Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
Those who have long retirement horizons of 15 to 20 years and seek higher long-term returns may opt for MSF. Investors nearing retirement (under 10 years) or those with low risk tolerance should stay away.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
A SWOT analysis of the NDA coalition led by Nitish Kumar as Bihar heads into assembly elections, examining its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats against the INDIA bloc.
'Immigrants have always been America's greatest strength, building prosperity, breakthroughs, and communities that enrich us all. Instead of embracing that strength, Trump is clamping down on every form of immigration, tearing families apart, destabilising businesses, and weakening our economy'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will remain in the NDA, while regretting short-lived alliances with the RJD-Congress combine. He lauded Modi for the Union government's measures for the state and highlighted recent state government initiatives.
Let's decode how EPS works, who qualifies, and how pensions are calculated, using simple examples for different salary levels.
A 10-part series that explains all you want to know about how India's EPF turns a slice of your monthly salary into long-term savings, pension, and life insurance.
Another populist decision of the government was the announcement of an unemployment allowance for the youth: Rs 1,000 per month for two years for graduates and those who have completed class 12 but remain unemployed.
In a move aimed at checking child trafficking and their exploitation for begging, the Punjab government directed all deputy commissioners (DC) to conduct DNA tests on children found begging with adults on the streets to verify their relationship, officials said on Thursday.
The beneficiaries will get increased pensions of Rs 1,100 from July.
India and the UK will sign a free trade agreement on Thursday in London that will allow export of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing at concessional rates, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper. The pact also helps double trade between the two economies to $120 billion by 2030.
The life and non-life insurance industries are hopeful of a reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) on health and life insurance premiums, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech on Friday, announced GST relaxations aimed at providing relief to ordinary citizens, farmers, the middle class, and the small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.
Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a 13.46 per cent year-on-year growth in net member addition of 21.89 lakh in June, according to the latest payroll data released on Wednesday. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) provisional payroll data for June 2025 showed a net addition of 21.89 lakh members, marking the highest recorded addition since payroll data tracking began in April 2018, a labour ministry statement said.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi to London for the signing of the free trade agreement between India and the UK on July 24, an official said on Monday. The two countries announced the conclusion of the negotiations for the trade agreement on May 6.
'Nobody wants to run an exploitation factory.'
India and the UK on Thursday inked a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that will cut tariffs on British whisky, cars and an array of items, besides boosting bilateral trade by around $34 billion annually.
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
Ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group saw a 29 per cent rise in tax outgo across portfolio companies to nearly Rs 75,000 crore, it said on Thursday. This includes both direct and indirect taxes paid, as well as payments towards employee social security.
Sector analysts in India feel that the new convention may not lead to a significant increase in the number of Indian employees being sent to the UK.
However, under several external factors -- such as technological disruption or advancement, regulatory or policy changes, or economic shocks -- the gig workforce may grow only to 32.5 million by 2047, a report points out.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said Parliament's Monsoon session is like a 'Vijay Utsav' as the Indian armed forces achieved their objectives under Operation Sindoor 100 per cent, and expressed confidence that the MPs will articulate this sentiment in one voice.
Some of the suggested strategies include making thoughtful trade-offs between career choices and family responsibilities to avoid the guilt of not spending adequate time with elders and children at home; resisting the pressure to be a 'superwoman' by trying to manage everything alone; demanding, negotiating, and selecting jobs with flexible working hours; exploring work-from-home options; choosing an appropriate time for a career break; upskilling to re-enter the workforce after a break; and communicating openly with family members -- including spouse and in-laws -- about the support needed to grow professionally and the challenges faced at work, highlights N Ravichandran.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
Of the 823,000 new subscribers in January, the share of young people (18 to 25 age group) declined to 57.07% (470,000) from 57.28% (485,066) in the preceding month.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
In the latest draft of the Code on Social Security Bill, 2019, the government has decided to stick to the current thresholds for providing social security benefits to workers by industry.
The ministry of labour & employment has now been mandated to seek the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar from people like employees and unorganised sector workers seeking registration, benefits, availing services or receiving any payment under various schemes under the Social Security Code 2020. Aadhaar would not be made mandatory for delivery of services under various social security schemes under the purview of the ministry because Social Security Code 2020 has not been fully implemented so far. The rules under the Code are finalised by the ministry but those rules are yet to be notified.
A special court in India has sentenced a man to "triple death sentence" for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl last year. The court deemed the crime "rarest of rare" and declared the accused "extremely cruel and bestial." His mother and sister were also sentenced to two years in prison for helping to cover up the crime.
Retirement fund body EPFO added 16.05 lakh net new members in December, which is 9.69 per cent higher compared to November 2024, as per the payroll data released on Tuesday. Further, a labour ministry statement said there was a growth of 2.74 per cent in net payroll additions compared to December 2023.
On Wednesday, protests erupted across the United States in response to President Donald Trump's recent actions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
The number of monthly fresh formal hirings saw a slowdown in August, signalling a downturn in the formal labour market. In August, the number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) decreased by nearly 11 per cent to 930,000. This is a four-month low from 1.05 million in July, according to the latest monthly payroll data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Sunday.
The Karnataka government is planning to levy a fee of 1-2 per cent on aggregator platforms like Swiggy, Zomato, Flipkart, Amazon, Uber, etc., a government source said on Friday, adding that an announcement in this regard could come following a sub-committee meeting next week. "There is a sub-committee meeting scheduled in the coming week.
According to the law, the contribution "should not be more than 5 per cent of the amount paid to gig workers. The government is likely to start seeking contribution from gig companies towards the fund from April 1, 2021.
Nepal has sharply increased permit fees for climbing Mount Everest by 36 per cent and also introduced a slew of measures aimed at controlling garbage pollution on the world's tallest peak, officials said.
On its 177th anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra explores the history and relevance of The Communist Manifesto.
"The new structure will substantially reduce taxes on the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment," Sitharaman said presenting what was dubbed as 'reformist' budget for the next fiscal in Lok Sabha.
By June 2025, financial freedom will be just an ATM away. Pleasantly surprised? But there's more, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
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