WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN/THUNDERSTORM. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 34 AND 26 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 95 % TEMPERATURE India continues to be a shining exception of high growth, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman Capital gains tax rates hiked; income tax slabs tweaked DEEPAK RAZDAN Min. 65 % Max: 36.2 °C (+1) SUN RISES 05:39 hrs MOON RISES 21:39 hrs Union Budget: Employment, Andhra, Bihar get big bonanza in skilling path to prosperity general Budget NEW DELHI, 23 JULY Min: 27.4 °C (0) SUN SETS 19:17 hrs MOON SETS 09:37 hrs THUMBNAILS An aerial view of India's first private port, the Mundra port, in Kutch on Tuesday. ANI Army soldier killed in Poonch: An Army soldier was on Tuesday killed after being critically wounded during a gunfight as troops foiled an infiltration bid by heavily armed terrorists in the Battal sector along the Line of Control (LOC) in the Poonch district of Jammu. The injured soldier identified as Subhash was evacuated to the hospital for treatment but he succumbed later, reports said. “Alert troops foiled an infiltration bid by effectively engaging infiltrating terrorists with effective fire in the Bat(P3) tal sector at 3 am. 'Miffed' with Budget, Cong CMs to boycott NITI Aayog meeting on 27 July: Calling the Union Budget 2024-25 "discriminatory" and "dangerous", the Congress on Tuesday evening announced that the party's Chief Ministers -- Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) -- will not attend the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting scheduled in the national capital on 27 July. F inance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday presented the Union Budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha, seeking to boost employment and manufacturing through MSMEs, skilling manpower, promoting women-led development, while abolishing angel tax to ease investment and giving income tax relief to salaried individuals and pensioners. This was the seventh consecutive Budget presented by Ms Sitharaman since 2019 and the first of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive term in office. In her 90minute speech, the Finance Minister said India continues to be a shining exception of high growth amid global economies gripped by various uncertainties. The Budget estimates the government’s total receipts, other than borrowings, to be Rs 32.07 lakh crore during 2024-25 and the total STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JULY FM Nirmala Sitharaman with the Budget tablet outside the Finance Ministry before presenting the Union Budget SUBRATA DUTTA 2024-25 in the Capital on Tuesday. expenditure to be Rs 48.21 lakh crore. The net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 25.83 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit is estimated at 4.9 per cent of GDP.The government continues to follow the path of high capital expenditure (Capex) for infrastructure development for its multiplier effect and proposes to spend Rs 11,11,111 crore during 202425. The amount comes to 3.4 per cent of the total GDP. The Centre will continue to support States also in their infrastructure expansion and will advance interestfree 50 year loans of Rs 1.50 lakh crore to them. Coming to Personal Income Tax Rates, the Finance Minister made two announcements for those opting for the new tax regime. First, the standard deduction for salaried employees is proposed to be increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. Similarly, the deduction on family pension for pensioners is proposed to be enhanced from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. This will provide relief to about four crore salaried individuals and pensioners.As a result of the proposed changes, (Turn to Pg 3) In a disappointment for stock market investors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech on Tuesday announced an increase in both long-term and short-term capital gains tax, even as she tweaked the personal income tax regime to provide some relief to the salaried class. As proposed by Mrs Sitharaman, short term gains on certain financial assets shall attract a tax rate of 20 per cent, while that on all other financial assets and non-financial assets shall continue to attract the applicable tax rate. The Finance Minister proposed that the long-term gains on all financial and non-financial assets will attract a tax rate of 12.5 per cent, while the limit of exemption of capital gains is being increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh per year. Mrs Sitharaman also tweaked the new income tax regime, including raising standard deduction from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000, and widening the slabs without changing the tax rates. Under the proposal, there will be tax for those earning up to Rs 3 lakh; 5 pc tax for slab of Rs 3-7 lakh; 10 pc tax for slab of Rs 7-10 lakh; 15 pc tax for slab of Rs 10-12 lakh; 20 pc tax for slab of Rs 1215 Lakh; 30 per cent for income above Rs 15 lakh. Budget 2024-25 will ensure inclusive growth: PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JULY Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded the Union Budget 2024-25, saying it will ensure inclusive growth, benefiting every segment of society and paving the way for a developed India. The Budget will empower every section of society,” he said, adding “It will take the poor farmers from villages on the path to prosperity.” Noting the emergence of a neo-middle class after 25 crore people were lifted out of poverty, the PM said that this Budget adds continuity to their empowerment and provides countless employment opportunities. “This Budget brings a new scale to education and skill development,” he said, underlining that the Budget with its new schemes is aimed at strengthening the lives of the middle class, tribal section, dalits and backward classes. He further emphasised that this year’s Budget would ensure economic partnerships of women while also laying down a new path for small businesses and MSMEs. “The Union Budget gives a fillip to manufacturing as `2.62 lakh cr allocation for railways Defence sector gets highest allocation of `6.22 lakh cr STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JULY An allocation of Rs 2.62 lakh crore has been made for the Indian Railways in the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Tuesday. Talking to the media here, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw hailed the budget of Rs 2,62,200 crore as a record allocation which, he said, would further strengthen the Railways. He said out of the total allocation made for this sector, Rs 1,08,000 crore has been given for safetyrelated provisions. The Union minister pointed out that before 2014, the total budgetary allocation for the Railways was Rs 35,000 crore.The net revenue expenditure of Railways is placed at Rs 2,78,500 crore in Budget Estimate 2024-25 as against Rs 2,58,600 crore in RE 202324. Reimbursement of losses on the operation of strategic lines has been kept at Rs Long-term gains on all financial and non-financial assets will attract a tax rate of 12.5 pc; short term gains will attract a tax rate of 20 pc. Under the new income tax regime, standard deduction has been raised to `75,000, while income tax slabs have been tweaked without changing the rates. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JULY 2648 crore in Budget Estimate 2024-25 as against Rs 2,491.84 crore in RE 2023-24. An amount of Rs 745 crore has been provided in BE 2024-25 towards debt servicing of market borrowings for National Projects. The provision in the Capital section of this demand is for expenditure on assets, acquisition, construction, and replacement, met out of funds from the General Revenues as Gross Budgetary Support (including Railway Safety Fund and Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh) and Internal Resources of the Railways. It also includes provi- sions out of the Nirbhaya Fund. The total outlay provided for Capital Expenditure in Budget Estimate 2024-25 of Rs 2,65,200 crore includes Rs 2,52,000 crore from General Revenues, Rs 200 crore from Nirbhaya Fund, Rs 3000 crore from Internal Resources, and Rs 10,000 crore from Extra Budgetary Resources. Total Receipt of Railways comprising revenues from passenger, goods, other coaching, sundry other heads and Railway Recruitment Boards, etc. have been placed at Rs 2,78,500 crore in BE 2024-25 as against RE 2023-24 of Rs 2,58,600 crore. With an aim to promote ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence technology and manufacturing and equipping the armed forces with modern weapons along with creation of job opportunities for the youth, the defence sector was allocated Rs 6,21,940.85 crore, the highest among the ministries, in the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Tuesday. The allocation to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for FY 2024-25 is higher by approximately Rs 1 lakh crore (18.43 per cent) over the allocation for FY 2022-23 and 4.79 per cent more than allocation of FY 2023-24. Out of this, a share of 27.66 per cent goes for capital expenditure; 14.82 per cent for revenue expenditure on sustenance and operational preparedness; 30.66 per cent for Pay and Allowances; 22.70 per cent for Defence Pensions, and 4.17 per cent for civil organisations under MoD. The total allocation comes out as approximately 12.90 per cent of Budgetary Estimate of Union of India. The government also seeks to improve border infrastructure through higher allocation to the agencies involved in executing strategicallysignificant projects along with providing last-mile connectivity in the border areas. The budgetary allocation to Border Roads Organisations under capital for Budget Estimates 2024-25 is Rs 6,500 crore, which is 30 percent higher than the allocation for FY 2023-24, and 160 per cent higher over the allocation of FY 21-22. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has termed the full year Budget as excellentand outstanding, which will help in moving towards a prosperous and self-reliant ‘Viksit Bharat’. well as infrastructure,” PM Modi said underlining that it would give new strength to economic growth while maintaining continuity. Reiterating the government’s commitment to employment and selfemployment, he noted the success of the PLI scheme and highlighted the Employment Linked Incentive scheme which will create crores of jobs. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 JULY With the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) providing critical support to the NDA government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a major financial package for Andhra Pradesh and plans for mega infrastructure projects for Bihar in the General Budget. Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, the minister announced an allocation of Rs 15,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh’s development in the current financial year, with an assurance of further funds in subsequent years. Emphasising the government's commitment to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, she also promised grants for the backward regions of the state, specially mentioning the Polavaram Dam project. For Bihar, Mrs Sitharaman announced plans for new airports, medical colleges, and sports infrastructure. She assured the state government that its requests to multilateral banks would be fast-tracked. Rs 26,000 crore has been earmarked for highways in Bihar, including the PatnaPurnia, Buxar-Bhagalpur, and Bodhgaya-RajgirVaishali-Darbhanga Expressway, along with a new twolane bridge over the Ganga in Buxar. A 2,400 MW power plant and an industrial corridor node in Gaya were also announced. Bihar is set to benefit from the Purvodaya initiative, aimed at boosting development in the eastern part of the country. “We will formulate Purvodaya for the allround development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh,” the minister said, noting that the project would focus on human resources More reports on the Union Budget 2024 on Pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 & 10 development, infrastructure enhancement, and economic opportunity generation, to make this region a driving force for achieving a developed India. Both Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have been lobbying with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers for generous funds to their states in the Budget proposals. The two states have for long been complaining that they have suffered badly in terms of financial and other resources in the wake of their bifurcation. The announcements in the Budget came a day after the Centre ruled out giving special status to Bihar, which has been one of the key demands of the Janata Dal (United). Navy’s Rear Admiral to lead probe into INS Brahmaputraaccident AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 23 JULY Taking a strong view into the accident involving INS Brahmaputra warship, the Naval headquarters has ordered a detailed probe led by a Rear Admiral to determine the exact causes and establish accountability based on the inquiry report. The warship is resting on one side in the Naval Dockyard after a fire incident on board on Sunday night. Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi has given strict instructions to the officials concerned to be very careful in handling of vital national assets during his visit to Mumbai to review the cause of the accident, Defence Sources told ANI. The Navy chief was briefed about the incident by Western Command officials about the accident and the steps being taken by the force, they Indian Navy frigate INS Brahmaputra tilts to one side (port side) inside naval dockyard, in Mumbai.  ANI said. The Rear Admiral (equivalent to a Major General in the Army) heading the Board of Inquiry has been asked to work in a time-bound matter to find out the exact reasons of the accident, they said. The Navy Chief had yesterday briefed the Defence Minister about the accident and Rajnath Singh had instructed him to take appropriate action in the matter. A fire had broken out onboard INS Brahmaputra, while she was undergoing refit. The ship experienced severe listing to one side but despite all efforts, the ship could not be brought to an upright position. The ship continued to list further alongside her berth and is presently resting on one side. The missing sailor has also not yet been found but the search operations for him are continuing there, Navy officials said. No retest of NEET-UG 2024; Supreme Court says there’s no material backing plea PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 23 JULY In a huge relief to the candidates successful in the NEETUG 2024 medical entrance examination, the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to cancel the examination and order a retest, holding that there was no material before the court to warrant such a course which is fraught with serious consequences. Refusing the plea seeking the cancellation of the NEETUG 2024 and conducting it afresh, Chief Justice D.Y. Chan- Parents of a petitioner student speak to the media after the SC refused to order a re-exam of NEET UG, in New Delhi. ANI drachud, heading a bench also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said: “There is absence of material on record to lead to conclusion that the results of the exam is vitiated or that there is a systematic breach of the Acknowledging that the leak of the NEET-UG 2024 paper in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and in Patna in Bihar is not in dispute, the court said that the data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the NEET-UG 2024 question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam. sanctity of the exam.” Acknowledging that the leak of the NEET-UG 2024 paper in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and in Patna in Bihar is “not in dispute”, the court said that the data on record is not indicative of a systemic leak of the NEET-UG 2024 question paper which would indicate a disruption of the sanctity of the exam. The court said that to “obviate any controversy”, they had themselves scrutinised the data furnished to the court by the National Testing Agency (NRA). Stating that it realises that directing a fresh NEET-UG for the present year would be replete with serious conse- quences for nearly 24 lakh students who appeared in this exam, and cause disruption of the admission schedule, the court said that it would also have a cascading effect on the course of medical education, impact the availability of qualified medical professionals in the future and be seriously disadvantageous for the marginalised group for whom reservation was made in allocation of seats. Pronouncing the order on the conclusion of the hearing that was spread over four days, CJI Chandrachud said: “Thus we are of the view that ordering cancellation of the entire exam is neither justified on application of settled principles propounded by this court on the basis of material on record” and based on earlier judgments on such issues. The court also said that the report submitted by the CBI before it shows that the probe is on and the central agency indicates that material shows 155 students drawn from the exam centres at Hazaribagh and Patna appeared to be the beneficiaries of the fraud. The probe by the CBI how- ever has not attained finality, it noted. As CJI Chandrachud started dictating the order, he said that there is an urgent need to provide “certainty and finality” to the dispute which has occurred and affects the careers of over 2 million students. The court also said that if there are beneficiaries of the fraud and their names have not surfaced at this stage of investigation and are revealed at a later stage, they will not escape the consequences of the wrong doings irrespective of the stage of their academic pursuit.