Untied states

Pandemic-related spending, farm loan waivers and slowing growth are among the reasons which have increased states’ debt over the last few years, according to a parliamentary response. “As per the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report… States’ outstanding debt has shown a gradual upward movement inter alia due to implementation of Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), farm loan waivers, pandemic-related revenue losses, additional expenditures and growth slowdown,” Pankaj Chaudhary, the minister of state in the ministry of finance, said. “However, the RBI has informed that States have been regularly servicing the State Government Securities,” he added. States’ finances have been under the spotlight amid an ongoing debate on freebies. States in India are allowed to borrow from the bond market but there is a cap on how much they can borrow, linked to their gross domestic product. States have also enacted their Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, the compliance to … [Read more...] about Pandemic, loan waivers, slowing growth increase states’ debt. Find out those with high burden

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 44-21 victory against the Arizona Cardinals in Week One, several of the Chiefs defensive backs sauntered back to the buses at State Farm Stadium. Before those buses whisked them off to the airport, their position coach, Dave Merritt, told them to remember the stadium. “We’re going to be back here,” Merritt said. “We mentioned it back then. Praise God — then it came true.” Indeed the Chiefs’ season has come full circle in blessed fashion. They will end it where they started it — at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., when they face the Philadelphia Eagles there on Sunday in Super Bowl LVII. In their impressive 14-3 campaign, the Chiefs’ win against the Cardinals on Sept. 11 represented their largest margin of victory. Patrick Mahomes, a spokesman for the insurance company with the naming rights to the stadium , threw for a season-high five touchdowns, and the Chiefs were … [Read more...] about The Kansas City Chiefs Are Beginning And Ending Season At State Farm Stadium

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin American Dream would like to be talking about how it acquired the neighbouring 30-acre site to its East Rutherford, NJ. home to eventually bring the complex to a total of 120 acres. It would like to talk about the opening of an Apple store on Dec. 3 last year, plus its large Gucci and Saks 5 th Avenue stores, or the reopening of its Big Snow indoor ski slope, months after a major fire forced it to shut down. But right now American Dream is struggling to catch a break . Owned and operated by Canadian development and finance corporation Triple Five, which also established the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta in 1981 and Mall of America in Minnesota, which opened in 1992, American Dream Mall Municipal bonds tied to American Dream, missed an $8.8 million semi-annual debt service payment due Feb. 1. The bonds backing the $5 billion East Rutherford complex have failed to pay the interest due on approximately $290 … [Read more...] about $8.8m Bond Payment Delay Down To State Says American Dream Owner

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Bahrain government faces another law suit over the alleged hacking of two dissidents, after the High Court in London ruled that it could not claim state immunity in the case. In a ruling issued by Mr Justice Julian Knowles this morning, the court said the claimants, Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed, had shown “on a balance of probabilities that they suffered psychiatric injury as a consequence of their computers being infected, and that their claims, accordingly, fall within the exception to immunity.” Shehabi and Mohammed have accused the Bahraini government of hacking their personal computers using FinSpy surveillance software at some point in September 2011. The spyware is produced by the UK/German Gamma Group and can be used to access documents, emails and messages, view web browsing history and conduct live surveillance through the computer’s camera and microphone. A hearing was held in February 2022 to … [Read more...] about Bahrain Fails In Bid To Claim State Immunity Over Alleged Hacking Of Dissidents

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin There is no doubt that over its 36-year life that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has housed many people. But how many? As my last post showed, there are many known unknowns about how and how well the LIHTC has functioned over those years. For example, a common number offered as an answer to the question, “how many units has LIHTC created over its 36 years?” the answer is often something like 29 million. Where does that figure come from? Column V in the LIHTC “database,” a column in the Excel spreadsheet that has 3,000 blanks and 1,500 cells with “0” as the answer. It is a challenge to reform a federal expenditure when no deep evaluation is possible for lack of good data. However, I’d like to close the LIHTC portion of the look back at Paul Ryan’s critique with some ideas for reform. I’ve concluded that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program isn’t really a program at all. It is behemoth , a complex of … [Read more...] about Series: Unwind The LIHTC, Create Tax Benefits For Builders And Families

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Last night's State of the Union address was a festival of cognitive dissonance. President Biden proudly lauded the price controls that Democrats have begun implementing on prescription drugs as part of last August's Inflation Reduction Act. He also touted his administration's Cancer Moonshot, which aims to halve the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. These policies are in direct conflict with one another. Pharmaceutical companies are already responding to the IRA's looming price controls by scaling back their research and development efforts. As a result, there will almost certainly be fewer new treatments for cancer—and other illnesses—in the years to come than there would have been without the IRA. The law grants Medicare the power to essentially set the prices of 10 brand-name medications starting in 2026, another 15 in 2027, another 15 in 2028, and another 20 in 2029 and each year that follows. … [Read more...] about Democrats’ Price Controls Undermine Biden’s Cancer Moonshot

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Uruguay, the first country in the world to legalize cannabis for adult use, is now exporting low-THC cannabis, or hemp, to the United States. According to information procured exclusively ahead of an official announcement, CEND, a global provider of customized technological infrastructure and certification platforms for the cannabis industry and other regulated industries, has completed its inaugural large-scale shipment of low-THC legal cannabis (or hemp) from Uruguay to the United States. While smaller exports had been completed before, the market had never seen one of this magnitude. This initial shipment of more than 1,000 pounds of top-quality flower was sent to Low Gravity, a hemp company focused on quality control, production and distribution of high-end flower and kief — loose cannabis trichomes. The imported flower, commercially valued at approximately $2.5 million, will be sold to consumers who desire to … [Read more...] about Uruguay Ships 1,000+ Pounds Of Cannabis To The U.S.: Country’s Ambassador Weighs In

MANILA, Philippines—The Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project has remitted $13 billion to the national government since inception, the operator of the gas field said on Wednesday (Feb. 8). “The SC (service contract) 38 has generated and remitted to the Philippine government some $13 billion since its inception,” said Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) president and CEO Guillaume Lucci at the Powertrends International Business Forum held on Wednesday. The Malampaya gas field is operated through SC 38 granted to the consortium of Prime Energy Resources Development B.V. (Prime Energy)—a subsidiary of Razon-led Prime Infra—UC38LLC and state firm Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC). Lucci said the consortium remains committed to ensuring gas supply from the depleting Malampaya gas field. “We’re here to stay, we’re here to invest, we’re here to increase dramatically the gas production with the extended term of the service contract and resource … [Read more...] about Malampaya contribution to gov’t revenue: $13B

India’s budget for healthcare saw a marginal increase of 13 percent in Budget 2023-24 from Rs 79,145 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 89,155 crore in 2023-24. Over the last five years of the Modi government, the sector has seen a 27 percent rise in allocations from Rs 62,659 crore in FY20 to Rs 89,155 crore in 2023-24. However, schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission as well as the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana have seen lesser amounts being allocated to them in this budget. The allocation for one of the flagship schemes of the government — Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, a pan-India health scheme for strengthening healthcare infrastructure — fell to Rs 645.8 crore from the previous budget estimate of Rs 978 crore. The utilisation of the fund has been even lower, with the revised FY23 estimate standing at Rs 281.6 crore. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, announced with the objectives of correcting … [Read more...] about Budget 2023: Marginal hike in healthcare allocation, key schemes see cuts

While there has been a decrease in the subsidy estimates, such estimates would always be vulnerable to the geopolitical situation Lawyers have welcomed the substantial allocation to the third phase of e-courts projects in the Union Budget and said the funds should be utilised to upgrade digital infrastructure in courts in non-metropolitan cities. The government has allocated Rs 7,000 crore in Union Budget 2023 for the third phase of the e-courts project, which is a four-fold jump from Rs 1,670 crore granted for phase two of the digital upgradation of courts in 2015. Lawyers say the funds should be used to improve accessibility and the e-filing system through the project. Launched in 2005, the project was conceptualised to equip the Indian judiciary with information and communication technology by digitising every facet of litigation from initiation to judgement. The first phase saw the computerisation of district and taluka courts with Case Information Software (CIS) … [Read more...] about Union Budget 2023: Upgrade digital infra in lower courts with the Rs 7,000 crore allocation, say lawyers