Faced with prospect of its assets across the globe being seized just like Pakistan and Venezuela, the government decided to scrap retrospective taxation but the international embarrassment could have been avoided had 'attached' shares of Britain's Cairn Energy Plc not been sold, according to tax and legal experts. On Thursday, the government introduced a Bill in Parliament to scrap the tax rule that gave the tax department power to go 50 years back and slap capital gains levies wherever ownership had changed hands overseas but business assets were in India. The 2012 legislation was used to levy a cumulative of Rs 1.10 lakh crore of tax on 17 entities, including UK telecom giant Vodafone, but substantial punitive action was taken only in the case of Cairn.
The 62-year-old premier remains defiant despite the prospect of a no-confidence vote after Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading Tory Brexiteer, piled on the pressure by submitting a letter of no-confidence to the chair of the Conservative's influential 1922 Committee on Thursday.
After they were secretly filmed offering their services to a fictitious Chinese company in return for thousands of pounds.
Apart from May, the four other contenders for the Conservative leadership and prime ministership are Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox, Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom.
Rajiv Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha MP, explains that the argument that other government servants are eligible for OROP is incorrect and the comparison is laughable.
Amid demands that MPs should not be allowed to decide their salaries, the government has proposed to set up a three-member panel to recommend pay and perks of lawmakers.
She, however, did not name a departure date at the at the ruling party's influential 1922 Committee meeting.
The opposition, while not directly stalling Parliament, will insist all legislation goes to standing committees, delaying implementation.
These courts will be set up in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad
Pranab Mukherjee's stewardship of the economy will stand out as much for the manner in which he managed controversies as for creating quite a few of them, says A K Bhattacharya.
Standing committee on finance to also focus on RBI autonomy and citizen's rights.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said military personnel would replace armed police "on guard duties at certain protected sites which are not accessible to the public".
Christopher Wylie deposed before the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee amid an escalating row around alleged Facebook data breaches linked with the controversial UK-based company, which has also been linked with alleged attempts to influence elections in India.
'If the platform is public, then every Indian regardless of his ideology and commitment has got the right to convey his view'
'Modi forgot to ask Trump for anything that India may need -- and there is so much shortfall all around!', states Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
The minister said the effort of the government is to 'encourage startups'.
The two Koreas have agreed to pursue a bid to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
The rally is being fuelled by across-the-board buying.
'India needs to closely monitor the discussions at the UNSC and make counter-measures as this touches its core interests', points out Srikanth Kondapalli.
The two allegedly detonated a fire extinguisher filled with explosives at the entrance of the Nanaksar Satsang Sabha Gurdwara on the evening of April 16.
'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech on Monday, announced a new dispute resolution mechanism for such companies who are in confrontation with the taxman's action.
In this exclusive conversation with Rediff.com contributor Rajeev Sharma, exiled opposition leader Ahmed Naseem explains why the world should care about democracy in Maldives.
A leave vote means the future of Britain's financial services industry is now hanging in the balance.
Traders are waiting for the earnings season to kick off.
How does the country's civilian government reclaim legitimacy after the names of many Pakistanis, including the family members of PM Nawaz Sharif, figured in the leaked documents.
'It's a dream, but will I give it up? No bloody way,' Umesh Pandey, the former Bangkok Post editor turned Opposition candidate, tells Rahul Jacob.
The 89-year-old leader was expelled by the CPI-M after he refused to step down from his position as Speaker holding that the post is above any party politics.
There are unprecedented political implications of identification based on 'biological attributes of an individual', such as employed by Aadhaar, warns Gopal Krishna.
The finance minister is "reasonably confident" that when it comes to the crunch, "it would be extremely difficult even for the Congress party to take a contrarian view" on the GST Bill.
20 years ago this day, May 11, 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test at Pokharan in Rajasthan. In a fascinating interview on Rediff.com, K Subrahmanyam revealed how Indian PMs reacted to nuclear ambitions.
Isn't National Intelligence Grid and UIDAI engineered by vested interests, asks Gopal Krishna.
While India has to curtail its side, those who do business in India have to be more conscious that they should be less part of the problems and more part of the solution, the business magnate said.
Metal shares were the top gainers with Hindalco up over 5%.
Congress charged the entire BJP and the government with "aiding and abetting" Lalit Modi, a fugitive.
'Overlying his idealism was a hatred of war and of all things military. He gave no deep thought to politico-military matters and this prevented him from making sound security decisions.'
Biometric authentication is based on the unscientific and questionable assumption that there are parts of human body that does not age, wither and decay with the passage of time.
We can learn much from China with regards to making civil service recruitment more efficient, says former diplomat Kishan S Rana.
A Bank Investment Company to act as a holding company for state-owned banks would go a long way in minimising government interference and improving governance.
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