'These new laws give complete (impunity) to the police.' 'Whatever little accountability the police had, all that is gone now.' 'There is no accountability mechanism against the police for abusing or misusing in the new laws.'
The high court said he was a very powerful and influential person within the power corridors of the Delhi government as he had the responsibility of 18 portfolios in the city dispensation.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday told the Delhi high court that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked with the alleged excise scam, cannot claim "immunity" from arrest on the ground of upcoming elections as law is applied equally to him and an aam aadmi.
Development economist Jean Dreze said the Indian democracy is currently navigating a crisis that is not only limited to the 'recent wave of authoritarianism' but also suppression of opposition voices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The government on Monday disclosed before the Supreme Court eight more names including that of Pradip Burman, one of Dabur India promoters, a bullion trader and Goa miners against whom it has started prosecution for allegedly stashing blackmoney in foreign banks.
CCTVs will readily be accepted as evidence by courts of law, whereas the evidence produced through spy cams always run the risk of being questioned as being a work of photography trick, says S Murlidharan
The Bombay high court on Tuesday set aside the life sentence of Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
"Whose money is this? From where did the money in these bank accounts have come," a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the counsel for Setalvad.
With the Modi government facing the arduous task of fulfilling its promise of getting back black money stashed abroad, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Friday said all amounts deposited in foreign banks by Indian citizens can't be termed as black money and that it is not a crime to open such accounts.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekar on Tuesday rejected Dorsey's claim, calling it an "outright lie" and "an attempt to brush out that very dubious period" of firm's history.
The announcement comes on the first anniversary of the project.
'There is no scope for any doubt. This was a scheme designed to enrich the ruling party.'
India has constituted a probe team to investigate allegations relating to the foiled plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh extremist and known to be an American and Canadian citizen.
As a rule, broad governance reform is neither necessary nor sufficient for growth.
Democracy does not begin and end with elections and the integrity of election process is pivotal for sustaining the democratic form of government, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while striking down as unconstitutional the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
'However, to establish a quid pro quo, one can potentially see several things, like whether they got any benefits from the party that they gave money to. That is something that people (of India) will gauge. But to finally establish that there was money paid as consideration, it would require an investigation, a proper investigation, to be able to come up with such conclusions.'
Sikhs have more in the way of domestic clout and electoral representation in Canada than they do in India. No politician in Ottawa can ignore the concerns of a community with this level of representation, notes Devangshu Datta.
Leaders and members of the Hindu community rue the fact that they are not given proper representation and many are not even registered as voters.
The Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi announced Saturday night that it is ceasing its operations from October 1, citing a 'lack of support from the host government', failure to meet expectations in serving Afghanistan's interests, and reduction in personnel and resources.
The government is working on the concept of a digital locker of sorts - an online repository for all certificates and documents issued to the citizens of the country.
The government on Tuesday announced a Rs 200 per cylinder cut in prices of domestic cooking gas as it looked to counter the cheaper LPG promise of the Congress in upcoming assembly elections in states like Madhya Pradesh.
'It's not really going to bring about purity in the election process.'
'Their role model is Iran: high control of the citizens by the State.' In Iran it is Islamic control; in India, it will be Hindutva control.'
The Opposition party lashed out at the Modi government over the issue, saying the problem with most of ministers is that they are so eager to prove their loyalty to 'their master and be his voice' that they have forgotten that they are sworn to certain responsibilities.
Shares of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India hit fresh record lows amid sustained decline in Adani Group stocks. Its stock finished at Rs 567.8, down 2.9 per cent over its previous close. The state-owned insurer's market value is now down Rs 2.4 trillion, or 40 per cent, compared to initial public offering levels.
...and say bye to the humanities-science divide, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
...Even if it means less democracy, so that their everyday problems get solved? argues R Jagannathan.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday said it was troubled by the fact that the recently amended IT Rules to curb online fake news against the government offer no recourse to a person whose social media post has been removed or account suspended after being flagged by the proposed Fact Checking Unit (FCU).
Do you have financial planning queries? Ask rediffGURU Anil Rego.
According to an official statement, Modi, at a high-level meeting, instructed relevant officials to remain vigilant, closely monitor developments in Sudan and evaluate safety of Indian nationals there.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla flagging alerts received by several opposition leaders about 'state-sponsored' attacks on their iPhones, and urged him to provide them protection to continue doing their duties.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 by voice vote following a walkout by opposition members over the Manipur issue.
All Jan Dhan bank accounts should be linked to Aadhaar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday while asking bankers to speed up this process and redouble efforts on financial literacy.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
India has constituted a high-level inquiry committee to probe allegations relating to a conspiracy to kill a Sikh extremist on American soil.
Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape TCS (Tax Collection at Source). While moving the Finance Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS. "It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said.
'...to prevent this episode from disrupting ongoing cooperation.' 'The discovery of this plot had the potential to derail much of what has been achieved in the relationship during this administration's tenure -- I don't think that fact has been sufficiently appreciated in India.'
