The Union Budget for fiscal 2024-25 (FY25) will be presented on July 23, 2024. A lot of ink will focus on what the budget should include. However, here we focus on what the Budget is can exclude / avoid, and rightly so.

Most crucially, the government must abstain from fiscal profligacy in the upcoming Budget. The fiscal deficit must not be allowed to widen beyond the original target of 5.1 per cent of GDP for FY25. As a corollary to the latter, the market borrowings should not be increased beyond the previously announced figure for FY25.

India and Russia are looking to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, balance the lopsided trade, eliminate non-tariff trade barriers, and explore the possibility of a Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)-India Free Trade Area.

A joint statement issued after multiple rounds of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday also announced that both nations plan to establish a bilateral settlement system using national currencies.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Manipur on Monday. Security has been tightened in the Jiribam district of the state with authorities imposing a ban on aerial photography using drones, officials said. He is also scheduled to meet flood victims of Assam on Monday, party leaders said.

A notification by the Jiribam district magistrate on Sunday said as part of enhanced security measures, aerial photography or videography through drones, balloons, or any other means is strictly prohibited.

At least 131 wild animals have died so far in floods in the Kaziranga National Park while 96 others have been rescued, an official said on Monday.

The dead animals include six rhinos, 117 hog deer, including 98 by drowning, two by vehicle hits and 17 during treatment, two sambar, a rhesus macaque and an otter due to drowning in the park.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea's recent front-line live-fire drills "suicidal hysteria" as she threatened unspecified military steps on Monday if further provoked.

The warning by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korea performed firing exercises in its tense land and sea borders with North Korea in the past two weeks. The exercises were the first of their kind since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed easing frontline military tensions in June.

The Nato summit, being hosted by US President Joe Biden here this week, is likely to show a strong demonstration of America and its allies' support for Ukraine and make significant new announcements to increase military, political and financial support for the European country, in addition to holding a meeting with the EU and Indo-Pacific partners to deepen their cooperation, according to administration officials.

The Nato summit will be the first to include Sweden as a member of the alliance. Sweden officially joined the alliance in March.

Last month was the hottest June on record, the EU's climate change monitoring service said on Monday, continuing a streak of exceptional temperatures that some scientists said puts 2024 on track to be the world's hottest recorded year.

Every month since June 2023 - 13 months in a row - has ranked as the planet's hottest since records began, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin.

The Chhattisgarh government has decided to include local language and dialects in the primary education curriculum in order to ensure inclusive and quality education.

The move is seen as a big leap towards implementing National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in tribal areas.

British PM conceded defeat to the Labour Party and Keir Starmer, who is now set to become Britain's next prime minister after his party won the parliamentary election after 14 years against the Conservative Party.

In his first statement after the election results, Rishi Sunak told media persons, "The Labour Party has won this general election and I have called Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory. Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides."

US President Joe Biden has once again found himself at the centre of media frenzy after a series of verbal missteps during the Independence Day celebrations. In a notable gaffe, Biden declared himself “proud to be the first black woman to serve with a black president”, confusing himself with Kamala Harris, the current Vice President.

This blunder comes just a week after Biden’s debate with Donald Trump, which left many questioning his political viability. During an interview with Philadelphia’s Wurd radio station, Biden intended to highlight Harris’s historic role but ended up muddling his own tenure as Vice President under Barack Obama.

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