kolkatta building fire claims 16 lives.

The devastating blaze that swept through three floors of a 150-year-old multi-storeyed building in Kolkata has claimed at least 16 lives with fire brigade personnel recovering 10 charred bodies from the sixth floor of the ill-fate structure late tonight, officials said.

While six persons died either by jumping from the burning floors of the building, 'Stephen Court', or sustaining burns during the day, 10 charred bodies were found late Tuesday night, fire brigade sources told PTI.

"Firemen were conducting routine checks whether the fire has been totally doused when they first found four bodies lying on the sixth floor. Then, six more bodies were spotted on the same floor," the sources said.

Ernst & Young on how the Budget 2010 will affect individuals and businesses.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee took the first step towards implementation of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) on Friday. While retaining the basic exemption limits for all income levels (as in the DTC), he increased the other slabs.

For instance, while the basic exemption limit for individuals has been retained at Rs 1.6 lakh, the 10 per cent rate will now be applicable for the Rs 1.6 lakh-Rs 5 lakh bracket. Earlier, the 10 per cent rate was applicable for income of Rs 1.6-Rs 3 lakh. The hike in the slab means that the taxpayer is going to save Rs 20,600 for incomes up to Rs 5 lakh.

Further, he has also increased the limit for the next income slab -- that is, the 20 per cent tax rate will be applicable for incomes of Rs 5 lakh-Rs 8 lakh instead of Rs 3 lakh-Rs 5 lakh. And the highest rate of 30 per cent will be applicable on incomes of over Rs 8 lakh (earlier Rs 5 lakh).

The maximum benefit that will come because of the increase in slabs would be Rs 51,500. "With the consumer inflation index rising at 14.97 per cent (December-end), this move will help reduce some of the burden by leaving more cash at the individual's hands," said a financial planner.