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

Covid-19 cases have risen to their highest level in around four months. From less than 200 cases across India at the end of February, India reported 1,134 cases on March 21st

PM Modi

The high-level meeting, chaired by the PM, came against the backdrop of a spike in influenza as well as Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks

Surge in demand for Covishield led to a huge spike in its revenues and profits

Serum Institute

The Bee, the Beetle and the Money Bug is a welcome addition to the rather sparse list of books that attempt to equip readers with the fundamentals of financial planning

The Bee, the Beetle and the Money Bug

Important for students to know about value of money, rate of return, mutual funds etc, says Tejasvi Surya

Tejasvi Surya

The company also introduced a new gesture for hands-based locomotion, which you can try out in the latest version of First Hand

Meta Quest Pro

A federal judge has sided with Facebook parent Meta and cleared the way for the company to buy virtual reality startup Within Unlimited, the maker of the popular fitness app Supernatural.
Federal antitrust regulators had sought to block the acquisition on the grounds that it would hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market.
But U.S. District Judge Edward Davila denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction against the deal. The judge's ruling said the agency did not provide sufficient evidence to prove its case.
Meta said it will now proceed with its acquisition of Within Unlimited.
The FTC had argued that Meta's acquisition of the small company  reminiscent of Facebook's early purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp  would hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market.
Allowing the tech giant to buy Los Angeles-based Within Unlimited, the FTC had argued, would violate antitrust laws and dampen innovation, hurting consumers who may f

Meta, facebook

A federal judge has sided with Facebook parent Meta and cleared the way for the company to buy virtual reality startup Within Unlimited, the maker of the popular fitness app Supernatural

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday launched the Mission Lifestyle for Environment' (LiFE) in the state, a global mass movement under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sarma said it promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle, focusing on utilisation instead of wasteful consumption.
Under this initiative, week-long activities will be carried out across all districts, addressing seven identified categories, including saving energy and water, reducing plastic and e-waste, and healthy lifestyles, he said.
Sarma said in known and unknown ways we work against nature creating problems for humanity, leading to challenges with which humans, plants and the animal kingdom have to deal.
Earlier, we could predict the seasonal changes but now things have changed mostly due to loss of green cover, wetlands and other natural bodies, and many research papers have pointed out that North East India will face severe impacts of climate change, the CM said.
Over the l

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks during a press conference organised to commemorate the completion of 8 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP-led government at the centre, at BJP state office in Guwahati, Wednesday, Jun

Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday launched the Mission Lifestyle for Environment' (LiFE) in the state, a global mass movement under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

There is a serious failure of Jharkhand in preventing the continued "environmental lawlessness", the National Green Tribunal observed while hearing petitions regarding alleged violations of environmental norms by quarrying and crushing units in the Rajmahal hills.
The green panel also directed the chief secretary to personally monitor compliance as there was "much to be desired in remedial action against gross continuing violations in spite of categorical orders".
The tribunal was hearing petitions that claimed that stone-crushing and mining companies in the Rajmahal hills of Sahebganj district were indulging in indiscriminate mining without regard for environmental norms.
The hills are blown up, huge dust is generated and air and water pollution is caused -- to the detriment of the environment and public health -- during the process, the petitions alleged.
A bench of Chairperson Justice AK Goel said despite several orders -- including prohibiting illegal mining and non-compliant .

National Green Tribunal, NGT

The tribunal noted that, in pursuance to its August 2022 order, an earlier panel had submitted an action taken report in January and a supplementary report dated March 14

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

Russia-Ukraine War

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

Google Messages

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.

Blend launches Blend Studio: AI tool for ecommerce photography

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

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

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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