The agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries sectors were shown in a favourable light in the Union Budget for 2023–2024 that was unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. According to industry officials, the proposals will lead to long-term growth that will produce better results in the upcoming years.

“The Budget has proven to showcase that the future of the agriculture sector in the country is bright, with its well-researched, and nuanced focus towards the sector,” said Karthik Jayaraman, Co-Founder and Managing Director, WayCool Foods and Products Ltd, a food and agri-tech platform.

We warmly welcome Sitharaman’s declaration that the government will provide digital public infrastructure for agriculture, enabling an open-source, open-standard, and interoperable public good that includes farmer-centric solutions, Jayaraman said the move will improve access to farm inputs for the farmers whilst also boosting market intelligence, thereby, also providing support to agri-tech and start-up growth.

According to him, the Agriculture Accelerator Fund’s launch will significantly benefit the industry by enticing young entrepreneurs to the field and introducing creative, cost-effective solutions to the problems farmers face, particularly those related to boosting profitability and outfitting modern technology.

Moreover, With a budget of Rs 2,200 crore, the Atmanirbhar clean plant initiative would give farmers access to the availability of disease-free, clean planting materials, boosting agricultural production significantly. Disease infestation has been a serious issue affecting 35% of overall crop productivity, Jayaraman added.

“We are glad to hear a number of farmer-friendly initiatives by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman which undoubtedly will support our agricultural economy and accelerate growth amongst other sectors such as animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries,” said B. Soundararajan, Chairman, Suguna Group.

He said the Agriculture Acceleration Fund would be extremely useful in stimulating agricultural start-ups in rural areas through a collaboration between the farmers, state, and the sector.

“Overall, investment in resources and modern technology in these domains will surely contribute in the formation of long-term growth that will give greater results in the coming years,” Soundararajan said.

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Subhash Ghai launches new movie with his ‘Hero’ Jackie Shroff

Market reaction to the Budget 2023–24 has been conflicted

Director Subhash Ghai gave Bollywood star Jackie Shroff, who turns 50 on Wednesday, a unique gift in the form of a brand-new movie.

The actor has previously collaborated with Subhash Ghai on the hugely successful 1983 movie “Hero.”

They later collaborated on the 2001 film “Yaadein,” in which Jackie played a parent instead of the irate young guy he did in “Hero.”

Subhash Ghai announced his upcoming project, which stars Jackie Shroff, on the actor’s birthday, elevating their relationship to a new level. He uploaded a throwback photo of the actor alongside the announcement on Instagram.

He wrote in the caption, “Once a HERO – always a HERO. BORN as a new super HERO in our film HERO 1983 and #YAADEIN 2001 now comes in 2023 as a heart-warming super HERO on big screen film being produced by @MuktaArtsLtd on our script like never before. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ‘JACKIE’ from everyone from Mukta arts zee studios and all of us (sic).”

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After Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the Union Budget for FY24, the Indian stock markets rose briefly on Wednesday before falling.

This is true even if most business leaders and economists approved of the budget ideas.

The BSE Sensex began at 60,001.17 points after closing on Tuesday at 59,549.90 points.

Itx fluctuated between 58,816.84 points and 60,773.44 points.

The Nifty opened at 17,811.60 points on the NSE and closed at 17,662.15 points. Throughout the day, it fluctuated between a high of 17,972.20 points and a low of 17,353.40 points.

The Sensex concluded at 59,708.08 points, up while the Nifty fell by 0.26 percent to close at 17,616.30 points.

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India finally won its first women’s cricket global championship on January 29, 2023, when Shafali Verma’s team defeated England in Potchefstroom’s inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup final by a margin of seven wickets.

Prior to their historic victory at Potchefstroom, India had placed second in the finals of three World Cups – twice in the ODI World Cup finals in 2005 and 2017 and once in the T20 World Cup final – in addition to taking home a silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold-medal match.

The India U19 Women’s team’s victory on Sunday in Potchefstroom felt like the end of a protracted curse. Shubhangi Kulkarni, a former captain of India, believes that the U19 women’s team’s success will be the first of many future victories for her nation.

“It’s fantastic for women’s cricket in India. Winning a World Cup is something which all of us have been dreaming of for a long time. I am very happy that the U19 have been able to do it. Hope this is one of many more to come,” she added.

In the meantime, former India captain Mamatha Maben praised the preparation work done by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which culminated in the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup championship.

“It’s definitely a momentous occasion in the history of women’s cricket in India. A lot of meticulous planning has gone into the preparation for this World Cup by NCA & BCCI. To see it come to fruition is hugely satisfying.”

The BCCI has held a number of zonal camps over the past nine months, along with competitions like the U19 T20 Trophy and U19 Challenger Trophy, fielded two U19 teams in a quadrangular series against West Indies and Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam, and bilateral matches against New Zealand in Mumbai and South Africa ahead of the World Cup.

“The U19 team began preparing for this important competition last year. They have participated in camps at the NCA, played numerous matches, and put in a lot of practise time. They received good facilities from the BCCI, which also oversees juvenile cricket in India. Because they were well-prepared, our team outperformed the competition by a wide margin.,” added Shubhangi.

Considering the future, Shubhangi, who represented India in 19 Tests and 27 ODIs between 1976 and 1991, thinks the U19 World Cup victory will encourage many young females in the nation to take up the sport, referencing the 1983 Men’s ODI World Cup success.

“Parents haven’t always encouraged girls to play cricket. Now I am sure girls will be encouraged to take up the sport and seeing the rewards given by the BCCI they will be further motivated. The U19 players have become popular and will be role models for younger girls who will want to take up the sport.”

“It has obviously attracted a lot of attention and this is what is required for any sport to take off. In 1983 when the Indian men’s team won the World Cup, it suddenly gave a big boost to the men’s game. Similarly, I am quite sure this U19 win will give a boost to women’s cricket.”

The U19 World Cup victory also highlighted India’s outstanding talent and the potential for them to rule cricket for the next ten years, particularly with the debut of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) just around the corner.

The winning U19 team’s bravery and ability to remain composed under pressure, according to Shubhangi, who presently represents the Indian Cricketers’ Association (ICA) on the BCCI’s top council, will serve them well as they transition to senior cricket.

“The players have tasted success and they have seen what they need to do to succeed. It has taken hard work, dedication, sincerity and sacrifice to reach where they have. I am sure they will have aspirations of getting into the senior team and to do well and win the Women’s World Cups (in future).”

“They know they are playing the U19 age group and if they have to play for the senior team they have to work that much harder. The players showed good temperament and were not overawed by the occasion when they played the finals. These qualities will help them transition to senior cricket. They have the potential to make it to the senior team.”

Mamatha, who represented India in 40 ODIs and four Test matches between 1993 and 2004, also praised head coach Nooshin Al Khadeer. “Nooshin’s leadership of India to its first World Cup is a significant advancement for female coaches. Many thanks for your kind words.”

When asked if Nooshin, one of the most successful coaches in domestic cricket, may be a strong candidate for the position of head coach of the senior women’s team, Shubhangi responded in the affirmative and added that a coach’s gender is unimportant.

“Yes why not. When we reached the finals of the World Cup in 2005, ours was the only team which had a female coach. We’ve had some outstanding performances when we had female coaches and we have female coaches who are good enough to coach the Indian teams.”

“But I don’t think we should appoint someone based on gender. As long as we have a coach who understands the intricacies of women’s cricket and is able to take the team to the next level it should be fine.”

Mamatha concluded by listing the U19 World Cup winning team members who had an impression on her. “Titas Sadhu and Parshavi Chopra are two of the bowlers. For batters, the back end should feature Shweta Sherawat, Gongadi Trisha, and Soumya Tiwari.

Overall, the future of the game in India is highly promising.”

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Not all taxpayers will inevitably benefit from the new tax laws: Experts

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The new tax system (NTR) will now be regarded as the default regime, but experts cautioned that not all taxpayers may find it to be the best alternative.

Preeti Sharma, Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, BDO India, said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made conscious efforts to make the NTR more attractive for the taxpayers.

“The NTR shall now be considered as a default regime for all the taxpayers, but that does not necessarily mean a better regime for all. Taxpayers still need to look at their personal situation, various investments and expenditure that are eligible for tax exemption under the old regime and then decide which regime is better for them,” Sharma said.

Although the NTR is the default regime, an individual still has the option to opt for the old regime if the same is more beneficial in terms of tax outflow, Sharma said.

Deepashree Shetty, Associate Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, BDO India, said several measures have been introduced to promote the NTR for individual taxpayers. These include increasing the basic exemption limit, change in the income slabs, extending the scope of tax rebate, extension of standard deduction, etc.

“The changes in the Income tax slab structure has enhanced the purchasing power of the populace. This move will encourage the adoption of cleaner, cost effective means of travel for their daily commute and the availability of FAME-II subsidy will further boost the sales of electric vehicles in the coming fiscal. Additionally, the extension on customs duty on the import of capital goods and machinery for developing lithium-ion cells would also enable EV manufacturers to localise their products in the long term, leading towards reduction in the cost of an electric vehicle for the consumer in the years to come, particularly for a brand like ours that are 95% indigenously manufactured in India.” added Mr. Kapil Shelke, Founder & CEO, TORK Motors.

The proposal to make NTR as the default tax regime supports the government’s initiative to digitise and simplify the tax process for the individuals. This would also mean significant changes in the payroll procedures of employers for salaried taxpayers, Shetty said.

It is anticipated that the revenue from personal income tax will increase discretionary incomes and ease the transition of taxpayers to the new tax system.

Suman Chowdhury, Executive Director and Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research, said, “The rationalisation of the personal income tax structure is expected to lead to two things (i) raise disposable incomes for the middle class, particularly the younger taxpayers (ii) transition of the taxpayers to the new tax regime with minimal exemptions and lower and simpler tax slabs. This is expected to give a moderate boost to domestic consumption.”

S. Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities, said, “Thee Budget has put more money in the hands of the people through relief from income tax which to our mind is a very positive step.”

Sitharaman on Wednesday announced new tax slabs for 2023-24, under which no tax will be payable for income up to Rs 7 lakh per annum under the new income tax regime.

“Currently, those with an income of up to Rs 5 lakh don’t pay any income tax. I proposed to increase the tax rebate limit to Rs 7 lakh in the new tax regime,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

A tax of 5 per cent would be levied on total income between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, 10 per cent tax would be imposed on income between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 9 lakh, while it will be 15 per cent on income between the range of Rs 9 lakh and Rs 12 lakh.

On the income range of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, 20 per cent tax would be levied, while the tax would be 30 per cent on an income slab of Rs 15 lakh and above, the finance minister informed.

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The International Cricket Council announced on Tuesday that Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the 2022 ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year, which will also feature colleagues opener Smriti Mandhana and quick bowler Renuka Singh.

Alyssa Healy (Australia), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Nat Sciver (England), Beth Mooney (Australia), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Ayabonga Khaka (South Africa), and Shabnim Ismail are the other players in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year 2022. (South Africa).

As she helped herself to a century and six half-centuries for the calendar year, Mandhana improved her consistency in 2022. At the World Cup in New Zealand, she beat the West Indies with a fantastic 123-point performance, although possibly it was later.

In September, Mandhana scored an outstanding 91 runs against England in Hove. He then finished the year strong with innings of 40 and 50 runs.

Harmanpreet, an accomplished all-rounder, continues to be one of cricket’s most reliable players. Throughout the year, she scored two century and five half-centuries, including an unbroken 143 against England in September. Additionally, the 33-year-old contributed five significant wickets with her more than competent off-spin.

At the beginning of 2022, Renuka made her international debut against New Zealand, but she was unable to crack the formidable India XI during a fruitless 50-over World Cup campaign.

The right-armer had another opportunity to play ODI cricket as a result of her outstanding T20I performances, and she ended the year as one of the top seamers in women’s cricket.

In 2022, she played at just seven games and took 18 wickets, with her best figure of 4/28 coming against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in the middle of the year. The pacer then put the finishing touches on the year with back-to-back four-wicket hauls in a September match against England.

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Microsoft Might add Split-Screen Functionality to Edge

Athiya Shetty and KL Rahul are officially a married couple

A new split-screen capability for Edge that enables users to compare two tabs side by side is apparently being tested by Microsoft.

According to The Verge, the function was found by Reddit user Leopeva64-2 and is now marked as experimental in Microsoft Edge’s beta, development, and canary releases.

A new button will show up next to the address bar once the feature is activated, allowing users to divide an Edge window into two distinct tabs side by side.

According to the source, Windows already has a built-in split view that allows you to compare tabs next to each other, but doing so is difficult unless you pull the tab all the way to the edge of the screen.

Edge’s built-in split view makes things simpler with just one click, eliminating the need to reorganise your tabs or start a new browser window.

Microsoft, meanwhile, stopped supporting the Edge web browser on Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1.

Additionally, Microsoft Edge WebView2 for both operating systems no longer receives support from the firm.

An application’s web content can be embedded using the developer control WebView2.

Users must now update to Windows 10 or Windows 11 in order to use Chrome anymore because support for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 has also been discontinued.

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Athiya Shetty and KL Rahul are officially a married couple

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It’s a done deal! Cricketer KL Rahul and actress Athiya Shetty have been declared man and wife. The pheras took place at the magic hour of the evening for the wedding ceremony, which was held on Monday at Suniel Shetty’s farm in Khandala.

Following the ceremony, Suniel and his son Ahan Shetty exited the building, greeted the media, and gave candy to those who had gathered outside.

The father-and-son team wore traditional Indian attire. Suniel was dressed in a crepe-colored Kurta and pyjamas, while his son was dressed entirely in white ethnic clothing.

Suniel expressed his happiness to the media, saying that he was extremely pleased with how well the event went and that the family has something prepared for the celebration once the Indian Premier League is over because Rahul has work obligations in the cricket league.

The “Phir Hera Pheri” actor further said that he still views Rahul as a son, just as he does Athiya, and expressed the opinion that the term “in-law” is no longer relevant.

Athiya and KL Rahul invited their friends to a sangeet night before the wedding. The celebrations were ignited by Suniel and his wife Mana, as well as Athiya’s closest friends Krishna Shroff and Akansha Ranjan.

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India’s 5G phone market would grow by more than 70% by the end of 2023: Report

50% of iPhones will be produced in India by 2027

According to a recent projection, India would create 45–50% of Apple’s iPhones by 2027, on par with China, which made 80–85% of iPhones in 2022.

Luke Lin, a research analyst for DigiTimes, predicts that the greatest winners from the shift in the smartphone supply chain away from China would be India and Vietnam.

By the end of 2022, according to Lin, India would produce between 10% and 15% of all iPhones, while the country’s actual output to far is less than 5%.

“However, the speed of supply chain migration to India will be accelerated in the future because of the need for diversifying risks in light of uncertainties of China’s pandemic control,” said Lin.

Apple has increased production capacity in India and Vietnam despite the supply chain being threatened by pandemic concerns in China and geopolitical dangers.

Apple has accelerated the move of its iPhone and iPad manufacturing to India and Vietnam, respectively.

“Some Apple Watch probably will also be assembled outside China as well,” Lin mentioned.

As Indian policy encourages local manufacturing, Apple wanted to gradually increase manufacturing in India, the report said.

“They believe it will help local consumers to identify with its brand and help to expand its market share there,” Lin said.

Additionally, the study noted that starting in 2019, most of Samsung’s cell phone production capacity has been moved from China to Vietnam.

Samsung also maintains assembly facilities in South Korea and Indonesia.

Lin emphasised that Samsung is growing production there as well in order to gain market share there.

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According to a survey released on Tuesday, the market for 5G smartphones in India is anticipated to grow by more than 70% (year over year) by the end of CY2023.

The number of 5G smartphone shipments in India increased more than 13 times from the year of the technology’s initial debut, which was 2020.

“5G smartphones have clearly come a long way from a paltry 4% in CY2020 to a potential more than 45% market share in CY2023,” stated Menka Kumari, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR).

Nearly 100 5G smartphones were introduced in the India market in CY2022.

“In 2023, we anticipate close to 75 per cent of the new smartphones to be introduced in the India market to be 5G-capable,” she added.

In CY2022, Samsung, OnePlus, and Vivo shipped the most 5G smartphones in India.

Xiaomi and realme were the top producers in the pricing range for 5G Value for Money (Rs 10,000–Rs 25,000).

“Going forward, we anticipate further momentum for 5G smartphone shipments in the new year driven by strong consumer demand and aggressive 5G network deployment by Indian telcos,” said Shipra Sinha, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

The release of 5G handsets in the area of low-cost smartphones is essential for widespread 5G adoption in India (less than Rs 10,000).

“Alongside, better 5G availability and accessibility will be key for consumer experience,” Sinha added.

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VVS Laxman might take over after Rahul Dravid’s term as coach of India comes to an end: Report

The 108th Indian Science Congress will be opened by the PM on Tuesday