Category: News

.File photo NEW DELHI: The Union Budget has made an allocation of Rs 95,692.3 crore (central share) for the Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)(G Ram G) Act, the newly launched version of MNREGA.The total budgetary outlay for the rural development department for the year 2026-27 is over Rs 1.9 lakh crore. The revised...

Representative image Climbing gold prices is likely the reason FM changed tax treatment of sovereign gold bonds. Only original SGB buyers will get tax exemption on maturity. Secondary SGB buyers will be taxed on capital gains. This is expected to put a big damper on the secondary SGB market.Govt-backed gold bonds haven’t been issued since...

Representative image The Finance Bill, 2026 tightens the compliance screws on crypto assets, expanding reporting and sharpening penalties from April 1, 2026, while leaving tax rates unchanged. Crypto exchanges, wallet providers and intermediaries must now report transaction details to tax authorities, aligning India with the OECD’s crypto-asset reporting framework. The VDA (virtual digital assets) definition...

Finance minister presenting budget 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 and assess AI’s impact...

Environmentalists see the Budget as a missed opportunity to tackle the health emergency. NEW DELHI: The Union Budget 2026–27 on Sunday cut allocation for pollution control at a time when the toxic air quality of Delhi-NCR and the Indo-Gangetic Plains has set off alarm bells on an unfolding public health crisis.The Centre has allocated Rs.1,091...

The Budget proposes updraging Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) in Hanle, Ladakh, to extend its capabilities PUNE/BENGALURU: Pune/Bengaluru: India’s expanding contributions to astronomy research appear to have prompted a significant policy and funding push from the Centre, with Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing support for four major projects in Sunday’s budget.The initiatives — the National Large...

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis (PTI photo) MUMBAI: CM Devendra Fadnavis Sunday said they had no idea about the discussions of a merger of the two NCPs nor about the date of merger.“If discussions on merger had gone to a final stage, Ajitdada would have informed us… He is in our govt and without sharing with...

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman(left) with MoS for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. (PTI) NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman not only chose to retain the Centre’s focus on capital expenditure, but also announced that at 4.4% of GDP it had hit the highest level in at least a decade. In her ninth consecutive budget speech, she proposed...

Budget 2026 income tax (AI image) Having already delivered tax cuts last year, FM opted to make life easier for taxpayers. She has promised to introduce simpler tax return forms and staggered timelines for their filing, while decriminalising several provisions.For those with kids studying abroad, or travelling overseas for medical reasons, TCS will be reduced...

TAKING VISHWAS FURTHER If trust has been Nirmala Sitharaman’s byword for taxpayers so far, she took it further this year to improve ‘ease’ of filing and updating returns, and encouraging voluntary compliance to cut down on litigation. Sitharaman said the new Income Tax Act, 2025, which comes into force from April 1, is revenue-neutral, with...