HIGHLGHTS

NATION DEL221 BUD-2LD-AGRI 7.26 PM Budget 2026FM launches AI tool for farmers, hikes agri allied sector spend 7pc New Delhi Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday unveiled a comprehensive package for the livestock, fisheries and high-value agriculture sectors in Budget 2026-27, with a total allocation of Rs 1,62,671 crore for agriculture and allied activities - a 7.12 per cent increase from the revised estimate of Rs 1,51,853 crore for 2025-26.

Sustaining focus on public expenditure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday raised the capex target to Rs 12.2 lakh crore for FY27 from the revised estimate of Rs 10.95 lakh crore for the ongoing financial year. DEL226 BUD-DIVIDEND (7.38 PM) **** Centre expects Rs 3.16 lakh cr dividend from RBI, banks in FY27 New Delhi: The Centre expects Rs 3.16 lakh crore in dividends and surpluses from the Reserve Bank of India, nationalised banks, and financial institutions in 2026-27, up about 3.75 per cent over the current fiscal. **** PAR133 LS-BUDGET-SIDELIGHTS (3.49 PM) **** Sitharaman skips poetry, keeps focus on investments, growth in 85-min Budget speech New Delhi: Draped in a purple Kanjivaram saree with golden checks and a coffee brown border featuring intricate thread work, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman honoured the weaving traditions of her poll-bound home state of Tamil Nadu as she presented a record ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Sunday. **** DEL258 PB-MODI-LD BUDGET (9.08 PM) **** Budget focuses on making cities centres of development; EU trade deal to benefit Punjab: Modi Jalandhar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Union Budget 2026-27 laid huge focus on transforming Jalandhar, Ludhiana and many other cities of the country into big centres of development. **** DEL231 POLL BOUND STATES-BUD-REAX (7.52 PM) **** Leaders from poll-bound Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu slam Union Budget, Assam CM welcomes it New Delhi: Leaders of the ruling parties in election-bound Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal slammed the Union Budget on Sunday for ''overlooking'' their states, even as Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, where polls are also due this year, welcomed it. **** DEL217 BUD- DEF 3RDLD-ALLOCATION (7.13 PM) **** Lessons from Sindoor: India allocates Rs 7.85 lakh cr for defence; capital outlay up by nearly 22 per cent New Delhi: India on Sunday set aside Rs 7,84,678 crore as defence outlay for 2026-27 in a steep hike of 15 per cent over last year's allocation of Rs 6.81 lakh crore amid the military's renewed push to procure new weapon systems in the face of security challenges from China and Pakistan. **** DEL252 BUD-MEA-LD-ALLOCATION (8.40 PM) **** India zeroes out Chabahar port outlay, slashes Bangladesh aid in 2026-27 budget New Delhi: India has not allocated funds for the Chabahar port project in Iran in the Union Budget for 2026-27 and has halved the development assistance for Bangladesh to Rs 60 crore in reflection of frosty bilateral ties. **** DEL260 BUD-LD OPPN REAX (9.17 PM) **** Hollow and directionless Budget ignored people's hardships: Opposition New Delhi: Opposition parties on Sunday described the Union Budget as ''hollow'' and ''directionless'', claiming it failed to address key political and economic challenges in the country while expenditure had been slashed in several sectors affecting the common man. **** NATION DEL221 BUD-2LD-AGRI (7.26 PM) **** Budget 2026:FM launches AI tool for farmers, hikes agri & allied sector spend 7pc New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday unveiled a comprehensive package for the livestock, fisheries and high-value agriculture sectors in Budget 2026-27, with a total allocation of Rs 1,62,671 crore for agriculture and allied activities - a 7.12 per cent increase from the revised estimate of Rs 1,51,853 crore for 2025-26. **** DEL239 BUD-VAISHNAW (8.10 PM) **** Investment in data centres may cross USD 200 bn, nuclear energy important to power it: Vaishnaw New Delhi: The government expects investment in data centres to cross USD 200 billion, about Rs 18.33 lakh crore, and nuclear energy will be an important component in the ecosystem to power it, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday. **** DEL224 BUD-2NDLD HOME (7.32 PM) **** MHA gets Rs 2.55 lakh crore in Budget; IB sees massive hike of 68 per cent in allocation New Delhi: The Union Budget 2026-27 on Sunday allocated over Rs 2.55 lakh crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs, reflecting an increase of around 9.44 per cent from the budget estimates of over Rs 2.33 lakh crore provided to it in 2025-26. **** DEL181 BUD-LD EDUCATION (5.41 PM) **** Education: 5 varsity townships, girls hostel in each district among major announcements in Budget New Delhi: Five university townships in the vicinity of major industrial and logistic corridors, girls hostel in every district, setting up of content creator labs in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges and reduction of the tax collection at source (TCS) rate to 2 per cent for education are among the proposals announced in the Union Budget for the education sector. **** MDS71 BUD-SOUTH-POLL BOUND STATES (7.55 PM) **** Union Budget: Poll-bound TN, Kerala express disappointment Chennai/Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling dispensations of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, two key poll-bound southern states on Sunday expressed strong dissatisfaction over the budgetary announcements made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with Chief Minister M K Stalin wondering why his state TN was not given something even in the election year, while his Kerala counterpart accused the Centre of neglecting the state. **** DEL190 CONG-EPSTEIN-PM (6.00 PM) **** Congress demands PM Modi to come clean on 'disclosures' on him made in Epstein files New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday demanded answers from Narendra Modi following ''disclosures'' in the Epstein files in the US that some ''monsters'' had access to him, and said the prime minister should come clean on the issue. **** BOM24 MH-NCP MERGER-LD TATKARE (8.09 PM) **** Amid merger speculation after Ajit Pawar's death, Tatkare says NCP will continue to be in NDA Mumbai: NCP Maharashtra president and Lok Sabha MP Sunil Tatkare on Sunday said his party will continue to be a part of the BJP-led NDA, asserting that the organisation will move forward on the ideology and path laid down by the late Ajit Pawar. **** CAL50 AS-HIMANTA-MIYA (6.31 PM) **** 'Miyas' will face trouble till I remain CM: Himanta Goalpara (Assam): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said ''Miyas'' will face ''trouble'' as long as he remains in power, asserting that they should face persistent problems so that they leave the state. **** LEGAL LGD5 SC-WANGCHUK (2.50 PM) **** SC to hear plea challenging Sonam Wangchuk's detention New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea filed by Gitanjali J Angmo, the wife of jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, against his detention under the National Security Act. **** LGD7 GREEN-YAMUNA-DECLINING FISH (5.03 PM) **** NGT asks Delhi govt, others to implement recommendation to preserve native fish species in Yamuna New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government and other states to expeditiously implement the Central Inland Fisheries Research Centre's recommendations for the preservation of native fish species in the Yamuna river. **** BUSINESS DEL241 BIZ-2NDLD-STOCKS (8.14 PM) **** STT hike on Futures dampen stock market sentiment; Sensex, Nifty crash nearly 2 pc Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty dived sharply by nearly 2 per cent on Sunday, logging their worst decline in years on a Budget day, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed a hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives. **** DEL237 BIZ-BUD-LD BUYBACK (8.10 PM) **** Proposed share buyback framework aims to benefit small shareholders, not promoters New Delhi: To protect minority shareholders and curb tax arbitrage by promoters, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a major overhaul of the taxation framework governing share buybacks. **** DEL236 BIZ-BUD-INCOME TAX (8.09 PM) **** TCS cut, amnesty scheme for foreign black money among taxpayer-friendly steps in Budget New Delhi: Unveiling taxpayer-friendly measures, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday reduced TCS rates on overseas medical and education expenses, and tour packages, besides allowing an extra 3 months time to file revised Income Tax returns. **** FOREIGN FGN13 TRUMP-VENEZUELA-INDIA-OIL (10.58 PM) **** India to buy Venezuelan oil instead of Iranian crude, claims Trump New York: US President Donald Trump has claimed that India will be purchasing oil from Venezuela instead of Iran. By Yoshita Singh **** FGN27 CHINA-XI-YUAN (3.17 PM) **** Xi calls for building 'strong' yuan to boost global role, challenge dollar dominance Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has pitched for building a ''strong currency'' to expand the global use of the yuan and elevate it to the status of an international reserve, a move seen as a call to challenge the US dollar. ****

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