THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL Vol. 67 No. 253 | WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2024 | 32 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only www.freepressjournal.in CITY HC issues notice to BMC on a plea to conserve rain water, prevent drainage into sea. TAKEAWAYS FOR JOBLESS ■ Rs 2 lakh cr for job cre- ation over next five years ■ Also, three employment- EDITIONS: MUMBAI INDORE PUNE Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 BHOPAL NASHIK KONKAN E-paper GAMES Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (Jan to Dec 2023) Cinema Riteish talks about hosting Bigg Boss Marathi Neeraj Chopra will be leading India’s hopes of success at the Paris Olympics Edit A budget with sound growth potential JOBS, JOBS, JOBS Budget optics seek to address elephant in the room linked schemes ■ 1-mnth pay for new staff registered with EPFO By ■ Rs5,000 internship invitation allowance, one-time aid of Rs6,000 Paranjoy Guha Thakurta ■ Internship in 500 top companies to be encouraged under new scheme S tung by the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, the first Union Budget of the third Narendra Modi government has acknowledged that the most important economic issue facing the country is jobs. Despite the rhetoric that the regime’s record in employment generation has not been all that bad by citing questionable data, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stolen more than a few leaves from the preelection manifesto of the I-T PAYEE ■ Income tax slabs tweaked – minor sops for middle class ■ Standard deduction for those in new regime up from Rs50,000 to Rs75,000 ■ Those in new regime stand to save up to Rs17,500 ■ Deduction on family pension up from Rs15,000 to Rs25000 INVESTOR biggest Opposition party, the Congress, while announcing schemes such as the internship programme in the country’s top companies, the employmentlinked incentive programme, abolition of the “angel tax” to spur investments and by not reducing the budget allocation on implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Minor sops have been given to the middle class by changing the income tax slabs for those with taxable incomes in excess of Rs 6 lakh and under Rs 7 lakh (thereby bringing the tax rate down from 10 per cent to 5 per cent); for those earning over Rs 9 lakh but under Rs 10 lakh, the tax rate has been reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. According to Finance Minister Sitharaman, a salaried employee in these or any other higher tax brackets would save Rs 17,500 by way of income tax. However, property-owners will not be happy at the removal of indexation of property values accompanied by a reduction in the rate of tax on long-term capital gains from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent. As expected, there were sweeteners for the state governments of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh announced by the Modi (sorry, National Democratic Alliance) government. Curiously, there was nothing for Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand – the three states where assembly elections are scheduled to take place later this year. Following the warning issued in Monday’s Economic Survey on “overconfidence” in the stock-markets leading to undue speculation, 4Contd on | nation ■ Short-term gains on Property-owners miffed at removal of indexation ■ Long-term capital NEW DELHI ■ Unlisted bonds, There are major changes in the capital gains tax which will impact real estate transactions. To begin with, the Long Term Capital Gains Tax on property some financial assets to attract 20% tax gain on financial, non-financial assets to be taxed at 12.5% debentures, debt mutual funds, marketlinked debentures to be taxed at slab rate ■ Securities transaction tax on Futures & Options raised to 0.02% and 0.1%, respectively, and income receipts from share buybacks would be taxed in the hands of beneficiaries COMPANIES ■ Corporate tax rate on foreign companies cut to 35% from 40% START-UPS ■ Angel tax stands scrapped MEDIUM UNITS ■ Mudra loan limit enhanced to Rs20 lakh FPJ News Service sales has been reduced from 20% to 12.5% and the Short Term Capital Gains tax on certain assets will increase from 15% to 20%. While the rationalisation is welcome, the budget fine print reveals that indexation benefit I-T slabs are tweaked FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The Budget was a killjoy for the middle class. Under the new regime, those earning under Rs 3 lakh a year are exempt from paying tax. There was speculation this could be raised to Rs 5 lakh but that was not to be. Again, the increase in standard deduction was most anticipated ahead of the budget speech. This has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 but industry experts had speculated it would double to Rs one lakh. Here, too the FM belied expectations. The savings from the standard deduction increase will vary based on income groups, with those in higher tax bracket experiencing lower savings compared to those in lower brackets. The Finance Minister has also tweaked the income tax slabs and given minor sops to the middle class. Now, taxpayers in new regime earning up to Rs 3 lakh will pay NIL tax. 4Contd on | nation ■ SIDBI to open new branches to serve more MSMEs over 3 years HOUSING ■ 3 crore additional houses in rural and urban areas ■ Rental housing with dormitory-type accommodation for industrial workers ■ Rs10 lakh crore for developing housing for urban poor FARMERS ■ 1 crore farmers to be shifted to ‘natural farming’ ■ Kisan cards in 5 states ■ Rs1.5 lakh crore for farm and allied sectors CHEAPER MOBILE PHONES CANCER DRUGS GOLD AND SILVER SOLAR ENERGY FOOTWEAR on real estate has been removed, which could lead to a higher tax outgo. It may be noted that the indexation benefit also applies to gold and other unlisted asset classes. No indexation at all has huge implications. Those who SC rules out retest Online report KILLJOY ■ Up to Rs 3 lakh the tax is NIL ■ From Rs 3 lakh to Rs 7 lakh the tax rate is 5% ■ From Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh the tax rate is 10% ■ From Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12 lakh the tax rate is 15% ■ From Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh the tax rate is 20% ■ Above Rs 15 lakh income the tax rate is 30% Package for Asha finally! NEW DELHI Kalpesh Mhamunkar The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to order re-examination for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test undergraduate exam for the year 2024 (NEET UG 2024). A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the evidence before it was not sufficient to show a widespread leak of question paper as alleged by the petitioners who moved the Court, the Bar and Bench reported. "At the present stage there is absence of material on record to lead to a conclusion that result of the exam is viti- MUMBAI ated or that there is a systemic breach of the sanctity of the exam," the court said while rejecting the plea for retest. Thus, ordering cancellation of the entire exam would not be justified on application of settled principles propounded by the apex court and on the basis of material on record, the Bench underlined. Accepting the long pending demands of Asha -- Accredited Social Health Activists -- the state government has approved a package under which they will get Rs 10 lakh assistance in the event of accidental death and Rs 5 lakh for disabilities. The decision was taken in the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It will cover 75,000 Asha workers and 3,600 group promoters. The amount of Rs 10 lakh will be given as ex gratia payment. 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation SECRET SERVICE CHIEF RESIGNS FPJ News Service WASHINGTON The director of the Secret Service said on Tuesday she's resigning following the assassination attempt against ex-President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission. Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania. “I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in an email to staff, obtained by The Associated Press. 4Contd on | nation GOLD, SILVER PRICES DOWN T he decision to cut import duty on gold and silver to 6 per cent from 15 per cent depressed the prices of the two precious metals by around Rs 250 and Rs 400, respectively. In the afternoon, 24k gold was selling lower at Rs 73,580 in the spot market, while silver was down by Rs 400 at Rs 91,100 per kg. The outlook of gold, however, looks strong despite import duty cut; it will make it cheaper in domestic market and increase the demand for physical gold. have held a property for 15 years and seen the prices double would otherwise have not paid any capital gains tax due to indexation. Now, they will pay 12.5%, pointed out a user on X. Indexation adjusts the pur- chase price of an asset for inflation, reducing taxable profits and tax liabilities. Without this adjustment, taxpayers may face increased taxes despite the lower LTCG rate. 4Contd on | nation Fintech capital gets crumbs in an election year Trillion $ economy? Dream on Ravikiran Deshmukh MUMBAI While the state was expecting a major push in the Union Budget presented on Tuesday, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit and his desire to make Mumbai the fintech capital of India – the figures in the Budget say otherwise. ‘‘Financial provisions announced for various ongoing projects in Mumbai particularly failed to meet minimum expectations’’ was the stock reaction in bureaucratic circles. Though Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar expressed satisfaction at the budgetary provisions of around Rs 7,545 crore for infrastructure – a major part of it will go to rural areas and other projects, leaving just a minimal amount for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). A major push was expected for the early completion of the ongoing metro rail network – Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-3. A special package for Mumbai for the early completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects such as the 337km metro rail and MUTP-3 was highly desirable, which would put Mumbai infrastructure on the global map, said a senior bureaucrat. “But the financial provisions for ongoing projects in the MMR are just the mandatory ones. It’s the Central share committed to when approvals were given,” said a senior official associated with the execution of the projects. 4Contd on | nation