100 more airports to come up by 2025

100 more airports to come up by 2025

New Delhi: With the Civil Aviation Ministry getting Rs 3,797 crore, which is about 2.62 per cent higher than Rs 3,700 crore allocated in the 2019-20 financial year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 100 more airports would be developed by 2025 to support the UDAN scheme. Rs 810 crore has been allocated for the purchase of two B777 aircraft, which would be for the travel of Prime Minister, President and Vice President. UDAN scheme has got Rs 465 crore, which is 3.1 per cent higher than what was allocated in 2019-20. TNS

5 archaeological sites to be developed

New Delhi: The Union Government has identified Rakhigarhi in Haryana among five archaeological sites in the country to be developed as iconic site with on-site museums to promote culture and tourism. Sitharaman said, “Five archaeological sites will be developed as iconic sites with on-site Museums.” The other sites are Hastinapur in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, Dholavira in Gujarat, Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu and Sivasagar in Assam. Rakhigarhi is a village located in Hisar district that dates back to the historic Indus Valley Civilisation. tns

Housing Ministry gets Rs 50,000 crore

New Delhi: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been allocated around Rs 50,000 crore for the next fiscal, a hike of nearly 18 per cent from the current financial year. The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, a flagship programme of the Modi government, has been given Rs 2,300 crore as against Rs 1,300 crore in the revised 2019-20 Union Budget, where the ministry was allocated a total of Rs 42,266.72 crore. Another flagship programme, the Smart Cities Mission has been given Rs 6,450 crore as against Rs 3,450 crore. The AMRUT scheme has got Rs 7,300 crore. PTI

Audit threshold increased for MSMEs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government has decided to give concessional tax rate to co-operative societies and also raised the audit threshold for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore. The Finance Minister said, “Co-operative societies play an extremely important role in our economy in facilitating access to credit, procurement of inputs and marketing of products to their members.” The cooperatives are currently taxed at a rate of 30 per cent with surcharge and cess. PTI

Period of lower tax on ECBs extended

Indian companies seeking foreign debt may continue to see their cost of capital fall amidst a rise in overseas investor interest with government extending a concessional 5 per cent withholding tax on these overseas papers. Sitharaman extended the period of lower tax on external commercial borrowings (ECB) made by the corporate sector by another three years till June 30, 2023. She also extended the period of lower rate of withholding of 5 per cent for interest payment to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) in respect of bonds issued by Indian companies and government securities. PTI

Non-taxpaying NRIs to pay cess: FM

Non-resident Indians not paying taxes in any foreign country will now be taxed in India, the Union Budget for 2020-21 has proposed. At present, if an Indian or a person of Indian origin managed his stay in India such that he remained a non-resident in perpetuity, he was not liable to pay tax on his global income in India. PTI

Online courses for needy students

A degree level full-fledged online education programme will be offered by the country’s top 100 educational institutions to students belonging to deprived sections of the society and those who do not have access to higher studies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. “The Rs 3,000 crore outlay will give an impetus to vocational education and training,” Union Skill Development Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said. According to the norms laid down by the UGC, higher educational institutions are eligible to offer online programmes if they have been in existence for at least five years and are accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. PTI

Forensic science university planned

With cyber crimes increasing at a rapid rate, the government on Saturday proposed National Police University and National Forensic Science University for policing science, forensic science and cyber-forensics. A single organisation in India was attacked an alarming 1,565 times per week on an average in the second half of 2019, compared to 474 attacks per organisation globally, according to researchers at Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point Research. “The need for cyber forensics has become more important than ever for a rapidly digitising country like India,” said Sanjay Katkar, Joint Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Quick Heal Technologies. PTI

Rs 5,029-cr outlay for minority affairs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a Rs5,029 crore outlay for the Minority Affairs Ministry in the 2020-2021 fiscal, an increase of Rs329 crore from last year. According to the Budget, the amount has been increased for post-matric and pre-matric scholarship and some other schemes of the ministry. Last fiscal, a total amount of Rs 4,700 crore was allocated for the Ministry of Minority Affairs. PTI