Sensex ended at 80,429.04 points & Nifty at 24,479.05, both slightly lower than previous close. Many analysts had expected finance minister to keep long-term capital gains rate same.
Nirmala Sitharaman finally acknowledged the jobs emergency in her Budget 2024 speech, but the plans to provide employment for four crore youth over five years is characteristic Modi govt bombast.
Congress highlighted internship programme, employment-linked incentive scheme and abolition of angel tax as examples of ideas Modi govt ‘copied’ from its Lok Sabha polls manifesto.
Sitharaman also announced an initiative for increased connectivity to rural habitations, and introduced an interest subsidy to facilitate affordable housing loans.
The allocation, at 3.4% of GDP, remains unchanged from the figure announced in interim budget in February, and is 11% higher than last year’s outlay of Rs 10 lakh crore.
It was NDA that introduced Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in 2016. IBC replaced earlier framework which was governed by various laws that made the process cumbersome.
‘Angel tax’, introduced in 2012 in an attempt to prevent money laundering, referred to the tax imposed on excess capital raised over fair market value.
Besides development of Vishnupad and Mahabodhi temple corridors, Union Budget also proposed industrial node for Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor at Gaya in Bihar.
Indians see West Asia as one uninterrupted wash of Islam, but the reality is more complex. For the Druze, support from Israel—where they are a recognised minority—is now critical.
Mini deal will likely see no cut in 10% baseline tariff on Indian exports announced by Trump on 2 April, it is learnt, but additional 26% tariffs are set to be reduced.
India-Russia JV is also racing to deliver 7,000 more AK-203 assault rifles by 15 Aug. These are currently being made with 50% indigenisation and this will surge to 100% by 31 December.
Public, loud, upfront, filled with impropriety and high praise sometimes laced with insults. This is what we call Trumplomacy. But the larger objective is the same: American supremacy.
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