NEW DELHI: Stock market regulator Sebi is working with RBI and the insurance regulator to enable participation of banks and insurance companies in commodities derivatives markets, its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Saturday.Working groups have also been set up to suggest measures to deepen the Agri Commodity Derivatives ecosystem, he said. Among other things, these expert groups are reviewing whether the regulatory framework pertaining to margins, position limits, and delivery and settlement mechanisms can be optimised without affecting market integrity.“Their recommendations will assist us in taking necessary developmental measures after due consultation with all stakeholders,” the Sebi chairman said while addressing a conference in the national capital.He said the working group for reviewing the non-agri commodity derivatives segment will be notified shortly.“As we look to the future, commodity markets and their participants will be high on our regulatory and developmental agenda,” Pandey said.Sebi will continue engaging with govt to resolve GST-related issues for participants who wish to receive or deliver commodities through the Exchange platform.Elaborating on awareness and outreach, Pandey said a Sebi investor survey has highlighted the need for targeted awareness and education programmes. Sebi’s awareness programmes were being targeted at Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), exporters and importers, students and faculty members of agricultural colleges, hedgers and MSMEs.Outreach programmes are being conducted with FPO representatives to identify the challenges faced by them in accessing the market, Pandey added.Domestic markets offer regulated gold products, including through commodity derivatives, Gold ETFs and Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs). The Sebi chairman said that these regulated products ensure investor protection. EGRs were meant to create a regulated market for gold trading and establish India as a global price setter for gold.“While the EGR framework may need a review, I urge the industry to educate its participants and investors to deal only in regulated gold products,” said Pandey.

NEW DELHI: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in recent reports, flagged how railways failed to boost its non-fare revenue despite holding vast stretches of vacant land and how dues amounting to Rs 4,087 crore from 269 private siding owners remained unrecovered by different zones till March 2023, pointing to weak monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.CAG audit focussed on two activities of RLDA, the railway entity for development of its surplus land for commercial use and revenue generation, commercial development of vacant railway land and construction of multi-functional complexes (MFC), from 2018-19 to 2022-23. It found that as of March 2023, railways owned 4.88 lakh hectares of land, of which 62,740 hectares was lying vacant, with only 997.8 hectares (1.6%) having been entrusted to RLDA. During this period, the Railway Board had received 188 proposals for 657 hectares, and it entrusted 59 of the 188 proposals to RLDA, following which RLDA awarded 35 sites to developers.It found that despite availability of such quantum of land, RLDA, as of March 2023, could award only 8.8% (87.76 hectares) of land entrusted to it for development. It noticed that several sites were entrusted to RLDA despite unresolved land title issues, encroachments and other encumbrances, resulting in non-monetisation of such sites. It identified systemic and operational issues that had adversely affected timely monetisation of railway land and realisation of revenue.It observed that Railway Board, while processing proposals for entrustment of land to RLDA, should have ensured that the land parcels were free from encroachments and other encumbrances, noting that weak inter-agency coordination in Indian Railways had contributed significantly to delays. “Alarmingly, none of the awarded commercial sites were developed as of March 2023,” the report added.In another report, it detected the failure of railway zones to recover dues outstanding from private siding owners. It has recommended the railways various measures to improve and track recovery of dues.

GUWAHATI: PM Modi transformed his Guwahati rally on Saturday into a fierce political offensive against Congress, accusing it of “committing a sin” by preparing to join hands with the Muslim League and the British in a pre-Independence conspiracy to make Assam a part of what would later become “East Pakistan”.Modi said Congress had conspired to erase Assam’s identity and the conspiracy was not just for a few years. “The roots of this sin of Congress are connected to before Independence. At the time when the Muslim League and the British were together preparing the ground for India’s partition…”

Congress altered demography of Assam for poll gains: PM Modi

At the time when Muslim League and British rule were together preparing the ground for India’s partition, at that time a plan was made to make Assam a part of undivided Bengal or East Pakistan (sic). Congress was going to become part of the conspiracy,” PM Modi said.Modi’s remarks came a day after Bangladesh was engulfed in violent protests following the assassination of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, triggering fears of fresh migration ahead of elections due in early 2026. Amid recent campaigns in Bangladesh by several groups seeking a “Greater Bangladesh” by including Assam and the northeast, analysts warn this unrest could spill over into India’s northeast, reviving old anxieties about infiltration and demographic change.By invoking East Pakistan and linking it to present-day turmoil across the border, Modi sharpened his message of vigilance against infiltration, political commentators said.Addressing a public rally after inaugurating India’s first nature-themed airport, named after Assam’s first post-Independence CM, Gopinath Bordoloi of Congress, Modi said, “Then Bardoloi stood up against his own party. He opposed this conspiracy to destroy Assam’s identity and saved Assam from being separated from the country.” He unveiled an imposing 80-foot statue of Bordoloi, describing him as Assam’s saviour.Modi claimed that though Bordoloi had saved Assam before Independence, Congress later resumed “anti-Assam and anti-national work”. “To increase its vote bank, Congress gave free rein to infiltrators of its vote bank in Bengal and Assam. The demography here has changed. These infiltrators have encroached upon our forests. They have encroached upon our land. The result of this is that the security and identity of entire Assam has been put at stake,” he claimed.The PM praised CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s govt for working to free Assam’s resources from illegal encroachment, while asserting that the Centre had taken strict steps to curb infiltration. “Their identification is also being done,” he said, claiming that “Congress and INDI alliance people have openly descended on an anti-national agenda.” He added that even SC had spoken about removing infiltrators, “but these people (Congress) are making statements in defence of infiltrators.”Modi said Election Commission’s SIR of electoral rolls was meant to ensure fair elections. But, he claimed, “these people (Congress) are facing problems in every corner of the country. Such people will not protect the interests of Assamese brothers and sisters. These people will allow someone else to occupy your land and forests. Their anti-national mentality can create violence of the old era.”Modi told the crowd: “We have to protect Assam, for whose integrity people like Bordoloi sacrificed everything in their lives. We have to keep defeating Congress’s conspiracies at every moment, at every step.”

UltraTech Cement on Saturday said it has received a demand notice of Rs 782.2 crore from GST authorities and plans to challenge the order before the appropriate forum, according to PTI.In a regulatory filing, the Aditya Birla Group company said it is reviewing the order and considering all legal options. “The Company is reviewing the Order, considering all legal options, and accordingly would be contesting the demand,” UltraTech Cement said, PTI quoted.The demand pertains to the period 2018-19 to 2022-23 and has been raised on account of alleged short payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST), improper utilisation of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and related matters, the company said.UltraTech added that the order was passed “without due consideration of the Company’s submissions”.According to the filing, the order upholds a tax liability of Rs 3,90,95,58,194, along with applicable interest on the tax demand, additional interest of Rs 27,68,289, and a penalty of Rs 3,90,95,58,194.The company said the order was issued by the Joint Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Patna, on Friday.UltraTech Cement is India’s largest cement manufacturer, with a production capacity nearing 200 million tonnes per annum.

Taxpayers opting for the old tax regime can continue to claim deductions on donations made to eligible charitable organisations under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. To clarify how such claims will be assessed and verified, the Income Tax Department issued an extensive set of FAQs on December 19, 2025, outlining both substantive and procedural requirements, according to an ET report. S. Sriram, Executive Partner at Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan Attorneys, told ET that the FAQs go beyond routine guidance.“The FAQs highlight the broad legal principles and procedural regulations relating to claiming donations to eligible institutions as deduction in income tax returns. But read with the ‘NUDGE’ campaign and recent press release of the CBDT, the intended effect of the FAQ is much more than the clarifications given therein. The FAQ is a guidance note by the CBDT to taxpayers to test their claim for deduction for donations, against the principles explained in the FAQ,” he said.

What Section 80G allows

Section 80G enables taxpayers to reduce their taxable income by claiming deductions on donations made to specified funds, trusts and institutions. The donation refers to the actual amount paid, while the deduction is the tax benefit allowed on such payment, subject to conditions laid down in the Act.

Verification of claims

The tax department has reiterated that verification will be based on disclosures made by charitable organisations. Under Rule 18AB of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, certain categories of donees must file Form 10BD, containing donor details such as PAN or Aadhaar, name, address and amount donated. For a deduction to be allowed, the amount claimed in the taxpayer’s return must match the details reported by the donee.Donors are also required to obtain a donation certificate in Form 10BE, wherever applicable.

Who can claim the deduction

Any taxpayer — individuals, HUFs, companies, firms or other entities — having taxable income can claim deduction under Section 80G, provided the donation is made to an eligible entity and all compliance requirements are met.

Categories of deduction

The FAQs reiterate that donations under Section 80G fall into four distinct categories, depending on the percentage of deduction and whether an income-based cap applies:

Eligible and non-eligible donations

Only donations made to funds or institutions specifically listed under Section 80G(2)(a) and those registered and approved under Section 80G qualify for deduction. Taxpayers are advised to verify the approval status and deduction category of the donee before claiming the benefit.The FAQs list 24 categories of funds and institutions eligible for 100 per cent deduction without limit, while others — such as the Prime Minister’s Drought Relief Fund — qualify for 50 per cent deduction without limit.Certain donations, including those for family planning, sports infrastructure, or contributions by companies to specified sports bodies, qualify for 100 per cent deduction subject to limits. Donations to notified charitable institutions, government bodies for charitable purposes (excluding family planning), housing and urban development authorities, specified corporations, and notified places of worship qualify for 50 per cent deduction with limits.

Key conditions taxpayers must note

The department has clarified that:

Taxpayers can verify eligible institutions and trusts through the Income Tax Department’s official online database.

LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, opens up about how she was unable to love herself.(Image via Phillip Faraone/Getty)

LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, has been a constant presence in the Lakers’ star player’s life, even before he joined the NBA.LeBron James has also often credited Savannah James for the support and strength she has provided to him for years. Amid this, Savannah James has opened up about how she has struggled with loving herself over the years.

LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, opens up about how she has been unable to love herself over the years

A few months ago, LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, opened up about lacking self love in her popular podcast, Everybody’s Crazy.LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, said, “I love my kids. I love my husband. I love my family. I love my friends…”The popular entrepreneur added, “But I wasn’t always in love with myself. So I would tell myself to open your heart. You’re worthy. You’re enough.”But this was not the first time that LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, has spoken about not being able to fall in love with herself.Back during 2020, LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, opened up to HARPER BAZAAR. as she said, “Sometimes I felt depleted…I wasn’t being the best version of a mother, of myself, to my husband. It was just hard to be fully present.”

LeBron James has often praised Savannah James for always being there for him and the success he has achieved

Despite all the things she has faced, LeBron James’ wife, Savannah James, has been a pretty important person behind the NBA legend’s success in the league.The Los Angeles Lakers’ star player has also been public about how she has supported him over the years.The NBA veteran said, “My wife takes care of the business, man…She’s the best. Without her, I wouldn’t even be in this position to be able to do what I do and love the game.”The Los Angeles Lakers’ star player added, “I love it. So, to have my wife and my two boys and my daughter here and the rest of my family here, it was everything.” LeBron James has been with Savannah James since they were teenagers and even welcomed their first child when she was only 16.Also Read: “We’re really mindful”: LeBron James’ wife Savannah James breaks silence on how their lives change during intense moments

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that he hopes the long-pending free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union will be signed in January, even as opposition from some EU members and protests by European farmers delay the deal, AP reported.Speaking at a summit of South American leaders in Foz do Iguacu, on Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay, Lula said European negotiators had earlier indicated the agreement would be signed this weekend, prompting the meeting. That did not happen, he said, after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked for more time.Top EU officials had been aiming to finalise the EU-Mercosur deal in Brazil, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, following a tense EU summit, that the signing would be postponed by “a few extra weeks” to address concerns raised by member states.Lula said he spoke to Meloni by phone on Friday and received a letter from EU leadership indicating an intention to conclude the agreement in January. He added that the delay underscored the lack of political resolve to finish talks that have stretched over more than 26 years.“Without political will and courage from leaders, it won’t be possible to finish a negotiation that has dragged for 26 years,” Lula told fellow leaders. “Meanwhile, Mercosur will continue to work with other partners.”Von der Leyen needs the backing of at least two-thirds of EU member states to secure the deal. Italy’s opposition would allow France to marshal enough votes to block her from signing it.“The world is eager to make deals with Mercosur,” Lula said. “Many countries want that. And we certainly will be able to finish the deals that were not finished during my presidency [of the bloc, which ends in December].”If concluded, the agreement would create a market of about 780 million people, covering roughly a quarter of global gross domestic product, and would gradually remove duties on most goods traded between the two blocs.France has led resistance to the pact involving the EU and the five active Mercosur members — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. French President Emmanuel Macron said at the EU summit on Thursday that he would not commit to supporting the deal next month and was in talks with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish leaders about delaying it to address farmers’ concerns.Lula said Macron alone could not block the agreement.“Let’s hope that things happen for the good of our Mercosur, multilateralism and the development of our countries,” he said.

Did the “Ice Maiden,” as Donald Trump calls his no-nonsense chief of staff Susie Wiles, who has quietly run the White House with a relatively steady hand unlike his chaotic first term, have a meltdown or was it a hit job?Washington was abuzz Tuesday with a bombshell Vanity Fair interview with the 68-year-old political operative dishing on everything from her teetotaller boss with an “alcoholic’s personality” to his oddballs team.

Comparing Trump to her alcoholic father, the legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, she suggested Trump had “an alcoholic’s personality” because he operates with “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.” She called Vice President JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist,” White House budget director Russell Vought “a right-wing absolute zealot” and Trump’s one time pal Elon Musk “an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are” and “an avowed ketamine” user to boot. Wiles suggested there had been “huge disagreements” over implementing tariffs, acknowledged that the administration must “look harder” at its process for mass deportation and said she had to “get on board” with Trump’s decision to give blanket pardons to Jan. 6 defendants.

She had forged a “loose agreement” with the boss to end the “score settling” against his political enemies after 90 days “because she did not want it to distract from his real agenda,” but in the end Trump had his way – as always.“In some cases, it may look like retribution,” Wiles admitted. “And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”Wiles also glossed over Trump’s relationship with the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, and faulted Attorney General Pam Bondi for having “completely whiffed” on “recognizing the fervor of the president’s right-wing supporters” about Epstein files.Then the Justice Department Friday released hundreds of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein just ahead of a deadline imposed by a bipartisan law passed last month. Lawmakers cried foul as many of the documents released by the self-proclaimed “most transparent administration in history” were heavily redacted, with text blacked out.

Despite his well-publicised friendship with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, Trump’s name was rarely mentioned, while Bill Clinton featured prominently with several photos.Meanwhile, as late night show hosts had a field day with the Wiles interview with Jimmy Kimmel calling her “the future former chief of staff,”some wondered whether Donald and Susie were simply playing a good cop bad cop routine.Wiles herself dismissed the Vanity Fair article as “a disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest president, White House staff, and cabinet in history,” without disputing any facts or quotes as Trump came to her defense calling her “fantastic.”The Real Clear Politics even suggested it was at Wiles’ instance that Trump made a surprise succinct sales pitch on television next nightabout affordability, the accomplishments of his first term, and the challenges ahead minus only his signature “weave.”“Good evening, America. Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” he said laying blame on his predecessor Joe Biden for everything from the economy to crime to healthcare to bad immigration policy.“What ‌a difference a year makes,” Trump said, dismissing the mood of consumers, to claim the US is “poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen.”It was again Wiles who made him give the rare prime-time address, Trump disclosed after taking a swig of Diet Coke, according to a television pool report. “I told you 20 minutes,” Wiles reminded Trump as she complimented his message discipline, “and you were 20 minutes on the dot.”Then it was back to fun and games. Branding Washington in his own image, Trump had The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington renamed — the Trump-Kennedy Center.The signage change followed a vote by his hand picked board of trustees to rename the complex though such a move could require congressional approval.Earlier, new plaques were added under presidential portraits on display on Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the White House colonnade, “many” of them written by Trump himself giving his distorted version of history.The one placed under the portrait of the “Autopen” representing Biden, refers to him as “Sleepy Joe Biden” and calls him “the worst President in American History” with derisive references to Biden’s “severe mental decline,” “the Biden Crime Family” and his “Radical Left handlers.”The plaque under “Barack Hussein Obama,” as right-wing circles often derisively use his full name, calls him “one of the most divisive figures in American history ” and repeats Trump’s conspiracy theory that Obama “spied” on his 2016 presidential campaign.The Trump 45 & 47 plaques make boastful claims about creating “the Greatest Economy in the History of the World,” his sweeping tariffs, hard-line immigration policies and building “right here at the White House, the magnificent Trump Presidential Ballroom after a 225 year wait — but THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”There was no word from the White House as to how the plaques were paid for, whether government funds were used and whether they were installed by government employees.Returning the compliment, California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom posted on X his own version of the Trump plaque in the Don style saying, “DONALD IS FINISHED – HE IS NO LONGER ‘HOT’… DONNIE J MISSED ‘THE DEADLINE’ (WHOOPS!) AND NOW I RUN THE SHOW.”And ‘DiaperDiplomacy’ posted an AI generated kiddified version of the Don’s speech with a little Trump boasting about sending every soldier $1,776 warrior dividend, tariffs, troops & TrumpRX with little political big wigs, including Obama listening with amusement — an apt commentary about a 79-year old juvenile ruler!(By arrangement with The American Bazaar, www.americanbazaaronline.com)