 | 'Interest rate cut on saving plans had Finance Minister, Election Commission's nod', reveals RTIDetails of communications between the Department of Economic Affairs and the EC received through RTI revealed that the DEA had written to the EC on March 31 seeking its approval on the rate cut. |
 | Nirmala Sitharaman to consider Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao’s request to raise borrowing limitHarish Rao said that the State was facing financial problems due to the lockdown and they did not know for how long the lockdown would continue. |
 | 'Voice 'muzzled' in GST Council meet, dissent not heard': Bengal Finance Minister hits out at CentreMinister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur, however, countered Mitra's charges saying that technical glitches marred West Bengal Finance Minister speech. |
 | Covid drugs, tools get cheaper, GST Council decides to maintain status quo on vaccine taxNo GST on black fungus medicine, rates cut for ventilators, sanitisers, test kits, ambulances |
 | GST Council chaired by FM Nirmala Sitharaman cuts tax on COVID-19 medicines, equipmentWhile GST on Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B is slashed to nil from 5 per cent, the rate on Remdesivir and anti-coagulants like Heparin is lowered from 12 percent to 5 percent. |
 | Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asks various departments to front load capital expenditureShe also urged the concerned departments to explore public private partnerships for viable projects. |
| FM Nirmala Sitharaman to chair GST Council meet on June 12; tax cut on COVID essentials on agendaThe Congress party- and other Opposition-ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. |
| Covid second wave shock limited to Q1, recovery tied to vaccine: Finance Minister Nirmala SitharamanHowever, this prognosis will hold true only if the vaccination drive becomes aggressive and all Budget announcements are implemented efficiently, the report added. |
 | Expect system to stabilise this week: Infosys on I-T portal glitchInfosys was in 2019 awarded a contract to develop the next-generation income tax filing system to reduce processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and expedite refunds. |
 | Nirmala Sitharaman hits out at Infosys, Nandan Nilekani for glitches on new new ITR siteSitharaman tweeted that she could see her complaints on her Twitter timeline on the glitches faced by people barely 12 hours after the portal was launched. |
| No consensus yet on reduction of GST rates on vaccines, COVID essentials: SourcesThere was a lot of deliberation on this matter after the fitment committee said reducing GST would result in revenue losses. |
| Finance Minister asks ministries to scale up FY22 capex to boost post-pandemic economySitharaman chaired a virtual meeting with senior government officials, including the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), to discuss the infrastructure roadmap. |
 | Raise states' borrowing limits to 5 per cent of GSDP sans condition, Bengal urges FMMitra also urged Sitaraman on revisiting the matter of the gap to be funded where, he claimed, the borrowing would be Rs 2,13,000 crore instead of the Centre's estimated Rs 1,58,267 crore. |
 | GST meet: Goa minister demands apology from Tamil Nadu counterpartGodinho told reporters on Saturday that, at the meeting, he had asked for smaller states like Goa be given "preferential treatment" in compensation cess. |
 | Group of Ministers to mull allowing states to levy Covid CessThe GoM will submit its recommendations after deliberation in two weeks.This is not for the first time that the Council is considering a state’s request to impose cess. |
