The Morning Standard - July 24, 2024

In this issue

July 24, 2024

No change in allocation for national capital at ₹1,168 crore

THE Union Budget has not increased Delhi's fund allocation for 2024-25 as it made a provision of ₹1,168 crore for the Union Territory of Delhi.

1 min

Coalition compulsions in Andhra, Bihar bonanza

IN a generous display of coalition politics, the first Budget of Modi 3.0 handed out hefty financial packages for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by its crucial allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the JD (U).

1 min

PATH OF PRUDENCE, NOT POPULISM

WHEN Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday rose to present Budget and spelled out the key themes employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class-there was high hope that she would open the purse strings and announce some generous measures for the middle class. It was not to be.

2 mins

SC: No NEET-UG retest as no proof of systemic breach

THE Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel the NEET-UG exam, observing that there is no data to suggest a systemic breach or violation of its sanctity, following two localised leaks of question papers.

1 min

Standard deduction up, tax slab tweaked

THE Union Budget offered some relief for individual taxpayers, though not as much as expected.

1 min

Not even a penny as share in taxes: Atishi

SLAMMING the Union Budget 2024 presented on Tuesday, INDIA bloc partners AAP and Congress said the BJP-led NDA government has dashed the hopes and aspirations of the people of Delhi.

1 min

Chandrawal water plant gets ₹200 cr

THE Chandrawal Water Treatment plant, one of the three water treatment plants through which the city gets its drinking water supply, was allocated ₹200 crore under the Additional Central Assistance for Externally Aided Projects in the Union Budget for 2024-25.

1 min

'Beaten, forced to sing national anthem': HC orders CBI investigation into death of man

THE Delhi High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation into the death of Faizan, a 23-year-old man allegedly beaten by Delhi Police during the 2020 Delhi riots.

1 min

Jobs, skilling in focus, central varsities get ₹4,000 cr more

UNION Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a ₹15,928 crore budget allocation for central universities, a ₹4,000 crore hike from last year.

1 min

Delhi Police gets ₹11,400 cr, for prison reforms ₹100 cr allotted

DELHI Police was allocated ₹11,400 crore in the Union Budget for the 2024-25 financial year, of which ₹270 crore will be spent on infrastructure development, such as office and residential building projects.

1 min

Stalin to 'boycott' Niti Aayog meet to protest neglect to state

COMING down heavily on the BJPled central government for 'totally ignoring' Tamil Nadu in the union budget for 2024-25, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday announced that as a mark of protest, he would be boycotting the Niti Ayog meeting on July 27 to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

1 min

Tax share rises 13%, but central transfers hit a historic low

IN financial year 2024-25, Kerala will get ₹24,008.82 crore as its share from union taxes and duties, showed the Union Budget Estimates.

1 min

Union budget pro-development: Majhi

CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi hailed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday as pro-development and visionary.

1 min

No loan waiver, MSP guarantee; farmers vexed

WHILE farmers have welcomed the budget announcement that one crore farmers will be initiated into natural farming in the next two years, they, however, have expressed their dissatisfaction as there is no announcement on loan waiver or guaranteed minimum support price for their produce.

1 min

'Disappointing & anti-people': Siddaramaiah

CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday termed the Union Budget \"disappointing\" and \"anti-people\".

1 min

FM coins new acronym-EMPLOYMENT

FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday emphasized the government's commitment to job creation and youth skilling initiatives by introducing a new acronym 'EMPLOYMENT'.

2 mins

Derivatives, capital gains tax rate hike bring markets down

THE Budget, which otherwise ticked all the boxes despite its heavy political tone and doles, has left stock market investors in disarray as the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tweaked the tax rates for market assets-a fivefold increase in the securities transaction tax to 0.1% and a 2.5 percentage points hike in the long term capital gains tax to 12.5%.

1 min

Electronics sector gets biggest PLI allocation

IN the Budget, the finance minister has allocated ₹12,493.02 crore for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across different sectors for this financial year.

1 min

Govt sets 4.9% deficit target on fiscal correction path

EVEN though political imperatives vastly dominated the first Budget of the PM Modi-led NDA government's third term, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has walked the talk on her commitment to fiscal prudencemostly due to the whopping 2.11 trillion (2.11 lakh cr) windfall received from the Reserve Bankand has lowered the fiscal deficit target more than anticipated to 4.9% for this year and to 4.5% for the next.

2 mins

FM STRIKES BALANCE ON FISCAL PRUDENCE AND SOCIAL DEMANDS

FOR any new government, life actually begins with the first budget.

2 mins

PICKING UP IDEAS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF AISLE

THE day after the Congress released its election manifesto this April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the document had the \"stamp of the Muslim League'.

3 mins

THIS BUDGET IS A LONG, ARDUOUS MARCH OF HOPE

The govt skirted minefields of populism and opted for a structural approach on many demands. The moves will be deemed transformative only when they hit the ground

4 mins

HARRIS IN RACE AGAINST TIME & TRUMP TO BREAK HIGHEST GLASS CEILING

ORN the year the US outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, sex and national origin, Kamala Harris has finally come within touching distance of realising the loftiest American dream-that the child of an immigrant can rise to the highest office.

2 mins

'Kursi Bachao Budget no good to commoner': Rahul ups ante

COMING down heavily on the first Budget presented by the Modi 3.0 government, the Opposition parties termed it a budget driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states.

1 min

Edu loans up via e-vouchers, UGC budget cut

UNION Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of 1.20 lakh crore for education in the Union Budget for 2024-25.

1 min

Oppn CMs decide to boycott NITI Aayog July 27 meeting

THE Chief Ministers of the Opposition states have decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled for 27th July over the 'discriminatory' Budget.

1 min

Visionary Budget to uplift society: Modi

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the Union Budget was aimed at realizing 'Viksit-Bharat', asserting that the Budget proposals belonged to every section of society with a potential to herald \"better growth and a bright future' in the country.

1 min

MUDRA loan limit hike, credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs

IN their efforts to revitalise the ailing MSME sector, the backbone of the Indian economy and creator of crores of jobs, the NDA government has come up with a slew of reforms.

1 min

E-com export hubs to help small vendors

THE government will set up Ecommerce Export Hubs in publicprivate-partnership model in order to enable MSMEs to sell their products in international markets.

1 min

India Inc gives thumbs up to growth focus

THE captains of India Inc have given a big thumbs up to the Union Budget of FY2024-25 as they believe it would play an important role in keeping the nation's growth rate intact and foster employment.

1 min

Massive ₹2L cr outlay for jobs, skilling

FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced an outlay of ₹2 lakh crore for five schemes and initiatives that will facilitate employment and skilling opportunities for ₹4.1 crore youth over five years.

1 min

Pvt players for N-sector soon, energy transition on fast track

THE government is planning to release a policy document on appropriate energy transition pathways that balance the imperatives of employment, growth, and environmental sustainability, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

1 min

₹26K cr for better road connectivity

BIHAR will get four road projects for better connectivity; PatnaPurnea Expressway, Buxar3 Bhagalpur Expressway, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs, and additional two-lane bridge over the Ganga at Buxar.

1 min

No hike in rural job scheme, static at ₹86K cr

THE flagship scheme for rural employment, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been allocated ₹86,000 crore in FY25 same as the revised estimate for FY24 and ₹20,000 crore more than the budget estimate in FY24.

1 min

Capital gains tax shocker for real estate

THE real estate sector was in for a shock as the government on Tuesday removed the indexation benefit on long term capital gains on unlisted assets including real estate.

1 min

Kashi Vishwanath model for Gaya, Bodh Gaya temples soon

THE Centre has planned comprehensive development of four significant religious sites in Bihar associated with Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism with an aim to stimulate investment and unlock economic opportunities.

1 min

FM keeps capital expenditure unchanged at ₹11.11L crore

CONTRARY to expectations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday kept the capital expenditure (capex) unchanged at ₹11.11 lakh crore in the Union Budget.

2 mins

Jewellery prices to come down by 9% due to duty cut

THERE is every reason for women to smile and even laugh out louder as their favourite ornaments are going to get cheaper by at least 9% with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman slashing Customs duty on gold to 6% from 10% (effective cut including in the cess is 9 percentage points from 15% to 6%).

1 min

FM hikes tax on derivatives trade five times to 0.1%

AS feared by the markets, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to raise the tax rate on derivatives trade in the budget five times from 0.02% to 0.1%, spooking the market pulling it down by over 1.5% intra-day and sending the rupee, which has been plumbing new lows to a new record low of 83.69 to the dollar, inching past the previous lifetime low of 83.67.

1 min

Angel tax axed, startups say cheers

IN a move to boost investments in the start-up ecosystem, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that angel tax will be abolished for all investor classes.

1 min

Concession for foreign firms, no digital tax

FINANCE minister Nirmala Sitharamana on Tuesday while presenting the Union Budget for 202425 proposed to reduce the corporate tax rate on foreign companies from 40% to 35% to attract foreign capital for India's development needs.

1 min

Cancer drugs, cellphones to be cheaper

FINANCE minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced significant reductions in Basic Customs Duty(BCD) across various sectors including precious metals, electronics, critical minerals, other metals, marine products, agriculture, chemicals, petrochemicals, drugs, textiles, and leather.

1 min

On HC order, 12 J'khand sub-inspectors demoted as constables after 26 yrs

IN a move by Jharkhand police, the 12 police constables given out of term promotion and made Sub-inspectors for showing indomitable courage and bravery during an encounter with CPI (Maoists) in 2008, were again demoted to constables after 26 years following the order of Jharkhand High Court.

1 min

Yogi goes for RSS event even as BJP plans meet on UP in Delhi

AMID the ongoing wranglings within the BJP involving both the state government and the organisation, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attended an event Guru Dakshina (offerings to the Guru)-convened by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), here on Tuesday.

1 min

Mamata increases Durga puja sops

CHIEF Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that doles for the 43,000 Durga puja committees will be increased from ₹70,000 to ₹85,000 this year.

1 min

Terrorists gun down Army jawan in Poonch; Kupwara encounter on

Troops foil infiltration attempt, use drones & copters for surveillance as tension mounts

2 mins

Kamala secures delegates for nomination, hits campaign trail

KAMALA Harris hits the US campaign trail on Tuesday after effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin to renew her attacks on Republican candidate Donald Trump.

1 min

Yemen govt, Houthis reach deal on bank control: UN

YEMEN's government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have agreed to halt tit-for-tat banking sanctions as they wrestle for control of the country's financial institutions, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

1 min

Hamas pact with 12 rivals to rule Gaza after war

China plays mediator with Fatah and other Palestinian outfits; Egypt envoy present at event

2 mins

Deadliest Ethiopian landslide kills 229

USING shovels or their bare hands, local residents on Tuesday searched desperately for survivors after a landslide in a remote area of southern Ethiopia killed at least 229 people, the deadliest such disaster recorded in the Horn of Africa nation.

1 min

Netanyahu signals hope for truce, to send team for talks

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that a ceasefire deal that would free dozens of hostages in Gaza could be taking shape.

1 min

Horses take to the air with passports ahead of equestrian eventing

WELCOME aboard, hope you are standing comfortably.

2 mins

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