Top news of the day: Union Budget 2022: Sharp hike in capital expenditure and no changes in IT slab; RBI to introduce Digital Rupee, and more

The major news headlines of the day, and more.

Union Budget 2022 | Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman raises wager on capex push for growth, jobs

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Union Budget for 2022-23, has raised the bet on public capital expenditure to pump prime the investment cycle and spur India’s economic recovery from the pandemic through 2022-23.

Union Budget 2022 | ‘Very depressing’, says Shiv Sena; NCP finds it disappointing

The Shiv Sena on Tuesday dubbed the Union Budget as “very depressing”, saying it has neither given any relief to the middle class nor it has any reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a ”$5 trillion” economy.

Union Budget 2022 highlights | Sharp hike in capital expenditure; no changes in Income Tax

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022 on February 1. She said that the Budget proposals for this financial year rest on health and well-being, infrastructure, inclusive development, energy transition and climate action, financing of investments and ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’. India’s economic growth estimated at 9.2% to be the highest among all large economies. 60 lakh new jobs to be created under the productivity linked incentive scheme in 14 sectors.

Union Budget 2022 | No change in personal income tax rates in Budget

Belying expectations, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not tinker with the personal income tax rates in the Budget for 2022-23. The Minister also did not raise standard deduction, which was widely anticipated in view of elevated inflation levels and impact of the pandemic on the middle class.

Union Budget 2022 reactions | Budget has no vision for employment generation: Opposition

Opposition parties were unified in their criticism of the Union Budget 2022 for its lack of initiatives to increase employment opportunities or reduce inflation. The Budget, they said, was aimed only to benefit the rich. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Finance Minister of the State tweeted, “Budget has zero for common people, who are getting crushed by unemployment and inflation. Government is lost in big words signifying nothing. A pegasus spin budget.”

Union Budget 2022 | People friendly; creates new opportunities for jobs and growth, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 1 said the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was “people friendly, progressive” and full of possibilities for infrastructure, investment, growth and jobs.

Union Budget 2022 | Boost to mental healthcare sector welcome, others services ignored: experts

Healthcare industry experts have expressed mixed reactions to the Union Budget 2022 stating that while the boost to the mental health sector is welcome, the Budget does not hold very much promise to other essential service in the healthcare sector, including the crucial medical device industry.

Union Budget 2022 | RBI to introduce Digital Rupee

In a big ‘no’ to crypto currencies, Digital Rupee will be introduced in India during the 2022-23 financial year, Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday while presenting the Union Budget. “Introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency will give a big boost to the digital economy. Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system,” she said.

Union Budget 2022 | ₹3,980 crore allocated for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 announced a ₹3,980.77-crore outlay for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the 2022-23 fiscal, a decrease of ₹90 crore from last year. The allocation to the government’s autonomous body Prasar Bharati has been reduced to ₹2,555.29 crore from ₹2,640.11 crore allotted to it in the last fiscal.

Union Budget 2022 | Major river-interlinking projects to be executed

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget presentation on February 1, highlighted the Centre’s commitment to execute major river-interlinking projects.

India Union Budget 2022 | e-passports with embedded chip to be rolled out this year

A digital passport project would be rolled out in 2022-23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday. This comes weeks after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sealed a deal with Tata Consultancy Services for the Passport Seva Programme V2.0.

Union Budget 2022 | Sports Budget increased by ₹305.58 crore, emphasis on Khelo India and National Youth Schemes

Country’s tremendous success at the Tokyo Olympics seems to have influenced the sports budget as the Central Government on Tuesday allocated ₹3062.60 crore for financial year 2022-23 — an increase of ₹305.58 crore, compared to the last year’s amount. In the last financial year, the government had allocated ₹2596.14 crore for sports, which was later revised to ₹2757.02 crore.

IPL Auction: Dhawan, Shreyas, Ashwin in top bracket along with Cummins, Rabada, Smith

Top Indian players, including senior opener Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, along with overseas stars such as Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada have been bracketed in the ₹2 crore highest base price category for the upcoming IPL auction. The mega auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13 and will see 590 players go under the hammer.

Over half of all news shows have aggressive content: Study

A study by Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) of 31 primetime television news and talk shows in 12 languages including English, found aggression in more than 50% of all news shows and in 85% of talk shows. The focus of this study was not on news bias or framing but on the performance of the reporter or the anchor.

Union Budget 2022 | Marginal hike in defence budget, emphasis on Make in India

In a further push for Make in India in defence,the Union government on Tuesday announced additional measures to boost domestic manufacturing and reduce imports. The total allocation for defence in the Budget has gone up marginally to ₹5.25 lakh crore.This isup by 4.43% higher than the revised estimates of last year and 9.8% higher over the Budget estimates of last year.

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