India News
Budget 2023 updates: Congress slams government over NREGS cut
Ahead of the Budget 2023, Sitharaman reached the finance ministry where she is expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu.

Congress slammed the government and asked whether the Capex hike will be met through cuts in the allocation for the MGNREGS.
12:25 pm: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new tax structure under the new tax regime.
The new tax rates are:
- 0 to Rs 3 lakhs – nil
- Rs 3 to 6 lakhs – 5%
- Rs 6 to 9 Lakhs – 10%
- Rs 9 to 12 Lakhs – 15%
- Rs 12 to 15 Lakhs – 20% and
- Above 15 Lakhs – 30%
12:10 pm: Nirmala Sitharaman said the maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen saving scheme will be increased from Rs 15 to 30 lakh.
12:05 pm: FM Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Budget 2023 speech, said the Centre will set up the Govardhan Scheme to promote a circular economy with a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
12:02 pm: FM Nirmala Sitharaman said 50 tourist destinations will be selected through challenge mode to be developed as a whole package for domestic and international tourism.
12:00 pm: Nirmala Sitharaman said 100 laboratories will be set up in engineering institutions for developing applications for 5G services.
11:50 am: FM Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2023 speech, announced that 50 additional airports, helipads, water aero drones, and advanced landing grounds will be revived to improve regional air connectivity.
11:45 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the KYC process will be simplified.
11:40 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2023 speech, said capital investment outlay being increased by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crores, which would be 3.3% of GDP.
11:35 am: Centre will provide Rs 5,300 crore assistance to the drought-prone central region of Karnataka, said Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget 2023 presentation.
11:30 am: FM Nirmala Sitharaman said assistance for the traditional artisans and craftspeople will be provided under the PM Vishwa Karma Kaushal Samman.
11:15 am: FM Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre will set up an agriculture accelerator fund and the agriculture credit target will be set up at Rs 20 lakh crore.
11:10 am: FM Nirmala Sitharaman, during the Budget 2023-24 presentation, said the promotion of tourism will be taken up on a mission mode.
11:08: Nirmala Sitharaman began the Budget 2023 speech and said the Indian economy is on the right track and is heading towards a bright future.
11:05 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins the Budget 2023 speech
10:55 am: Union Cabinet ministers have okayed the Budget 2023 and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present it shortly.
9:55 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met President Droupadi Murmu and will then attend the Union Cabinet Meeting. Sitharaman will present the last full budget of the Modi government 2.0 at 11 am.
9:25 am: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reached Rashtrapati Bhavan to call on President Droupadi Murmu and will further attend the Union Cabinet Meeting.
9:00 am: Finance Minister left for the Parliament with Bahi Khata, to present the Budget 2023 at 11 am.
All eyes are on Union Budget 2023 as it will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today at 11 am. Ahead of the Budget 2023, Sitharaman reached the finance ministry where she is expected to meet President Droupadi Murmu.
This is this government’s last full-fledged Budget before the Lok Sabha polls early next year. Union Budget 2023-24 will also be the first normal budget after the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with President Droupadi Murmu started the Budget Session and addressed the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In his address, PM Modi said the budget will aim the hopes and aspirations of the common citizen.
Union Budget 2023: 5 big expectations from Nirmala Sitharaman
Budget 2023: No tax cuts yet but it is raining memes already
India News
Padma Awards 2023: From Raveena Tandon to Suman Kalyanpur to Mulayam Singh Yadav, check full list here
This year, President Droupadi Murmu will honour 106 Padma Award recipients out of which 9 are Padma Bhushan awardees, 6 are Padma Vibhushan, and 91 are Padma Shri.

Padma Awards 2023 is being conferred at a Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. This year, President Droupadi Murmu will honour 106 Padma Award recipients out of which 9 are Padma Bhushan awardees, 6 are Padma Vibhushan, and 91 are Padma Shri.
Out of 106, seven are posthumous awardees and nine of the awardees are women.
Padma Awards 2023: Check the full list here
Padma Shri awardees
Name | Field | State/Country |
Dr. Sukama Acharya | Others- Spiritualism | Haryana |
2. Ms. Jodhaiyabai Baiga | Art | Madhya Pradesh |
3. Shri Premjit Baria | Art | Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
4. Ms Usha Barle | Art | Chhatisgarh |
5. Shri Munishwar Chanddawar | Medicine | Madhya Pradesh |
6. Shri Hemant Chauhan | Art | Gujarat |
7. Shri Bhanubhai Chitara | Art | Gujarat |
8. Ms Hemoprova Chutia | Art | Assam |
9. Shri Narendra Chandra Debbarma | Public Affairs | Tripura |
10. Ms Subhadra Devi | Art | Bihar |
11. Shri Khadar Valli Dudekula | Science & Engineering | Karnataka |
12. Shri Hem Chandra Goswami | Art | Assam |
13. Ms. Pritikana Goswami | Art | West Bengal |
14. Shri Radha Charan Gupta | Literature & Education | Uttar Pradesh |
15. Shri Modadugu Vijay Gupta | Science & Engineering | Telangana |
16. Shri Ahmed Hussain & Shri Mohd Hussain | Art | Rajasthan |
17. Shri Dilshad Hussain | Art | Uttar Pradesh |
18. Shri Bhiku Ramji Idate | Social Work | Maharashtra |
19. Shri C I Issac | Literature & Education | Kerala |
20. Shri Rattan Singh Jaggi | Literature & Education | Punjab |
21. Shri Bikram Bahadur Jamatia | Social Work | Tripura |
22. Shri Ramkuiwangbe Jene | Social Work | Assam |
23. Shri Rakesh Radheshyam Jhunjhunwala (Posthumous) | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
24. Shri Mahipat Kavi | Art | Gujarat |
25. Shri Ratan Chandra Kar | Medicine | Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
26. Shri Mahipat Kavi | Art | Gujarat |
27. Shri M M Keeravaani | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
28. Shri Areez Khambatta (Posthumous) | Trade & Industry | Gujarat |
29. Shri Parshuram Komaji Khune | Art | Maharashtra |
30. Shri Ganesh Nagappa Krishnarajanagara | Science & Engineering | Andhra Pradesh |
31. Shri Maguni Charan Kuanr | Art | Odisha |
32. Shri Anand Kumar | Literature & Education | Bihar |
33. Shri Arvind Kumar | Science & Engineering | Uttar Pradesh |
34. Shri Domar Singh Kunvar | Art | Chhatisgarh |
35. Shri Risingbor Kurkaland | Art | Meghalaya |
36. Ms Hirabai Lobi | Social Work | Gujarat |
37. Shri Moolchand Lodha | Social Work | Rajasthan |
38. MS Rani Machaiah | Art | Karnataka |
39. Shri Ajay Kumar Mandavi | Art | Chhatisgarh |
40. Shri Prabhakar Bhanudas Mande | Literature | Maharashtra |
41. Shri Gajanan Jagannath Mane | Social Work | Maharashtra |
42. Shri Antaryami Mishra | Literature & Education | Odisha |
43. Shri Nadoja Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa | Art | Karnataka |
44. Prof(Dr.) Mahendra Pal | Science & Engineering | Gujarat |
45. Shri Uma Shankar Pandey | Science & Engineering | Gujarat |
46. Shri Ramesh Parmar & Ms. Shanti Parmar | Art | Madhya Pradesh |
47. Dr. Nalini Parthasarathi | Medicine | Puducherry |
48. Shri Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti | Medicine | Telangana |
49. Shri Ramesh Patange | Literature & Education | Maharashtra |
50. Ms Krishna Patel | Art | Odisha |
51. Shri K Kalyanasundaram Pillai | Art | Tamil Nadu |
52. Shri V P Appukuttan Poduval | Social Work | Kerala |
53. Shri Kapil Dev Prasad | Art | Bihar |
54. Shri S R D Prasad | Sports | Kerala |
55. Shri Shah Rasheed Ahmed Quadri | Art | Karnataka |
56. Shri C V Raju | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
57. Shri Bakshi Ram | Science & Engineering | Haryana |
58. Shri Cheruvayal K Raman | Others | Kerala |
59. Ms Sujatha Ramdorai | Science & Engineering | Canada |
60. Shri Pareshbhai Rathwa | Art | Gujarat |
61. Shri B Ramakrishna Reddy | Literature & Education | Telangana |
62. Shri Mangala Kanti Roy | Art | West Bengal |
63. Ms K C Runremsangi | Art | Mizoram |
64. Shri Vadivel Gopal & Shri Masi | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
65. Shri Manoranjan Sahu | Medicine | UP |
66. Shri Patayat Sahu | Others | Odisha |
67. Shri Ritwik Sanyal | Art | UP |
68. Shri Kota S S | Art | Andhra Pradesh |
69. Shri Sankurathri Chandra Sekhar | Social Work | Andhra Pradesh |
70. Shri K Shanathoiba Sharma | Sports | Manipur |
71. Shri Nekram Sharma | Others | Himachal Pradesh |
72. Shri Gurcharan Singh | Sports | Delhi |
73. Shri Laxman Singh | Social Work | Rajasthan |
74. Shri Mohan Singh | Literature | J & K |
75. Shri T C Singh | Public Affairs | Manipur |
76. Shri P C Sood | Literature | Andhra Pradesh |
77. Ms Neihunuo Sorhie | Art | Nagaland |
78. Janum Singh Soy | Literature | Jharkhand |
79. Shri Kushok Thiksey Nawang Chamba Stanzin | Others | Ladakh |
80. Shri S Subraman | Others | Karnataka |
81. Shri Moa Subong | Art | Nagaland |
82. Shri P K Sundaram | Social Work | Tamil Nadu |
83. Ms Raveena Ravi Tandon | Art | Maharashtra |
84. Shri V P Tiwari | Literature | UP |
85. Shri Dhaniram Toto | Literature | WB |
86. Shri T R Upreti | Others | Sikkim |
87. Dr Gopalsamy Veluchamy | Medicine | Tamil Nadu |
88. Dr Ishwar Chander Verma | Medicine | Delhi |
89. Ms Coomi Nariman Wadia | Art | Maharashtra |
90. Shri Karma Wangchu (Posthumous) | Social Work | Arunachal Pradesh |
91. Shri G M Zaz | Art | Jammu & Kashmir |
Padma Bhushan awardees
Name | Field | State/Country |
1. Shri S L Bhyrappa | Literature & Education | Karnataka |
2. Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla | Trade & Industry | Maharashtra |
3. Shri Deepak Dhar | Science & Engineering | Maharashtra |
4. Ms Vani Jairam | Art | Tamil Nadu |
5. Swami Chinna Jeeyar | Others-Spiritualism | Telangana |
6. Ms Suman Kalyanpur | Art | Maharashtra |
7. Shri Kapil Kapoor | Literature & Education | Delhi |
8. Ms Sudha Murty | Social Work | Karnataka |
9. Shri Kamlesh D Patel | Others- Spiritualism |
Padma Vibhushan awardees
Name | Field | State/Country |
1. Shri Balkrishna Doshi (Posthumous) | Others | Gujarat |
2. Shri Dilip Mahalanabis (Posthumous) | Medicine | West Bengal |
3. Mulayam Singh Yadav(Posthumous) | Public Affairs | Uttar Pradesh |
4. Shri Zakir Hussain | Art | Maharashtra |
5. Shri S M Krishna | Public Affairs | Karnataka |
6. Shri Srinivas Varadhan | Science & Engineering | USA |
India News
Quake felt in Delhi again, tremors of magnitude 2.7 jolts the national capital
The quake on Wednesday comes after another earthquake that jolted parts of India on Tuesday night. As per the reports, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook up parts of Northern India. It was also reported that at least 11 people died and over 160 others were injured in neighboring Pakistan.

Another earthquake shook up the national capital on Wednesday after parts of India witnessed a 6.6 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday night. As per the reports, the quake was of 2.7 magnitudes and took place 5 km below the national capital.
The National Center for Seismology also tweeted informing the same as they wrote that an earthquake of Magnitude 2.7 occurred on 22 March at 4:42 pm. The latitude was 28.66 and the Long was 77.03. The depth of the tremor was 5 Km. The epicenter of the quake is reported to be west Delhi.
The quake on Wednesday comes after another earthquake that jolted parts of India on Tuesday night. As per the reports, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook up parts of Northern India. It was also reported that at least 11 people died and over 160 others were injured in neighboring Pakistan.
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A statement by the international Seismological Center reported that apart from Pakistan, tremors were also felt in India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Kyrgyzstan.
The quake jolted several parts of India at around 10:17 pm on Tuesday night. As per the reports, the tremors were felt across Northern India including Delhi-NCR, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. The epicenter of the earthquake that hit northern parts of India and various other countries was Afghanistan.
7 dead as massive blaze engulfs firecracker unit in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram
Assam man buys dream scooter with sack of coins he saved for 6 years | WATCH
India News
7 dead as massive blaze engulfs firecracker unit in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram
A massive fire engulfed a firecracker unit in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district on Wednesday leaving at least seven people dead while 15 others received severe burn injuries, reports said.

A massive fire engulfed a firecracker unit in Tamil Nadu’s Kanchipuram district on Wednesday leaving at least seven people dead while 15 others received severe burn injuries, reports said.
As per reports, an enormous blaze consumed a firecracker making unit at Vazhathottam, 10 kilometers from Kanchipuram, killing at least seven people and leaving fifteen others wounded.
A report quoted Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services DGP, Abhash Kumar as saying that the building collapsed due to the gigantic inferno and many people are still feared trapped inside. The officer said that a joint rescue operation was launched by the firemen, the Kanchipuram district police along with Rescue Services personnel and local residents to pull out survivors from the torched building.
Read Also: Assam man buys dream scooter with sack of coins he saved for 6 years | WATCH
DGP Kumar said the firecracker unit had a valid license and that an investigation has been launched to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
Local reports said that the injured, who suffered burn injuries, have been rushed nearby hospital for medical attention.
More details are awaited.
In a similar incident, ten people, including three children, were injured after a fire erupted at a seven-storey residential building in Mumbai’s Mulund West last week. The incident happened at around 2:55 pm at the Jagruti Society in Vithhal Nagar.
Rescue services and firemen successfully had rescued 80 people trapped in the burning building.
Officials at the time had said that the fire out in the electric meter room on the ground floor of the building and the smoke from the meter room spread to all its seven floors.
Fire brigade chief Sanjay Manjrekar said it was not a major fire but the smoke had spread to all the floors. He had said that people got scared of the smoke, came running and got trapped.
The official said that the fire was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, electric main cables, all meters, all switches, etc. in a common electric meter cabin on the ground floor plus the upper seven floored residential building.
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