New definition of Start Ups

 DPIIT Issues Revised Startup & Deep Tech Startup Framework | Notification dated 4 February 2026

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), has issued Notification G.S.R. 108(E) dated 4 February 2026, superseding the earlier Notification dated 19 February 2019.

Key Highlights:

1. Revised Definition of “Startup”
An entity shall qualify as a Startup if it:

• Is incorporated as a Private Limited Company, LLP, Partnership Firm, Multi-State Cooperative Society, or Cooperative Society in India;

• Is within 10 years from incorporation/registration;

• Has turnover not exceeding ₹200 crore in any financial year since incorporation; and

• Is engaged in innovation, development, improvement of products/services/processes, or operates a scalable business model with high employment or wealth creation potential.

An entity formed by splitting or reconstruction of an existing business shall not qualify.

2. Introduction of “Deep Tech Startup” Category
A Deep Tech Startup:

• May qualify for up to 20 years from incorporation;

• May have turnover up to ₹300 crore;

• Must demonstrate high R&D intensity, ownership/creation of significant IP, scientific/engineering innovation, long gestation cycles, and technical uncertainty.

Deep Tech Startups are deemed Startups for all purposes unless otherwise specified.

3. Recognition Process
Recognition shall be granted by DPIIT upon application through its portal, subject to document verification and inquiry.

4. Certification under Section 80-IAC of the Income-tax Act
Eligible Startups (Private Limited Companies and LLPs) may apply to the Inter-Ministerial Board for certification for tax benefits under Section 80-IAC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (noting that the Income-tax Act, 2025 shall apply from 1 April 2026).

5. Restrictions on Deployment of Funds
Recognised Startups are prohibited, during the recognition period, from investing in specified non-core assets such as:

• Residential property (with limited exceptions),

• Non-core land/buildings,

• Loans and advances (except in ordinary course),

• Speculative assets,

• Luxury assets, high-value vehicles, jewellery (unless stock-in-trade).

6. Revocation & Relaxation
Certification may be revoked if obtained through false information. The Central Government retains powers to relax or modify conditions in special circumstances.

Effective Date: The notification is effective from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette (4 February 2026).

Maha abolishes NA permission

🏡 Maharashtra Abolishes NA Permission and Annual NA Tax
Government Resolution dated 10 February 2026

The Revenue and Forest Department of the Government of Maharashtra has issued a significant Government Resolution pursuant to the amendments introduced under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Second Amendment), 2025, effecting substantial reforms in the regulatory framework governing non-agricultural (“NA”) land use within the State.

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1. Dispensation with Separate NA Permission

Where development permission or approval of building plans has been duly granted under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (“MRTP Act”), the requirement of obtaining a separate NA permission or NA sanad from the jurisdictional Collector under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code stands dispensed with.

Accordingly, the grant of development permission under the MRTP Act shall be deemed sufficient authorization for non-agricultural use of the subject land.

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2. Abolition of Annual NA Tax and Waiver of Arrears

The annual non-agricultural assessment (NA tax) hitherto leviable on non-agricultural lands has been abolished with immediate effect.

Further, all outstanding NA tax dues up to the date of enforcement of the amendment have been waived, thereby extinguishing existing arrears.

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3. Introduction of One-Time Conversion Premium

In substitution of the recurring NA tax, a one-time conversion premium shall be levied, calculated on the basis of the land area and prevailing market value, at the following rates:

• Up to 1,000 sq. m. — 0.90%

• 1,001 to 4,000 sq. m. — 0.25%

• Above 4,000 sq. m. (approximately 1 acre and above) — 0.50%

The premium shall be payable at the time of conversion and shall constitute full and final discharge of liability towards non-agricultural assessment.

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4. Apportionment of Premium Revenue

The conversion premium collected shall be apportioned between the State Government and the concerned local authority in the following manner:

• Class “A” Municipal Corporations — 30% to the Municipal Corporation

• Other Municipal Councils / Nagar Panchayats — 50% to the local body

• Gram Panchayat areas — 50% to the Zilla Parishad, to be shared equally with the Gram Panchayat

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5. Directions to Banks and Financial Institutions

Banks and financial institutions shall not insist upon production of an NA sanad as a precondition for extending credit facilities, provided that valid development permission under the MRTP Act has been granted.

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Legal and Practical Implications

• Elimination of duplicative approvals under separate statutory regimes.

• Reduction in procedural delays and compliance burden for landholders and developers.

• Replacement of recurring assessment with a transparent, one-time fiscal levy.

• Strengthening of local self-governance institutions through structured revenue sharing.

This reform represents a material shift in Maharashtra’s land administration regime and aligns regulatory processes with the principles of administrative efficiency and ease of doing business.

Source: Government Resolution, Revenue & Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra, dated 10 February 2026.

 

Just a Matter of Time

This post is written in the Ainu language, spoken by the Ainu people in northern Japan

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Ainu (condensed):

“James Hadley Chase an ne pukusa kar kamuy. ‘Just a Matter of Time’ ne ruwe ne. Apehci wa yaykot, karanke apeok pe yak-un neno wa utar un. Tura ka an pe wa wenne utar, kamuy ruwe ne. Wenramaspe, wenne wenka, pi nenukar wa rampe kamuy.

Kor okkaypo an, matne an, somo pirka paye utar ka an. Somo pirka wenne inkar wa, kor kamuy sirpirka an. Pira ne wa pira ne, ruyne an. Ipe an ruwe ne.

Chase an ne kamuy wenramaspe ramuy. Ene anakne itak an. Ine ramuy ka utar a=neyne wa, an=kor ramuy.”

The Sacred Games

 This post is translated into the Afro-Seminole Creole language spoken by Seminoles in the region of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

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“Sacred Games,” dat big book Vikram Chandra write, tell ’bout Bombay life — full up crime, politick, spirit, an’ people lookin’ fo’ meanin. 

Story follow two man: Sartaj Singh, police man tire an’ full o’ doubt, an’ Ganesh Gaitonde, gangster big an’ loud. One day Sartaj get secret word, he find Gaitonde hide place, an’ from dere story grow wide — bring in terror, spy, love, faith, an’ big history o’ India. 

Book show how law an’ crime mix up, how power an’ hunger shape man. Sartaj weak, not no hero; Gaitonde bad, but strong an’ lonely. Bombay show like real big stage — chawl, slum, studio, rich house, underworld — all together. 

Sometime book run fast, sometime it slow, but it always full o’ life. Chandra mix many tongue — Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, street talk — inside English, make it sound true. At heart, book ax same question again: what power mean? how much it cost to live? where redemption hide? 

“Sacred Games” be gangster tale, police story, politic, an’ spirit journey, all one. Hard read sometime, but deep an’ big like India self.”

The Seventh Seal

 This post is written in the Afrikaans language spoken in South Africa and Namibia. 

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Ingmar Bergman se The Seventh Seal (Det sjunde inseglet) is ’n sober maar diep poëtiese besinning oor sterflikheid, geloof en die menslike toestand. Vrygestel in 1957, het die film aan die wêreld van sy mees ikoniese beelde gegee, veral die onvergeetlike skaakspel tussen ’n moë ridder en die personifikasie van die Dood.

Gesetel in die Middeleeuse Swede tydens die Swart Dood, volg die verhaal Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), ’n ontnugterde ridder wat van die Kruistogte terugkeer net om sy vaderland verwoes deur pes, vrees en geestelike verlateheid te vind. Saam met sy pragmatiese wapenkneg Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), worstel Block met vrae oor bestaan, geloof en die stilte van God. Wanneer die Dood (Bengt Ekerot) – gekap, bleek en kalm – kom om hom te eis, daag Block hom uit tot ’n skaakspel, in die hoop om sy lot uit te stel terwyl hy na betekenis en ’n bietjie sekerheid van ’n goddelike teenwoordigheid soek.

Op sy reis ontmoet die ridder en sy wapenkneg ’n rondtrekkende groep akteurs – Jof (Nils Poppe), sy vrou Mia (Bibi Andersson), en hul baba – wie se eenvoudige vreugdes en onskuld in skerp kontras staan met die alomteenwoordige vrees, bygeloof en wreedheid van die tyd. Die film beweeg episodiese voort, met tonele wat wissel van grotesk (selfkastyders, heksebrandstapels) tot teer (die ridder wat aarbeie en melk met Jof en Mia deel).

Uiteindelik bereik die skaakspel sy einde, maar die film laat ons agter met sowel ’n spookagtige beeld van sterflikheid as ’n dowwe straaltjie hoop deur die oorlewing van die onskuldige gesin. Die kernkonflik is nie tussen lewe en dood nie, maar tussen geloof en ongeloof. Block smag daarna om in God te glo, maar word net met goddelike stilte gekonfronteer. Sy geestelike kwelling staan in kontras met Jöns, wat geloof geheel verwerp, en Jof en Mia, wat die eenvoudige vreugdes van die lewe omhels sonder pyniging.

Die Dood is alomteenwoordig – nie net as ’n karakter nie, maar as ’n eksistensiële waarheid. Die skaakspel simboliseer die mensdom se vrugteloosheid om sterflikheid te probeer uitoorlê. Tog word die Dood nie as boos uitgebeeld nie; hy is hoflik, kalm en onafwendbaar. Die Swart Dood is sowel letterlik as simbolies – ’n agtergrond wat menslike vrese, godsdienstige histerie en die soeke na betekenis in ’n wêreld wat blykbaar deur God verlaat is, vergroot.

Jof en Mia se oorlewing verteenwoordig Bergman se geloof in die verlossende krag van kuns, gesin en liefde. Hul finale ontsnapping suggereer dat, selfs al bied intellektuele vrae geen antwoorde nie, menslike teerheid tog troos kan bring. Max von Sydow, in sy deurbraakrol, vertolk die gekwelde ridder met ’n kragtige mengsel van stoïsisme en kwesbaarheid. Gunnar Björnstrand as Jöns bied ’n noodsaaklike teenwig: sardonies, skepties en dikwels donker-humoristies, wat die film se filosofiese gewig aards hou. Bengt Ekerot as die Dood is ysig maar vreemd simpatiek, met sy kalm stem en skerp grimering wat een van die mees blywende personifikasies in die filmgeskiedenis skep. Bibi Andersson en Nils Poppe bring warmte en lig as Mia en Jof, en beliggaam die moontlikheid van hoop in ’n sombere wêreld.

Kameraman Gunnar Fischer skep van die mees treffende swart-en-wit beelde in filmgeskiedenis. Die komposisies is sober, dikwels herinnerend aan Middeleeuse houtgravures, en die chiaroscuro-belighting beklemtoon die spanning tussen lig (hoop, lewe, onskuld) en donker (dood, wanhoop, twyfel). Die ikoniese tonele – die ridder wat skaak speel op ’n verlate strand, die heks wat verbrand word, die “Dans van die Dood” op die heuwel – is in die kollektiewe geheue van die rolprentwêreld ingebrand. Die tempo is doelbewus, byna ritueel, en weerspieël die temas van onafwendbaarheid en geestelike soeke.

The Seventh Seal is nie bloot ’n film nie maar ’n meditasie, ’n allegoriese reis wat kykers dwing om hul eie sterflikheid en geloof onder oë te sien. Dit ossilleer tussen wanhoop en hoop, vrees en teerheid, stilte en lied. Al is dit geanker in Middeleeuse beelde, bly die filosofiese vrae tydloos. Om dit vandag te kyk, tref ’n mens nie net sy sober skoonheid nie, maar ook sy weiering om maklike antwoorde te bied – en laat ons, soos Antonius Block, vasgevang tussen die stilte van God en die lag van kinders, tussen die sekerheid van dood en die brose vreugde van lewe.

A River ran out of Eden

This text is written in Afar language which is a lowland East Cushitic language spoken by people of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. 

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*“A River Ran out of Eden” kee James Vance Marshall 1962 inkih tanim kee Alaska bahri gide keena gideh tanim yaaba. Tanim abba Jim, abba xinna gideh inkih, nafa kee edde sinni kinnino. Keh xinnimih gideh albuuk keenih raaqa, amaanih edde sinni giddo gideh fayya.

Baxaal kee damma gideh tanim, baxaalih maayih kayna keenih baxa, Jim edde sinni gideh inkih badih gideh waasa. Tanim baxaal edde sinni xinna kee nafa gideh kee xaylo xiqe.

Tanimih xaylo: nafa kee gedo kee abba kee ilma gideh waasa, baxaal kee gidih baxxa, caxxa kee nafqa. Tanim baxaal edde sinni nafqa kee baxa xiqeenih yaaba.

Marshall tanim qafar kinni: usuk baxaalih edde sinni yemmile, nafqa kee damma edde sinni, caxxa kee usuk baxxa kee xiqeenih yaaba. Tanim edde sinni nafa giddo usuk edde sinni.”*

Smiles of a Summer Night

This post is written in the Adyghe language, which is of the one of the two main languages in the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation 

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«Ингмар Бергман» зэрыф1эк1уи гъэщIэ зэхэщIэ къэралъэу хъуадзэм, тхьэм и Iуэгъэхэр, фэкъуи зэгъэкIуэхэм къыщIэнщ. Абы 1955-тэм «Нобэ къэуагъэ шъхьэщхьэрэ» (Smiles of a Summer Night) йыщIэн, щхьэкIум икъуэхэу, комедиеу зэрэщIэн, унэ хъуагъэу къыдэлъэгъу щыIэр. Фильмым и шъхьэщхьэрэ 1900-тыхъэм Швециеи, пщIэ фIыжьэм, пхъуэм, къызэIуэхэм и зэрыщхьэкIуэхэм къыщIэнщ.

И пхъэр фIыцIэр Фредрик Эгерман, щIалъэ къэралъэ, къызыхьэм щIэныгъэ Аннэ-м щыIэр. Мы шъхьэщхьэрэу зэрыIуэхэм къыпIэрэнщ, фIыцIэрым икъуэт, фIыцIэ къэралъэм сын шIалэм – Хенрик – фIыцIэ богослов шъуэщIэ, зэрыщIэрэ щхьэхъу. ПщIэу Дэзирэ Армфельдт – щхьэкIу артисткэм – тIуэкIуи къызэгъэтх, пхъуэм зэрыщIэкIуэм. ПщIэу хуейр хьэм фIыцIэм, зэрыфIэкIуи пщIэ, шъхьэщхьэрэ къызэгъэтхэр: пхъуэм, зэрыщIэкIуэхэм, щIыщхьэкIу дуэльхэм, и зэрыщIэкIу пщIэ хъуэдэжьхэм.

Фильмым «три шъхьэщхьэрэ» щIыгъэу еплъыну: йыIэуэр – къызэрыIуэхэм, щIалъэуэр – къызэпчъалъхэм, къалэмрэ – къызэпщIиIэрэу. Мы и щхьэщхьэрэу комедиеу, къызэIуэуи шъхьэщхьэрэу къыдэлъэгъу.

Бергманым еплъащ «щIэм и щхьэщхьэрэ», пхъуэм и къыIуэхэм, щхьэ къызэрэшъхьэщIэрэ, пхъуэм, къызэрыIуэхэм и къызэIуэрэу къыщIэрэ. Актёрахэр Гуннар Бьёрнстранд (Фредрик), Улла Якобссон (Аннэ), Эва Дальбек (Дэзирэ), Харриэт Андерссон (Петра) зэIуэу къызэгъэтхэн.

Оператор Гуннар Фишер шъхьэщхьэрэ зэрэпщIиIэрэу къызэгъэтх, шъхьэщхьэрэу шъуэщхьэм, нобэ фIыжьэм.

Фильмым «Моцарт» и «Фигаро и жъуэгъэ» щIыгъэу, пхъуэм и зэрыщIэкIуэхэм пщIэу къызэгъэтхэн. «Нобэ къэуагъэ шъхьэщхьэрэ» къызэгъэтхэну пхъуэ, къызэгъэтхэну щIэм, пщIэу къызэгъэтхэну хъуадзэу.

Akam

This post is written in Adele language spoken in West Africa in Ghana and Togo.  

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Akam be Shalini Usha Nair kɔ. Eŋa Malayalam film be nyagba, a yɛ kɛta fa kpɛle kpɛle folklore kɔ Yakshi. Srini (Fahadh Faasil) yɛ nɔ a wɔ yɛ architect. Yaa yɛ gbɔɔ nɔ, ke yɛ kɔɔ lɛle accident, nya fiancée taa lɛɛ. Ragini (Anumol) kɔ nɔ gbɔ, eŋa yɛ nyagba nɔ, kpɔkpɔ nɔ. Nɔ yɛ Ragini ŋmaa, ke yɛ hɔɔ kpɛle paranoia, nɔ taa yɛ yakshi. Film nɔ kpɛle folklore kɔ psychology, yɛ yɛɛ kpɛle love, fear, yɛ hɔɔ nɔ lɛ.