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Business Standard

BUDGET LIVE: Budget on schedule, Cabinet meeting to be held shortly Cabinet meeting to be held shortly in Parliament #Budget2017Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Ananth Kumar visit IUML MP E Ahamed's residence. He passed away this morning. #Budget2017BUDGET EXPECTATION: We expect the Government to announce an ‘anti-rich’ budget which focusses on installing penalties on cash transactions, tax on the withdrawal of cash from the banking system, income tax relief for the middle class and potentially an adverse capital gains tax-related decision for equity investments. Additionally, we expect a moderate increase in revenue expenditure allocation whilst capex is deprioritised. Modi replies to Akhilesh's taunt, says people of UP are not fools Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's repeated assertion of 'kaam bolta hai', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday threw light on the rising crime rate in Uttar Pradesh and accused the Samajwadi Party of fooling the people. "They (Akhilesh) say 'kaam bolta hai', but several projects here are incomplete. What is speaking volumes are the instances of women harassment in the state," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a rally here. "The people of Uttar Pradesh are not fools. Prime Minister Modi accused the Samajwadi Party of not fulfilling the promises made to the people of the state. "A scam that you (Akhilesh) promised to look into from the tenure of Mayawati was not done. Prime Minister Modi also taunted the newly-formed alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Congress while stating that nothing can redeem their past misdeeds. Polling in these constituencies will be held on February 15. The result will be declared on March 11.

UP polls 2017: BJP pulls all stops in the battle for Bundelkhand The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominated the campaigning in the Bundelkhand region with its star campaigners Rajnath Singh and Uma Bharti, both Union ministers and prominent personalities in Uttar Pradesh politics, as rallies and roadshows hit their last leg for the fourth phase of the Assembly elections in the state. Samajwadi Party’s (SP's) Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP's) Mayawati and Congress’ Rahul Gandhi had their last big rallies for the fourth phase during the weekend, with nothing listed for the last day of campaign in Bundelkhand, a region seen as mostly ignored by political parties. However, Congress, which has entered a pre-poll coalition with the SP, is betting on Mohammad Azharruddin to convert his cricketing charisma into votes for the party. Just a day ago, Congress leader Raj Babbar could not make it to a massive rally organised in Lalitpur’s Mehrauni constituency as the former actor’s helicopter developed a snag. BJP, meanwhile, went all out.

Kanpur train accident was conspiracy from across the border: PM Modi At a public rally in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district, near the Indo-Nepal border, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the train accident in Kanpur on November 20, 2016, was a terror attack. He said hundreds were killed in the accident and the "conspiracy" was hatched from across the border. The PM appealed that people shouldn't cast their vote for those who were likely to help terrorists from across the border and make Gonda, and India, unsafe. On November 20, several coaches of the Patna bound Indore-Rajendranagar Express had derailed in Pukhrayan, near Kanpur Dehat. In its preliminary report, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) found no evidence of sabotage in the November 20 accident. But there was a twist to the tale when in January Bihar police arrested Moti Paswan, Uma Shankar and Mukesh Yadav for allegedly planting an IED, or Improved Explosive Device, on a track in Ghorasahan, East Champaran district of Bihar on October 1.

Reliance Industries hits over 8-year high; m-cap crosses Rs 4 lakh crore Reliance Industries (RIL) has rallied 6% to Rs 1,255, hitting an over 8-year high on the BSE in intraday trade. The stock is trading at its highest level since May 30, 2008. A sharp rally in stock has seen the market capitalisation of RIL crossing Rs 4 lakh crore. At 03:11 pm; the stock was trading at Rs 1,250, with m-cap of Rs 405,629 crore, the BSE data shows. The company’s m-cap gained by Rs 57,336 crore in past four trading sessions. Earlier in January 18, 2008, RIL had m-cap of Rs 406,949 crore, the Capitaline data shows. RIL hit a record high of Rs 1,626 on January 15, 2008 in intra-day trade on BSE. In past four trading sessions, the stock surged 17% from Rs 1,074 on February 20, after Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio), a subsidiary of RIL, announced that its tariff plans will become applicable from April 1, 2017.

Business Standard | Add Blocker Telecom major Bharti Airtel has decided to do away with national roaming charges for both voice and data services , a move that will benefit its 268 million users, in order to take on Mukesh Ambani's Reliance JioInfocomm. Airtel announced free incoming calls, SMS and no Premium on outgoing calls while roaming across India. "This marks the death of national roaming," said Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel. In a BSE filing, Airtel said daily billing will be automatically adjusted to the price of basic one day pack even for customers who don't buy a roaming pack. With this, Airtel mobile customers will be able to carry their numbers across India and the world. Call charges have been reduced by upto 90 per cent to as low as Rs 3 per minute and data charges by upto 99 per cent to Rs 3 per MB across roaming destinations. "At Airtel, we are changing the international roaming paradigm. * Simplify activation and billing for consumers who travel overseas

UP assembly polls: Over 52% voter turnout till 4 pm in fifth phase Amid tight security, an estimated 52 per cent of 1.81 crore electorates on Monday cast their votes till 4 pm during the fifth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh where all eyes are set on Amethi and Faizabad. Polling is on, by and large peacefully, in 51 Assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts of the state. "Over 52 per cent polling was recorded till 4 pm," poll officials said in Lucknow. The exercise was slow in the first two hours but picked up the pace gradually, with the first-time voters seen exercising their franchise quite enthusiastically. Prajapati, against whom a FIR has been lodged in an alleged rape case, said the people were with him and there was a strong wave in the favour of the ruling SP. Amita, wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, hoped people would support the best candidate "and I will definitely win." Garima, the first wife of Sanjay, on the other hand said there was no development in the constituency and people were facing problems.

Your Loan Eligibility Holds the Key to Your Dream Home Have you ever been hounded by telemarketers urging you to apply for a loan? Calls, text messages, WhatsApp or even meeting you in person, representatives of financial companies leave no stone unturned when it comes to convincing you to take a loan. But how is the loan application processed? Do lenders really bend over backwards to hand you the loan cheque? It does not quite work that way. Yes, sales personnel employed by financial institutions are aggressive in their attempts to lure you. It is the borrower who is expected to satisfy the credit parameters and fulfil all the eligibility criteria for the Home Loan. Let’s get down to the basics. The simple answer is the borrower’s ability to repay the loan. This means the income of the loan applicant must be enough to pay the instalments on time. Let’s consider these aspects one by one. Income – This is important because timely repayment of the loan depends on whether the applicant has regular cash flow. Applying for a Home Loan

Cash withdrawal fee: 78 per cent disagree with banks' move Banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, from March 1 started imposing a minimum charge of Rs 150 per transaction for cash deposits and withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month. The new charges would apply to savings as well as salary accounts. The bank would also cap the third party cash transactions at Rs 25,000 per day, while cash handling charges would be withdrawn. You can read about then details of this move here: Banks to levy Rs 150 after 4 cash transactions Business Standard did a quick poll on Twitter yesterday and the results show how unpopular this move is We asked: Are banks justified in charging customers for cash transactions in their own accounts? Out of 575 responses, 78 per cent replied in the negative while 22 per cent supported the banks' move But why did banks make this move?

SBI to charge for breaching monthly average balance in saving accounts Come April 1, and the State Bank of India will once again begin to charge customers for failing to maintain the monthly average balance (MAB) in their savings bank accounts. The bank done away with this rule in July 2012 to expand customer base. The country's largest lender will levy charges to partly cover costs incurred for managing systems and operations for saving bank accounts. The charge is linked to the gap between the amount held in an account and the MAB required to be maintained in it. According to an SBI communication to branches, the monthly average balance that customers will have to maintain in savings bank accounts with branch in metropolitan areas is Rs 5,000. If the shortfall -- the gap between amount in account and Rs 5,000 (MAB in metropolitan region) is 50 per cent or less, then SBI will levy a charge of Rs 50 plus service tax. For rural areas the MAB is much lower at Rs 1,000 and the levy charged for failing to maintain a certain balance is also low.

Music Broadcast Limited IPO: Should you invest? The initial public offer (IPO) of Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) that owns FM radio channel, Radio City, opens today for subscription. The issue consists of equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium consisting of a fresh issue of up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale up to 2,658,518 equity shares. The price band for the offer is fixed from Rs 324 to Rs 333 per equity share. The issue proceeds will be used to repay most of its Rs 300 crore debt, thereby reducing its interest cost and improving the overall cash flow. Last week, Music Broadcast Limited finalised allocation of 44,01,158 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 333 per equity share, aggregating Rs 146.56 crore. According to reports, Radio City is ranked No. 1 in terms of number of listeners, total 49.6 million listeners across top 23 cities, followed by Entertainment Network India Ltd (ENIL) with 40.5 million listeners. So, should you invest in this IPO?

26/11 Mumbai attack carried out by our own terror groups: Pakistan ex-NSA Pakistan's former national security adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani today said the 26/11 Mumbai attack was carried out by a terror group based in Pakistan and called it a "classic" example of cross-border terror. At the same time, he, however, said the Pakistani government had no role in the attack. Durrani was speaking at a conference on combating terrorism at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis. TomTom Spark 3: A fitness tracker that will never let you lose your way The third iteration of fitness tracker from the stable of satellite navigation expert TomTom, the Spark 3 is the latest entrant in the smart wearables market. Being a fitness tracker, the TomTom Spark 3 does not sync notifications or offer other attractions of a smartwatch, but it has some features that make it one of the best fitness trackers in the market. The TomTom Spark 3 takes care of your daily activities and also throws in some extra goodies like sports tracking, GPS satellite navigation, compass for route exploration, efficient heart rate monitor, sleep monitoring and music playback capabilities via Bluetooth in-ear headphones that come bundled along with the device. We took the device for a spin and here are our observations about the TomTom Spark 3: Getting ready The TomTom Spark 3 features a touchpad that makes it easier and relatively quick to set up. Design The TomTom Spark 3 sports a removeable device module that sticks well within the strap. Features Battery life and app

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