World
India's Modi sets aside billions for jobs, allies in post-election budget
India’s government assigned billions of dollars for job creation and regions run by key coalition partners in a budget aimed at cementing the coalition and winning back voters after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election setback.
Tax changes unveiled in the budget included a higher levy on equity investments to allay concerns the market might be overheating and lower taxes for foreign companies to attract more investment.
INDIAN PM MODI VISITS RUSSIA VISIT FOR FIRST TIME SINCE START OF UKRAINE WAR
The $576 billion in total outlays included $32 billion for rural programs, $24 billion to be spent over five years to create jobs, and more than $5 billion for two states ruled by coalition partners.
“In this budget, we particularly focus on employment, skilling, small businesses, and the middle class,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
The government will also implement reforms across factors of production, including land and labor, she said.
Subsequent budgets would continue to focus on those areas, Sitharaman said while presenting her seventh annual budget.
Despite the new spending, India cut its fiscal deficit target to 4.9% of gross domestic product in fiscal year ending on March 31, 2025, from 5.1% in February’s interim budget, helped by a large surplus of $25 billion from the central bank.
The government also marginally reduced gross market borrowing to 14.01 trillion rupees.
Economist had blamed the distress in rural areas and a weak job market for a poor poll showing that cost Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its absolute majority. They say land and labor reforms are essential for India to sustain strong economic growth.
Asia’s third-largest economy grew 8.2% in the past fiscal year and the government sees growth of 6.5% to 7% this fiscal year, a report showed on Monday.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds up a folder with the Government of India’s logo as she leaves her office to present the union budget in the parliament in New Delhi, India, July 23, 2024. (REUTERS/Altaf Hussain)
Sakshi Gupta, principal economist at HDFC Bank, said the budget managed to strike a balance between policies supporting growth and maintaining fiscal discpline.However, implementing more ambitious reforms, will be “challenging” for the coalition, Gene Fang, associate managing director for sovereign risk at Moody’s Ratings, told Reuters.
Previous attempts to make it easier for companies to acquire land and lay off staff have repeatedly faced pushback from states concerned about protests such measures might provoke.
Among measures aimed at boosting employment, the budget included incentives for companies to train staff as well as and cheaper loans for higher education, Sitharaman said.
India’s reported urban unemployment rate is 6.7%, but private agency the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy pegs it higher, at 8.4%.
The budget also maintains spending on long-term infrastructure projects at 11.11 trillion rupees, with states assigned 1.5 trillion rupees in long-term loans to fund such expenditure. Some will be linked to reform milestones in areas such as land and labor, which Sitharaman said the government intended to push in its third term.
In a concession to the government’s allies, Sitharaman said it would hasten loans from multilateral agencies for the eastern state of Bihar and the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
TAX CHANGES
India raised to 20% from 15% its tax rate for equity investments held for less than a year, while the rate for those held longer than 12 months rose to 12.5% from 10%. The taxes will be applicable from Wednesday.
The government also increased the tax on equity derivative transactions that have drawn retail investors, which will be implemented from Oct. 1.
Shares and the rupee declined after the budget announcement but recovered most of the losses with main stock indexes .NSEI, .BSESN ending the day down about 0.13%.
The tax changes were a short-term negative for the market, but could pay off in the longer term, said Vineet Arora, investment manager at Singapore-based NAV Capital Emerging Star Fund.
“It is expected to help in stabilizing the market and attracting investors with a long-term perspective on the Indian economy,” Arora said.
Corporate tax for foreign companies was cut to 35% from 40%, with the aim of encouraging more investment, while a lower tax burden for lower income consumers, expected to encourage spending, helped drive consumer stocks to record highs.
World
Pakistan calls troops, orders 3-day curfew as 24 killed in pro-Iran rallies
Army deployed and some areas in northern Gilgit-Baltistan region put under curfew after deadly violence over Khamenei’s killing.
Published On 2 Mar 2026
Pakistan has called in the military and imposed a three-day curfew in some areas following deadly protests over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint United States-Israeli attack on Saturday.
At least 24 people were killed and dozens injured in clashes between protesters and security forces across the country on Sunday, prompting authorities to tighten security around the US embassy and consulates.
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The curfew was imposed before dawn Monday in the districts of Gilgit, Skurdu, and Shigar in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, where at least 12 protesters and one security officer were killed and dozens of others wounded during confrontations, according to an official statement.
Of those, seven were killed in Gilgit, a rescue official said, while six others died in Skardu, a doctor told AFP news agency on Monday.
Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday attacked the offices of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the ceasefire along the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, and the UN Development Programme in Skardu city.
Protesters also burned a police station and damaged a school and the offices of a local charity in Gilgit, according to officials.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday said protesters became violent near the UNMOGIP Field Station, which was vandalised.
“The safety and security of UN personnel and premises throughout the region remain our top priority, and we continue to closely monitor the situation,” Dujarric said.
Shabir Mir, a Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesman, said the situation was under control and that the curfew would remain in place until Wednesday. Police chief Akbar Nasir Khan urged residents to stay indoors, citing “deteriorating law and order conditions”.
In the southern port city of Karachi, the country’s commercial hub, 10 people were killed and more than 60 injured during a protest outside the US consulate.
Two additional protesters were killed in the capital, Islamabad, while heading towards the US embassy.
Pakistani authorities have beefed up security at US diplomatic missions across the country, including around the US consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence.
The US embassy and its consulates in Karachi and Lahore cancelled visa appointments and American Citizen Services on Monday, citing security concerns.
The federal government warned that the situation could further deteriorate amid large-scale demonstrations condemning Khamenei’s killing on Saturday.
Tehran has responded with a series of drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and US assets in several Gulf countries.
World
Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war
World
Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’
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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.
“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.
Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”
“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”
Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)
“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.
As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.
According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.
The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.
TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ
People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.
“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.
“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.
EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME
Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)
Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.
Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.
“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.
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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.
“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.
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