The country's interim budget is going to be introduced on February 1. Before the budget, the formal start of printing of documents has started from Monday. Like every year, Halwa Ceremonies were organized before printing started in the Finance Ministry. In this program, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, Finance Secretary Subhash Garg and Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways P. Radhakrishnan are also present.  

Due to the purpose of keeping the budget secret, the officials and employees associated with the budget are almost internally detained. These officers can come out only after the budget is presented in Parliament. During this time, neither the family nor any outsider can talk or meet.

Non-existent Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Although the program is headed by the Finance Minister of the country, but this time due to poor health, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley could not be included in the program. Arun Jaitley is undergoing treatment in America. Jaitley had a kidney transplant on May 14, 2018, in Delhi's AIIMS. Before that, the finance minister had to undergo surgery.

Modi government's interim budget

This is not complete but the interim budget of the Modi government. This budget is presented when the government does not have the time to present the full budget or the Lok Sabha elections are close. Something similar is going to happen with the Modi government too. Actually, the government has to go to the polls two months later. That is why the interim budget will be introduced in the Parliament.

In the interim budget of the year 2019-20, a road map can be prepared to give potential tax incentives to the middle class. In such a situation, when specific measures are expected in the full budget, the Finance Ministry can announce the government's Income Tax Friendly Vision in this interim budget, in which income tax exemption limit can be increased to 2.5 lakh rupees per year.

It is believed that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley can also re-tax medical expenses and transport allowance in the upcoming interim budget. The middle class, who are facing economic pressure after the ban, will get relief from this government move. Significantly, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the interim budget on February 1, 2019.

CII has done tax relief: Industry chamber CII has demanded from the government to double the personal income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh in the upcoming budget and increase the limit of tax exemption under section 80C of income tax to Rs 2.50 lakh To be encouraged, so that savings can be encouraged. CII has also suggested that the maximum slab of income tax should also be reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. Also, relaxation should also be allowed for medical expenses and transport allowances. At present, the limit of personal income tax exemption is up to Rs 2.5 lakhs. Taxes of 5 percent on annual income between 2.50 lakh and 5 lakhs, tax of 20 percent tax on annual income of 5 to 10 lakhs and tax of 30 percent on income above Rs 10 lakh is payable.

Prices of petrol and diesel are continuing. On Friday, petrol was cheaper by eight paise in Delhi's national capital, while diesel price was up by 19 paise. While the price of petrol has been increasing steadily for the past two days, the price of diesel has been continuously increasing for 9th day. In the last 9 days, diesel has become costlier at Rs 2.73. Oil companies have been raising since the rise in crude oil prices recently.

Where are the hikes

In addition to Delhi on Friday, petrol in Chennai was costlier by eight paise, while in Mumbai and Kolkata it was 7 paise per liter. On the other hand, if it comes to diesel, it has been expensive in Kolkata and Chennai, apart from Delhi, 19 paise, whereas in Mumbai the price has increased by 20 paise per liter. In the international market, crude oil prices rose by more than one per cent on Friday. March delivery on Intercontinental Exchange Brent crude futures was up 0.90 percent and trade was trading at $ 61.73 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the US light crude West Texas Intermediate's February delivery deal rose 1.13 percent and was trading at $ 52.77 a barrel.

New petrol price list

Delhi- 70.55 per liter

Kolkata -72.65 per liter

Mumbai-76.18 per liter

Chennai- 73.23 per liter

Diesel was expensive by Rs 2.73 in 9 days

Diesel prices have been increasing steadily since last 9 days. On January 9, the price of diesel in Delhi was Rs 62.24 per liter, which went up to Rs 64.97 per liter on January 18. Diesel prices have increased by Rs 2.73 in these days. For the last time, diesel prices were cut by 8 paise on January 6, 2019.

Diesel's new rate list

Delhi-64.97 per liter

Kolkata-66.74 per liter

Mumbai -68.02 per liter

Chennai- 68.62 per liter

The effect of the increase in petrol prices is also seen in Delhi-NCR. Petrol prices in Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gururgram have been increased to Rs 70.40, Rs 70.27, Rs 71.64 and Rs 71.43 per liter respectively. Diesel prices are at Rs 64.26 a liter in Noida. In Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gururgram, Rs 64.13, Rs 65.09 and Rs 64.88 per liter respectively.

Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has allocated Rs 4,236 crore for the Kumbh Mela 2019, an iconic Hindu festival that is celebrated every six years, being held in Prayagraj (also known as Allahabad), which is more than thrice the budget of the Maha Kumbh in 2013, according to a PTI report.

"The UP government has allocated Rs 4,236 crore for 2019 Kumbh Mela. The previous state government had spent around Rs 1,300 crore for the Maha Kumbh, which was held in 2013," state Finance Minister Rajesh Agarwal told the agency.

Of the Rs 4,236 crore, the Uttar Pradesh government is investing Rs 2,000 crore, and the central government has allocated Rs 2,200 crore, of which Rs 1,200 crores has already been released.

If you compare this budget with any other religious event organised in India, the Ardh-Kumbh mela's budget is the costliest ever.

Apart from this budgetary allocation, some other departments have also allocated funds for the mega event, the agency quoted the minister as saying.

Agarwal said this time the Kumbh Mela area has been doubled to 3,200 hectare as compared to 1,600 hectare area in the previous melas.

Kumbh Mela 2019, which started on January 15 and will continue till March 4, is spread across 32 square km and is expected to host around 150 million people from across the world. It is the largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims who come together every three years in Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain, and Nasik. The Kumbh Mela returns to each of these cities after every 12 years to mark the celebration of Hindu heritage.

The effort of the UP government has always been to enhance the facilities for the public and establishing facilities at the ground level has been a big task, the minister said.

From 247 km of streets inside the venue and parking capacity of 5.63 lakh to 1,22,500 toilets and 58 police outposts, the Mela ground is currently a world in itself. Moreover, 2,132 medical personnel and around 20,000 police officials, including home guards, PAC companies and central para-military forces have been deployed at the Kumbh Mela venue.

The BJP-led Yogi Adityanath government has renamed Ardh Kumbh as Kumbh and the Kumbh as Maha Kumbh.

The Kumbh Mela is expected to witness an attendance over 20 lakh devotees which includes ascetics, saints, sadhus, sadhvis, kalpvasis and pilgrims from all walks of life.

After Monday's fall, the second trading day of the week is getting stronger in the Indian stock market. In the initial trading session, the Sensex crossed the 36, 150 levels, with 300 points, while the Nifty gained 80 points and started trading across the 10,800 level. During the business, Yes Bank, Infosys, Reliance, TCS, Asian Paints, Coal India and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, Maruti, Power Grid and Bharti Airtel are seeing a decline in their share.  

Reasons for Rapid Shares in YES Bank

In Tuesday's trade, Yas Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries are getting more than 2 per cent growth. On Monday, Yas Bank's stock saw an increase of 6.22 percent. In fact, the name of Chief Financial Officer Rajat Monga is going on for the post of Yes Bank CEO for the long term. The name of the CEO of a foreign bank has also been shortlisted for this post. After the RBI order in September 2018, the term of YES Bank CEO Rana Kapoor was reduced to 31 January 2019.

Infosys shares rise due to profit

On Tuesday, Infosys saw an increase of nearly 2 percent. Country's largest IT company announced a buyback on Friday. For this, the company had announced to spend Rs 8,260 crore. At the same time, it has also decided to give a special dividend of Rs 4 to its shareholders.

Weaker start of rupees

Rupee weakened against the dollar on Tuesday and it dropped 10 paise to below 71. Earlier on Monday, the rupee declined by 43 paise to 70.92. This was the lower level of last one month. The reason for this weakness is the continuous withdrawal of foreign capital and crude oil prices.