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Archives for February 2019

Has the Khan triumvirate lost its hold on the box office

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[NASHEMAN NEWS] If you were one of the three Khan superstars in Bollywood, then 2018 was definitely not your year. While Shah Rukh Khan has delivered what looks like a box office debacle in “Zero”, quite recently his Khan fellow-superstar Aamir Khan too came up with one of the biggest duds of his career, “The Thugs Of Hindostan”.

Earlier during the year, Salman Khan’s “Race 3” underperformed abysmally at the box office.

Is the Khan triumvirate losing its touch?

Says trade analyst Amod Mehra: “The writing is very clear on the wall. It is time all three Khan superstars switched to more mature roles. Or else they would no longer be superstars.”

However, film and trade analyst Girish Johar doesn’t see the setbacks of 2018 as detrimental to the Khans’ careers. “The three Khans are SUPERSTARS, a film here or there doesn’t matter. Their fan following does not decrease nor does their stardom get affected. Yes, all three failing together in one year does raise eyebrows but I am sure they are bound to bounce back with their next outings. Also yes, they have to be much much more careful as audiences are growing, their taste patterns are changing faster…so what they bring to the table has to be extraordinary as anything below neither suits their stature nor is it any longer expected from them.”

What next for the Khans?

While Salman Khan has the eagerly-awaited Eid release “Bharat” which spans the lifestory of one man from India’s independence in 1947 to present day, Aamir Khan is taking a sabbatical from the big screen to do a web series based on the Mahabharat. Shah Rukh Khan is not committed to any new project.

All three Khan superstars need to sit and do some serious career thinking and revamping. Their fan-following remains intact. Only their selection of roles needs to change.

Warns critic Raja Sen: “Their films may have underperformed this time, but each of the three Khans is just one hit away from being on top of the heap again. Any obituaries or celebrations by gleeful rivals would be premature.”


Bengal Inc gives Budget thumbs-up, but disappointed over no corporate relief

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[NASHEMAN NEWS] Kolkata Hailing the interim budget proposals by Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal as “courageous” , Bengal industrialists on Friday said it would provide a growth stimulus through consumption boost, but at the same time, they were disappointed with absence of any rebate in corporate tax.

“The proposal should augur well for the Indian economy by providing a growth impetus through a boost in consumption as well as an inclusive framework designed to benefit agricultural and rural communities, unorganised sector workers as well the middle class, ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri said.

The budget presentation has been “significant” though it’s an interim Budget, as it presents a roadmap for future India which is poised to become a $5 trillion economy in 5 years and aspires to become a $10 trillion economy in the next 8 years thereafter, said Ambuja Neotia Group Chairman Harshavardhan Neotia.

He said they have by and large kept close to the fiscal deficit target and only allowed a slippage of 0.1 per cent primarily to provide the much required support to small and marginal farmers facing distress.

Bharat Chamber President Sitaram Sharma, stated that budget has trended the expected path of “a populist election year budget promising pro-poor, pro-farmer and pro-‘middle class without any direct proposal to expand industrial, manufacturing and economic activities” .

“The absence of any rebate in Corporate Tax does not provide any kind of hope for the Industry as no relevant measure has been proposed in favour of industrial development. Interest subvention of 2 per cent on loans up to Rs. 1 crore will provide modest relief to the MSMEs as the budget remained silent on stating any means for enhancing capital formation,” Sharma said.

From real estate’s point of view several noteworthy announcements have been made including no tax on notional rent if you own second house, no TDS on rental income up to Rs 2.4 lakh per year, capital gains tax exemption added to new house under Section 54 within limit of Rs 2 crore, Neotia said.

Terming that the budget as a courageous policy statement of the country’s long-term development journey, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said, “The budget this year has shown the courage to attack all the ailments simultaneously.”

Despite a large number of welfare programmes for different sections of the society, fiscal deficit has not been allowed to go beyond 3.4 per cent of the GDP, he said, adding that sectors such as infrastructure, FMCG and agriculture are to be benefitted.

Indian Chamber of Commerce President Rudra Chatterjee said, Padhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi promising Rs 6000 per year for farmers owning upto 2 hectares of land wouldA help in providing structured income support to poor landholders to procure seeds, machineries and other input.

The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi programme, the move to set up 1,00,000 digital villages and the increase in allocation to rural infrastructural development will indeed go a long way in enabling empowerment of rural communities, Puri said.

According to Sharma, at a point when the government commits to provide direct income benefit to small and marginal farmers on one hand and waive Income Tax on the other, “it remains quite a concern as to how the fiscal deficit target can be reached in the next fiscal”.

“The salaried class have been granted full income tax exemption upto INR 5 lakh pa with higher standard deduction. We consider it to be a bold step to provide more disposable income in the hands of middle class. Interest subvention and government procurement support is definitely a boost to MSMEs,” Chatterjee said.A

3 Iranians held in Delhi for fleecing Afghan nationals

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[Nasheman news] New DelhiThe Delhi Police on Friday arrested three Iranian nationals for fleecing some Afghan nationals of their money by impersonating as police officers.

Noor Mhd, 28, Reza Kohan Khaki,30, and Farhad Abasisaorr, 31 — all Inranian nationals — were arrested from Greater Kailash area of south Delhi.

“Police team laid a trap around their rendezvous and deployed a police constable Kailash dressed as an Afghan in Greater Kailash market,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said. 

“When the accused posing as police officers approached Kailash, showed him a fake police identity card and sought his wallet for checking, Kailash signalled the police team and they were arrested,” Kumar said. 

“The accused, who came to India on valid visas, used to target Afghan nationals on their way to a diagnostic centre for medical treatment,” the DCP said. 

“During interrogation, the accused said they approached Afghan nationals as police officers. They would then, without stepping out of the car, ask whether the victims were carrying any narcotic substance.” 

On this pretext, they would seek the purse of the victim and after searching through it, they take the US dollars and escape. 

“Police team recovered USD 2,829, Euro 200, Iranian Rial 2.3 lakh, Maldivian Rufiyaa 1,015 and Vietnamese Dong 1.25 lakh, besides currencies of some other countries from their possession,” the officer added.

US court orders Syria to pay $302m over Marie Colvin’s death

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Marie Colvin, a 56-year-old war correspondent, was killed in the Syrian city of Homs in 2012 [File: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters]

A United States court has found Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government culpable in the death of American foreign correspondent Marie Colvin, ordering a $302.5m judgement for what it called an “unconscionable” attack that targeted journalists.

In a verdict unsealed late on Wednesday night, US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson concluded the Syrian military had deliberately targeted the makeshift media centre in the city of Homs where Colvin and other journalists were working on February 22, 2012.

Sustained artillery barrages against the apartment building housing the media centre killed Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. 

“She was specifically targeted because of her profession, for the purpose of silencing those reporting on the growing opposition movement in the country,” Jackson wrote.

Colvin, a 56-year-old war correspondent working for Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper when she died, wore a signature black patch over her left eye after being blinded by a grenade in Sri Lanka in 2001. The 2018 film “A Private War” was based on her life.

Lawyers for Colvin’s family hope to recover the $302m settlement by targeting frozen Syrian government assets overseas.

“The challenge now is going to be enforcing the judgement,” said Scott Gilmore, lead counsel for the Colvin family. “The precedents show that it is possible to recover assets.”

‘Taking out journalists’

Gilmore said one of the main challenges of the lawsuit had been to prove that Colvin’s death wasn’t caused by standard “fog of war” battlefield confusion.

Lawyers included as evidence a copy of an August 2011 fax that they said was sent from Syria’s National Security Bureau instructing security bodies to launch military and intelligence campaigns against “those who tarnish the image of Syria in foreign media and international organizations”.

In her ruling, Jackson wrote that the day before the attack, an informant provided the location of the media centre to the Syrian government. That night, Colvin had given live interviews to the US outlet. 

There is evidence that Syrian officials celebrated after the attack, Jackson added.

The Syrian government was not involved in defending the lawsuit. 

Foreign governments are immune from jurisdiction in US courts through the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, but that immunity is lifted for alleged crimes against American citizens by governments classified as a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

Syrian government sued over US journalist Marie Colvin’s death

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian is using a similar approach to sue the Iranian government, which jailed him for more than 500 days on an espionage charge.

Colvin’s sister, Cathleen, said she had initially assumed Marie’s death was a tragic accident, the kind that could happen to any journalist in a war zone.

She decided to pursue a lawsuit after speaking with Paul Conroy, a photographer who was working with Marie Colvin and was injured in the same shelling.

Conroy, a veteran of the British Army’s Royal Artillery, told her the media centre wasn’t hit by haphazard shelling but by “bracketing”, a recognised artillery technique used to locate a specific target.

“It was part of the government’s strategy in putting down the uprising,” Cathleen Colvin said. “They prioritised taking out the journalists.”

Colvin said she doesn’t know if the suit will ever succeed in retrieving any of that $302.5m. But she hopes it will at least be a long-term inconvenience and embarrassment to Assad’s government.

“I don’t have any illusions that this will have any effect on Assad’s life,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be some sort of thorn in his side for decades.”

“It’s a war and she came illegally to Syria, she worked with the terrorists, and because she came illegally, she’s responsible of everything that befell her,” Assad said.

Aljazeera

Cop arrested 4 men for misappropriate KMDC education fund

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RT Nagar police arrested four men who forged documents and availed education loans through the website of Karnataka Minority Development Corporation (KMDC).

Police suspect the accused might have siphoned off Rs 1.70 core. The arrested are Imran Khan (30), a KMDC employee and a resident of RT Nagar; MD Multhni Iftikhar (23), a resident of HRBR Layout; Sultan Pasha (25); and Mohammed Iqbal. 

The accused are suspected to have embezzled Rs 1.70 crore so far. The police seized gold jewellery worth Rs 82 lakh, Rs 8 lakh in cash and some bank seals from them.

Police said Imran Khan was a contract employee with the KMDC, while Sultan Pasha recently left the job at the department. The other two are their friends. Iqbal claimed he was a human rights activist running an organisation.

The KMDC gives education loans between Rs 10,000 and Rs 75,000 to minority students. Since Imran was an employee, he had access to its website. The accused forged documents of students and transferred KMDC funds to fake educational institutions created by the accused.

They had purchased laptops and made fake seals of institutions to carry out the operation.

Interim budget a trailer, ‘picture abhi baaki hai,’ says Modi

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New Delhi, Feb 01: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the budget had something for everyone and will directly benefit 12 crore farmers, 3 crore middle class taxpayers and 30-40 crore labourers.

While addressing the media after the inerim budget, says “this budget will direct benefit more than 12 crore farmers, more than three crore middle class families and 30-40 crore labourers. The budget takes care of everyone he says, adding that this is an important step towards “strengthing the nation.”

From housing to healthcare, several aspects touched in Budget For New India: PM

‘From housing to healthcare, several aspects have been touched in the Budget For New India. The development initiatives of the NDA government have touched several lives,” he said.

The prime minister said,”nearly 50 crore people will benefit from Ayushman Bharat. The farmers never got the benefits of PM Kisan Yojna. However, now nearly 12 crore farmers will reap benefits of the scheme, which is one of the largest schemes.” He then adds that the budget is proof that government is sincere towards public.”

Modi also said, “a separate department for fisheries will help the fishermen and those involved in it. We are witnessing development in different sectors and the number of people getting employed is also increasing. The previous government did not worry about my labourers, the poor. But the Jan Dhan yojna, Ayushman Bharat yojna and such other schemes will help them lead a life of dignity.”

Earlier in the day, Finance minister Piyush Goyal presented the sixth and hence, the interim budget of the Narendra Modi government on Friday. Goyal, in the interim budget, had proposed that income tax exemption limit will be doubled from Rs 2.5 lakh to 5 lakh, but left the implementation of it to the next government. Amid confusion on when the changes in tax structure would be effective, he clarified that he just “wanted the middle class to know what the government was planning”.

Agencies

Modi’s Income Tax Googly..You gain just Rs 40/month if your income is this

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Nasheman News : PM Narendra Modi has bowled an Income Tax googly at the Middle class. Not many know that the Rs 5 lakh exemption sop will not help save a single paisa if annual income is even one rupee more than Rs 5 lakh. This, because the income tax slabs have not been changed.    

Since it is not a  slab change, and just rebate it will not impact the tax burden on those with higher incomes. However, for  those whose salaries are under Rs 10 lakh, they can add home loans and tuition fees to get additional tax benefits.

After the budget, if your income is Rs 5 lakh, then you will not have to pay income tax. Earlier, you had to pay Rs 10,920 tax. That means you will save Rs 10,920 now.

But in case your income is Rs 500001. You will not get rebate and will have to pay your taxes as per old slabs. The only benefit that you will get is Rs 500 per year on account of standard deduction. We will explain how. If your income was Rs 5 lakh One rupee , you will just gain 5% of Rs 10000 (the hike in standard deduction), that is Rs 500.  That means just rs 40 per month.

Presenting the Interim Budget 2019-20, acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal proposed doubling the tax exemption threshold for individual annual incomes from the current Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Individuals with yearly income within the proposed limit will not have to pay any income tax for the next fiscal.

He also proposed increasing the standard deduction limit by Rs 10,000, and raising the tax deducted at source (TDS) threshold on interest earned on bank and post office deposits which would benefit small depositors.

Besides proposing that standard deduction will be increased to Rs.50,000 from the current Rs.40,000 to benefit the salaried class, Goyal said individuals with annual incomes of Rs.6.5 lakh and who have invested in various tax savings schemes will not have to pay income tax.

According to the Minister, with additional deductions such as interest on home loans, national pension scheme contribution, medical expenditure on senior citizens, individuals with even higher income will not have to pay tax.

“This will provide tax benefit of 18,500 crore to over 3 crore middle class tax payers comprising self-employed, pensioners and senior citizens,” he said.

The ceiling on payment of gratuity has been enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

The increase in standard deduction for the salaried segment will provide an additional tax benefit of Rs 4,700 crore fo over three crore salary earners and pensioners, Goyal said.

Moving to other sops, he said the benefit of rollover of capital gains under the Income Tax Act will be increased from investment in one residential house to two residential houses for a tax payer having capital gains up to Rs 2 crore. This benefit can be availed once in a life time.

Noting that income tax on notional rent is currently payable if one has more than one self-occupied house, Goyal said that to give a boost to the real estate sector, he is proposing to exempt levy of tax on notional rent on a second self-occupied house.

He also proposed to raise the TDS threshold on interest earned on bank and post office deposits from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000.

“This will benefit small depositors and non-working spouses. Further, the TDS threshold for deduction of tax on rent is proposed to be increased from Rs 1,80,000 to Rs 2,40,000 for providing relief to small taxpayers,” Goyal said.

Commenting on the Interim Budget, Deloitte India Partner Tapati Ghose said in a statement. “The tax breaks for the salaried, middle class, pensioners is being welcomed and is far more than expectations. This is definitely a budget for the middle class.”

“Without losing much of the tax revenue, the government has managed to please a huge chunk of taxpayers” Nangia Advisors Managing Partner Rakesh Nangia said.

Paswan calls Interim Budget ‘second surgical strike’

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Nasheman News :Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan called the Interim Budget 2019-20 the “second surgical strike” by the NDA government and said the opposition leaders looked “despondent”.

“The first surgical strike occurred on the border. Jawans fought it with bullets. Here, we will fight with ballots. People will decide that the NDA wins 400 seats. Narendra Modiji will be the Prime Minister (again),” he told reporters outside Parliament.

“Has anybody ever thought of such a big step for farmers?” he asked.

Equating the Budget with cricket, Paswan said it was “a sixer” and the opposition would not be able “to find the ball” until the Lok Sabha elections. 

1,330 cr provided for women protection, empowerment: Goyal

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Nasheman News : Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the government has provided Rs 1,330 crore for the protection and empowerment of women, an increase of Rs 174 crore from last year.

“An amount of Rs 1,330 crore has been provided for 2019-20,” Goyal said while presenting the Interim Budget it in the Lok Sabha.

“While taking several welfare initiatives for women, the emphasis of the government has been to move from ‘women’s development’ to ‘women-led development’ during the last four and a half years.”

Goyal said that more than 70 per cent of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana were women who were getting affordable and collateral-free loans to start their own businesses.

The Minister also added that maternity leave of 26 weeks have provided financial support to women while empowering them to participate in work.

He noted that the government embarked upon the Ujjawala Yojana to deliver eight crore free LPG connections and six crore connections have already been provided while the remaining will be given by next year.

Budget 2019-20: National Education Mission gets Rs 38,572 cr

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Nasheman News : The government on Friday announced a budget of Rs 38,572 crore for its National Education Mission which comprises the Centrally sponsored schemes for education under which it allocates funds to the states and union territories.

The budget amount is an increase from last year’s Rs 32,334 crore. 

Most part of this entire amount — Rs 36,472.40 crore — is for school education for students from pre-primary to class 12. 

This amount is meant to be allocated for schemes which include Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan — formed with the merger of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan last year — and teacher training. 

A part of this budget component, that is, Rs 2,100 crore, is meant for higher education, which will go towards the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan or RUSA. 

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