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Predictably, India's middle class is looking for some form of income-tax relief. Though the tax slab wasn't changed and no new deduction was announced last year, inflation has eaten into people's earnings. They haven't seen a change in tax rate since 2017-18 and in tax slab since July 2014. Ms Sitharaman may be able to afford a balanced, not a populist, Budget since the general election is still a year and one more Union Budget away. Still, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP hoping to win a third consecutive term, massive welfare programmes for farmers and the rural population can't be ruled out. The Finance Ministry had been considering increasing the limit under 80C, which includes investment in life insurance, fixed deposit, bonds, housing and public provident fund. If this happens, it will encourage savings and help raise rainy day funds of people whose savings were eroded at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The markets in India - Asia's thi...

Apple maintains workplace policies that unlawfully discourage employees from discussing working conditions, a US labour agency has found. The National Labor Relations Board will issue a complaint targeting the policies and claiming Apple executives made comments that stymied worker organising unless the company settles first, an agency official said on Monday in an email reviewed by Reuters. The official had sent the email to Ashley Gjovik, a former Apple senior engineering manager who filed complaints against the company in 2021. The NLRB investigates charges filed by workers and unions and decides whether to issue formal complaints against companies. The agency can seek to strike down workplace policies and require employers to notify workers of legal violations. Apple did not respond to a request for comment. The company has said it takes worker complaints seriously and thoroughly investigates them. An NLRB spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comm...

Adani Enterprises climbed 2% in early trade on Tuesday, the last day for its $2.5 billion secondary share sale, with all eyes on whether the company can secure enough backing for the offering after a U.S. short-seller's scathing attack. Billionaire Gautam Adani's group firms have lost $65 billion in stock market value since Hindenburg Research's Jan. 24 report flagged concerns about the group's high debt levels and its suspected improper use of tax havens. Adani has called the report baseless. A successful completion of the share sale will show investors still believe in the group's prospects and that it can weather the unprecedented short-seller challenge and its aftermath. Adani Enterprises stock opened at 2,932 rupees, still below the lower end of the share sale's price band of 3,112 rupees. The issue was subscribed 3% by Monday. The anchor portion of the issue - that accounted for 30% - closed last week with investments from investors such as Abu Dhabi I...

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is poised to kickstart Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style, transporting us to the populated, urban megacity of Quantum Realm. In what feels like a redemption arc for the often ridiculed and not-so-popular Avenger that is Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the film sets the first faceoff for the perils to come in the form of the hostile Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors) — in the larger Multiverse Saga. Marking the longest runtime in the shapeshifter trilogy, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releases February 17 in theatres worldwide. While you wait for that superhero affair, why not treat yourself to a taste of Old Hollywood with Damien Chazelle's latest epic Babylon ? It's a wild ride, tracking the outsized ambition of eccentric characters, as they bask in the fame before eventually falling off. The film waltzes into cinemas on February 3. Coming to local fare, we've got two Hindi-language remakes of South Indian movies. First up, Kar...

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd on Monday announced appointments of Ananyashree Birla and Aryaman Birla, children of its Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, as additional non-executive directors on its board. The board of directors at its meeting held on Monday, based on the recommendation of the nomination and remuneration committee, has approved the appointments of Ananyashree and Aryaman as additional non-executive directors on the board of the company with effect from January 30, 2023, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABRFL) said in a regulatory filing. They will be liable to retire by rotation in accordance with the Companies Act, 2013 and their appointment is subject to the approval of the shareholders, it added. Ananya Birla is a successful business woman and platinum selling artist, the company said, adding her first company Svatantra Microfin Pvt Ltd is amongst India's fastest growing microfinance institutions. It has crossed an asset under management of USD 1 billi...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said it is expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy next fiscal year and projected the growth to 6.1 percent from 6.8 percent during the current fiscal ending March 31. The IMF on Tuesday released the January update of its World Economic Outlook, according to which the global growth is projected to fall from an estimated 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent in 2023, then rise to 3.1 percent in 2024. “Our growth projections actually for India are unchanged from our October Outlook. We have 6.8 percent growth for this current fiscal year, which runs until March, and then we're expecting some slowdown to 6.1 percent in fiscal year 2023. And that is largely driven by external factors,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Chief Economist and Director, Research Department of the IMF told reporters here. “Growth in India is set to decline from 6.8 percent in 2022 to 6.1 percent in 2023 before picking up to 6.8 percent in 2024, with resilient d...

OnePlus has announced that it will launch the OnePlus 11R smartphone in India on February 7. At the Cloud 11 launch event, the OnePlus 11 5G and OnePlus Buds Pro 2 TWS earphones will also be unveiled. There have been several reports and leaks surrounding the OnePlus 11R and its release over the past few months. Some reports suggest that OnePlus 11R is the same model that is likely to launch in China as the OnePlus Ace 2. A recent leak shows a design render of the model ahead of its launch. According to a tweet by tipster Ice universe (@UniverseIce), the design for the OnePlus Ace 2 has been leaked and it is quite similar to the OnePlus 11 that was launched in China earlier this month. The phone is expected to be the successor of the OnePlus 10R 5G in India. The design reveals that the OnePlus 11R will feature a circular camera module with a part of it extending to the side panel. The handset lacks the Hasselblad branding that is unique to the OnePlus 11 5G. The phone also seems to...

More than half of households in a survey conducted online across 309 districts expect a decline in their income by up to 25 per cent and dip in savings, and are looking for relief in the coming budget, online platform LocalCircles said on Sunday. The survey, conducted between November 25 and January 25, found that with job losses and hiring sentiment turning negative, 52 per cent respondents feel that the economic uncertainty will persist for the next 6-12 months. LocalCircles claimed that 37,000 responses were received from household consumers across 309 districts of India, comprising 64 per cent men, 36 per cent women from tier 1, tier 2 and smaller towns as well. "Our survey indicates that majority households in the country are facing the squeeze and in community discussions thousands of inputs were received by LocalCircles about lowering income tax rates or increasing deductions and exemptions," LocalCircles founder Sachin Taparia said. The number of responses on each...

The Last of Us TV series has been renewed for a second season. In a tweet, HBO confirmed the next chapter in its live-action adaptation of the renowned PlayStation video game, merely two episodes into season 1. The original game writer and now co-President of Naughty Dog responded to the tweet, claiming that the new season will chart the events from the polarising gory sequel, The Last of Us Part II. Craig Mazin — co-writer on the show — previously hinted that an adaptation of the sequel was likely if enough people watched it, convincing the studio to lock in a new season. While Disney+ Hotstar — India's destination to watch The Last of Us series — hasn't provided details on the viewership count, HBO has been doing it on an episode-by-episode basis. The second episode, adored by fans and critics alike, reached 5.7 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max in the US, representing a 22 percent jump over the 4.7 million viewers it gained for the pilot. As per HBO , the numbers m...

Elon Musk's enigmatic personality and unconventional tactics are emerging as key exhibits in a trial revolving around one of his most polarizing pursuits — tweeting. The trial, centred on a pair of tweets announcing Musk had obtained the money to take Tesla private in 2018, reeled the 51-year-old billionaire into a federal courtroom in San Francisco for three days of testimony that opened a peephole into his often inscrutable mind. Musk, who now owns the Twitter service that he deploys as his megaphone, was often a study in contrasts during his roughly eight hours on the stand. The CEO of the electric carmaker is facing a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Tesla shareholders after Musk tweeted about a company buyout that didn't happen. Through both his testimony and the evidence submitted around it, Musk came across as impetuous, brash, combative and contemptuous of anyone who questioned his motives as a game-changing entrepreneur who has inspired comparisons to Apple...

Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Saturday ruled out any changes in price or the dates of the Rs 20,000 crore follow-on share sale at the conglomerate's flagship firm despite its stocks being hammered below the offer price after a scathing report by a US short seller. "Adani Enterprises Limited's further public offer (FPO) is going as per schedule and the announced price band. There is no change in either the schedule of the issue price," a group spokesperson said. The FPO got subscribed just one per cent on the opening day on Friday. Against an offer of 4.55 crore shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd, only 4.7 lakh shares were subscribed, according to information available from the BSE. Adani Enterprises fell almost 20 per cent to below the offer price of its secondary sale as all the seven listed companies of the conglomerate took a beating in the aftermath of Hindenburg Research alleging that the group was "engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accoun...

There are hundreds of millions of asteroids in our solar system, which means new asteroids are discovered quite frequently. It also means close encounters between asteroids and Earth are fairly common. Some of these close encounters end up with the asteroid impacting Earth, occasionally with severe consequences. A recently discovered asteroid, named 2023 BU, has made the news because today it passed very close to Earth. Discovered on January 21 by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov in Crimea, 2023 BU passed only about 3,600 km from the surface of Earth (near the southern tip of South America) six days later on January 27. That distance is just slightly farther than the distance between Perth and Sydney and is only about 1 percent of the distance between Earth and our Moon. The asteroid also passed through the region of space that contains a significant proportion of the human-made satellites orbiting Earth. All this makes 2023 BU the fourth-closest known asteroid encounter wi...

Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDCs have captured the imagination of central banks around the world. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the pilot 'digital rupee' project and reports suggest that it may further expand the project "based on the learnings from the current pilot." Governor Shaktikanta Das' recent statement on CBDC adoption indicates that 'digital rupee' may get a boost. "Central banks issued digital currencies are the future of money and its adoption can help save on logistic and printing costs," he said at a recent event.  With the Union Budget around the corner, industry watchers expect some announcement regarding the digital rupee.  "I think CBDC will be a hot topic of discussion in this year's Budget," says Kamlesh Nagware, CTO at Snapper Future Tech, a blockchain firm. He believes that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may announce measures to enable offline, cross-border payment and digita...

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel cumulatively gained nearly 25 lakh mobile subscribers in November even as troubled Vodafone Idea lost nearly 18.3 lakh customers, according to data by sector regulator TRAI. India's largest telco Reliance Jio cemented its lead in the market adding 14.26 lakh net subscribers in November, whereas Airtel added 10.56 lakh users. At the end of November 2022, Jio's mobile subscriber tally stood at 42.28 crore, the levels rising from 42.13 crore during the previous month. Bharti Airtel's subscriber gains pushed up the mobile user count of the Sunil Mittal-led company to 36.60 crore in November. In sharp contrast, cash-strapped Vodafone Idea lost 18.27 lakh subscribers during the month in reference, tempering its subscriber base to 24.37 crore in November. As per TRAI data, the total broadband subscribers increased to 82.53 crore at the end of November 2022 with a monthly growth rate of 0.47 percent. The top five service providers constituted...

Oppo Reno 8T has been a part of the rumour mill for quite a while now. The company has confirmed that this handset will launch in the Philippines on February 8. However, the remaining details are yet to be officially revealed. However, it appears that a retailer has revealed the pricing of the Oppo Reno 8T. An alleged listing for this upcoming smartphone has surfaced on Facebook that also mentions some of the key specifications of the Oppo Reno 8T. It also includes supposed live images of the handset and its box packaging. Oppo Reno 8T price (expected) According to a report by Revü, the Oppo Reno 8T might be priced at PHP 18,999 (roughly Rs. 28,500) for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. The lack of 5G branding on the leaked retail box image could mean that this is the 4G variant. Oppo is believed to be also working on the Oppo Reno 8T 5G. Oppo recently posted a teaser video on Facebook confirming the launch of the Oppo Reno 8T in the Philippines. This upcoming smartphone is s...

Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform's new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb. 1, the company said on Friday. Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform's policies. Severe policy violations include engaging in illegal content or activity, inciting or threatening violence or harm, and engaging in targeted harassment of other users, among others. Twitter said that going forward, it will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension, such as limiting the reach of tweets that violate its policies or asking users to remove tweets before continuing to use the account. In December, Musk came under fire for suspending accounts of several journalists over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire's plane. He later...

Suzuki Motor will invest JPY 4.5 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,85,614 crore) through fiscal 2030 in research, development and capital spending to make battery electric vehicles (EVs), it said on Thursday. The Japanese automaker known for making compact "kei" cars said it would invest JPY 2 trillion in electrification and autonomous driving technologies, while allocating JPY 2.5 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,56,915) to build a battery EV plant and for renewable energy facilities. Of the money earmarked for electrification, JPY 500 billion (roughly Rs. 31,380 crore) would be invested in batteries, it said. Suzuki 's announcement comes after other Japanese automakers have rolled out similar goals to catch up with European and US rivals in the fast-growing battery EV market. Mazda Motor unveiled in November a $10.6 billion (roughly Rs. 86,460 crore) spending plan to electrify its vehicles. Suzuki said it would introduce its first battery EVs , including small sport-utility vehicles...

India's GDP is projected to moderate to 5.8 per cent in 2023 as higher interest rates and global economic slowdown weigh on investment and exports, the United Nations said on Wednesday, noting that the country's economic growth is expected to remain "strong" even as prospects for other South Asian nations "are more challenging". The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 report said the world output growth is projected to decelerate from an estimated three per cent in 2022 to 1.9 per cent in 2023, marking one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades as a "series of severe and mutually reinforcing shocks - the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and resulting food and energy crises, surging inflation, debt tightening, as well as the climate emergency - battered the world economy in 2022." The report, produced by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), said that in South Asia, the economic outlook has sign...

Advertising spend on Twitter Inc dropped by 71 percent in December, data from an advertising research firm showed, as top advertisers slashed their spending on the social-media platform after Elon Musk's takeover. The recent data by Standard Media Index (SMI) comes as Twitter is moving to reverse the advertiser exodus. It has introduced a slew of initiatives to win back advertisers, offering some free ads, lifting a ban on political advertising and allowing companies greater control over the positioning of their ads. According to the SMI data, ad spending on Twitter in November fell 55 percent from last year despite these months traditionally being a time of higher ad spending as brands promote their products during the holiday season. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Most of the companies had stopped spending in November, estimates by another research firm Pathmatics showed, the same month that Musk restored suspended accounts and release...

After two days of most cryptocurrencies opening with profits, the price chart reflected losses next to majority altcoins on Wednesday, January 25. Bitcoin managed to retain its recently spiked price despite encountering a small loss of 2.10 percent. The value of BTC, at the time of writing, stood at $22,621 (roughly Rs. 18.4 lakh). The oldest cryptocurrency is trading around the same price point on international exchanges like Binance and Coinbase as well. In terms of numbers, BTC dropped in price by $450 (roughly Rs. 36,694) in the last 24 hours. Ether on Wednesday broke its profit streak and recorded a loss of 5.80 percent. Ether opened trading at the price of $1,545 (roughly Rs. 1.26 lakh), showed the crypto price tracker by Gadgets 360. Binance Coin , Cardano , Solana , Polygon , Polkadot , and Litecoin witnessed value dips. Both memecoins Shiba Inu and Dogecoin also opened with losses. “In the past 24 hours, most cryptocurrencies have seen a slight decrease as the markets...