Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated that the GST on Haj reduced from 18% to __________.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr. K Sivan stated that the Union Government has allocated 10,900 crore rupees for the development of 40 satellite launch vehicles in the next 4 years. Dr. Sivan also stated that Chandrayan Mission will be launched within three months. It will land in one part of the Moon which is still unexplored. He also said that the human spaceflight Gaganyaan is planned to be launched by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Under construction properties priced over ?45 lakh will attract 5% GST (Goods and Services Tax), instead of 12%. A residential property priced at ?45 lakh or below will now be defined as "affordable" and taxed at 1%, from 8% earlier. The new rates will be effective from April 1, 2019.

The duty on crude palm oil from Malaysia, Indonesia and other members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was cut to 40% from 44%, while the tax on refined palm oil was cut to 45% from 54% if imported from Malaysia and to 50%, if purchased from Indonesia or other member-nations of Asean. In March 2018, India had raised import tax on crude palm oil to 44 percent from 30 percent and lifted the tax on refined palm oil to 54 percent from 40 percent.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Asia's oldest bourse, is to snap ties with S&P Dow Jones. BSE plans to develop indices through its in-house development team. S&P Dow Jones manages and operates the benchmark Sensex. The two entities had announced a joint venture (JV) named Asia Index in 2013. The JV is to provide an array of indices enabling global and domestic investors to participate in South Asia's vibrant economies.

The 32nd Meeting of GST Council was concluded in New Delhi. The Limit of annual turnover for composition scheme increased to 1.5 crore rupees effective from April 1, 2019. The Council has decided to increase the GST registration threshold limit to 40 lakh rupees from 20 lakh. The Taxpayers who are giving Services of up to Rs 50 lacs per annum will be taxed under 6% under Composition Scheme. The council has decided to simplify the compliance under the composition scheme.

The expenditure on advertisements through print media stood at nearly Rs 127 crore while more than Rs 5 crore was spent on advertisements with outdoor media. There was "nil" expenditure for the same on electronic media. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented on July 1, 2017. The government had also roped in Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador to promote GST and inform people about its benefits.

Indian economy grew by 8.2% in the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal, the highest in over two years. This announcement was made by Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. The manufacturing sector grew by 13.5% which signals very good turnaround in the sector. In a related development Reserve Bank of India stated Non-food credit growth in the system accelerated to 10.6% for July as compared to previous year, driven by loans to the services sector growing at the faster clip. Credit to the services sector grew 23% for the reporting period, up from the year-ago period's 4.9%.

Several Asian member countries of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have offered India a concession on the extent to which it needs to open up its markets. India can now open up 83% of its market against the earlier 92%. The RCEP is a proposed trade agreement between the ASEAN countries and the six free trade agreement partners.

With robust private consumption and 7.4% GDP growth rate in the current fiscal, the Indian economy is expected to accelerate at a rate of 7.6% in 2019-20, according to a report by the United Nations titled United Nation's World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019. As per the report, the world trade growth moderated over the course of 2018 to 3.8% from growth of 5.3% in 2017.

Union government retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF), Contributory Provident Fund and other related schemes at 8% for the first quarter of the current financial year 2019-2020. The interest rate on these funds was at 8% in the January-March quarter of 2018-19 and government kept it unchanged for April to June for 2019-20. The Department of Economic Affairs, in a notification, the mentioned interest rate will be applicable on provident funds of central government employees, railways and defence forces.