Muqbil Ahmar | Blog

Prices will change after the  Goods and Services Tax  is implemented from July 1, 2017. While the GST rates released by the government do not hurl any major surprises for most products, it is still early to comment on the overall effect of the new tax law. The GST council, the body responsible for coming out with a set of rates, has finalized tax slabs for goods of consumption. While 7% items are exempt, 14% are in the lowest bracket of 5%. Around 17% items are in 12% tax bracket, 43% in 18% and 19% in the top tax bracket of 28%. This translates into the fact that a majority of the items will have 18% or less GST. No GST tax slab Foodgrains, milk and other articles of daily use have been exempted from taxation under the GST regime. foodgrains | gur | milk | eggs | curd | lassi | unpacked paneer | honey | vegetables | fruits | atta | besan | maida | vegetable oil | common salt | contraceptive | bread | stamp | books | bangles 5 per cent tax slab Items of ...

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli's Baahubali 2 : The Conclusion has been breaking  cinema records in a hurry. In no time, the movie has turned out to be the  highest-grossing Hindi film of all time. The movie has grossed more than Rs 400 crore. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirmed the news on Twitter. Globally, the movie has raked in more than 1000 crore, grossing over Rs 800 crore in the Indian market and Rs 200 crore overseas. Looking at the numbers the movie is generating, it seems likely that it might break many more records in its wake and could end up becoming the first Hindi movie to reach the Rs. 500 crore mark. The first part grossed about Rs 650 crore internationally. The complete franchise has had box office collections of above Rs 1,650 crore. The  film  has broken the record earlier set by  Aamir Khan 's magnum opus  Dangal  which breached the psychological mark of Rs 350 crore for the first time in Bollywood. It went on to become the bi...

Reema Lagoo  (1958–2017), at one point, became the epitome of motherhood on India’s silver screen. Th Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak ” (1988), in which she played  Juhi Chawla ‘s mother. Then she starred in the mega blockbuster “ Maine Pyar Kiya ” (1989) as  Salman Khan ‘s mother and  Saajan  (1991), which was a superhit at the box office. ough she started out with TV serials, she soon became a household name with her regular appearance in super hit Bollywood movies. She rose to prominence with “ In fact, Reema’s association with some of the biggest hits of the Hindi film industry was legendary. Lagoo played with great elan memorable roles in movies such as  Saajan ,  Aashiqui ,  Hum Aapke Hain Kaun ,  Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ,  Vaastav ,  Kal Ho Naa Ho ,  Hum Saath Saath Hain , among others. The list is stupendous. Veteran journalist  Sagarika Ghosh  tweeted:  Always a distinctive and dignified presence on screen an...

By Muqbil Ahmar Tech Mahindra , India’s fifth-largest IT services firm, may lay off around 1,500 employees. This translates into approximately 1.2 per cent of the workforce. Tech Mahindra has around 117,000 employees globally, of which most are based in India. The layoffs are expected to cut across job levels. There are reports that another technology major  Infosys  is planning to give pink slips to hundreds of mid- as well as senior-level employees. Other corporate giants such as  Wipro  and Cognizant have announced job cuts in the recent past in response to what some industry experts term as cost control measures. The  Information Technology  (IT) major company says redundancies are part of the appraisal cycle. “We have a process of weeding out bottom performers every year and this year is no different,” said a company spokesperson in a statement. Cognizant and Wipro gave pink slips to hundreds of employees Cognizant , the  Nasdaq -lis...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated his ‘unwavering support’ for the freedom of the media and the press. He says that the freedom is vital for a democracy.  PM Modi tweeted: “World Press Freedom Day is a day to reiterate our unwavering support towards a free & vibrant press, which is vital in a democracy.” However, the realities staring at India say a different story: A 45-year-old freelance journalist, Aparna Kalra , was violently attacked during her evening walk in a park in Delhi. The brutal attack lead to serious head injuries. Kalra, who was bleeding profusely from the head, had to be hospitalized and had to undergo emergency surgery. Another senior journalist working with the Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper was attacked in Navi Mumbai recently. “With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of ‘anti-national’ thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media. Journalists are increasingly ...