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GST Council scraps arrest powers of GST officers, ups prosecution threshold to ₹5 crore
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, State Finance Ministers and other dignitaries after a group photograph during the 57th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Meeting at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi…
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What is the impact of 25 basis points repo rate hike on borrowers? | Explained
Story so far: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) voted unanimously to increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 bps to 5.50%. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted at 5.25% and the marginal standing facility…
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Why have SLBCs/UTLBCs been asked to report SC beneficiary data for key government schemes for jobs and entrepreneurship? | Explained
Image used for representation purpose only. The story so far: The Finance Ministry has now directed State-level and UT-level Bankers’ Committees to mandatorily include data on the percentage share of SC beneficiaries availing flagship Central schemes such as the Mudra Yojana, Stand Up India, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, MSME/business loans, and others. This direction…
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Strait of Hormuz transits at lowest in over two months after attacks, data shows
A view of Strait of Hormuz. Image used for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto The number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to the lowest in more than two months after attacks on tankers in the key waterway reached their highest last week since the start of the US-Israeli war…
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India’s trade caught in the middle
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that India-U.S. trade talks have reached a “plateau” and further concessions from either side might be difficult. To begin with, those celebrating India extracting a great trade deal from the U.S. miss the point. While a deal with some relaxations may be better than no deal, we have…
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Property taxation needs structural reform
There are three life stages of property tax — enumeration (identification of properties and maintenance of property records along with property details), property valuation and tax assessment, and tax billing and collection. Representative file image used. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto A robust property tax system is vital for India’s cities. Property tax is not…