"Everything relating to the merger is going on smoothly. We don't foresee any challenges. Other banks have done it successfully and we can repeat that,said Sunil Mehta, the Managing Director and CEO of PNB.

"Like a bolt from the blue, the government (on Friday) announced a reduction in the corporate tax rate from close to 35 per cent to 25.17 per cent thereby fulfilling its key agenda of implementing the Direct tax Code (DTC). 

The government on Friday slashed the income tax rate for companies by almost 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent and offered a lower rate to 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms to boost economic growth rate from a six-year low by incentivising investments to help create jobs.

The Goods and Services Tax Council chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday took an in-principle decision to link Aadhaar with registration of taxpayers under the GST and examine the possibility of making Aadhaar mandatory for claiming refunds.

Friday proved to be a big day for India Inc. After a slew of tax concessions including reduction in corporate tax from 30 per cent to 22 per cent, the GST Council has lowered tax on a number of goods and services to spur demand.

The all-powerful GST Council on Friday more than doubled the tax on caffeinated beverages to 40 per cent and slashed the rate on hotel room tariffs. Briefing reporters after a meeting of the panel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the GST on caffeinated beverages has been hiked to 28 per cent plus an additional cess of 12 per cent as against the current rate of 18 per cent.

While the protesters were marching towards Sitharaman's residence at Safdarjung Road, they were stopped by the police.  

The comments came after the government slashed the tax rate for companies by almost 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent and offered a lower rate of 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms in a bid to bolster economic growth rate from a six-year low by incentivising investments to help create jobs.

The announcements in the last few weeks clearly demonstrate that the government is leaving no stone unturned to make India a better place to do business, improve opportunities for all sections of society and increase prosperity to make India a USD 5 trillion economy, he said on Twitter "The step to cut corporate tax is historic.

Wadhera welcomed the bold announcements including the reduction of the corporate tax rate to 22 per cent and no minimum Alternate Tax for companies not availing incentives under the Income Tax Act.

"A headline-itis afflicted, panic-stricken Modi Sarkar has cut corporate tax rates less than 3 months after a Budget and 4 months before the next one. This is welcome but it is doubtful whether investment will revive. This does nothing to dispel fear that pervades in India Inc'," he said on Twitter.  

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had addressed a press conference in Panaji, Goa. The Finance Minister and several State Finance Ministers have gathered in Panaji to take part in the Goods and Services Tax Council Meet.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday announced new corporate tax rates. To give some stimulus to the economy, Sitharaman announced that the tax rate for domestic companies was slashed to 22%. For new domestic manufacturing companies, it now stands at 15%.

Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das Friday exuded confidence that second-quarter GDP numbers will be better than the previous one as the government has started spending again.

The government has decided to expand the scope of expenditure of profits by 2 per cent on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Friday. This will allow easy expense on incubators or research grants to various institutes which are engaged in promoting scientific research.

The govt on Friday slashed corporate tax rates for companies by almost 10 per cent to 25.17 per cent to bring them at par with Asian rivals, as it looked to boost demand and investments.

Making the announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the new tax rate will be applicable from the current fiscal which began on April 1.

The government on Thursday asked banks not to declare any stressed loan account of MSMEs as NPA till March 2020 and work on recasting their debt.

After the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Sitharaman said vaping or e-cigarettes appear cool but a lot of health concerns had been raised against them.

The Government has issued an ordinance to ban e-cigarettes on Thursday. This will make the production, import, export, transport, sale or advertisement of such smoking devices an offence attracting jail term and fine.