Enhanced surcharge on FPIs removed: Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi, Aug 23: Giving in to the demands of overseas investors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced rollback of enhanced surcharge on foreign portfolio investors levied in the Budget.
Surcharge on long and short term capital gains arising from transfer of equity shares has been withdrawn, she said.
"The pre-Budget position is restored," the minister said.
It is being done to encourage investment in the capital market, the finance minister said.
The decision taken in the Budget to levy enhanced surcharge had spooked the stock markets.
Following the increase in surcharge in the Budget, the effective income tax rate for individuals with taxable income of Rs 2-5 crore went up to 39 per cent from 35.88 per cent and for those above Rs 5 crore to 42.7 per cent.
Earlier this month, capital market participants and foreign institutional investors presented a charter of demands to Sitharaman, which included rollback of surcharge on FPIs and review of dividend distribution tax.
Sitharaman further said that to mitigate genuine difficulties of startups and their investors, it has been decided to withdraw angel tax provisions for them.
A dedicated cell under a member of CBDT too will be set up for addressing the problems of startups.
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Second PUC results: Life convict clears exam with distinction, DGP lauds effort
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Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.
Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent.
Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.
In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.
It’s heartening to see that one of our life convict prisoners Ashok has obtained 80.1% marks in PUC exam. He appeared under Prison escort from Ballari Central Prison for his exams.
— alok kumar (@alokkumar6994) April 9, 2026
Glad to see that Walls of the prison has not subdued his hopes for a better future. pic.twitter.com/Nzlcy076SR
He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”
Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.
A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.
