The Indian government laid out plans in this year's budget to spend over 9 per cent than the previous year, with a higher allocation of funds for rural infrastructure, health care and agriculture, in a bid to win over voters ahead of parliamentary elections in 2019.
Arun Jaitley, the finance minister, presented his annual budget to parliament on Thursday – before the eight state elections over the coming year and the general elections next summer. He did so amid growing concerns about India's flagging economy and its inability to create enough jobs for the million people who enter the workforce every month.
"We are now firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8 per cent plus," Mr Jaitley said.
India’s economy is projected to expand between 6.5 to 6.75 per cent in the 2017-18 financial year—the lowest in the four years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, according to government figures.
Among big-ticket expenditure items is an increase in the minimum price at which the government buys grain from farmers. The new price will be 1.5 times the old price. At the moment, the minimum support price stands at around 1,550 rupees (Dh88.92) per 100 kilograms for rice, for example, and around 5,400 rupees per 100 kgs for lentils.
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The government has earmarked a 20-billion-rupee fund to improve the transport, storage and sales infrastructure around the 22,000 state-run agricultural markets in the country. The capital outlay for the infrastructure sector accounts for about a fifth of total budgeted expenditure.
Agriculture accounts for 14 per cent of the Indian economy, employing at least 263 million Indians, 22 per cent of the country's population, according to government census data. Millions more depend upon the sector indirectly for their livelihood. The budget does not provide revenue estimates. Those emerge after the end of the tax year in March.
The measures targeting farmers were a response to a deepening crisis in the sector. Farmers have held protests across the country over their diminishing incomes. India suffered crippling droughts in 2014 and 2015, and prices of food products have since tumbled.
Mr Modi’s November 2016 move to demonetise large currency notes, in an effort to root out individuals who had stashes of untaxed and undeclared money, also hurt farmers. Vegetable prices, for example, were lower by 24 per cent compared to November 2015, and by 33 per cent the following month.
In response to farmer protests, state governments across India announced massive waivers of agricultural loans. The state of Maharashtra, for instance, agreed to waive 340 billion rupees in farmer loans last year.
The budget includes a new health insurance scheme to cover 500 million of India’s poorest people, dubbed “the world’s largest healthcare programme”. The scheme provides health insurance coverage of 500,000 rupees per family every year.
The government will spend 12bn rupees to create 150,000 new health and wellness centres around the country, to bring medical care "closer to the homes of people," Mr Jaitley said.
The budget also promised funds to build 10 million houses in rural India over the next two years. A new funding agency will also channel public and private investment into higher education, aiming to invest 1 trillion rupees over the next four years.
“I don’t think I can blame the budget for being motivated by scoring points in election, but the fiscal arithmetic is faulty,” Manmohan Singh, an economist and India’s previous prime minister, said. “This budget is high on projecting a bright picture, but how will that be sustained [given the deficit]?”
The new expenditures widen India’s fiscal deficit. As policy, India targets a deficit that is 3 per cent of the country’s GDP. Ahead of the budget, a Reuters poll of economists estimated Mr Jaitley’s target to be 3.2 per cent. Thursday's budget revealed the government faces 3.5 per cent deficit in 2017-18 and 3.3 per cent in 2018-19.
The wider shortfall is a function of shrinking revenue rather than outlandish expenditure, said John Samuel Raja, the founder of How India Lives, a firm that analyses government data.
"The total planned spending for 2018-19 is 24tn rupees. For the previous year, it was 22tn rupees, and 19.75tn the year before that," Mr Raja said. "So an increase of 10 or 11 per cent every year is standard."
But revenues haven’t kept pace with expenditure, he pointed out, “and that’s a very bad sign.”
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
SCHEDULE
6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,600m
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 2,000m
9.25pm:Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Amith's predicted winners:
6.30pm: Down On Da Bayou
7.05pm: Etisalat
7.40pm: Mulfit
8.15pm: Pennsylvania Dutch
8.50pm: Mudallel
9.25pm: Midnight Sands
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio
Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
The%20specs
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THE SPECS
Jaguar F-Pace SVR
Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Price: Dh465,071
The%20Kitchen
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The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
ABU%20DHABI%20CARD
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
THREE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENTS
Khalfan Mubarak
The Al Jazira playmaker has for some time been tipped for stardom within UAE football, with Quique Sanchez Flores, his former manager at Al Ahli, once labelling him a “genius”. He was only 17. Now 23, Mubarak has developed into a crafty supplier of chances, evidenced by his seven assists in six league matches this season. Still to display his class at international level, though.
Rayan Yaslam
The Al Ain attacking midfielder has become a regular starter for his club in the past 15 months. Yaslam, 23, is a tidy and intelligent player, technically proficient with an eye for opening up defences. Developed while alongside Abdulrahman in the Al Ain first-team and has progressed well since manager Zoran Mamic’s arrival. However, made his UAE debut only last December.
Ismail Matar
The Al Wahda forward is revered by teammates and a key contributor to the squad. At 35, his best days are behind him, but Matar is incredibly experienced and an example to his colleagues. His ability to cope with tournament football is a concern, though, despite Matar beginning the season well. Not a like-for-like replacement, although the system could be adjusted to suit.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium