Business govt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged foreign investors to tap the array of investment opportunities thrown up by the government’s decision to privatise most public sector entities and monetise ‘unutilised and underutilised assets’ such as airports that have an estimated investment potential of ₹2.5 lakh crore. The government’s mantra is ‘Monetise or Modernise’, the PM said, stressing that the funds raised from the exercise will help empower citizens by building homes for the poor and ensuring clean water reaches all. “Many such flaws remain in our country even today. We cannot wait any longer,” he said. “Our policy goes beyond annual disinvestment targets, to a medium-term strategic approach. This will help create new investment opportunities for industry in every sector. These are valuable assets, have served the country well, and have many future possibilities too. We have often seen, when management changes, the fortunes change,” the PM said at a webinar with … [Read more...] about ‘Monetise or modernise’ is Modi’s mantra for govt. assets

SINGAPORE: Singapore's financial position will be "a lot weaker in the coming years", but the Government will continue to find ways to manage this "difficult financial situation", said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat in an interview with CNA on Wednesday (May 27). A total of S$52 billion will be drawn from past reserves this financial year to help Singapore as it battles the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. “I will address the issue of how we are going to ensure that we continue to have the fiscal power to keep Singapore safe, not just in this one year, two years, but for the long term and I will address Parliament on this issue later,” said Mr Heng. “But for now, let me say that we have a huge work ahead of us, which is to make the very best use of every dollar and cent that we have taken from the past reserves and make sure that we use it wisely and make sure that it counts. And if we can do that, that will allow us to bounce back better and allow us to … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Singapore’s financial position will be weaker in coming years, but Govt will manage the situation, says DPM Heng

HANOI: Vietnam Airlines will likely make losses of 14 trillion dong to 15 trillion dong (US$604 million to US$647 million) this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said on Thursday (Nov 26). It would take up to three years for local airlines to fully recover from the pandemic, the government said in a statement on its website. Last week, Vietnam's National Assembly, the country's lawmaking body, approved a government plan to boost the capital of the airlines, which reported a net loss of US$453 million for the first nine months of this year. The country's flag carrier is 86 per cent owned by the government. … [Read more...] about Vietnam Airlines likely to make losses of up to US$647 million this year: Govt

SINGAPORE: Singapore will spend an estimated S$3.5 billion on the procurement of information and communications technology (ICT) this financial year to boost the economy and support businesses recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak. This estimated expenditure is 30 per cent more compared to the last financial year’s projected spend of S$2.7 billion, the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) said in a media release on Monday (Jun 8). “The increased spending will help the Government accelerate digitalisation as technology becomes increasingly vital in enabling citizens and workers to resume normal activities, and businesses to reopen safely after the COVID-19 circuit breaker," said GovTech. READ: Expanded programme to place and train 3,000 Singaporeans in tech jobs over next two to three years The projected ICT expenditure will focus on five key areas: Development of new technology tools to respond to COVID-19, development of citizen- and business-centric digital services, … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Singapore to spend S$3.5 billion on information and communications technology to support businesses

The Income Tax Department on Friday extended the deadline for filing declarations and making payment under the direct tax dispute resolution scheme Vivad Se Vishwas (VsV) till March 31 and April 30. "CBDT further extends the date for filing of declarations under the #VivadSeVishwas Act, 2020 to 31st March, 2021. Date for payment without additional amount under VsV extended to 30th April, 2021," the I-T department tweeted. The last date for filing declaration under VsV scheme was February 28, while for paying the disputed tax the date is March 31. As many as 1,25,144 cases have so far opted for the Vivad se Vishwas (VsV) Scheme, which is 24.5 per cent of the 5,10,491 cases that were pending at different legal fora. CBDT further extends the date for filing of declarations under the #VivadSeVishwas Act, 2020 to 31st March, 2021. pic.twitter.com/vRY0eNY4Bx — Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) February 26, 2021 About Rs 97,000 crore worth disputed tax has opted for … [Read more...] about Govt extends deadline for filing declarations, payment date under VsV scheme: Check details