Day of the Year
National Cousins Day
Cousin is a term that typically refers to a first cousin, i.e. a relative whose closest ancestor in the family tree with you is a grandparent.
Nicolas Cage, Jason Schwartzman, and Sofia Coppola are all cousins. Brandy and Snoop Dogg are also cousins. It’s clear that musical ability runs deep in that family, as Brandy’s brother, Ray J, has also had a few top hits.
- Cousins are loyal to one and other. You will have a friend for life.
- You can share cool hand-me-downs with your cousins.
- Sleepovers are way easier for cousins, and they are a lot of fun too!
- You are always going to be able to vent about your parents together when you have a cousin you can trust.
Budget Special
Nitish hails Budget as Bihar gets ₹58,900 cr.
- “Special attention has been paid to the needs of Bihar and special funds have been provided for road projects, power projects, airports and medical colleges. Special assistance has been announced for the development of tourist places in the State and a big announcement has also been made to protect Bihar from floods,” Mr. Kumar posted on X.
- The road connectivity projects announced for the State include the Patna-Purnia Expressway, the Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway; Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs; and a two-lane bridge over the Ganga at Buxar.
- The Centre will support the comprehensive development of the Vishnupad temple corridor and Mahabodhi temple corridor, as well as Nalanda, to develop them as tourist destinations.
- Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav called the Budget disappointing.
DAY WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Current Affairs 15 July
Current Affairs 14 July
Current Affairs 13 July
Current Affairs 12 July
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Budget will help empower all sections of society: Modi
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday as one that will empower all sections of society.
- “This is a Budget that will take the country’s villages, poor and farmers on the path of prosperity. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty. This Budget is a Budget for the continuation of the empowerment of the newly emerged, neo-middle class,” he said.
- Highlighting the announcements regarding tax, he said a “decision had been taken” on the reduction and simplification of tax and rules on tax deduction at source (TDS).
States ruled by non-NDA parties ignored, says Opposition; CMs to boycott NITI Aayog meet
- The Opposition slammed the Union Budget calling it an exercise in political jugglery to appease the BJP’s two key allies, the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party, while doing little to address issues such as high rate of unemployment and inflation.
- The DMK and Congress have decided to protest against the “discriminatory” Budget. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and the three Congress Chief Ministers, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Telangana’s Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, will skip the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog on Saturday.
- The Congress, which claimed that the internship programme announced by Finance Minister was modelled on the “apprenticeship” scheme in its 2024 election manifesto, called it a “copycat” Budget.
- In a post on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The Modi government’s ‘copycat Budget’ could not even copy the Congress’s Nyay Patra properly! The Modi government’s Budget is distributing half-hearted ‘freebies’ to dupe its coalition partners so that the NDA survives.”
Unlisted bonds, debentures, debt MFs to attract capital gains tax
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to simplify capital gains taxation in her Budget presentation for the year 2024-25.
- As per the proposal, short-term gains on certain financial assets will henceforth attract a tax of 20%, while those on all other financial and non-financial assets would continue to attract the 15% tax rate.
- Long-term gains on all financial and non-financial assets, on the other hand, would attract a tax of 12.5%. “For the benefit of lower and middle-income classes, I propose to increase the limit of exemption of capital gains on certain financial assets to ₹1.25 lakh a year,” she said.
- Ms. Sitharaman said listed financial assets held for more than a year would be classified as long term, while unlisted financial assets and all non-financial assets would have to be held for at least two years to be classified as long term.
Customs Duty on gold, silver reduced to 6%
- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to reduce Customs Duties on gold and silver to 6% and on platinum to 6.4% providing big relief to buyers of these precious metals. As per the proposal, duty on gold bars has been cut from 15% to 6%, gold dore from 14.355 to 5.35%, for platinum from 15.4% to 6.4%, for silver bars from 14.35% to 6% and for silver dore from 14.35 to 5.35%.
- The significant duty cuts would help reduce smuggling and cost the government an annual revenue loss of ₹28,000 crore based on FY24 import levels, said Ajai Srivastava of Global Trade Research Initiative.
- “To enhance domestic value addition in gold and precious metal jewellery in the country, I propose to reduce Customs Duties on gold and silver to 6% and on platinum to 6.4%,” the FM said in her speech.
- For the growth of the diamond cutting and polishing industry the FM has proposed to provide safe- harbour rates for foreign mining companies selling raw diamonds here.
Finance Minister raises STT on F&O trade, shifts buyback levy to investors
- For deepening the tax base, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on Futures and Options contracts to 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
- Vipul Bhowar, Senior Director, Listed Investments, Waterfield Advisors said,
- “The decision to raise taxes comes amid a dramatic rise in derivative trading volumes, which have grown significantly since 2020. Retail investor participation in derivatives market surged from 2% in 2018 to 41% in 2023.
- “Regulators have expressed concerns that this surge in trading is leading to speculative behaviour that could be detrimental to individual investors and the broader economy,” he added.
- “This change in tax policy should encourage retail investors to shift focus from speculative trading to long-term investments.
- “The increase in taxes may have a significant impact on trading volumes, potentially affecting market liquidity, dynamics.”
Govt. keeps focus on critical areas
- The world is witnessing unprecedented disruptions and uncertainty. India, however, presents the promise of growth, stability, and opportunities for investment.
- To avail of these opportunities, multiple steps were necessary: strong capital expenditure and infrastructure push by the Indian government; significant support to small and medium enterprises; job creation and skill development; and enhancing the purchasing power of both urban and rural Indian consumers.
- There are several positive announcements in the Budget 2024 focused on some of these critical areas. A continued focus on infrastructure development is welcome, with high budgetary allocations for roads, railways, and urban infrastructure, covering tier-two and tier-three cities too. This is crucial for enhancing connectivity and supporting the growth of manufacturing hubs across the country.
Budget gives fresh impetus to clean energy schemes
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget address on Tuesday gave a fillip to several commitments made in the interim Budget to incentivise clean energy but stopped short of announcing new schemes.
- The Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojna, which aims to provide subsidised rooftop solar installations to one crore households, has been allocated nearly ₹10,000 crore this year. This is more than twice the ₹4,970 crore that was spent as part of the solar power (grid) last year.
- The scheme offers 300 units of free electricity and, as The Hindu reported, households interested in availing the scheme’s benefits will have to pay a minimum of ₹20,000 depending on the power capacity of the installed system, though this could be defrayed by a low-interest, collateral-free loan.
Customs duty reduced on mobile phones, chargers, and electronic components
- The Union government on Tuesday slashed basic customs duty on mobile phones, chargers, and some components as part of the Budget.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that duties on “oxygen free copper for manufacture of resistors”, hitherto set at 5%, would be eliminated.
- Duties on mobile phones, chargers, and printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) were reduced from 20% to 15%. Inputs for connectors used in transistors have been exempted completely. Duties on rare earth metals as well as lithium, copper, and cobalt, some of which are used in telecom equipment manufacturing, have also been eliminated or slashed. Meanwhile, PCBAs intended for telecom equipment have had their duties raised from 15% to 20% to “promote domestic manufacturing”, Ms. Sitharaman said.
₹10 lakh education loan with annual 3% interest subvention
- As part of the new loan scheme announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget for 2024-25, e-vouchers will be given to one lakh students every year to secure loans up to ₹10 lakh to pursue higher education in domestic institutions. The annual interest subvention will be 3% of the loan amount.
- Educationists say the move will help in reducing the financial burden on students and promoting enrolment in domestic institutions.
- “This initiative will undoubtedly empower many aspiring students to pursue their academic goals without the burden of financial constraints and increase job opportunities,” Professor Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur, said.
- Barring supporting loans for higher education, the Budget speech did not contain any major proposals on education.
- The allocation for the Ministry of Education at ₹1.2 lakh crore has seen a slight increase at 7.14% as compared with last year’s ₹1.12 lakh crore.
- However, compared with the Revised Estimates for 2023-24, which stand at ₹1.29 lakh crore, this year’s Budget Estimates have decreased by 6.97%.
DAY WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS
Current Affairs 15 July
Current Affairs 14 July
Current Affairs 13 July
Current Affairs 12 July
Current Affairs 11 July