Police modernization gets Rs.430 crore budgetary boost

September 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Union Government has released Rs 1,158 crore in the last fiscal, for the modernisation of the state police forces. The bulk of this money has been given to seven Maoist- affected and four insurgency-prone states.

August 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Monday urged the central government to reimburse expenses incurred by the state in tackling terrorism, saying that the state government "cannot alone mobilize resources to fight terrorism". "The state government alone cannot mobilize the resources to fight this menace of terrorism," Chouhan said at the chief ministers' conference on internal security which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened Monday in New Delhi.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that the government will provide Rs 1,000-crore subsidy on diesel to paddy farmers for irrigation during the on-going Kharif season in order to provide relief to growers in times of erratic monsoon. "One major decision which the government has taken in yesterday's Cabinet meeting is to extend a budgetary provision of Rs 1,000 crore for the support of the (paddy) farmers who are using diesel pumps," Pawar said on Friday.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday gave the country's elite investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a Rs.330 crore (Rs.3.3 billion) support in the financial budget for its modernization. The CBI received Rs.71 crore (Rs.710 million) more than the last fiscal when it got Rs.259 crore (Rs.2.59 billion).

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With a view to giving a fillip to the tourism industry, which is witnessing a downturn due to the global meltdown, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated Rs.1,070 crore to the sector in the union budget he presented in parliament Monday. Mukherjee also announced custom duty exemption for water and snow equipment to boost adventure tourism.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday increased the 2009-10 budgetary outlay for the national capital by over 200 percent to about Rs.2,500 crore (Rs.25 billion). The city will get more funds for housing, infrastructure and for basic services to the urban poor.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has earmarked Rs.700 crore for the ministry of culture with more allocations for zonal cultural centres, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi, the National School of Drama, the Asiatic Society, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Archaeological Survey of India. In the 2009-10 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Monday, Rs.36.1 crore has been earmarked for the building projects of attached and subordinate offices of the ministry of culture.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech on Monday said that the government has taken a conscious and bold decision to enhance the Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for the Annual Plan 2009-10 by Rs.40,000 crore over the interim budget for 2009-10. He stressed that bulk of enhanced GBS is directed towards public investment in infrastructure with special emphasis on rural infrastructure, raising growth potential and leading to income generations.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - For modernization of police force in the States, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed an additional amount of Rs. 430 crore over and above the provision in the Interim Budget.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Out of a total plan outlay of Rs.12,165 crore for the civil aviation ministry, a sum of Rs.190 crore will be provided as budgetary support to various organisations under the ministry, the government said Monday after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the annual budget in Parliament. Out of the Rs.190 crore, India's airport developer, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been allocated Rs.99.15 crore for development of airports.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Saying a 'threshold has been crossed' with the Mumbai terror attacks, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee hiked the allocation for defence by 34 percent to Rs.141,703 crore (Rs.1.417 trillion) in the interim budget for 2009-10 he presented in the Lok Sabha Monday. The allocation is nearly 15 percent of the total interim budget of Rs.953,231 crore for the fiscal beginning April 1.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday revised the total expenditure estimate in the current fiscal to a little over Rs.9 trillion (Rs.900,953 crore), an increase of Rs.1.5 trillion (Rs.150,069 crore) on account of increased assistance to states, greater sectoral investments and a higher subsidy burden. In the interim budget that he presented in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee hiked the plan expenditure by Rs.395.71 billion (Rs.39,571 crore) to Rs.2.82 trillion (Rs.282,957 crore), against the budgeted estimate of Rs.2.43 trillion (Rs.243,386 crore).

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Maintaining a 'threshold has been crossed' with the Mumbai terror attacks, the Indian government hiked the allocation for defence by 34 percent to Rs.141,703 crore (Rs.1.417 trillion) in the interim budget for 2009-10 that External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented in the Lok Sabha Monday. 'We welcome the budget,' Defence Minister A.K.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Holding a 'threshold has been crossed' with the Mumbai terror attacks, the Indian government hiked the allocation for defence by 34 percent to Rs.141,703 crore (Rs.1.417 trillion) in the interim budget for 2009-10 External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented in the Lok Sabha Monday. The allocation is nearly 15 percent of the total interim budget of Rs.953,231 crore for the fiscal beginning April 1.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Security experts have viewed as marginal the 34 percent hike in the defence allocation in the interim budget for 2009-10 presented in the Lok Sabha Monday, pointing to the armed forces returning Rs.7,000 crore from what had been earmarked for arms purchases during the fiscal ending Mar 31. 'On the face of it they are talking about an increase of 25 percent (in real terms) but much of it is going to be used to pay arrears to the armed forces personnel after the (hikes recommended by the) Sixth Pay Commission,' defence analyst Commodore (retd) C.