rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana strain fiscal resources amid rising unemployment and prices of food items.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu's address to the Joint session of the Parliament on Friday stoked a controversy.
'The BJP's real weapons are Hindutva, organisation and finance.'
'Some part could be used for consumption purposes, and the rest could be used to meet important financial goals.' 'The split can be 30:70 to 50:50, depending on one's situation.'
Novelis' Q3FY25 volume stood at 904,000 tonnes (down 1 per cent Y-o-Y, down 4 per cent Q-o-Q), due to lower VAP and automotive shipments. Revenue stood at $4.1 billion (+4 per cent Y-o-Y, down 5 per cent Q-o-Q).
Rupee depreciation, if it continues, will likely pull the markets down further. Since September 2024, the rupee has declined by 3.1 per cent, the Nifty has dropped by 8.5 per cent during the same period, and the Sensex has fallen by 7.3 per cent. If the decline continues, markets will need to brace for more pain as it could push foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to exit their positions faster than anticipated.
'If the markets correct further, PSU stocks could continue to decline.'
7 key areas that the Budget must address to re-energise the infrastructure sector, suggests Vinayak Chatterjee.
The entire Budget-making exercise will be advanced by 3-4 weeks so as to complete the legislative part of financial business before April 1, the start of a financial year
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I find his sense of history astounding, not just history of film, but of life in general.' Another fascinating excerpt from Sangeeta Datta's book Shyam Benegal.
From the outcome of the general elections and then Union Budget to tepid corporate earnings in the September 2024 quarter (Q2-FY25), sticky inflation and Reserve Bank of India's stance on interest rates, extreme weather conditions, Indian stock markets have braved it all in calendar year 2024.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day working visit to the US from February 12 during which he will meet President Donald Trump, the external affairs ministry announced. The visit will give further impetus and direction to India-US bilateral relationship. Prior to his US visit, Modi will be in France from February 10-12 to co-chair the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron. He will also visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor of which India is a partner. During his visit to France from February 10-12, Modi and Macron will also address the India-France CEOs forum. The prime minister and Macron will travel to Marseille where they will inaugurate the Consulate General of India. The leaders will also visit the war cemetery and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers in World War 1. Modi and Macron will visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). There has been a very close rapport between Trump and Modi, dating back to the US leader's first term. There is a clear convergence of interests between the two countries in several areas, including trade, investment, technology, defense cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations.
'We had tremendous faith in honorable Modiji in his second term as he was well-settled. Sadly that has been belied.'
India's food processing minister Subodh Kant Sahay on Thursday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi ahead of the general\nbudget on July 6.
Currently, Railways is facing a loss of Rs 34,000 cr in passenger segment and its earnings are falling.
The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, according to the European climate agency Copernicus. Every month from January to June was the warmest ever recorded, and from July to December (except August), each month was the second warmest on record. Scientists are warning that the world is entering a new climate reality, with extreme heatwaves, floods, and storms becoming more frequent and severe. The report also highlights the failure of developed nations to meet their climate finance commitments to developing countries, despite the urgency of the situation.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional 'bahi-khata' style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present Union Budget 2023-24 in a paperless format just like the previous two years. She posed for the traditional 'briefcase' picture outside her office along with her team of officials before heading to meet the President. She, however, was holding a tablet instead of a briefcase to present the Budget in a digital format.
The ministry of finance is likely to assume crude oil price to remain within $85 per barrel while estimating subsidies for the Interim Budget 2024-25 (FY25), to be presented on February 1. Brent crude prices moved up on Thursday, ending at $78.9 per barrel. Crude oil and cooking gas prices, which move in tandem, impact fertiliser and cooking gas subsidies, constituting 53 per cent of the government's total subsidies.
The Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of the first five months of the current fiscal touched 27 per cent of the full-year target, government data showed on Monday. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between expenditure and revenue -- was at Rs 4,35,176 crore as of August-end, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The deficit stood at 36 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of 2023-24.
'One of the most significant factors contributing to the optimism for 2025 is the lineup of films featuring Bollywood's three superstar Khans.'
The government has earmarked Rs 270.05 crore for the tour expenses of Union ministers in the General Budget 2013-14 which is slightly more than the last fiscal's allocation of Rs 269.94 crore.
This is the first Budget in Amrit Kaal, she said.
'That is the one headline the world is reading about India this week, and it is a potentially damaging story...' 'I don't think a panic mentality has set in, but this story is one that investors and market watchers are absolutely seized with.'
'The Railways decided to go for kavach three years back, but the progress has been very slow.'
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday approved the interim general budget which will be presented in the Lok Sabha by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday. Singh went through the interim budget related papers and after formally signing them, forwarded them to President Pratibha Patil, a Prime Minister's Office spokesman said."The Prime Minister also approved the interim budget speech," the spokesman added.
Other ministers who have presented five straight annual financial statements include Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Manmohan Singh and Morarji Desai.
Your choice between the Old and New Tax Regimes should reflect your financial strategy and investment goals, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
Fight the high season and ridiculous prices with these simple and easy travel hacks.
The finance minister has stayed true to her commitment to fiscal consolidation, even though the pace of the decline in the deficit could have been faster, notes A K Bhattacharya.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
For those looking for more affordable options, purchasing an under-construction property could be a smart move, as these generally cost less than ready-to-move-in properties.
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is 'a thousand times better' than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
The Indian government has come out with a nice name for its tried and tested 220MW pressurised heavy water reactor -- Bharat Small Reactor.
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Murli Deora has welcomed the General Budget for 2010-11 presented by the finance minister on Friday in the Lok Sabha.
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