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Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), as it seeks to make the country an attractive investment destination for foreign investors.

Borrowing is set at ₹11.5 lakh crore, ensuring that fiscal discipline is maintained without hampering growth. After a fiscal deficit peaking at 9.2% in FY21, it has steadily declined to 4.8% in FY24, driven by strong growth and fiscal discipline.

economic growth) translating to the micro (corporate profit growth). On the macro, the finance minister has just delivered a bullish budget. And yet, the million-dollar micro question remains — will corporate profits revive? First, the budget. It can be dissected into three C's — consolidation, consumption, and capex. On the consolidation front, the budget is firmly on track, with FY25 fiscal deficit at 4.8% of gross domestic product (GDP), expected to be further lower at 4.4% in FY26.

income tax cuts in the budget spurred a rally in shares of consumption companies Saturday as investors bet that individuals with money at their disposal would be encouraged to spend more on personal mobility choices and other consumer discretionary products. Nifty’s Realty index jumped 3.4%, while Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Consumer Durables indices were up about 3% each. The Nifty Auto index gained 1.9%. Benchmark Nifty ended 0.1% lower.

fiscal discipline and much-needed growth support through targeted measures. The major highlights of this year's budget were direct tax cuts and rationalisation of tax slabs, measures that would benefit middle class households. This year's budget aligns closely with previous budget themes, presenting no major surprises in fiscal calculations. The themes of conservatism and consolidation remain prominent. As anticipated, the government is targeting a fiscal deficit of 4.4% of GDP in FY26. This move is seen as essential for consolidating the fiscal health while avoiding excessive borrowing that could lead to inflationary pressures. This reflects the government's intent to reduce its reliance on debt, which will have a positive effect on long-term economic stability. A key question was whether consolidation would come from revenue or capital expenditure. The budget indicates that the government plans to primarily restrain non-capital expenditure, which is a very positive development.

Dexter: Original Sin, titled Blood Drive, will be available on Paramount+ with Showtime on Friday, February 7, 2025. It will also air on Showtime on Sunday, February 9, at 10 PM. The show is a prequel to the original Dexter series. The series follows a weekly release schedule.

Ginny and Georgia.

Iran is reportedly advancing its nuclear weapons program while allegedly developing dangerous missiles capable of reaching Europe based on designs provided by North Korea, reported Daily Mail.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US President Donald Trump have now indicated a severe willingness to use the military force while including airstrikes and special operations against the drug cartels in Mexico, reported Daily Mail. This stance now follows a quite recent incident where suspected cartel members opened fire on the US Border Patrol agents who were monitoring illegal drug smuggling activities at the Texas-Mexico border.

Kevin Costner is set to host and executive produce a new documentary series, Yellowstone to Yosemite, for Fox Nation. This three-part series follows the historical 1903 Yosemite expedition led by Theodore Roosevelt.

Budget 2025 has increased the threshold limit to deduct TDS on house rent paid by non-individuals like companies, etc. Now TDS on house rent paid has to be deducted from the rent payment if the rent payment is Rs 50,000 per month or part of a month or more. Earlier this threshold was if the rent payment exceeded Rs 2.4 lakh per annum. This threshold limit was Rs 1,80,000 until FY 2018-19. This amendment will take effect from April 1, 2025.

ease of doing business. The proposal is part of the Union Budget for 2025-26 presented in the Parliament on Saturday.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Put aside the claims that can’t be confirmed. What kind of presumably second-rate chips did it use? How little did it spend training its derivative large language model? Likewise, if analysts at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies are correct, DeepSeek trained itself on information illicitly gleaned as an enterprise client of America’s pioneering OpenAI.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said a mechanism would be set up under the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to evaluate the impact of financial regulations and subsidiary instructions. The initiative will also formulate a framework to enhance the responsiveness and development of the financial sector, Sitharaman said in her budget speech on Saturday.

tax collected at source (TCS). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday increased the threshold to collect tax at source (TCS) on remittances under RBI’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. She also proposed to remove TCS on remittances for education purposes, where the remittance is out of a loan taken from a specified financial institution.

Budget 2025 has removed prosecution for taxpayers who failed to deposit Tax Collected at Source (TCS) despite collecting it. This is subject to the condition TCS is paid before filing the TCS return for that period. This amendment will take effect from April 1, 2025.

strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) and another Rs 500 crore to boost biofuel adoption but these allocations appear to be prompted by little or no utilisation of similar provisions in the current or the previous year.

Union Budget 2025-26 has proposed further exemptions and reductions in customs duties on key minerals and capital goods, in a move to strengthen domestic manufacturing and the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

real estate stocks surged as much as 9.3% on Saturday, February 1, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the revised limit of the tax deducted at source (TDS) on rent to Rs 6 lakh annually. The Union Budget 2025 has brought welcome news for landlords and tenants, with a significant increase in the threshold for TDS on rent. The annual limit has been raised from Rs 2.4 lakh earlier, a move expected to ease the tax burden and simplify rental transactions.