India slashes income taxes in bid to boost economy
India has removed import duties on some components key to producing mobile phones
Nirmala Sitharaman holds up a folder with the government of India's logo as she leaves her office to present the annual budget in the parliament, in New Delhi. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain
Pramod Thomas is a senior correspondent with Asian Media Group since 2020, bringing 19 years of journalism experience across business, politics, sports, communities, and international relations. His career spans both traditional and digital media platforms, with eight years specifically focused on digital journalism. This blend of experience positions him well to navigate the evolving media landscape and deliver content across various formats. He has worked with national and international media organisations, giving him a broad perspective on global news trends and reporting standards.
INDIA's finance minister unveiled broad income tax cuts on Saturday (1) as prime minister Narendra Modi's government looks to bolster consumption and perk up a slowing economy.
The world's most populous country is forecast to expand at its slowest pace since the Covid pandemic in the current fiscal year, after growing at more than eight per cent last year.
Consumers have been burdened by high food inflation and weak wage growth, two factors impacting urban consumption.
"The new structure will substantially reduce the taxes of the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment," finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament while unveiling the year's budget.
"Slabs and rates are being changed across the board to benefit all taxpayers."
The finance minister said that individuals earning an annual income of up to Rs 1.2 million (£10,900) would now be effectively exempt from paying income tax.
It nearly doubles the previous tax-free threshold of Rs 700,000 (£6,700).
Cuts were also announced for a newer system introduced in 2020, with annual incomes of Rs 1.6m to Rs 2.4m (£15,300 to £22,900) now attracting a tax rate of between 20 per cent and 25 per cent, down from the earlier rate of 30 percent.
"The middle class provides strength for India's growth," Sitharaman said.
The changes would result in the Indian government foregoing revenue worth Rs one trillion (£9.1 billion), she added.
India will post a deficit of 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product this financial year, below the 4.9 per cent projected during last year's budget, likely helped by lower capital expenditure.
The benchmark Nifty index gave up initial gains it made during Sitharaman's speech and was trading 0.19 per cent lower on Saturday afternoon in a special budget trading session of the Mumbai bourse.
Axes import tax on some smartphone parts
India has removed import duties on some components key to producing mobile phones, Sitharaman announced, in a boost for local production efforts and benefiting firms such as Apple and Xiaomi.
India's electronics production has more than doubled in the last six years to $115bn (£91bn) in 2024, with the country now becoming the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer.
Apple led the India smartphone market with a 23 per cent share in total revenue during 2024, followed by Samsung at 22 per cent, according to research firm Counterpoint.
A street vendor looks at his smartphone on April 27, 2024 in Bengaluru, India. (Photo by Valeria Mongelli/Getty Images)
The list included components for mobile phone assembly such as printed circuit board assembly, parts of camera modules, and USB cables, which were taxed at 2.5 per cent earlier.
The cuts will help India better cope with a potentially disruptive year of global trade due to US president Donald Trump's tariff threats.
As Trump hopes for his "America First" policies to lure more manufacturing units back into the US, India is seeking to take advantage of US-China trade tensions to increase its own share of global supply chains.
Internally, India's IT ministry had warned it risks losing out to China and Vietnam in the smartphone exports race if it were to not lower tariffs to lure global companies, Reuters reported last year.
The minister had announced a review of the nation's customs duty rate structure to rationalise and simplify tariffs for ease of trade.
The duty review also aimed at removing the so-called inverted duty structures or instances where tariffs on raw materials or intermediate goods are higher than the final products they are used to produce.
India's complicated tariff structure is often cited as a deterrent for efficient local production and a cause of disputes.
Long-term programmes to boost pulses, cotton output
India will launch a six-year programme to boost the output of pulse crops by taking measures including directing state agencies to buy the staple at guaranteed prices, the finance minister said in a bid to cut reliance on imports.
Rising demand has forced India, the world's biggest producer and consumer of pulses, to spend a record $5bn (£4bn) on importing pulses such as pigeon peas, black matpe, and red lentils in 2024, making the country the world's top importer.
India currently imports large amounts of pulses from Canada, Myanmar, Russia, and a host of African countries.
Over the next four years, state agencies will procure pigeon peas, black matpe, and red lentils from farmers at government-set guaranteed, or support, prices, Sitharaman said.
She said her government would also aim to boost cotton production, particularly of the extra-long staple variety, by supporting research and development.
India is the world's second-biggest cotton producer, but yields have fallen in recent years, turning the country into a net importer of the fibre, after previously being a net exporter.
Announcing measures to assist millions of farmers grappling with low incomes, Sitharaman unveiled plans to set up a urea plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 million metric tons to boost supplies of one of the key crop nutrients.
Agriculture is a mainstay in India. The sector employs nearly 45 per cent of the workforce and contributes about 15 per cent to the $3.5 trillion economy.
Pakistan's foreign minister Ishaq Dar said Pakistan had not requested any mediation in its talks with India, but was offered a meeting at a neutral venue. (Photo: Getty Images)
PAKISTAN is ready for a “comprehensive dialogue with India” to discuss Kashmir and other issues, foreign minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday (22).
Dar, who also holds the portfolio of the deputy prime minister, said Pakistan was clear from the outset that discussions with India would not take place on any single-point agenda.
“Talks, whenever held, will be not just Kashmir but on all issues,” he told reporters outside the parliament in Islamabad.
India has maintained that it will have a dialogue with Pakistan over Kashmir and crossborder terrorism.
Dar said Pakistan had not requested any mediation in its talks with India, but was offered a meeting at a neutral venue.
“We were told to sit down at a neutral location, and I said if that is the case, we are willing to meet,” he said.
The minister also claimed the US has nudged Islamabad towards a ceasefire with India.
“I received a call from the US for a ceasefire,” Dar said. “I had made it clear that Pakistan did not want a war.”
An attack by terrorists on April 22 in Indian Kashmir’s Pahalgam left 26 people dead, prompting Delhi to launch strikes under ‘operation Sindoor’. Four days of drone and missile strikes followed, before India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict.
Dar said the ceasefire with India was in place.
His comments came as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir on Friday and discussed regional security and counter-terrorism.
“Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to strengthen the all-weather strategic partnership and enhance coordination at regional and international forums,” the army said in a statement on Friday.
“Wang Yi reiterated China’s steadfast support for Pakistan’s sovereignty and development,” it added.
On Thursday (21), Wang and Dar held talks to review the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0, trade and economic relations, multilateral cooperation, and people-to-people ties.
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Farage said he would end the right to claim asylum or challenge deportation for people arriving this way by replacing current human rights laws and withdrawing Britain from refugee treaties. (Photo: Getty Images)
NIGEL FARAGE has set out plans for "mass deportations" of migrants who cross the English Channel on small boats if his Reform UK party comes to power.
Speaking to The Times on Saturday (August 23), the former Brexit campaigner said he would withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights and make agreements with Afghanistan, Eritrea and other main countries of origin to repatriate illegal migrants.
"We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries ... I mean (US president Donald) Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively," Farage said.
When asked if he was concerned that asylum seekers could face torture or death in countries with poor human rights records, Farage said he was more concerned about the risk he believed asylum seekers posed to people in Britain.
"I can't be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets," he said.
In recent weeks, small-scale protests have taken place outside hotels housing asylum seekers, with public safety concerns heightened after some migrants were charged with sexual assault.
Polls show immigration and asylum are now viewed as the public’s biggest concern, slightly ahead of the economy. Reform UK, which won five seats in last year’s general election, has recently led in voting intention surveys.
Last year, 37,000 people – mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Vietnam and Eritrea – reached Britain from France by small boats. The figure was up 25 per cent from 2023 and made up 9 per cent of net migration.
According to analysis by the University of Oxford, about two-thirds of those arriving by small boats and applying for asylum are granted it, while just 3 per cent have been deported.
Farage told The Times he would end the right to claim asylum or challenge deportation for people arriving this way by replacing current human rights laws and withdrawing Britain from refugee treaties, saying there was a national emergency.
"The aim of this legislation is mass deportations," he said, adding that a "massive crisis" caused by asylum seekers was fuelling public anger.
According to The Times, Farage’s plan includes holding 24,000 migrants in facilities on air bases at a cost of 2.5 billion pounds, and running five deportation flights daily, with deportations in the hundreds of thousands.
If those measures did not succeed, asylum seekers could be moved to Ascension Island, a British territory in the South Atlantic, which Farage said would send a symbolic message.
A 21-year-old transgender woman has been convicted of sexual assault in northeast England.
Ciara Watkin did not disclose her gender status before engaging in sexual activity with a male partner.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the man could not give informed consent.
Watkin was found guilty on three charges at Teesside Crown Court.
Sentencing is scheduled for 10 October.
A transgender woman has been convicted of sexually assaulting a male partner after failing to disclose her gender status before sexual activity. Prosecutors argued that the man could not give informed consent, and the case has been described as having a significant impact on his mental wellbeing.
The case
Ciara Watkin, 21, from Stockton-on-Tees, met the man, also 21, on Snapchat in June 2022. She later engaged in sexual activity with him without revealing her gender status. During their first encounter, she told him she was on her period and could not be touched below the waist.
A few days later, they met again, after which Watkin blocked contact before later messaging him to disclose that she was transgender and had male genitalia.
Prosecution statement
Senior Crown Prosecutor Sarah Nelson said: “It is clear from the evidence in this case that, prior to engaging in sexual activity with the victim, Watkin had made no attempt to inform him of her transgender status. The victim has made clear in police interview that he would not have engaged in sexual activity had he known that Watkin was transgender and, consequently, these events have had a significant impact on his mental wellbeing.”
Defence argument
Watkin admitted lying about her gender status but denied wrongdoing. Her lawyers argued in court that it would have been “blindingly obvious” to the man that she was not biologically female, according to the BBC.
Verdict and sentencing
Following a trial at Teesside Crown Court, Watkin was convicted of two charges of sexual assault and one charge of assault by penetration. She will be sentenced on 10 October.
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Authorities said most of the 52 passengers were from India, China and the Philippines
A tourist bus returning from Niagara Falls overturned on a motorway in western New York.
Five people died and dozens were injured; passengers were mainly from India, China and the Philippines.
Authorities ruled out mechanical failure and driver impairment as causes.
Survivors included children, with patients taken to multiple hospitals.
Emergency blood donations and family support centres have been set up.
Five people have been killed after a tourist bus carrying passengers from Niagara Falls overturned on a motorway in western New York. Authorities said most of the 52 passengers were from India, China and the Philippines, with several children among them.
The crash
The vehicle lost control around 40 miles (64km) from Niagara Falls, near Pembroke, 30 miles (48km) east of Buffalo. Police said the bus veered into the median before landing in a ditch. Some passengers were thrown from the vehicle while others were trapped inside the wreckage for several hours.
Investigation
New York State Police confirmed that neither operator impairment nor mechanical failure caused the crash, though the investigation remains ongoing. The driver has been cooperative and no charges have been filed. Authorities have appealed for dashcam footage from passing motorists.
Passengers and casualties
The passengers ranged in age from one to 74. Twenty-four adults were admitted to one local hospital and are expected to recover. Children under 16 were transferred to a specialist children’s hospital. Translators and translation devices were brought in to help victims and their families.
Witness accounts
Local witness Powell Stephens told The Buffalo News: “There was glass all over the road and people’s stuff all over the road. Windows were all shattered. Everyone seemed conscious and OK, but I only saw the scene for about 15 seconds.”
Community response
ConnectLife, a regional blood provider, issued an emergency appeal for donations, calling the situation “a crisis.” The Red Cross has also opened a family reunification centre to help reconnect children and parents taken to different hospitals.
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Members of the public outside Whitechapel Underground Station on February 12, 2025 in London. (Photo: Getty Images)
LONDON Underground staff will stage a series of rolling strikes for seven days next month in a dispute over pay and working conditions, the RMT union said on Thursday.
The walkouts will begin on September 5 and involve different groups of staff taking action at different times. The dispute covers pay, shift patterns, fatigue management and plans for a shorter working week, according to the RMT.
Separately, workers on the Docklands Light Railway will also strike in the week beginning September 7. The DLR connects Canary Wharf and the City of London.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said, "Our members ... are not after a King's ransom, but fatigue and extreme shift rotations are serious issues impacting on our members health and wellbeing."
He added that the union would keep engaging with London Underground in an effort to reach a negotiated agreement.