Provident Financial News

Most deaths were due to smoke inhalation while residents in the building were sleeping when the fire broke out early Wednesday in Kuwait's southern city of Mangaf in Ahmadi Governorate. The building was home to 196 migrant workers, mostly Indians.

Kota in Rajasthan continues to be a beacon of hope for countless aspirants aiming to crack some of India's toughest entrance exams like NEET and JEE. The journey of Aman Mahavar exemplifies why Kota remains a magnet for these aspirants. Aman’s story is not your typical rise-from-adversity tale. As reported by TOI, he faced seven failed attempts at NEET until 2022 and seemed destined to return to his job as a postman in Bikaner. However, a chance opportunity changed his fate. Aman heard about Motion Education’s scholarship lottery while working in a post office, filled out the form, and was selected. This unexpected break put his dream back on track. Having worked various jobs since his school days to support his mother, Aman finally cracked NEET on his eighth attempt in 2023, securing a seat at GMC Medical College in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram.

Buying life insurance gives a policyholder and his or her family a financial protection against unforeseen circumstances. But, what if the policyholder commits suicide? Is the insurer liable to pay the sum assured to the nominee?

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has announced comprehensive reforms aimed at enhancing the overall customer experience in the life insurance sector. Detailed in the newly-released Master Circular on Life Insurance Products, these reforms focus on increasing transparency, accessibility, and policyholder satisfaction.

The government has kept the interest rate on general provident fund (GPF) and related funds unchanged at 7.1% for the three months from April-June 2024. The Ministry of Finance revises the interest rate for GPF and related provident funds for government employees every three months. The rate has not been chnaged for the last 17 quarters.

Question: As the income tax return filing season has set in, kindly guide on what are the key documents which taxpayers should possess for duly furnishing their tax returns?

While life insurance policies offer financial protection and investment opportunities, one of the critical aspects is the lock-in period. It has significant implications for liquidity, reversal of tax benefits, and the overall utility of the policy.

Good news for life insurance policyholders! Now insurance companies will have to pay higher surrender value to the person insured on exiting the policy during initial years.

Instant financial gains in life give you an opportunity to either use them to reduce your financial burden or make the most of them by investing the gains aptly. Gratuity is one such monetary benefit given by an employer to an employee. It is a lump sum amount given at the time of retirement, resignation, or upon an employee’s death or disability.

The recent inauguration of the Haryana section of the Dwarka Expressway by Prime Minister Narendra Modi signifies a stupendous leap towards comprehensive development in Gurugram and its surrounding regions. Spanning 29 kilometres, this expressway is a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, real estate boom, and a stepping stone towards Gurugram’s transformation into a vibrant urban place.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present the maiden budget of the Modi 3.0 government in the third week of July. The finance minister, who will be presenting her sixth straight full-fledged Union Budget next month, is expected to announce tax changes in the form of new deductions and exemptions within the new tax regime, according to experts, as they do not see the government revisiting tax slabs or introducing any new changes in the old tax regime.

Bank fixed deposit rates: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently announced raising the threshold for bulk fixed deposits to Rs 3 crore from the earlier Rs 2 crore. So, now your FDs worth up to Rs 3 crore will be considered as retail FD and above that mark will be categorised as bulk FD. Earlier, FDs of Rs 2 crore were considered as bulk deposits.

By Vivek Jain

By Akshat Khetan

penal charges on employers who default on depositing the provident fund, pension and insurance contribution of their employees with the retirement fund body while making the penal charges uniform irrespective of the duration of default. As per the notification issued by the ministry of labour on employment on Saturday, damages from the employer will be recovered at the rate of 1% of the arrear of contribution per month or 12% per annum across three schemes vis the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme and the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) under EPFO. The highest charges so far was 25% per annum. The new provisions will be effective from the date of notification.

Haryana to discharge additional water into the Yamuna on humanitarian grounds, senior AAP leader and minister Atishi said on Saturday. Delhi's water minister also told a press conference here that the capital is facing a shortage of 70 million gallons per day (MGD) in production due to lack of raw water in the Munak canal and Wazirabad reservoir. The normal water production of around 1,002 MGD in Delhi went down to 932 MGD on Friday because of lack of raw water, she said. «The Delhi government has appealed to Haryana to release additional water for the people of the city on humanitarian grounds,» the minister said and added that issues related to share of Yamuna water can be discussed after heatwave conditions abate.

tempo traveller in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district fell into a gorge on Saturday. As many as eight are feared dead and at least seven have been injured in the accident. The vehicle was carrying 23 people, reported PTI. The accident happened near the Alakananda River on the Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway.

income in the past year, and 32% of elderly individuals or their spouses had an annual income of less than Rs 50,000. Only 29% of elderly people had access to social security schemes such as old-age pensions, contributory pensions, or provident funds. Nearly 65% of elderly individuals said they were not financially secure with their current income and access to savings and investments. These findings are part of a report released by the voluntary organisation HelpAge India on the eve of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, observed on June 15. Regarding health, more than half of the elderly (52%) reported facing at least one challenge related to daily living activities, and 54% suffered from two or more non-communicable diseases.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary and son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Nara Lokesh on SAturday launched a "Praja Darbar" to directly interact with the people of his constituency and address their grievances. In the press release, TDP said that has been meeting with locals at his residence every morning to listen to their problems and provide solutions. Lokesh has also established a special task force to resolve the issues raised by the public. This initiative is seen as a significant step towards fulfilling his election promise of being accessible to the people.

AAP MLAs have written a letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil urging his intervention to solve the water crisis faced by the national capital amid the prevailing intense heatwave. Calling the situation «very critical», AAP's chief whip in Delhi Assembly Dilip Pandey on Saturday said the Yamuna water issue was an inter-state issue that required coordination of the Jal Shakti Ministry. Pandey said that in the letter from the AAP MLAs, time has been sought to meet the minister for a discussion on the matter. The AAP leader also said that instead of indulging in politics, all parties should work for a solution to resolve the water crisis and provide respite to the people of Delhi.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saturday to enhance digital payment services for users of the eMigrate portal. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary OE and PGE (Overseas Employment and Protector General of Emigrants) Bramha Kumar, on behalf of the Ministry, and Neelesh Dwivedi, General Manager (NW-I) from SBI, at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in Delhi. This MoU will become operational following the successful integration of SBI's payment gateway, SBIePay, with the eMigrate portal.