Early In Speech, Nirmala Sitharaman's Tribute To Arun Jaitley

Early in her presentation of the country's budget, finance minister Nirmala Sithraman referred to her predecessor, Arun Jaitley, and said his work on introducing the Goods and Services Tax was a huge contribution. Mr Jaitley died in August 25, 2019.

The Union Budget 2020-21 comes at a time when the economy is staring at a more than 11-year low annual expansion rate and thousands of job cuts amid weakness across sectors.

The Indian economy experienced some abrupt slowdown in 2019 due to turbulence in non-banking financial institutions and major reform measures such as GST and demonetisation, but it is not in a recession, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections have crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the third month in a row in January with improved compliance and plugging of evasion, sources said on Friday.

The Congress on Wednesday asked the government to announce a national farm loan waiver in the upcoming Union Budget and spell out measures to ensure that farmers' income doubles by 2022.

It's not the first time SIAM has raised these demands, in fact it's been over a year the body has been asking to reduce GST rates in order to push sales during the prolonged slowdown.

In one of the biggest crackdowns on Goods And Services Tax (GST) evaders so far, the centre has launched an investigation against unidentified exporters who allegedly faked GST refunds worth Rs 350 crore.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday asserted that it is the "moral responsibility" of India to give shelter and citizenship to Hindus and other minority communities of Pakistan, which has been persecuting them persistently.

The Indian economy would rebound in the future and the current slowdown was cyclical, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said at the 102nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association today.

The Maharashtra government has asked the Centre to extend help to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore for all damages caused by natural calamities in the state, Finance Minister Jayant Patil said on Wednesday.

The Shiv Sena on Saturday warned that if the government fails to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation, it could trigger a confrontation between states and the centre. The Sena said the centre's policies were responsible for the "economic anarchy" in the country.

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the GST Council, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the buzz of an increase in GST rates is everywhere other than her office.

The Maharashtra government is awaiting its "legitimate dues" of Rs 15,558.05 crore including GST compensation up to November 2019 from the Centre, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In his letter the Chief Minister has sought immediate release of the amount.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday invited those who are interested in providing suggestions on simplifying and easing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) filing process.