Month: February 2025

Union Budget 2025: Finance Minister announces ₹20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission for small modular reactors

February 1, 2025 admin

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). File | Photo Credit: The Hindu Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). The Budget proposes that at least five of these reactors will be operationalised…

Science

Union Budget 2025: Sitharaman proposes many reforms to lift investor mood

February 1, 2025 admin

Union Fianance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the media on Budget at National Media Centre, in New Delhi on February 1, 2025 | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (February 1, 2025) proposed several financial sector reforms to ease compliance, expand services, build robust regulatory environment, promote international and domestic…

Business

Minority Affairs Ministry sees 5% hike in budget but funds for education empowerment for communities sees major cut

February 1, 2025 admin

The Union Budget has allocated the Ministry of Minority Affairs ₹3,350 crore for the financial year 2025-26, which is a 5% increase from the Budget Estimate of 2024-25 at ₹3,183.24 crore. There is a major hike of approximately ₹1,000 crore in grants-in-aid to States, which was increased from ₹527.12 crore in 2024-25 to ₹1,518.31 crore…

Business

Hina Munawar Appointed First Female Manager For Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team

February 1, 2025 admin

File photo of Hina Munawar.© X/@CricJerry Hina Munawar, a police officer with a strong background in security and operations, has been named as the first female team manager for the Pakistan men’s cricket team ahead of the Champions Trophy. Munawar, who has served in the Frontier Constabulary in the high-risk Swat area, has…

Sports

Basic import duty on certain phone components scrapped

February 1, 2025 admin

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw | Photo Credit: The HIndu The basic customs duty of 2.5% imposed on certain smartphone components has been scrapped, following a glide path recommended by the electronics manufacturing industry last year. Mobile phones are fast emerging as India’s top export commodity, reaching $15.6 billion last year. Slabs for components had been…

Business

Big Cut For Intelligence Units In Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2025

February 1, 2025 admin

New Delhi: Intelligence gathering has taken a back seat in the Union Budget 2025-26 as the Centre has reduced the flow of funds of several verticals that deal with intelligence collection and dissemination, including the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) – the apex body for all matters concerning internal and external security. According to Notes…

Nation

Union Budget 2025-26: Gyan Bharatam Mission launched for conserving India’s manuscript heritage.

February 1, 2025 admin

In her budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about conserving India’s manuscript heritage, on February 1, 2025. | Photo Credit: ANI The Union Budget 2025-26 announced a special mission for the survey, documentation, and conservation of India’s manuscript heritage. Launched as the ‘Gyan Bharatam Mission’, it intends to cover more than one crore manuscripts….

Business

Slight decline in allocations for I&B Ministry

February 1, 2025 admin

The budgetary allocations for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry recorded a slight decline from ₹4,626.71 crore to ₹4,358.38 crore this year. While proposed funds for the establishment expenditure of the Ministry are pegged at ₹142.70 crore, some ₹38.27 crore for Art and Culture, and ₹401.53 crore for Information and Publicity have been allocated. The government…

Business

Former German President Horst Köhler dies at 81

February 1, 2025 admin

Horst Köhler, a one-time head of the International Monetary Fund who became a popular German president before stunning the country by resigning abruptly in a flap over comments about the country’s military, has died. He was 81. Köhler, who was head of State from 2004 to 2010, died Saturday morning in Berlin after a short…

World

Union Budget 2025 | What’s in it for textile, apparel, footwear and leather sectors?

February 1, 2025 admin

Union Budget 2025 | What’s in it for textile, apparel, footwear and leather sectors? The textile, apparel, footwear and leather sectors got a boost in the Union Budget with the announcement of a Mission on Cotton and a focus product scheme for the footwear and leather sector. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the focus…

Business