Budget 2019: Sensex rallies over 500 pts; Nifty nears 11,000 mark
Mumbai, Feb 1 : The BSE benchmark Sensex rallied over 500 points in afternoon trade Friday, driven by consumption and auto stocks as investors welcomed individual tax exemptions and sops in the farm sector announced in the interim Budget.
Overall, market sentiment was bullish even as the government overshot the fiscal deficit target for the current financial year and announced some populist measures, which experts believe will increase fiscal burden on the exchequer.
The 30-share Sensex was trading 506.21 points, or 1.40 per cent, higher at 36,762.90; and the 50-share Nifty inched near the 11,000 mark rallying 143.30 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 10,974.25.
In a major relief to the middle-class, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal Friday proposed to double the threshold tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh and increased the standard deduction to Rs 50,000 from Rs 40,000.
The proposal will benefit 3 crore middle-class tax payers, Goyal said while unveiling the Budget proposals for 2019-20.
As widely expected, the finance minister announced the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi for small and marginal farmers, providing Rs 6,000 per year to be transferred directly to farmers' bank accounts.
Goyal said the fiscal deficit for the current financial year is expected to be 3.4 per cent of GDP. As per the Budget estimate, the fiscal deficit for 2018-19 was pegged at 3.3 per cent.
Consumption-driven stocks rallied the most after the Budget announcement, with BSE auto, consumer durables, FMCG and realty indices soaring up to 4 per cent.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, M&M, Bajaj Auto, HUL, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HDFC and L&T, rising up to 7.51 per cent.
Vedanta was the biggest loser on Sensex, cracking over 16 per cent after the metals and mining giant Thursday reported a 25.54 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,574 crore for the December 2018 quarter on the back of higher expenses and drop in commodity prices.
Other losers included Axis Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank and PowerGrid, falling up to 0.72 per cent.
The rupee, meanwhile, was trading 5 paise lower against US dollar to 71.13.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
