It was a contrast that no previous Budget had possibly produced — a constant thrum of perfunctory desk thumping by treasury benches and a total silence from the opposition. The just short of 90-minute speech by FM Nirmala Sitharaman was a sedate affair that did not evoke emotions, even though a charged opposition had reportedly…
NEW DELHI: Amid trade tensions, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday sought to address a long pending demand of the commerce department by allowing the sale of goods by eligible manufacturers in special economic zones (SEZs) to domestic tariff area on payment of duty at concessional rates.Sitharaman said that only a prescribed share of…
Amid controversy over the Father of the Nation’s name being dropped from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the FM on Sunday announced the launch of Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj scheme to strengthen khadi, handloom and handicrafts.“This will help in global market linkage and branding. It will streamline and support training, skilling, quality of process…
Employability In Focus, More Pulp For Orange Eco Signalling a shift in employment strategy, the Budget, instead of announcing how many jobs will be created, focuses on building conditions for sustainable work, with skilling, services and sector-led ecosystems emerging as core pillars. A high-powered education-employment-enterprise standing committee will map skill gaps, identify high-employment service sub-sectors…
What Would $1 Invested in Bitcoin in 2009 Be Worth Today, 17 Years Later? The question resurfaces every time Bitcoin hits another high: what would your money look like now if you’d bought in at the beginning? With the cryptocurrency trading at $78,693.76 per coin as of early February 2026, the arithmetic of Bitcoin’s earliest…
Of 30 Index Stocks, 26 Close In Red At a time when global markets are witnessing high volatility due to geopolitical uncertainties, the hike in securities transaction tax (STT) on derivatives trades hit investor sentiment on Dalal Street on the Budget day. This in turn led to a sharp sell-off that pulled the sensex down…
Why the Weak Rupee and Peso Are Turning Into a Remittance Windfall for UAE Expats and Should You Send Money Now? A softening Indian rupee, Pakistani rupee and Philippine peso, trading near multi-year lows against the UAE dirham, is emerging as a remittance opportunity for expatriates in the UAE, prompting many workers to rethink when…
Finance Commission submits report to President Murmu (Photo credit- PTI ) The 16th Finance Commission has recommended retaining states’ share in the divisible pool of central taxes at 41 per cent, while pitching for outcome-based spending, greater transparency in tax devolution data and stronger fiscal discipline at the state level. The panel said there is…
Buying property from an NRI? Worried about obtaining TAN? Not anymore. To relax the compliance burden, the Budget has proposed that resident individuals and HUFs need not have a Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) if they are purchasing a property from a non-resident Indian (NRI). The amendment will take effect from Oct 1,…
The government has raised the duty-free allowance for passengers bringing imported goods into India to Rs 75,000 from the earlier Rs 50,000 under the newly notified Baggage Rules, 2026, PTI reported.Under the new rules notified on Sunday, a resident or a tourist of Indian origin arriving in India other than by land will be allowed…
