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The Congress on Wednesday said the <keyword id="19900449" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="government" source="keywords">government</keyword>'s proposal of giving individuals the option to choose between two tax rates for long-term capital gains (<keyword id="6357448" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="LTCG" source="Orion">LTCG</keyword>) tax on properties is not enough. It should also allow <keyword id="21006654" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="indexation-benefits" source="keywords">indexation benefits</keyword> for other forms of <keyword id="20044873" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="savings" source="keywords">savings</keyword> such as <keyword id="19905382" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stocks" source="keywords">stocks</keyword> and <keyword id="19975805" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fixed-deposits" source="keywords">fixed deposits</keyword>. Professionals' Congress Chairman Praveen Chakravarty accused the government of "betraying" the middle and salaried class in the Union Budget through the removal of indexation and higher taxes on their savings and <keyword id="22703183" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment-gains" source="keywords">investment gains</keyword>. "On 23rd July, Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> presented the government's budget in Parliament. We welcomed certain aspects but we strongly opposed many parts of the budget. We welcomed the fact that the FM took some ideas from the Congress party's manifesto such as the employment linked incentive (ELI) scheme, the Apprenticeship Act and removing Angel tax," Chakravarty said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here. Among other things, we strongly opposed what the finance did to the middle class and salaried professionals, he said. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in his response to the Budget in Parliament categorically said that this was a "betrayal of the middle class" through removal of indexation and higher taxes on their savings and investment gains, Chakravarty pointed out. "He (Gandhi) had promised to fight for the middle class on this issue. This issue affected nearly 7 crore Indians who filed income taxes, owned or aspire to own a home and invest their savings. In this budget, effectively, through removal of indexation and increase in capital gains taxes, the taxes of salaried professionals through investment gains went up dramatically," he said. Already, the middle class and the salaried professionals are bearing the brunt of taxation under the Modi government because for the first time in India, total income taxes paid by middle class individuals are higher than taxes paid by rich corporates, Chakravarty said. There were huge protests on social media and in business events in cities like Mumbai where professionals came out spontaneously to protest, he said. Chakravarty said the <keyword id="22703184" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="All-India-Professionals-Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="All India Professionals' Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="All India Professionals' Congress">All India Professionals' Congress</keyword> and the Congress Party launched a campaign to 'Bring Back Indexation' with a petition asking people to sign it. "We had nearly 12,000 people who signed the petition in just one day since its launch. Yesterday, the government of India announced a rollback of indexation of property gains by giving individuals the option to continue with indexation benefits. We welcome this. This is a victory to the 7 crore people that file income tax," he said. "But this is not enough. We urge the government to allow indexation benefits for other forms of savings too such as stocks, debt, fixed deposits and so on," Chakravarty asserted. More importantly, this is a testament to middle class power and the power of democracy, he said. "When professionals come together and raise their voice, it will be heard. This is also proof of what a strong Opposition and a concerted and united effort can achieve for the people of India. The AIPC will continue to raise issues that impact the middle class working professionals," Chakravarty said. His remarks come a day after the government proposed significant relief for individuals who bought houses before July 23, 2024, by giving them the option to choose between two tax rates for long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax. The Budget 2024-25 had proposed to lower the LTCG from 20% to 12.5% but removed the indexation benefits. The new rates have come into effect from July 23, 2024. The indexation benefit allowed the taxpayers to compute gains arising out of the sale of capital assets after adjusting for inflation. The tax experts had said that the proposed changes in the Budget would raise the LTCG tax burden. As per the amendments to Finance Bill, 2024, circulated to the Lok Sabha members on Tuesday, individuals or HuF who bought houses before July 23, 2024, can compute his/her taxes under the new scheme (@12.5% without indexation) and old scheme (@20% with indexation) and pay such tax which is lower of the two. After the Budget presentation, the Income Tax department said that 'substantial tax savings' are expected for a vast majority of taxpayers due to a reduction in the long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) rate in the real estate sector. As per the changes brought in the 2024-25 Budget, the government has retained the indexation benefit for the taxpayers on properties bought or inherited before 2001.

Allow indexation benefits for savings such as stocks, fixed deposits: Cong to govt

<keyword id="19896016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-delhi" source="keywords">New Delhi</keyword>, Global brokerage <keyword id="19906485" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="goldman-sachs" source="keywords">Goldman Sachs</keyword> has flagged multiple headwinds to deposit growth in Indian banks as it loses its attractiveness. It has cited head winds like strained financial savings, the rise of alternatives such as stock market investments and strong growth in alternate government savings schemes (<keyword id="20699846" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ppf-and-small-savings" source="keywords">PPF and Small Savings</keyword>), size of which has grown to 21 per cent of the total deposits. Interestingly, increase in alternative government savings schemes is equivalent to 34 per cent of the increase in deposits over FY21-23, Goldman Sachs said. It said: "We believe the system would need to offer attractive rates to make bank-deposits attractive. "We believe consumer lending is nearing the consolidation phase driven by large volumes of unsecured lending with an estimated 120mn unsecured personal loans which increased 4X over the last three years; rising financial leverage at <keyword id="20319599" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="households" source="keywords">Households</keyword> with gross-financial-liabilities to gross-financial-assets increasing to all time peak of 40 per cent, a sharp reduction in net financial assets (financial savings minus financial assets) from 11 per cent+ of GDP to less than 5 per cent of GDP and deteriorating performance of portfolio on boarded over the last 12 months." Bank deposits also see competition from government small savings investments which have now grown to 20 per cent of the total deposit pool in the system, and offer higher interest rates compared to bank TD. The share of deposits in the household financial asset mix has decreased to only 45 per cent in FY23 (compared to 48 per cent in FY21), with incremental flow of only 35 per cent going towards deposits. This has led to flows of net financial assets as a proportion of GDP to more than halve from FY21 to FY23, Goldman Sachs said. --IANS biz/san/svn

Bank deposits losing attractiveness as govt savings schemes see strong growth

Finance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> on Tuesday announced <keyword id="20404375" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="income-tax-relief" source="keywords">income tax relief</keyword> for the <keyword id="20071167" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="middle-class" source="keywords">middle class</keyword>, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for <keyword id="22517841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="job-creation-schemes" source="keywords">job creation schemes</keyword> over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled <keyword id="20509939" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-3-0" source="keywords">Modi 3.0</keyword> government's first budget after the general elections. With rural distress and unemployment being blamed for BJP losing its majority, Sitharaman in her seventh straight budget provided Rs 2.66 lakh crore for <keyword id="20027688" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rural-development" source="keywords">rural development</keyword> and maintained spending on long-term infrastructure projects at Rs 11.11 lakh crore to boost <keyword id="19900794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economic-growth" source="keywords">economic growth</keyword>. She abolished 'angel tax' for all classes of investors in startups, cut customs duty on mobile phones and gold and simplified capital gains tax. She, however, raised the securities transaction tax (STT) on futures and options of securities, which led to tanking of stock markets. "India's economic growth continues to be the shining exception (in a world that is gripped by policy uncertainties) and will remain so in the years ahead," she said. "In this budget, we particularly focus on <keyword id="19898684" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employment" source="keywords">employment</keyword>, <keyword id="20374219" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="skilling" source="keywords">skilling</keyword>, MSMEs, and the middle class." Besides Rs 2 lakh crore provided over a five year period for schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth, "I have made a provision of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment and skilling," she said. For Bihar, where assembly elections are due next year, the finance minister announced spending of Rs 60,000 crore on infrastructure projects like expressways, power plant, heritage corridors and new airports. The support to Bihar, whose ruling party and BJP's partner JD-U has been demanding an economic package and special category status for the state, is in the form of capital projects but not subsidy or cash dole. Similarly, for Andhra Pradesh, whose ruling TDP recently joined BJP-led NDA, she allocated Rs 15,000 crore in financial aid through multilateral agencies. A similar request for support to Bihar will be expedited, she said. For the middle class, she raised standard deduction -- a flat deduction from total salary earned by an employee in a year before calculating applicable income tax rate -- by 50 per cent to Rs 75,000 and tweaked tax slabs for taxpayers opting for the new income tax regime. This will lead to taxpayers under the new tax regime -- which offers lower rates of taxes but permits limited deductions and exemptions -- saving up to Rs 17,500 in tax annually, she said. To spur employment, the Budget provided for incentives for companies, including paying for one-month salary for first-time employees, incentive at specified sale to both employee and empower with respect to their retirement fund contribution in the first four years of employment and reimbursing employers up to Rs 3,000 per month for 2 years towards EPFO contribution of each additional employee. Also, a programme to improve skills as well internship for students and subsidised loans for higher education will be provided, she said. India's official unemployment rate in urban areas is pegged at 6.7 per cent but private agencies put it at much higher levels. Buoyed by robust tax collections and a higher-than-expected dividend receipt from the Reserve Bank, Sitharaman said the government's fiscal deficit -- the difference between the total revenue earned and total expenditure -- will be trimmed to 4.9 per cent of the GDP in 2024-25, below the 5.1 per cent figure estimated in the interim budget she presented in February. She reduced gross market borrowing marginally to Rs 14.01 lakh crore. The Budget for 2024-25 fiscal (April 2024 to March 2025) allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors, aid for building 3 crore affordable housing units in urban and rural areas, provided credit support to small and medium businesses, raised small loans to Rs 20 lakh for small business, proposed setting up 12 industrial parks, and provided for setting up a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund for space sector.

Modi 3.0 1st Budget: Tax relief for middle class, Rs 2 lakh cr job scheme

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Wannapa Suprasert, a 28-year-old from Thailand now based in San Francisco who was scammed out of over $300,000. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I never thought that I'd be a victim of a drawn-out scam. I always thought <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scammed-all-savings-changed-retirement-plan-2024-7">scams were about making quick money</a>, like someone calling and asking for $2,000 within 10 minutes.Instead, I went through three months of psychological warfare. The scammers created a new reality for me, making me think that if I didn't comply, I could be jailed or deported. They framed themselves as the good guys who could help me, never rushed me to do anything, sent me fake documents, and even talked to me on the phone for hours at a time.It didn't register in my brain that the scammers would invest so much time and energy into this. Now I know that they're professionals, and this is what they do.<h2>They said I was a suspect in a money laundering scheme</h2>It was a Friday afternoon in March when I got the call that changed my life.I was at my data analyst job in San Francisco, and the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/government-impostor-scams-prey-on-fear-during-pandemic-bbb-study-finds-1029446957">caller said she was from the Thai embassy</a> in Washington, DC. She asked to speak with Wannapa Suprasert, which spooked me because I generally go by my nickname, Bow.She told me that someone had smuggled a passport bearing my name into the Bangkok airport. She started interrogating me on whether I had lost or sold my passport. I was shocked.I told her that I hadn't lost my passport and offered to prove I still had it. She said she'd transfer me to the Thai police to file a report. My call with the "police" dropped a couple of times, and someone posing as an officer asked me to add them on LINE, a messaging application popular in many Asian countries.This didn't strike me as fishy because I'd just gone back to Thailand in February and communicated with the Thai consulate via LINE about renewing my passport while I was home.At one point after my call had dropped, I tried to phone the Thai embassy in Washington, DC, but nobody answered.The "police officer" claimed to be part of the Central Investigation Bureau, a division of the Thai police. He sent me a PDF copy of a police report he said he had filed for me. He also said he discovered my identification number on a list of at least 239 people involved with an international money laundering scheme. I was now a suspect.<h2>I had to send updates four times a day</h2>The fake officer sent me a PDF with the alleged photos, names, and descriptions of five masterminds behind the fictional laundering scheme and interrogated me over video chat about whether I knew any of them. The supposed masterminds included two bank managers, an American police officer, a Thai consulate official, and a Thai exchange student in the US. After I told him I didn't know any of them, he said that they'd investigate and help me clear my name. But because I was a suspect, I needed to send daily updates about my whereabouts and activities to ensure I didn't flee.I had to send three pictures of myself, my location, and a description of what I was doing four times a day: at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. He told me that if I didn't comply, he would send agents to monitor me. If I tried to escape or missed a daily report, my family could be jailed and their assets frozen, he said. He also said I couldn't tell anyone because it might interfere with the investigation, which also involved the FBI. If I did, I risked jail time and fines.The scammers played on my fears. I had worked so hard for a better education and life since <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/america-immigration-needs-reform-losing-workers-2023-3">immigrating to the US</a> 10 years ago, and I was afraid of being deported and losing my status. The scammers also warned of people who were killed by the supposed crime syndicate. Leaving my apartment to go to work or shop for groceries was suddenly frightening. I thought someone was really after me and that at any moment, anything could go wrong.There were many moments when I was skeptical. In fact, a couple of weeks into the scam, I received a LINE message from the Thai Consulate in LA warning about scammers impersonating the Thai police. But the scammers convinced me that the warning message had been sent by the criminals to keep me from complying with the investigation. Because of the threats, paranoia, stress, and lack of sleep, I found myself believing every word they said.<h2>I sent the scammers $81,000 in a wire transfer</h2>My first <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-score/wire-fraud">wire transfer</a> was on April 3, 11 days after the initial call.The scammers said I was accused of selling my bank account to the crime syndicate, so in order to clear my name, they needed to investigate the money in my bank account. They claimed to have a contract with Hong Kong police who specialized in investigating money laundering, so I wired $81,000 — pretty much all of my savings — to a Hong Kong bank account. They left me with some money for day-to-day spending and paying rent and said they would eventually return the full amount.A few days later, the fake police officer told me that my money cleared, but the court would need to examine all of the evidence as well. He asked if I could travel to Thailand to appear in court, but warned that someone had been killed making the same trip to clear their name. He said I could also ask someone else to appear on my behalf.Thinking I couldn't risk telling my family, I asked the officer if he would represent me in court. He played it very well, saying it was a lot to ask and that he needed a few days to decide. He agreed the next day but said that I needed to send money for collateral to ensure I didn't escape while he was representing me.<h2>Then, I transferred another $150,000</h2>I didn't have any more money since I'd already emptied my life's savings. I lied to my family and asked them for money, telling them that I was applying for a Ph.D. — which had been my dream — and needed to show the school that I had $200,000 in my bank account to help with my chances of being accepted. My family valued education so much that I knew they would send me that amount without many questions. They wired the money — most of it from my aunt's retirement fund — and I wired $150,000 to the "police" in two chunks, first $100,000 and then $50,000.Someone from Bank of America's fraud department called me after I made the $100,000 transaction. She asked me what the money was for and informed me about <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-crime-pig-butchering-scam-bitcoing-trafficking-fraud-cryptocurrency-2024-2">"pig butchering" investment scams</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/romance-scammer-peter-gray-tinder-fraud-2024-5">romance scams</a>. Neither of those applied to me, so it didn't occur to me that I was being scammed. I lied and said that the money was for my sick cousin in Hong Kong whom I'd never met.When I <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-customer-lost-68k-after-being-tricked-scammer-2023-5">tried to wire</a> the additional $50,000 a couple of days later, the bank's fraud department called again, asking more questions about where the $100,000 came from and where it went. I told them that my dad had meant to send it to my cousin but accidentally wired it to me. They told me to show up at the local branch, where I found out that the $50,000 transfer had been canceled. The scammers instructed me to appear agitated and say that my cousin needed the money for brain surgery. The $50,000 transfer was approved, and I walked out of that branch feeling such a sense of accomplishment, because I thought I had saved my family from being jailed.<h2>I just wanted it to be over</h2>About a week later, the scammers introduced new characters.They said a woman who had been scammed by the "crime syndicate" had died by suicide, and that I was responsible for her death because she had transferred money into a bank account in my name. They told me the woman's son wanted payment.During one of my video calls with the police officer, I could hear the "son" calling for justice for his mom. He wanted me to pay $120,000 in compensation for her death. The scammers acted like they helped me negotiate the amount down to $60,000, which I got from my family through more lies, and wired it over.At this point, the "investigation" had been ongoing for nearly a month and a half. I kept thinking: I just want to be done with this. Why is it not over yet? I didn't want to report my whereabouts to them four times a day anymore, and I felt like I was being monitored constantly both in my physical world and in the online world. I started to have suicidal ideation. I wanted to disappear.But the scammers talked me out of those thoughts, telling me not to let the "criminals" win. Of course, now I realize they wouldn't let me die because they wanted me to keep wiring money to them.<h2>Coming back to reality, my whole world came crashing down</h2>The scammers ultimately told me that the court thought the evidence I provided looked clean, but they needed to make sure I didn't keep any assets on my credit cards. On June 4, I was told to cash-advance them $10,800 from my three different credit cards and wire them all of the income I'd made over the past three months since the "investigation" had begun, totaling $20,000. They told me this was the last thing I had to do, and they would present it in court.On June 7, the fake officer sent me a text that the court had ruled me innocent and that I wouldn't need to give daily reports of my location and photos anymore.He also said I needed to go back to Thailand to collect repayment of the money I had sent.I started looking up flight tickets. A few days later, I sent him a screenshot of a potential flight option and called him multiple times to ask about the details of the security measures in place, because I was fearful about my safety.None of my phone calls went through, and that was when it hit me: They were gone, and my money was probably gone, too.On June 11, I went to the FBI office in San Francisco and asked the agents for a reality check. They said they ran my record, and it was clean. An FBI agent told me, "You've been scammed. You should report it online."I walked back to my office and sat in my chair looking up at the ceiling, trying to figure out if what the FBI agent said was real. Maybe, I thought, it was such a top-secret case that this FBI agent didn't know about it. It was hard to discern the truth.I went home and told the story to two friends, then called the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and a few other Thai organizations. They all told me the same thing: I'd been scammed.That's when my world came crashing down. I remember dropping onto the ground of my friends' apartment as the realization washed over me. It was one of the most painful moments of my life — coming to the realization that I had lost more than $300,000. The money was gone. And not just my money, but also my family's money — pretty much my aunt's entire retirement fund. It was all because of me. The guilt will stay with me for the rest of my life.<h2>My friends and family have helped me through it</h2>My friends helped pick me up off the floor and make a step-by-step plan, including going to the banks to report fraudulent activity, filing a report with the FBI and the San Francisco police, and contacting the Thai embassy.It took me a few days to call my brother and tell him what was going on. I said, "The money you wired to me is gone, and it's all because of me."A few days later, my brother and my aunt called me together and asked what help I needed, and offered to fly to me in San Francisco. I'm very lucky that they are supportive. I'm sure that they have a lot of questions that they're not asking me yet, but their main concern right now is my mental health.I still remember something my brother said to me: "You can lose anything in this world, but you cannot lose yourself. You still have your brain, your legs. I'm glad that nothing bad happened to you. You still have your full potential and capability to continue the work that you do, to be you, and to make an impact on this world. You still have that, and know that that's something no one can take away from you." I hold onto that — focusing on what I have and not on what I lost.<h2>I'm doing better but still sometimes have nightmares</h2>I felt like I lost myself in those three months; it was like I was in a cult. All the lies and threats prevented me from taking the steps I should've taken to protect myself. I feel like I'm the scammer because I <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elderly-immigrant-parents-lost-life-savings-investment-scam-2023-12">scammed my family</a>, in a sense, by lying to them. It broke my heart and I'm disgusted with myself.Each week is better, but there are nights I still have nightmares, and I wake up in the middle of the night crying. I spiral into negative self-talk. My brain still goes over the conversations I had with the scammers.The FBI told me they would contact me if they assigned anyone to the case, but I still haven't heard back. I also contacted the Hong Kong police, who informed me that there was no money left in the three bank accounts I wired to.I take responsibility for what I did, but I also feel that the financial system failed me. If bank employees had asked me for even more details and documents as proof — like the medical records of my "cousin" who needed surgery — I might have hit a dead end.I was in $10,800 of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paid-off-credit-card-debt-solid-plan-2024-6">credit card debt</a> because of the cash advance, so I paid that off first. I'm grateful to friends who lent me money to do so, and now I'm working on paying them back. My plan is to get myself back to zero by the end of the year. Then, I can start rebuilding my life again. I also plan to talk to my aunt about some kind of installment plan for repaying her. I'm still pretty traumatized but I'm doing much better emotionally now.My biggest piece of advice from going through this is to not let yourself be vulnerable to your own emotions. Take a step back and ask yourself: What am I feeling? Why am I feeling this way? Do I have to do this? If people take a deep breath and don't give in to powerful emotions, they'll be less likely to fall victim to these <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/crypto-scams">devastating and life-changing scams</a>.Bank of America told Business Insider about its approach to scam prevention, saying: "We continuously educate our clients about scams. Bank employees receive regular training, and we have internal processes to help flag unusual transactions."The company said that these safety measures include asking questions in real time about withdrawals and warning clients about scams. However, the company said that sometimes clients neglect warnings, lie about the purposes of withdrawals, and proceed with the transactions anyway.In response to Suprasert's case, the bank said it tried to warn her. "We spent considerable time sharing information with the client about scams and she even thanked us during a call for our efforts to warn her," the company said. "Despite our warnings, she decided to send her money."A representative of the Royal Thai Embassy said that it would not comment on the specific case, but confirmed that its officers have received reports of similar scams. An FBI spokesperson said it does not comment on potential investigations.

I was scammed out of $300K in a 3-month-long government impersonation scam

Crisis-hit <keyword id="19987725" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spicejet" source="keywords">SpiceJet</keyword> plans to hand out pink slips to at least 1,000 employees in the coming days as the airline works to significantly reduce costs and streamline operations of its depleted aircraft fleet, officials said on Monday. Faced with financial woes, legal battles and other headwinds, the no-frills carrier might ask more staff to leave as there is excess manpower now compared to the number of planes in service. A final decision on the quantum of layoffs is expected this week, one of the officials in the know said. When contacted, a SpiceJet spokesperson said the airline has initiated several measures, including manpower rationalisation, for achieving profitable growth but did not provide any numbers. The airline has around 9,000 employees and is now looking at reducing the strength by 10-15 per cent, the official said, adding that layoffs are necessary to reduce the overall costs and annual savings could be up to Rs 100 crore. A reduction of 15 per cent would mean around 1,350 people will lose their jobs. The second official in the know said that layoffs are expected across departments and the final list is being prepared. People from the management and consultancy are working on chalking out the contours of letting staff leave, and all the departments have been asked to give their inputs, the official added. There was no official comment from SpiceJet on the proposed job cuts. The second official explained that the airline has stopped operations on certain RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) routes and at those stations, there is excess manpower, especially staff with lower salaries. Relocating such people will be a challenge, the official noted. Currently, SpiceJet has a fleet of little over 30 aircraft apart from 10 planes that are on wet lease. "As part of our turnaround and cost-cutting strategy, following the recent fund infusion, SpiceJet has initiated several measures, including manpower rationalisation, aimed at achieving profitable growth and positioning ourselves to capitalise on the opportunities in the Indian aviation industry. "Through this initiative alone, we anticipate an annual saving of up to Rs 100 crore," the airline spokesperson said in a statement. During a meeting with the airline's senior officials last month, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director <keyword id="19916067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ajay-singh" source="keywords">Ajay Singh</keyword> emphasised the importance of judicious spending and that he will personally oversee all major expenditures. The carrier will prioritise fleet upgrades, enhance on-time performance and cost-cutting measures will be implemented to streamline operations, according to an internal note last month. SpiceJet, which has undergone multiple ownership changes since inception and is currently helmed by Ajay Singh, is in the process of raising funds from various investors. On January 26, the carrier announced that it has received Rs 744 crore as the first tranche of the total Rs 2,250 crore proposed to be raised through the issuance of securities on a preferential basis. There were reports that there has been a delay in raising the requisite funds. The airline has also availed funds worth around Rs 1,000 crore under the government's Emergency <keyword id="20097541" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit-line-guarantee-scheme" source="keywords">Credit Line Guarantee Scheme</keyword> (ECLGS) and Singh has committed to infuse Rs 500 crore. In recent times, SpiceJet also witnessed lessors taking legal recourse to take back their leased aircraft due to non-payment of dues. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets and the domestic air traffic is on an upward trajectory. However, SpiceJet has been struggling for sometime now. In 2023, the carrier flew 83.90 lakh passengers and had a domestic market share of 5.5 per cent. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/wd-black-sn850x-ssd-review/articleshow/107557627.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/wd-black-sn850x-ssd-review/articleshow/107557627.cms" target="_blank">WD Black SN850X SSD review – a reliable gaming SSD</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-open-review/articleshow/106961567.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-open-review/articleshow/106961567.cms" target="_blank">OnePlus Open review – Feature-packed foldable in a premium design</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/vivo-x100-review-top-end-camera-centric-smartphone-with-sleek-design/articleshow/106539033.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/vivo-x100-review-top-end-camera-centric-smartphone-with-sleek-design/articleshow/106539033.cms" target="_blank">Vivo X100 review – Top-end camera centric smartphone with sleek design</a>

Crisis-hit SpiceJet plans to hand out pink slips to at least 1,000 employees

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Prosecutors are fighting to keep Trump's hush-money sentencing on track despite any "immunity."</li><li>On Thursday, they argued it's a harmless error if evidence he's immune from entered the case.</li></ul>Manhattan prosecutors are fighting to keep Donald Trump's September 18 hush-money sentencing on track, saying in a new filing Thursday that it was "harmless error" if evidence he's now immune from entered the case.Trump's recent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-trump-immunity-january-6-election-ruling-decision-2024-5">US Supreme Court immunity victory</a> "has no bearing on this prosecution," lawyers for District Attorney Alvin Bragg <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25002799-ny-v-trump-da-response-immunity-33030">argue in a 69-page court filing</a>."That holding has no bearing here because, as defendant does not dispute, the charges in this case all involve purely personal conduct, rather than official presidential acts," the filing says.But Trump would have been indicted and convicted even if evidence the defense calls "official" were removed, the filing adds.Trump was indicted in April, 2023, and convicted in May, 2024, on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump falsified 34 Trump Organization records throughout 2018 in order to hide hush money he paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels as part of a conspiracy to illegally influence the 2016 election.The DA's filing is a response <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-now-says-scotus-immunity-voids-entire-hush-money-indictment-2024-7">to defense arguments</a> that prosecutorial immunity voids not just his conviction, but the hush-money indictment in its entirety. The SCOTUS decision found that using official-act evidence in prosecuting a current or former president violates their constitutional rights.The defense argued the grand jurors who voted to indict Trump and the trial jurors who voted to convict him were all shown significant evidence involving Trump's official acts, and that this evidence is now retroactively inadmissible.<div type="image" title="A courtroom sketch of Donald Trump at his arraignment, with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg pictured seated behind him." height="1875" width="2500" msid="112024919" hostid="261"></div>On Thursday, Bragg responded in papers signed by Matthew Colangelo, an assistant district attorney who was a lead prosecutor on the case.The filing argues that Trump is wrong in now stamping much of the prosecutor's case "official act evidence."The defense is challenging four incriminating 2018 tweets shown to jurors from Trump's personal Twitter account, in which he referred private payments to Daniels by his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen. But these tweets describe unofficial acts unrelated to Trump's official duties, and for which he has no immunity, the prosecution filing now argues."Trump was not performing, or even describing, any official presidential act in conveying his personal opinions about his personal attorney and a private nondisclosure agreement entered into prior to his Presidency," the filing says of the four tweets. "No Presidential decision-making was involved."The defense is also challenging trial testimony by Hope Hicks, Trump's former White House communications director, who described an incriminating 2018 Oval Office conversation in which Trump expressed relief that Daniels' claims to a one-night sexual encounter surfaced only after the 2016 election.But this conversation again involved a hush-money scheme that "was entirely personal and largely committed before the election, and it had no relationship whatsoever to any official duty of the presidency," the prosecution filing continues.Additional challenged evidence — an incriminating government ethics form Trump signed in 2018, and snippets of trial testimony by Cohen and by Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's former White House assistant — all likewise concerned private, not presidential, matters, prosecutors argue.But even if the challenged evidence was removed from the trial, "the error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt," the filing argues.As for tossing the underlying indictment — a move that would take Trump off the hook entirely — the prosecution filing argues that Trump would have been indicted even without what the defense calls "official act" evidence.The submission of some inadmissible evidence during the grand jury presentation "is held to be fatal only when the remaining legal evidence is insufficient to sustain the indictment," the filing says, quoting caselaw from 1996.Still, "the indictment in this case was not 'based on' any evidence of immune conduct," prosecutors argue.Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the prosecution filing.The trial judge, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, has said he will issue a written decision on September 6 on whether the indictment and conviction survive this challenge.If they do, Trump will be sentenced September 18 as planned, the judge has said.

NY fights to save Trump hush-money sentencing, saying it's a harmless error if evidence he's immune from entered the case

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Larry, 60, received student-loan forgiveness after making payments for nearly three decades.</li><li>The relief is allowing him to save for retirement and afford health insurance.</li></ul>Larry, 60, graduated from law school in 1990 with just over $68,000 in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-repayment-issues-debt-relief-broken-industry-2023-9">student debt</a>.Due to scholarships — along with Pell Grants from his undergraduate education — Larry, who requested his last name be withheld for privacy, was able to finish his higher education with what he said was a manageable balance at the time.However, instead of jumping right into a high-paying job, Larry started his career as a public defender and later became a contracted juvenile attorney. Larry's salary varied from month to month, and sometimes his paycheck was delayed. He had to place his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-plan-blocked-student-loan-payments-paused-no-debt-cancellation-2024-7">student loans on forbearance</a> for financial hardship from 2006 to 2009.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-this-fall-borrowers-unpaid-interest-debt-cancellation-2024-4">Interest still accrued</a> during that time, causing his balance to grow — and as of 2023, it stood at $182,000, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider. While Larry stayed consistent on every monthly payment after coming out of forbearance, it impacted his ability to afford other key expenses, and he could not put away any <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loans-retirement-savings-employers-match-debt-payment-contributions-401k-2024-1">money for retirement</a>."For years, I didn't have health insurance because health insurance was about the same price point as a student loan payment," Larry told BI. "I had to use whatever savings I had to make sure the student loan was paid first because I didn't want to ding on my credit report."Larry's job brings him five figures in income, and while he loves the work and it brings him fulfillment, he struggled to balance his student-loan payments alongside his other daily expenses. He also said he did not want to fall behind on his payments because it could put his law practice at risk.His financial trajectory completely changed on October 6, 2023, when he received an email from his servicer with the subject line: "Your Student Loans Have Been Forgiven." The relief was a result of President Joe Biden's one-time account adjustments for borrowers on income-driven repayment plans who have made payments for at least 20 years and qualified for forgiveness."I almost fainted in my office," Larry said, recalling when he received that email. "I mean, I couldn't even breathe. I didn't do any work for the rest of the day. It was like euphoria. I couldn't believe it."Larry is among the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-student-loan-forgiveness-income-driven-repayment-genx-2024-4">millions of student-loan borrowers</a> over the past few years who have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-gen-x-degree-better-retirement-income-driven-2024-6">gotten loan forgiveness</a> through Biden's targeted relief efforts. The Education Department said it expects to complete its account adjustments in September, expected to bring borrowers on income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness up to date on their payment progress.Along with his loan forgiveness, Larry also received a $1,800 refund for overpayments on his loans, which he said he used to pay off a medical bill and make reservations at a spa for himself and his wife."What I've now been able to do is put away some money," Larry said. "I don't have this huge bill hanging over my head anymore."<h2 id="ba74d8fb-5512-48b5-8661-4f3627abd1d3">'I couldn't save any money'</h2>Larry isn't alone — a growing number of older adults are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-retirement-crisis-risk-social-security-savings-relief-2024-6">entering retirement with student-debt loads</a>. According to a recent report from the New Schools's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, over a million Americans aged 55 to 64 hold student loans or have spouses with a balance.As he was making his payments over the past decade, Larry said that along with skipping out on health insurance, he sometimes had to borrow gas money to get to court for work — and while he was forced to decrease his workload due to his diabetes diagnoses, he couldn't retire because he didn't have any savings."There were office expenses, bar dues, car expenses, everything would cost money," Larry said. "So I couldn't save any money."Many Republican lawmakers have criticized student-loan forgiveness for benefiting people who are believed to make high salaries, like doctors and lawyers. GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, for example, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1674793503195557888">wrote</a> on X after the Supreme Court <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">struck down Biden's first attempt</a> at broad debt cancellation that "Biden's student loan transfer scheme required millions of Arkansans to pay off the loans of rich doctors and lawyers."However, having a law or medical degree doesn't always mean a high salary. It's been worth it for Larry, despite the financial challenges, and he's grateful that he can enjoy the remainder of his career and enter retirement without a student-loan balance."We don't always earn six figures," Larry said. "We're storefront lawyers, family lawyers, prosecutors, public defenders, government lawyers. My career has been wonderful. I've been able to practice what I want and how I want and make decisions about the trajectory of my career."Have you received student-loan forgiveness? Are you struggling with student loans? Share your story with this reporter at <a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto:asheffey@businessinsider.com">asheffey@businessinsider.com</a>.

A boomer got $182,000 in student loans forgiven — plus a $1,800 refund. He can finally save for retirement and enjoy a spa day with his wife.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2020, I quit my career in accounting and decided to focus on my real dream: writing.</li><li>I planned on living off my life savings, but I lost it all in Lebanon's financial crisis.</li></ul>The year 2020 was supposed to be when I could finally take it easy and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-clocks-better-focus-tasks-2024-3">focus on myself</a>. Years of odd jobs — which I started in my teens — had taken their toll on my health. I decided to leave my career in accounting behind and finally take a crack at my lifelong dream of being a writer.By the time I was 23, I had $20,000 saved — thanks to tutoring and accounting — so I knew I could take some time to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-my-job-follow-my-dreams-and-failed-what-learned-2023-4">chase my dreams</a> in Lebanon, where my family is from. I wasn't too concerned about my finances because my mother tucked away my substantial earnings in a local bank in Lebanon. We lived off the interest of our combined life savings.But Lebanon's banking system collapsed — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/08/02/lebanon-s-ponzi-finance-scheme-has-caused-unprecedented-social-and-economic-pain-to-the-lebanese-people">the World Bank called it a Ponzi scheme</a> — and the country entered a financial crisis. As soon as the headlines broke, access to our accounts was restricted. It became a mess of confusion. We only knew that the Lebanese pound was in freefall, and businesses were closing left and right.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-yield-savings-strategy-everything-i-need-want-2024-5">My savings</a> were lost forever — just as I was making headway as a writer.<h2 id="f4262d1f-dbf7-437e-93e9-e1485c28d4c9">I didn't have a reentry plan</h2>In late 2020, it became clear that our money was just digits on a screen, and the Lebanese government didn't have a plan to deal with the crisis. I knew I had to return to work but didn't know how. I hadn't planned for this.Figuring out how to return to the workforce was the real struggle. Call it youthful naivety, but I didn't have a reentry plan in case I needed to return to work. I was prepared to do <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3-things-office-jobs-better-than-non-corporate-jobs-2024-5">office work</a>, but the job market in Lebanon was dead. I had to expand my job search to the US; thankfully, I'm also an American citizen.But I struggled to find a job Stateside, too. My main issue was that I had a few gap years in my work history because of the break I took. I had to touch up <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobseeker-whose-resume-rejected-changed-format-to-help-search-2024-5">my résumé</a> so that hobbies, side projects, and activities were now valuable experiences to an employer, but it didn't help much.The Lebanese financial crisis continued long after the COVID-19 pandemic. The only way to make ends meet was to crawl into the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-make-money-gig-worker-uber-lyft-doordash-delivery-driver-2023-12">gig economy</a>.<h2 id="6cca7a5e-72c5-4704-b43a-a6802d2231d5">I'm now burning myself out</h2>I don't have enough cash on hand to relocate to the States, so I have to subsist on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blue-collar-job-demand-growth-white-collar-layoffs-ai-2024-5">odd jobs</a> mixed with commissions from magazines, newspapers, and journals. But it's been a nightmare.Working freelance is just a relentless hamster wheel. Not knowing where and when I'll find my next gig is demoralizing. I have to constantly search for more opportunities while trying to finish what I already have on my plate as fast as possible.Being my own boss is also difficult. You can't help but be tough on yourself for fear of losing productivity. Initially, I figured it would be a temporary arrangement until I could use my freelance work as a launchpad for better things, but <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-tips-for-changing-careers-finding-fulfilling-work-2024-5">career development</a> in freelancing is relatively linear compared to the old-fashioned corporate ladder.Burnout has been a problem I've had to power through so many times that the long-term <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mistakes-business-leaders-make-psychology-2024-4">psychological effects</a> have been debilitating. I must push myself to keep up, but I can only do it for so long.Since losing my savings, I've been freelancing for five years. I know I can't carry on like this forever, but I have an exit plan in place this time. I'm pursuing a doctorate to access stable work outside a corporate setting. I still have years ahead of me and have all but given up hopes of trying to make it as a writer, considering how slim the opportunities are now compared to only a couple of years ago.Still, I hold on to the hope that through the same hard work and perseverance that allowed me to shore up my savings in the first place, I can find my way back to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-gen-z-want-workplace-financial-stability-paid-leave-2024-2">financial stability</a>.

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