Sunday, November 25, 2012

Tourism Australia Media Centre - Chinese opinion leaders experience some of Australia"s best drops

Tourism Australia Media Centre - Chinese opinion leaders experience some of Australia"s best drops






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Monday, April 11, 2011

President Peoples Republic Of India


Rashtrapati Bhavan

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The Rashtrapati Bhavan

Main Gate of the Presidents house
Town Raisina Hill
New Delhi 110004
Country Republic of India
Started January 13, 1911; 100 years ago (1911-01-13)
Architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens
The Rashtrapati Bhavan (Sanskrit for Presidential House/Palace) or The Official Residence of the Head of the State is the official residence of the President of India, located at Raisina hill in New Delhi, India. Until 1950 it was known as "Viceroy's House" and served as the residence of the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. It is amidst an area known as Lutyens' Delhi.
At present, it is the only largest residence of any Chief of the State in the world.[1][2] The construction of the building was planned for 4 years, but World War I intervened and construction required 19 years to complete. Its first occupant, Lord Irwin, began occupation on Jan. 23, 1931. [3] It is the current residence of President of India.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] History

[edit] Origin

During the Delhi Durbar year of 1911, it was decided that the capital of India would be relocated from Calcutta to Delhi. This was announced on December 12 by King George V. As the plan for New Delhi was developed, the Governor-General's residence was given an enormous scale and prominent position. The British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, a major member of the city-planning process, was given the primary architectural responsibility. The palace developed very similarly to the original sketches which Lutyens sent Herbert Baker from Simla on June 14, 1912. Lutyens' design is grandly classical overall, with colours and details inspired by Indian architecture.
Lutyens and Baker who had been assigned to work on the Viceroy's House and the Secretariats, began on friendly terms. Baker had been assigned to work on the two secretariat buildings which were in front of Viceroy's House. The original plan was to have Viceroy's House on the top of Raisina Hill, with the secretariats lower down. It was later decided to build 400 yards back, and put both buildings on top of the plateau. While Lutyens wanted the Viceroy's house to be higher, he was forced to move it back from the intended position, which resulted in a dispute with Baker. After completion of the palace, Lutyens argued with Baker, because the view of the front of the palace was obscured by the high angle of the road.
Canon outside the entrance to Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Lutyens campaigned for its fixing, but was not able to get it to be changed. Lutyens wanted to make a long inclined grade all the way to Viceroy's house with retaining walls either side. While this would give a view of the house from further back, it would also cut through the square between the secretariat buildings. The committee with Lutyens and Baker established during January 1914 said the grade was to be no steeper than 1 in 25, though it eventually was changed to 1 in 22, a steeper gradient which made it more difficult to see the Viceroy's palace. While Lutyens knew about the gradient, and the possibility that the Viceroy's palace would be obscured by the road, it is thought that Lutyens did not fully realise how little the front of the house would be visible. During 1916 the Imperial Delhi committee dismissed Lutyens's proposal to alter the gradient. Lutyens thought Baker was more concerned with making money and pleasing the government, rather than making a good architectural design.
Lutyens travelled between India and England almost every year for twenty years, to work on the building of the Viceroy's house in both countries. Lutyens had to reduce the building size from 13,000,000 cubic feet (370,000 m3) to 8,500,000 cubic feet (241,000 m3). because of the budget restrictions of Lord Hardinge. While he had demanded that costs be reduced, he nevertheless wanted the house to retain a certain amount of ceremonial grandeur.

[edit] Architecture Designs

[edit] Site

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is a large and vast mansion with four floors and has 340 rooms. It is built on a floor area of 200,000 square feet.

[edit] Design

Rashtrapati Bhwan central dome
The ancillary dome-like structure on top of the building is known as a Chuttri, an integral part of Indian architectural design. (This picture shows one of the Secretariats, designed by Baker, which are not part of Rashtrapati Bhavan.)
Rashtrapati Bhavan-Delhi-India4434.JPG
Elephant statues on the outer wall.
Various Indian designs were added to the building. These included several circular stone basins on the top of the palace, as water features are an important part of Indian architecture. There was also a traditional Indian chujja or chhajja, which occupied the place of a frieze in classical architecture; it was a sharp, thin, protruding element which extended 8 feet (2.4 m) from the building, and created deep shadows. It stopped harsh sunlight from getting to the windows and also stopped rain during a monsoon season. On the roofline were several chuttris, which helped to break up the look of the flat part of the roofline not covered by the dome. Lutyens appropriated some Indian designs, but used them sparingly and effectively throughout the palace. There were also statues of elephants and fountain sculptures of cobras in the gardens. The British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger, known for his war memorials in Britain, designed the elephant shapes on the corners of the retaining walls, as well as the bas-reliefs around the base of the Jaipur Column.[4]
There were grilles made from red sandstone, called jalis or jaalis. These jalis were inspired by Indian design. The front of the palace, on the east side, has twelve unevenly spaced columns with the Delhi order capitals. These capitals have a fusion of acanthus leaves with the four pendant Indian bells. The Indian temple bells are a part of the culture of Indian religions, such as Hindu and Buddhist, the idea being from a Jain temple at Moodabidri in Karnataka. One bell is on each corner at the top of the column. It was said that as the bells were silent British rule in India would not end. The front of the palace does not have windows, except for the wings at the sides. Lutyens established ateliers in Delhi and Lahore to employ local craftsmen, The chief engineer of the project was Sir Teja Singh Malik, and four main contractors included Sir Sobha Singh. [3]
Lutyens added several small personal elements to the house, such as an area in the garden walls and two ventilator windows on the stateroom to look like the glasses which he wore. The Viceregal Lodge was completed largely by 1929, and (along with the rest of New Delhi) inaugurated officially during 1931. It is interesting to note that the building was completed in seventeen years and only eighteen years later India became independent. After Indian independence during 1947, the now ceremonial governor-general continued to live there, being succeeded by the president during 1950 when India became a republic and the house was renamed "Rashtrapati Bhavan".
Lutyens stated that the dome is inspired by the Pantheon of Rome.[5] There is also the presence of Mughal and European colonial architectural elements. Overall the structure is distinctly different from other contemporary British Colonial symbols. It has 355 decorated rooms and a floor area of 200,000 square feet (19,000 m²). The structure includes 700 million bricks[6] and 3.5 million cubic feet (85,000 m³) of stone, with only minimal usage of steel. It was built during 1919 with 340 rooms.

[edit] Plan

The plan of the palace is designed around a massive square although there are many courtyards and open inner areas within. There are separate wings for the Viceroy, and another wing for guests. The Viceroy's wing is a separate four-storey house in itself, with its own court areas within. The wing was so large that the first president of India decided not to stay there, staying in the guest wing, a tradition which was adopted by subsequent presidents. At the centre of the main part of the palace, underneath the main dome, is the Durbar Hall, which was known as the Throne Room during British rule when it had thrones for the Viceroy and his wife. The interior of this room and almost all the rooms of the palace are bare, relying on the stonework and shapes to show austerity rather than intricate decoration. In the hall, the columns are made in Delhi order which combines vertical lines with the motif of a bell. The vertical lines from the column were also used in the frieze around the room, which could not have been done with one of the traditional Greek orders of columns. The hall has a 2-ton chandelier which hangs from a 33-metre height. On each of the four corners of the hall is a room, including two state drawing rooms, a state supper room and the state library. There are also other rooms such as many loggias (galleries with open air on one side) which face out into the courtyards, a large dining hall with an extremely long table, sitting rooms, billiards rooms, and a large ball room, and staircases. Water features are also through the palace, such as near the Viceroy's stairs, which has eight marble lion statues spilling water into six basins. The lions symbolise Britain, as the lion was often used for this purpose. There is also an open area in one room to the sky, which lets in much of the natural light.

[edit] Dome

Dome
The dome in the middle involved a mixture of Indian and British styles. In the centre was a tall copper dome surmounted on top of a drum, which stands out from the rest of the building, due to its height. The dome is exactly in the middle of the diagonals between the four corners of the building. The dome is more than twice the height of the rest of the building.
The height of the dome was increased by Lord Hardinge in the plan of the building during 1913. The dome combines classical and Indian styles. Lutyens said the design evolved from that of the Pantheon in Rome, while it is also possible that it was modeled partly after the great Stupa at Sanchi. A porch is around the dome with evenly spaced columns which support the dome, with an open area between the columns. Because this goes the whole way round, it makes the dome appear from any angle that it is floating as seen in the heat haze of Delhi. The reinforced concrete shell of the outer dome began to be formed during the beginning of 1929. The last stone of the dome was laid on April 6, 1929.

[edit] Location

Main article: Prakash Vir Shastri Avenue
The main entrance to Rashtrapati Bhavan is known as Gate 35, and is located on Prakash Vir Shastri Avenue, renamed from North Avenue during November 2002, as a memorial to the politician of the namesake who served here during his tenure as a Member of Parliament for the state of Uttar Pradesh.[7]

[edit] Mughal Gardens

The Mughal Gardens situated at the back of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, incorporates both Mughal and English landscaping styles. It displays numerous types of flowers and is open to public in February every year.

[edit] Trivia

  • No steel was used to construct The Palace of India.

[edit] In popular culture

  • The song Des Rangila from Fanaa was shot at Rashtrapati Bhavan including its rehearsal scenes.

[edit] Restoration

First restoration project at the Rashtrapati bhawan was performed during 1985 and ended during 1989, during which the Ashoka Hall was stripped of its latter additions and restored to their original state by the worked done by architectural restorer, Sunita Kohli. The second restoration project began during 2010 involved Charles Correa and Sunita Kohli.[8][3][9]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{
     
    Cite web}}    ". http://www.indiadelhihotels.com/delhi/rashtrapati-bhawan-president-house.php
     
    . Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
  2. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{
     
    Cite web}}    ". http://presidentofindia.nic.in/rb.html
     
    . Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c "Lutyens' Legacy"
     
    . Forbes. 07.02.07. http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/20/072a.html
     
    .     
  4. ^ Hussey, Christopher (1953). The Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 0 907462 59 6. 
  5. ^ http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-monuments/rashtrapati-bhavan.html
     
  6. ^ Wilhide, Elizabeth (2000). Sir Edwin Lutyens - Designing in the English Tradition. p. 50.
  7. ^ "ANMC 21 is airborne with grandiose plans"
     
    . Tribune News Service. November 22, 2003. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021123/ncr1.htm
     
    .     
  8. ^ "Setting the House in order"
     
    . The Times of India. Jul 17, 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Setting-the-House-in-order/articleshow/6179648.cms
     
    .     
  9. ^ "Kalam's 'thinking hut' demolished"
     
    . The Times of India. Jul 16, 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Kalams-thinking-hut-demolished/articleshow/6174242.cms
     
    .     

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 28°36′52″N 77°11′59″E / 28.614342°N 77.199804°E / 28.614342; 77.199804
 

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Government of India

Government of India

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The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India.
The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him.[1] The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the president. The Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level.
The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalised for local governance.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Parliamentary government

Sansad Bhavan
India has a parliamentary system of government based largely on that of the United Kingdom (Westminster system). However, eminent scholars including the first President Dr Rajendra Prasad have raised the question "how far we are entitled to invoke and incorporate into our written Constitution by interpretation the conventions of the British Constitution".[2]
The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly-elected 545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy.
All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.

[edit] Individual responsibility

Every individual minister is in charge of a specific ministry or ministries (or specific other portfolio). He is responsible for any act of failure in all the policies relating to his department. In case of any lapse, he is individually responsible to the Parliament. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the individual minister, he has to resign. Individual responsibility can amount to collective responsibility. Therefore, the Prime Minister, in order to save his government, can ask for the resignation of such a minister and the people have a say.

[edit] Collective responsibility

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the council are jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all the ministers headed by the Prime Minister have to resign.

[edit] Executive Branch

Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy.The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch - an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.

[edit] President

The Rashtrapati Bhawan where President,Vice President,Cabinet Secretary and other Secretaries meet.
The executive power is vested on mainly the President of India by Article 53(1) of the constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advise tendered by the head of government (Prime Minister of India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 (Constitution of India).
The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:
  • Governors of States
  • The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India.
  • The Attorney General
  • The President's Officer
  • The Comptroller and Auditor General
  • The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary
  • The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission
Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries. The President also receives the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

[edit] Cabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretariat of India.
The head of executive officers is Cabinet Secretary after President of India.The Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board, and thus the head of the Indian Administrative Service.
As a matter of convention the senior most civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent has a fixed tenure of 4 years.
The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all the civil services under the constitution like IAS,IPS,IRS,IFS,PCS,PPS etc. Thus, he is the head of all the All India services including the Indian Police Service(IPS), Indian Administrative Service(IAS), Indian Foreign Service(IFS), Indian Revenue Service(IRS) and the Indian Forest Service(IFS). He ranks tenth in the Table of Precedence of India. The current Cabinet Secretary is Shri K.M.Chandrasekhar.
The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary:
Provide assistance to the Council of Ministers Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the civil services Handle senior appointments Prepare of the agenda of the Cabinet Attend the meetings of the Cabinet Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented Advise the Prime Minister Act as the Chairman of the Committee of Secretaries on Administration Act as the Chairman of the Chief Secretaries Committee Provide an element of continuity and stability to administration during crises In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 "Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business.
The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted.
The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.
The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advise and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs Committee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India.

[edit] Judicial branch

Supreme Court of India.
India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 30 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. In the 1960s, India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges.
Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts at the state level, and District and Session Courts at the district level.

[edit] National judiciary

Main article: Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court, or from a court subordinate to another State High Court.
Public Interest Litigation(PIL) : Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

[edit] Reform

[edit] Corruption

Main article: Corruption in India
Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2007
In 2009, nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of parliament had been charged with crimes, including rape or murder.[3]
There are many institutional efforts such as the Right to Information Act, computerization/e-Governance, the establishment of Lokayukta to check corruption.

[edit] Inefficiency

Indian government is among the most bureaucratic in the world. The current government has concluded that most spending fails to reach its intended recipients.[4] Lant Pritchett calls India's public sector "one of the world's top ten biggest problems - of the order of AIDS and climate change".[4] The Economist article about Indian civil service (2008) said that Indian central government employs around 3 million people and states another 7 million, including "vast armies of paper-shuffling peons".[4] The Economist states that "India has some of the hardest-working bureaucrats in the world, but its administration has an abysmal record of serving the public".[5]
Unannounced visits by government inspectors showed that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace. Teacher absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Despite worse absence rates, public sector teachers enjoy salaries at least five times higher than private sector teachers. India's absence rates are among the worst in the world.[6][7][8][9]
Many experiments with computerization have failed due to corruption and other factors.[10][11] In 2008, Tanmoy Chakrabarty noted that "There are vested interests everywhere, politicians fear that they will lose control with e-government, and this is coming in the way of successful implementation of e-government projects in India. [...] Out of the 27 projects under the NEGP, only one (the MCA21 program) has been completed. There is tremendous gap between conceptualization and implementation".[11]

[edit] Spending priorities

See also: Subsidies in India
The government subsidizes everything from gasoline to food.[12][dead link] Loss-making state-owned enterprises are supported by the government.[12][dead link] Farmers are given electricity for free.[12][dead link] Overall, a 2005 article by International Herald Tribune stated that subsidies amounted to 14% of GDP.[12][dead link] As much as 39 percent of subsidized kerosene is stolen.[12][dead link] Moreover, these subsidies cause economic distortions.[12][dead link]
On the other hand, India spends relatively little on education, health, or infrastructure. Urgently needed infrastructure investment has been much lower than in China. According to the UNESCO, India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student among developing and developed countries.[13]

[edit] Deficits

As per the CIA World Factbook, India ranks 23rd in the world, with respect to the Public Debt, with a total of 61.30% of GDP, just before United States, which ranks 24th (2008 estimated).[14]

[edit] Finance

[edit] Taxation

Main article: Taxation in India
Regional office of the State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, in Mumbai. The government of India is the largest shareholder in SBI.
India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union government to levy income tax, tax on capital transactions (wealth tax, inheritance tax), sales tax, service tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, tax on entertainment and professions, excise duties on manufacture of alcohol, stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local governments are empowered by the state government to levy property tax and charge users for public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[15][16] More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which half come from Indirect taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state governments.[17]
The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:
  • Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, customs and making it more progressive
  • Reducing exemptions and concessions
  • Simplification of laws and procedures
  • Introduction of permanent account number (PAN) to track monetary transactions
  • 21 of the 28 states introduced value added tax (VAT) on April 1, 2005 to replace the complex and multiple sales tax system[16][18]
The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.[19]
Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the President.
Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a figure of 37–45% in the OECD.

[edit] General budget

The Finance minister of India presents the annual union budget in the Parliament on the last working day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on April 1, the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year. This economic survey involves all the various NGOs, women organizations, business people, old people associations etc.
The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 2009-10 was Indian Rupee ₹1,020,838 crore (US$221.5 billion), of which Indian Rupee ₹695,689 crore (US$151 billion) was towards Non Plan and Indian Rupee ₹325,149 crore (US$70.6 billion) towards Plan expenditure. Total estimated revenue was Indian Rupee ₹619,842 crore (US$134.5 billion), including revenue receipts of Indian Rupee ₹614,497 crore (US$133.3 billion) and capital receipts of Indian Rupee ₹5,345 crore (US$1.2 billion), excluding borrowings. The resulting fiscal deficit was Indian Rupee ₹400,996 crore (US$87 billion) while revenue deficit was Indian Rupee ₹282,735 crore (US$61.4 billion).The gross tax receipts were budgeted at Indian Rupee ₹641,079 crore (US$139.1 billion) and non-tax revenue receipts at Indian Rupee ₹140,279 crore (US$30.4 billion).
India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly fivefold in 2003–04 since 1990–91 and more than tenfold since 1985–1986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non development expenditure in the 2003–04 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing due to India's desire to project its military prowess beyond South Asia. In 2007, India's defence spending stood at US$26.5 billion.[20]

[edit] References

Flag of India.svg India portal
  1. ^ Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt of India: Constitution of India, updated up to 94th Amendment Act, page 26,http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf
     
  2. ^ Why we need an executive president : Rajinder Puri, Outlook India, para 11, http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?235067
     
  3. ^ Washington Post:When the Little Ones Run the Show (quote from the New Delhi based Association for Democratic Reform)
     
    retrieved 14 May 2009
  4. ^ a b c India's civil service: Battling the babu raj
     
    Mar 6th 2008 The Economist
  5. ^ "India's civil service: Battling the babu raj"
     
    . The Economist. March 6, 2008. http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10804248
     
    .     
  6. ^ Teachers and Medical Worker Incentives in India by Karthik Muralidharan
     
  7. ^ Combating India's truant teachers
     
    . BBC
  8. ^ Private Schools in Rural India: Some Facts
     
    (presentation) / Public and Private Schools in Rural India
     
    (a paper). Karthik Muralidharan, Michael Kremer.
  9. ^ Teacher absence in India: A snapshot
     
  10. ^ Subhash Bhatnagar (Indian Institute of Management). "Transparency and Corruption: Does E-Government Help?"
     
    . http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~subhash/pdfs/CHRIDraftPaper2003.pdf
     
    .     
  11. ^ a b Swati Prasad (2008). "'Corruption' slowing India's e-govt growth"
     
    . ZDNet Asia. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62044787,00.htm
     
    .     
  12. ^ a b c d e f "India should redirect subsidies to those who need them"
     
    . The International Herald Tribute. 2005. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/25/bloomberg/sxmuk.php
     
    .     
  13. ^ "Higher education spending: India at the bottom of BRIC"
     
    . Rediff. 2005. http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/05edu.htm
     
    .     
  14. ^ CIA World Factbook
     
  15. ^ Service tax and expenditure tax are not levied in Jammu and Kashmir; Intra-state sale happens when goods or the title of goods move from one state to another.
  16. ^ a b Bernardi, Luigi and Fraschini, Angela (2005). Tax System And Tax Reforms In India
     
    . Working paper n. 51. http://ideas.repec.org/p/uca/ucapdv/45.html
     
    .     
  17. ^ Tax revenue was 88% of total union government revenue in 1950–51 and has come down to 73% in 2003–04, as a result of increase in non-tax revenue. Tax revenues were 70% of total state government revenues in 2002 to 2003. Indirect taxes were 84% of the union governments total tax revenue and have come down to 62% in 2003–04, mostly due to cuts in import duties and rationalisation. The states share in union government's tax revenue is 28.0% for the period 2000 to 2005 as per the recommendations of the eleventh finance commission. In addition, states that do not levy sales tax on sugar, textiles and tobacco, are entitled to 1.5% of the proceeds.Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M. (2005). Indian Economy. S.Chand. pp. 938, 942, 946. ISBN 81-219-0298-3. 
  18. ^ "Indif_real_GDP_per_capitaa says 21 of 29 states to launch new tax"
     
    . Daily Times. March 25, 2005. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-3-2005_pg5_13
     
    .     
  19. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "55". Indian Economy. pp. 943–945. 
  20. ^ Kamdar, Mira (April 3, 2008). "India's budget may backfire | The Australian"
     
    . Theaustralian.news.com.au. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23474033-23850,00.html
     
    . Retrieved 2008-11-03.     

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 81-7036-809-X (India HB) ISBN 0-7619-9344-4 (U.S. HB).
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