India has been the top international investor in Britain for three consecutive years, union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Saturday.
Talking to media persons, the finance minister said: "European nations have taught us industrialization in the last 150 years. But now, the economic scenario has been reversed. India has been among the top international investors in the United Kingdom and is hence providing employment to Britons."
Mukherjee was talking to media after delivering the keynote address as the chief guest at the convocation of the Institute of Management & Technology here.
In a speech that lasted almost two hours, Mr. Mukherjee didn’t once mention, as far as I could hear, the phrase “economic reform.” There was a passing reference to opening up multi-brand retail to FDI, a plan that was shelved after opposition from the government’s own allies. But all he said was that the government would consult with the stakeholders and try to build a “consensus” around the policy proposal. That’s a tactful way of saying that nothing is likely to happen.
The central portion of the speech consisted of a long series of spending plans laid out by the finance minister. There’s no two ways about it: this was old-fashioned red-blooded populism, a budget laying out the goodies in advance of what is likely to be a difficult run-up to the elections due in 2014. Normally, governments in Westminster-style parliamentary democracies reserve the pre-election goodies for the year before an election.
But given the battering the Congress Party has taken in the recent state assembly elections, still reeling from a string of corruption scandals last year, it’s evident that Mr. Mukherjee has decided to pull out the stops and deliver a pre-election budget this year, fully two years ahead of the expected election date.
Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi proposed rail budget 2012 today. Dinesh Trivedi Announces Annual Plan of Rs. 60,100 crore. Some important in proposed railway budget.
Then he talked of increasing the speed of passenger trains to 160 km per hour so that travel time is reduced and so is consumption of fuel. He also talked of having dedicated corridors where trains can reach a speed of 260 km per hour.
The cunning part of his speech was that he said that the government should allocate more money for railways it has earmarked for infrastructure in the 12th Five Year Plan because railways is a critical part of infrastructure.
This was a curious argument coming from a minister in the minister which is engaged in formulating the 12th Five Year Plan.
Denesh Trivedi presented his first budget to the rail. The rail minister on July 12, 2012 was established. Budget 2012 delivers a short speech on the rail. The safety of modernization, and operating profits are brining emphasized.
He admitted that the Indian Railways through a difficult phase. He emphasized the strengthening of the Railway. He promised that by strengthening the safety of their target is zero deaths.
He has received applications from various states in 5741 to improve the railway's condition. He promised to make Indian Railways the best sparking services with the world. He stated that funding for the Indian Railways is the point where it needs to be resolved collectively.
