Business
Should smartphones be locked away at gigs and in schools?
Marc AshdownBusiness correspondent
Getty ImagesWhen Sir Paul McCartney performed at the Santa Barbara Bowl, he promised fans an intimate gig. But the former Beatle went a step further than most by agreeing to engineer a makeshift “lockdown” on selfies and filming at the concert.
All 4,500 fans had to place their mobile phones in lockable pouches for the duration of the concert, and enjoyed the gig completely “phone-free”.
“Nobody’s got a phone,” McCartney declared during his 25-song setlist. “Really, it’s better!” he added.
Getty ImagesAchieving a large-scale phone ban is a startlingly simple process.
On the way into a venue, concert-goers have to put their phones into a pouch which is magnetically locked.
They keep the phone on them, and the magnet releases at the end of the performance.
Artists such as Dave Chappelle, Alicia Keys, Guns N’ Roses, Childish Gambino and Jack White have embraced the freedom saying it allows them to perform at their best – or even experiment more.
In an interview in Rolling Stone in June, Sabrina Carpenter discussed potentially banning phones at future concerts.
Some music lovers seem to be embracing the idea.
A fan at a Lane8 DJ gig, Shannon Valdes, posted on social media: “It was refreshing to be part of a crowd where everyone was fully present – dancing, connecting, and enjoying the best moments – rather than recording them.”
For the man behind the pouch technology, his own Eureka moment similarly came at a music festival back in 2012.
“I saw a man drunk and dancing and a stranger filmed him and immediately posted it online,” Graham Dugoni explains. “It kind of shocked me.
“I wondered what the implications might be for him, but I also started questioning what our expectations of privacy should be in the modern world.”
Within two years, the 38-year-old ex-professional footballer founded Yondr, a US start-up that promotes phone-free spaces.
YondrThe lockable pouch market is still in its early stages, but more companies are starting to appear. The pouches are widely used in theatres and art galleries and increasingly in schools.
They cost between £7 and £30 each, depending on the supplier and the size of the order.
Yondr has worked with around 2.2 million schools in America and says around 250,000 children in England now use its wallets across 500 schools – including one academy trust in Yorkshire which has spent £75,000 on Yondr pouches.
Paul Nugent created Hush Pouch after working for 20 years installing lockers in schools. He says there’s a lot for headteachers to consider.
“Yes it can seem an expensive way of keeping phones out of schools, and some people question why they can’t just insist phones remain in a student’s bag,” he explains.
“But smartphones create anxiety, fixation, and FOMO – a fear of missing out. The only way to genuinely allow children to concentrate in lessons, and to enjoy break time, is to lock them away.”
Yondr’s Dugoni says school leaders have reported a number of benefits from adopting a phone-free policy.
“There have been notable improvements in academic performance, and headteachers also report reductions in bullying,” he explains.
Vale of York Academy in York began using the pouches in November and headteacher Gillian Mills told the BBC: “It’s given us an extra level of confidence that students aren’t having their learning interrupted.
“We’re not seeing phone confiscations now, which took up time, or the arguments about handing phones over, but also teachers are saying that they are able to teach.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party would seek to ban smartphones altogether from schools if it entered office.
The Labour government has stopped short of an England-wide ban on smartphones in schools, saying headteachers should decide, but has launched a consultation on banning social media for under-16s.
It is part of a series of measures that will also see England’s education inspectorate, Ofsted, given the power to check policies on phone use when it goes into schools, with ministers saying they expect schools to be “phone-free by default” as a result.
Nugent says the feedback from parents is that most feel their child is safer having a phone on them while travelling to and from school, rather than leaving it at home altogether.
“The first week or so after we install the system is a nightmare,” he adds. “Kids refuse, or try and break the pouches open. But once they realise no-one else has a phone, most of them embrace it as a kind of freedom.”
HushThe continuous expansion of social media platforms and AI brings the concept into direct competition with the San Francisco tech giants and their algorithms, which are designed to constantly promote the use of smartphones in everyday life.
But Nugent believes a societal pushback is gathering momentum.
“We’re getting so many enquiries now. People want to ban phones at weddings, in theatres, and even on film sets,” he says.
“Effectively carrying a computer around in your hand has many benefits, but smartphones also open us up to a lot of misdirection and misinformation.
“Enforcing a break, especially for young people, has so many positives, not least for their mental health.”
Dugoni agrees we are reaching a crossroads.
“We’re getting close to threatening the root of what makes us human, in terms of social interaction, critical thinking faculties, and developing the skills to operate in the modern world,” he explains.
“If we continue to outsource those, with this crutch in our pocket at all times, there is a danger we end up undermining what it means to be a productive person.
“And that is a moment where it’s worth pushing back and trying to understand where we go from here.”
Those 4,500 McCartney fans singing along to Hey Jude in the late September sunset might feel he has a point.
Business
New Income Tax Act 2025 to come into effect from April 1, key reliefs announced in Budget 2026
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026, and the I-T forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty for ease of living.
The new measures include exemption on insurance interest awards, nil deduction certificates for small taxpayers, and extension of the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases to August 31.
Individuals with ITR 1 and ITR 2 will continue to file I-T returns till July 31.
“In July 2024, I announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961. This was completed in record time, and the Income Tax Act 2025 will come into effect from April 1, 2026. The forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty, for) ease of living,” she said while presenting the Budget 2026-27
In a move that directly eases cash-flow pressure on individuals making overseas payments, the Union Budget announced lower tax collection at source across key categories.
“I propose to reduce the TCS rate on the sale of overseas tour programme packages from the current 5 per cent and 20 per cent to 2 per cent without any stipulation of amount. I propose to reduce the TCS rate for pursuing education and for medical purposes from 5 per cent to 2 per cent,” said Sitharaman.
She clarified withholding on services, adding that “supply of manpower services is proposed to be specifically brought within the ambit of payment contractors for the purpose of TDS to avoid ambiguity”.
“Thus, TDS on these services will be at the rate of either 1 per cent or 2 per cent only,” she mentioned during her Budget speech.
The Budget also proposes a tax holiday for foreign cloud companies using data centres in India till 2047.
Business
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, her record ninth budget speech. During her Budget Speech, the FM will detail budgetary allocations and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. Sitharaman is notably dressed in a Kanjeevaram Silk saree, a nod to the traditional weaving sector in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
The budget comes at a time when there is geopolitical turmoil, economic volatility and trade war. Different sectors are looking to get some support with new measures and relaxations ahead of the budget, especially export-oriented industries, which have borne the brunt of the higher US tariffs being imposed last year by the Trump administration.
On January 29, 2026, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26, a comprehensive snapshot of the country’s macro-economic situation, in Parliament, setting the stage for the budget and showing the government’s roadmap. The survey projected that India’s economy is expected to grow 6.8%-7.2% in FY27, underscoring resilience even as global economic uncertainty persists.
Budget 2026 Expectations
Expectations across key sectors are taking shape as stakeholders look to the Budget for support that sustains growth, strengthens jobs and eases financial pressures:
Taxpayers & Households: Many taxpayers want practical improvements to the income tax structure that preserve simplicity while supporting long-term financial planning — including broader deductions for home loan interest and diversified retirement savings options.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime | New Income Tax Rules | Income Tax 2026
Businesses & Industry: With industrial output and investment showing resilience, firms are looking for policies that bolster capital formation, ease compliance, and expand infrastructure spending — especially in manufacturing and technology-driven sectors that promise jobs and exports.
Startups & Innovation: The startup ecosystem expects incentives around employee stock options and capital access, along with regulatory tweaks that encourage risk capital and talent retention without increasing compliance burdens.
Also See: Stock Market Updates Today
The Budget speech will be broadcast live here and on all other news channels. You can also catch all the updates about Budget 2026 on News18.com. News18 will provide detailed live blog updates on the Budget speech, and political, industry, and market reactions.
We are providing a full, detailed coverage of the union budget 2026 here, with a lot of insights, experts’ views and analyses. Stay tuned with us to get latest updates.
Also Read: Budget 2026 Live Streaming
Here are the Live Updates of Union Budget 2026:
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Sunday approved the Union Budget 2026-27 during a meeting in Parliament chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Sansad Bhawan at 10 a.m., and after the Cabinet’s approval, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proceeded to Parliament to present the Budget.
Earlier, FM Sitharaman met President Droupadi Murmu and offered her a copy of the digital budget. The President also offered ‘dahi-cheeni’ (curd and sugar) to Sitharaman when she arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Finance Minister was seen carrying her trademark ‘bahi-khata’, a tablet wrapped in a red-coloured cloth bearing a golden-coloured national emblem on it.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Ravi Agrawal and other officials were seen accompanying the Finance Minister. Sitharaman was set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. In 2021, she switched to using a digital tablet to carry the Budget papers, further promoting a modern and eco-friendly approach.
The ‘bahi-khata’ is a red pouch that holds the digital tablet containing the Budget documents. This year, Sitharaman opted for a deep maroon Kanjeevaram saree from Tamil Nadu. The saree featured a deep maroon base with a contrasting border and subtle gold detailing, paired with a yellow blouse.
The Budget is likely to strike a deft balance of sustaining growth momentum and maintaining fiscal consolidation. It also needs to address near-term challenges emanating from unprecedented geopolitical flux, said economists. According to economists, the budget is likely to focus more on capital expenditure, especially in sectors deemed to be strategically important owing to prevailing geopolitical compulsions.
While the FY26 Budget was more tilted towards stimulating middle-class consumption with tax reliefs, the FY27 Budget’s approach to stimulating consumption will be selective, they added.
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