Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been saying that Budget 2021 will not be like any other before. What might that mean? Coming against the backdrop of a pandemic that has, arguably, wrecked the economy like never before, it could mean she has more big-ticket relief measures up her sleeve. But it could also mean, says Business Standard's in-house policy expert A K Bhattacharya, that she is preparing the nation for something unpleasant -- something like a one-time Covid tax to raise additional funds to push through more spending and help expedite economic recovery. 
Watch this video to also learn which big schemes could get more funding and which the axe, and if setting up multiple bad banks would be a good idea.

Beyond Budget Headlines with AKB: Why bad banks are a bad, bad idea

Agarwal expresses confidence of pick up in private capex and opportunities arising out of US president-elect Donald Trump's tariff war

The company will invest the funds in a sustainable expansion of production capacities at its Madhya Pradesh-based passenger car radial tyre facility, the tyre maker said in a statement

The IT ministry is working on a mechanism to assess safety and trust elements in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions but does not want to start with a regulation as it may hurt innovation in the AI space, a top official said on Thursday.
Speaking at CII's Global Economic Policy Forum, Ministry of Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government has broadly addressed key regulations barring a couple of the issues like copyright and existential crisis.
He said under the IndiaAI mission, the government has tried to make a subtle distinction between responsible AI as defined by the West -- which is not expected to be regulated by the government -- and safe and trusted AI.
"Safe and trusted AI is when you do the innovation, try and be responsible about it but there would be an assessment. We will try and see that it is safe and trusted in a manner that works for everybody. That is the other space that we are working on right now. We don't want to start with regulation, and 

There is a need for regulation around harms from AI, misrepresentation and deepfakes in the AI domain and there are enough laws in the country to act on misrepresentation

Second batch of Apple Intelligence rolls out. Google releases Gemini 2.0 model. Vivo X200 series launched in India. Google's new AI agents. Microsoft file sharing with iPhones. Google Pixel 9a

Need to develop state-level grids for sewage and solid waste, says Aayog

Observing that judges have to live a hermit life and work like a horse, the Supreme Court on Thursday said they should refrain from using social media and should not express any opinion about judgments.
The oral remarks were made by a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh which was hearing a matter pertaining to the termination of two woman judicial officers by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The top court remarked that there is no place for flamboyance in judiciary.
"Judicial officers should not go to Facebook. They should not comment on judgments because tomorrow if the judgment is cited, judge has already expressed one way or the other.
"It is an open platform...You have to live life a hermit, work like a horse. So much sacrifice judicial officers have to do. They should not go into Facebook at all," the bench said in an oral observation.
Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for one of the terminated woman judge,  echoed the views of the bench and said no judicial

On November 11, 2023, the top court took a suo motu cognisance of the termination of six women civil judges by the state government over their alleged unsatisfactory performance

Stakeholders from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sought a reduction in GST, technology upgrade, and production-linked incentive scheme benefits for various segments in a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.
The meeting aimed to seek inputs and suggestions for the Budget for 2025-26, expected to be presented on February 1.
Members from the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE); Karnataka SC and ST Entrepreneurs' Association; Plant-Based Food Industry Association (PBFIA); Ambala Scientific Instruments Manufacturers' Association (ASIMA); Rajasthan Footwear Manufacturers' Association were among the participants at the meeting.
The All-India Plastics Manufacturers' Association; All India Manufacturers' Association; Gujarat Chamber of Small Industries Association; Federation of Associations of Cottage and Small Industries (based in West Bengal); Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small and Medium Association; and Laghu Udyog 

The meeting aimed to seek inputs and suggestions for the Budget for 2025-26, expected to be presented on February 1

Call for reining in food inflation and raising investment in pre-Budget  talks

Russia-Ukraine War

The year 2022 is coming to an end and a lot has happened that shaped the world in the year. Let's have a look at some of these significant events

Google Messages

In January, Google rolled out end-to-end encryption in group chats for messages app users enrolled in the beta programme

Blend launches Blend Studio: AI tool for ecommerce photography

New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI/PNN): Blend, an AI-powered design and photography application for DTC brands and ecommerce sellers, recently launched Blend Studio - the Chat GPT for product photos.

Celebrity and Travel Photographer Rahul Lokare from Flamingo Productions creates waves of change in the world of photography.

Xiaomi 13 Pro

Priced at Rs 79,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB on-board storage, the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers a novel imaging experience on top of a premium package

Beyond Budget Headlines with AKB: Why bad banks are a bad, bad idea

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