Union budget offers new services without additional taxes, says CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Feb 1: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday hailed the Union Budget for offering many new services and amenities without proposing additional taxes on the people.
"I congratulate Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a unique budget which does not add any extra tax burden on people, but offers many facilities," he said, addressing a press conference.
The Chief Minister opined that emphasis placed on rural India in the budget will benefit the farmers in a big way.
"This budget is a boon for farmers. It's a clear reflection of the Prime Minister's desire to double farmers' income by 2022.
The 'Jal Jivan' scheme extended to 100 water stressed districts will benefit farmers in a big way,"Yediyurappa said.
Never in the past had the country seen so much of budgetary allocation for farmers, the elderly and rural population, he said
"The scheme to minimise dependence on power grid through solar pumps will benefit 20 lakh farmers, while the Kisan Rail and Kisan Udan schemes will help farmers transport their produce," the Chief Minister opined.
Allowing Foreign Direct Investment in education will benefit the student community, he said, adding that offering online degree courses will help the poor get educated at their homes.
The budget, Yediyurappa said, gives impetus to industries to flourish, especially the export hub in every district will help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Investment of Rs 1.7 lakh for transport and basic infrastructure would attract investors, he opined.
He said that a long standing demand of the city has been fulfilled with the budgetary allocation for the suburban Railway in Bengaluru.
"The impetus given to the Bengaluru Suburban Railway will help ease traffic congestion in the city.
This project will be implemented under the Public Private Partnership, where the state and centre will invest 20 per cent each of the total project cost, while loans will be taken for the rest of the project cost," the Chief Minister said.
He assured speedy implementation of the project.
Yediyurappa also hailed the announcement of a taxpayer charter, calling it a major step to stop harassing taxpayers, which would eventually increase the tax revenue.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
