Ahead of the general elections, a slew of states and also the Centre had doled out sops to the marginalised sections, including the farmers and the poor.
A high-level committee to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, held its first meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and decided to invite political parties and the Law Commission to seek their views on holding synchronised polls in the country, a statement said.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
'The circumstances indicate that the government is not serious about the commission...' '...We are not at the mercy of the government.'
Years before the Supreme Court struck down as 'unconstitutional' an opaque political funding tool that allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley -- the prime mover of electoral bonds -- had termed them legitimate and transparent.
The apex court bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, will assemble at 10.30 am to hear the two petitions.
With the Congress in power in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping at its heels, the BRS is now fighting an existential battle.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, will also hear a separate plea which has sought initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging it "wilfully and deliberately" disobeyed the apex court's direction to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
Sources in the Fifteenth Finance Commission said that they will implement the provisions after the bill is enacted and the President makes a reference to it.
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
WC star Azad beats state BJP heavyweight Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency
Collectively, these companies spent Rs 628 crore (Rs 6.28 billion) on political contributions in the past five years, according to their annual reports.
'Chinese are going bang, bang, bang building 30-35 reactors.' 'We should announce a programme of 50 new reactors and show that we mean business on the ground and not just announcements.'
The Election Commission (EC) had, in 2019, flagged its concerns in the Supreme Court on the changes made in several laws relating to political funding to facilitate the electoral bonds scheme, saying it will have 'serious repercussions' on transparency.
The dealers operating in the space have jumped nearly three times over the past two years.
The identity of the informant shall be kept a secret, it said.
The first Karnataka legislative assembly session, after the formation of the new government will be held on starting Monday next week in Bengaluru.
In order to reduce government litigations, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the GST Council has fixed a monetary limit for filing appeals by the tax department before the various appellate authorities. It has recommended a monetary limit of Rs 20 lakh for GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs 1 crore for the High Court and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court for filing of appeals by the department before these legal forums, she said after the 53rd GST Council meeting held in New Delhi.
In its verdict last month, the top court directed the SBI to furnish the details to the Election Commission (EC) by March 6.
Sitharaman also said states will get 41 per cent share of taxes as per the 15th Finance Commission recommendation and the government has accepted the recommendation.
Economic stagnation is the advance payment for polarisation, which extracts a terrible price.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Vithal, a 1950-batch IAS officer, died early on Friday morning due to old age ailments, his son Sanjay Baru, media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, told PTI.
The Enforcement Directorate made these claims in an official statement issued by the federal agency following its raids in this case at Chennai, Madurai and Tiruchirapalli on April 9.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
Eminent economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Monday described the electoral bonds scheme as a scandal and welcomed the Supreme Court's recent judgment annulling it.
'Somebody was using somebody to make statements that will stir the stock market and lead to a surge.' 'A sudden surge and a sudden crash is always an ideal situation for people to make illicit gains and then siphoning off the money.'
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds.
When a strong executive decides it wants something, even something that is dangerous and unconstitutional, there is little resistance from within to stop it, notes Aakar Patel.
For every rupee in the government coffer, 58 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, 35 paise from borrowings and other liabilities, 5 paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment and 2 paise from non-debt capital receipts, according to the Budget documents for 2022-23. According to the Union Budget 2022-23 presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, goods and services tax will contribute 16 paise in every rupee revenue, while corporation tax will contribute 15 paise to each rupee earned. The government is also looking to earn 7 paise for every rupee from Union excise duty and 5 paise from customs duty. Income tax will yield 15 paise to every rupee collection.
Kharge termed the high-level committee constituted by the Centre to examine the feasibility of 'One Nation, One Election' a 'gimmick' and alleged the Modi government wants to slowly replace democracy in India with dictatorship.
'The estimated expenditure is expected to be more than double the Rs 60,000 crore spent in 2019'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said GST compensation to some states is delayed due to non-availability of AG's authenticated certificate, and that Kerala has not sent even a single such certificate since 2017-18. Replying to a supplementary question, she also said that Rs 86,912 crore has been released for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation payable to all states up to May 31, 2022. She said as per law, GST Council decides to whom the GST compensation is to be released, not by the central government.
The state was asked not to publicise the disbursement during the poll code as part of the condition.
The government on Wednesday cleared the setting up of an Investment Commission to woo foreign as well as domestic investors for major projects in the country.
The 64-year-old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era, will soon become history.
Banks may become more cautious in extending loans, as more and more farmers may take loans, relying on the assurance that a debt relief commission will back them in the event of default.
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
The Congress on Friday alleged that the electoral bonds data has exposed 'corrupt tactics' of the Bharatiya Janata Party such as quid pro quo, seeking donations for the company's protection, kickbacks and money laundering through shell companies.
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