08 Mar

Highlights from Union Budget 2015

Check out important points from Union Budget 2015:(Important for various government exams such as IBPS, SSC, etc.)

TAXATION

1 Abolition of Wealth Tax.
2 Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
3 Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.
4 No change in tax slabs.
5 Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.
6 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
7 Service tax increased to14 per cent.

AGRICULTURE

1 Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
2 Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
3 Farmers credit – target of 8.5 lakh crore.

INFRASTRUCTURE

1 Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
2 Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation
3 PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.
4 Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
5 Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

EDUCATION SECTOR

1 AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
2 IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
3 PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.
4 Kerala to have University of Disability Studies
5 Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
6 IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

DEFENCE

1 Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.
2 Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

WELFARE SCHEMES

1 GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.
2 Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
3 MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.
4 Housing for all by 2020.
5 Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
6 DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
7 For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1,000 a year.
8 New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80 .
9 Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
10 Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.
11 Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

1 Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
2 Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro.

TOURISM

1 Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.
2 Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.

GOLD

1 Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
2 New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
3 To develop an Indian gold coin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.

FINANCIAL SECTOR

1 Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India
2 NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs 500 crore and above to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses
3 Permanent Establishment norms to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country does not lead to “adverse tax consequences.”

08 Mar

Highlights from Railway Budget 2015

Check out important points from Railway Budget 2015:

● No increase in passenger fares
● SMS alert to be introduced for train timings
● To introduce air-conditioned coaches for suburban trains
● Wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations
● To revamp station redevelopment policy completely
● To have bidding system for redevelopment of stations
● To develop 10 satellite railway stations this year
● On-board entertainment facility could be extended on Shatabdi trains
● Mobile charging stations will be introduced general class coaches
● Wagon-making scheme to be reviewed to make it easier for private investment
● To improve cleanliness & design of bed linen
● All India 24×7 grievances helpline 138 to start soon
● 7,000 more toilets to be replaced by Bio-Toilets, New toilets at 650
stations, more vacuum toilets
● Passenger travelling unreserved can procure a ticket within 5 minutes
● Mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed
● Hand-held devices for ticket checkers for moving towards paperless ticketing
● Centrally managed railway display network in over 2000 stations in next 2 years
● We are committed to provide rail connectivity to North Eastern states
● CCTVs to be introduced in select trains and suburban trains for women safety
● Train Protection Warning System, Train Collision Avoidance System
● Tickets can be booked 120 days in advance instead of 60 days
● Plan expenditure to go up to a record Rs 1.1 lakh crore in 2015-16 from
Rs 66,000 crore in the previous year
● Railways plans to spend over Rs 8 lakh crore over five years
● We will introduce train sets saving 20% of journey time, similar to bullet trains in design, and that can run on existing tracks
● Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected by mid-2015
● The speed passenger trains across nine corridors will be increased to 160-200 km from 110 km
● Railways to go through transformation in five years; to increase track capacity by 10 per cent to 1.38 lakh km
● To monetise assets rather than sell them
● To set up full-fledged Railway University in FY16
● Rs.2000 crore for Coastal Connectivity Program; Rs.2500 crore through BOT/Annuity route
● 6608 kms of track to be electrified
● Projects worth Rs 96,182 crore to expand capacity of 9,420 km rail lines
● Drawing up comprehensive policy to tap latent advertising potential