due to certain socio-economic-political policies adopted by the government of that country. Yes, I agree with you that we need to do more.

But are we given a chance, when govt. buildings, schools, railway tracks, etc are being blasted? No country wants to fight against it’s own people! What do you expect the security to do when acts of sedition and anti-state violence are perpetuated by people who are politically, ideologically, economically, strategically & militarily supported, explicitly, & / or clandestinely by certain nations & people like Ms Roy (& a few others) to dismantle the Indian Union? Remember the famous public statement of a certain leader from one of our neighbouring countries of "bleeding India through a thousand cuts"?

Being right to the center is not being “nuts”. As there are people who belong to the left to the centre, so are there who belong to the right to the centre. And no one is “nuts”. They have their versions and opinions, and are entitled to them. Show me one person who is a perfect centrist. Opposing extreme leftism does not mean that you belong to the “right”. The “centrist” people & parties have criticized Arundhati Roy too, and they certainly are not “right wing nuts”. Indian Democracy is mature enough to absorb all their views. But at times the views become too extreme to be ignored.

Samuel Johnson had once famously sayd, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"

If patriotism had always been the last refuge of the scoundrel, then people like Abe Lincoln are the greatest scoundrels. Remember, Abe Lincoln took a firm stand from his country being split up! Was he a patriot or a scoundrel?

Were Gandhiji, Subhash Babu, Lokmanya Tilak, Bhagat Singh, et al scoundrels?

All sayd and done, Arundhati Roy, who criticizes “nationalism” & “patriotism”, still, writes her nationality as “Indian”.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Went to meet an old resident of my locality on Saturday. And, interestingly, the history of my locality isn't exactly the same as it is popularly supposed to be. 4 Bungalows, the area where I stay, was supposed to comprise of, once upon a time, just 4 bungalows belonging to some Parsi families; hence the name “4 Bangla”.

And 7 bungalows were supposed to contain just 7 bungalows, again belonging to some Parsis. The rest of the area was supposed to be all creeks. All the bungalows are believed to have been demolished now.

Well, according to this elderly gentleman, this isn't really the case. The history is different. Much much different.

I personally went to visit him in a huge "wadi", more than 100 years old, that I never knew existed before in my area.

I am gonna research on this further, streamline it, and spice it up with some photographs.

More on this later, as I gather some more fascinating info . . . :)

I am, at present, just interested in the stretch from 4 Bungalows “naka” to the road where I stay. And this “wadi”, and many other interesting features, still lie scattered over this small stretch.

Remarkably, there also used to be an area called “12 Bangla” once in the neighbourhood. Who sayz history is a boring subject?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I wish to just look into the eyes of my partner and smile and say nothing . . . Holding hands is an option . . . :)

There are things that the reader talks of in between by giving an example of how a govt official fined a person for throwing a ciggie butt in a gutter, and he feels this is wrong. Come one, arent govt officials supposed to fine you for smoking in public? That is NOT inappropriate or wrong or being corrupt or being "baaps". You do something wrong, an official fines you, and you feel he is being "arrogant"? There are definitely instances of corruption in our system, but there are ways to address them. But we do not have the time and patience to follow them up. And then, we blame the system!

Spent the evening of 4th November 2010 researching a wee bit abt my locality, 4 Bungalows. Met 3 diff ppl; received 3 diff experiences :) Next appointment Saturday evening, hopefully with sum1 who sounds interesting :) Nvr knew such ruraleque gems still exist in 4 Bungalows. My area of interest is just one street: from 4 Bungalows naka to the road where I stay. And the little diversions in betn :)

We observe the small negative quality in others, but overlook the vast positive qualities in the same person. As the following anecdote goes:

Once in a seminar the speaker put a black dot with his marker on the white board. And he asked the audience what they all saw. All replied they saw the black dot. The speaker retorted, “Every one of you said you saw the small black dot in the centre. But no one said he/she saw the big white board.” In the same way, we see the negative quality in others first, however small it might be; but overlook, or fail to see the positive qualities in the same person, however immense they might be.

A snappishly angry mind is the worst sword: it slashes both; the slashed and the slasher.

They say "True Friendship" never ends. But some relationships come with an expiry date. All things must pass. Whatever is created, is maintained for a duration, and then is destroyed. Perhaps to be reborn. Recreation cannot take place without destruction.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Maharashtra Times

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maharashtra Times

Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
Publisher	Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd.
Editor	Mr. Ashok Panvalkar
Founded	1 May 1962
Political alignment	Conservative
Language	Marathi
Headquarters	Mumbai, India
Circulation	10,00,000 Daily
Official website	MaharashtraTimes.com

Maharashtra Times (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र टाईम्स), coloquially referred to as 'Ma Taa' (मटा) from its Marathiinitialism, is a Marathi newspaper based out of Mumbai, India. It is the 9th largest selling^[1] daily newspaper in the country. It is owned by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. or The Times Group, the largest media house in India.

According to the IRS 2005, Maharashtra Times enjoys the second largest readership^[2] in Mumbai, India. Other than The Times of India, Maharashtra Times is the only newspaper in Mumbai which has more than one million readers in the city.^[3]

Maharashtra Times' first editor was D B Karnik. In the late 1960s, he was replaced by Govindrao Talwalkar. During Talwalkar's tenure, which stretched into 1990s, the newspaper achieved its zenith primarily due to Talwalkar's editorials. Some of the leading editorials written by Talwalkar have beenanthologized.

The paper, in its heyday, had among its contributors some of the most respected names of the day inMarathi literature such as Durga Bhagwat, Kusumagraj and P. L. Deshpande.

It's Current Editor is Mr. Bharatkumar Raut, a Member of Indian Parliament (Rajyasabha) on the political support of Shivsena

For many years, 'Patra Navhe Mitra' (It's not just a newspaper but a friend) was the tagline of the newspaper. Its editorial and letters to the editor features have been acknowledged as one of the best in Maharashtra. It also has a Marathi elocution competition which is conducted state wide and is quite reputed.

Milestones

Maharashtra Times was launched in 1962 after the establishment of the State of Maharashtra on 1 May, 1960. Maharashtra Times popularly known as ‘Ma Taa’ was started by Bennett and Coleman Co. Ltd to unite the Maharashtrians and create a sense of oneness and integrity among them.

Since 1962, Maharashtra Times has been influenced by the ideas of its editors:

• 1962- D.B. Karnik the first editor of Maharashtra Times held office for a year and a half. He is a name familiar to all Maharashtrians. He is credited with starting four publications in Maharashtra. He was instrumental, as founder editor, of turning the Maharashtra Times into a dynamic, people oriented newspaper. He was awarded the Ratna Darpan (excellence in media) in 2002.

• 1964- Govind Talwalkar was a prominent figure in Marathi journalism. Under his leadership, the newspaper catered to the elite class. It focused on politics and was given a lot of importance by Maharashtrian politicians. Talwalkar’s editorials had a great impact on Maharashtrian politics and its readers.

• 1995- Taking over from Govind Talwalkar, Kumar Kelkar was the editor for 5 years. He followed in the footsteps of Govind Talwalkar and the paper didn’t see any change.

• 2001- Bharat Kumar Raut took over as editor of Maharashtra Times. He changed the face of the newspaper in 2002 turning it into a youth centric paper. Ever since, the newspaper’s circulation has increased tremendously in Maharashtra.

• 2009- Ashok Panvalkar has just taken charge as acting Editor of Maharashtra Times.

Transition Phase

In 2002, Bharat Kumar Raut felt the need to revamp the newspaper as it had not undergone any change since its inception. He felt that its already captured audience was aged and mostly above 60 years. To sustain its growth and spread in Maharashtra he realized the need to attract the new generation. The newspaper saw change in the following aspects:

• Layout: It was the first Marathi newspaper to go full colour and have skylines on every page. They introduced fliers into the newspaper.

• Content: The newspaper stopped focusing on politics and gave prominence to civic issues and the needs of students. Catering to its young audience, it started using common English terms in its articles like computers, world, sports etc. This they did because they noticed that many Maharashtrian youth studied in English medium schools and this practice would help them understand the newspaper better. It was the first Marathi newspaper to cover Sports news. It was the first Marathi newspaper to carry obituaries.

Layout and Content

Since the transition in 2002, Maharashtra Times has seen a new phase in its layout style. This new looking paper was made to cater to the needs of its young growing readers. Being the only regional paper to go full colour definitely worked as an advantage. Also having the supplement Mumbai Times shows that it has understood its audience and is here to satisfy them to the fullest.

Sections

The front page has general news about various important happenings of the pervious day. Most of the inner pages are Mumbai city based news. Pages 2, 3, 5, 8 and 9 are all under the mast head Maha Mumbai. It deals with city based news however the Pune and Nasik editions have news related to their respective cities. The fourth and eighth pages are called Times Classified. One must note that the top column on page four carries ads in English.

The Pragathi fast page: This page is for students and provides career related news. It was started as a six month initiative but due to its growing readership the paper still carries some issues. Sometimes this page is inter-changed with the Education Times which is published in English. Maharashtra Times also publishes a magazine under the name ‘Pragathi Fast’

Editorials: It generally appears on page 6 with the Op-Ed on page 7. It appears under a title called vichar. This page seems very crowded with too many articles. But since the last six months instead of carrying 2 editorials the paper has started new columns which have grown popularity.

The Dhakhal Column: It was an Initiative by Mr. Ashok Panvalkar in order to give the public a platform to voice their opinion regarding issues or personalities.

The Shagun- Nirgun Column: This Column was started so that people’s participation could be encouraged. Individuals with a base in science pen down their thoughts on spirituality in this column. It caters to the older readers so that they do not feel felt out.

Another Popular column in the Maharashtra Times is the Ma Taa Dahavi column which appears on page 2. This column helps standard 10th students to solve problems in algebra, geometry, physics and chemistry. It has been of great help for the Marathi medium students. It will continue till the board exams.

Maharashtra Times – Mumbai Times: This supplement started during the transition period and is youth centric. It mostly carries celebrity oriented soft news.

The Economic Times: The name appears in the mast head just like in the sister publication however the news is not sourced as Maharashtra Times has its own commerce reporters. Maharashtra Times was the first Marathi news paper to have a whole page on business and commerce.

Ma Taa Sports: Also one of the first Marathi paper to have full page sports coverage. Most of the articles on this page are sourced from the PTI. It appears on the last page 12.

Masthead

The masthead is Bold with the text in blue against the white background. However it has very small mast space of barely 2 inches. Maharashtra Times carries a picture of the lord Ganesha in its mast head. This has created a lot of controversies as people often pay respect to the deity’s picture before buying it. Therefore even though it is a secular paper people have their doubts and hesitate while buying it. Front page graphics: The idea of making the entire newspaper colour was only so that people get attracted to at once. During the Ganesh festival a picture of a Ganesh idol at any prominent common gathering will appear on the front page. Most of the lower half of the page is taken up by advertisements.

Regular feature on the front page

The bottom left columns consists of ‘Aajcha Agralekh’ (Today's Editorial) and ‘Aajcha Vichar’ (Thought of the Day). It has a skyline giving snippets of other news carried inside. Some of the articles are written against coloured backgrounds making it more lighter and easy on the eye.

Brand Building and Events

Over the years, Maharashtra Times has evolved into a credible brand that is recognized by the whole of India. It has organized various activities in association with other companies and also organized activities for the public through its medium.

Ma Taa Navrang

This was started in 2005. During the 9 days of Navratri, Maharashtra Times provides ladies with a specific coloured saree to be worn each day. It is noticed that many women follow the colour scheme and has become a famous trend during Navratri.

Ma Taa Sanman Awards

This was started in 2004 and takes place every year in the month of March/April. It is 3 hour award ceremony that felicitates movies, actors and individuals from the film industry.

Mumbai Times Carnival

This was started in 2003 and is conducted every December. A float goes to various colleges in the city and gives students an opportunity to showcase their talent and bring some festivity into their daily college lives. This has helped them tap their target audience and create a brand presence among the youth.

Shravan Queen

This is a beauty contest held during the month of Shravan. The public are given an opportunity to participate in this contest in 4 areas in Mumbai: Dadar, Borivali, Vashi and Thane. 5 girls from each centre are chosen during the elimination rounds. They are groomed completely in preparation for the final round. This initiative was undertaken to boost the confidence in Marathi girls especially but participation is open for all girls. Along with the contest they have other competitions such as saree draping, skits only for ladies and other activities.

Supplementary Magazines

Besides activities, Maharashtra Times has also increased its reach on the public through publishing various magazines.

Ganpati Magazine

During Ganesh Chaturthi, Maharashtra Times published a magazine on the festival. It is an annual magazine but helps in creating oneness among its readers.

Pragati fast Magazine

This is a monthly magazine that is catered for students. It provides information regarding various career options and other career related concerns of students.

Property Magazine

There is no fixed duration of the publication of this magazine but is published approximately after every 2/3 months.

Diwali Magazine

This magazine is published 8 days before Diwali every year. Like the Ganesh Magazine, it focuses on the festival and hopes to create a unified spirit in the celebration of the festival.

Reference

^ "How media planners can exploit the Marathi dailies". Magindia. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
^ The Indian Readership Survey, IRS, 2005 R1.
^ The IRS 2005 R2 released on Oct 11th, 2005

External links

Maharashtra Times Official site (Marathi)
Mirror
Times Syndication Service, syndication arm of The Times Group, deals with content syndication of Maharashtra Times.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtra_Times"

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Planning Commission (India)

Contents

History

Organisation

Functions

See also

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Monday, November 8, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I wish to just look into the eyes of my partner and smile and say nothing . . . Holding hands is an option . . . :)

We observe the small negative quality in others, but overlook the vast positive qualities in the same person. As the following anecdote goes:

A snappishly angry mind is the worst sword: it slashes both; the slashed and the slasher.

They say "True Friendship" never ends. But some relationships come with an expiry date. All things must pass. Whatever is created, is maintained for a duration, and then is destroyed. Perhaps to be reborn. Recreation cannot take place without destruction.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Maharashtra Times

Contents

Milestones

Transition Phase

Layout and Content

Sections

Masthead

Regular feature on the front page

Brand Building and Events

Ma Taa Navrang

Ma Taa Sanman Awards

Mumbai Times Carnival

Shravan Queen

Supplementary Magazines

Ganpati Magazine

Pragati fast Magazine

Property Magazine

Diwali Magazine

Reference

External links

Blog Archive

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