The contentious bill providing for legal sanction to police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and detainees for investigation in criminal matters was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday, with Home Minister Amit Shah asserting it will act as a defender of human rights of law-abiding citizens.
'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
The central government is on track to meet its fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP for 2022-23 on the back of strong growth in revenue collections, the World Bank said in its India Development Update on Tuesday. High nominal GDP growth in the first quarter supported strong growth in revenue collection, especially Goods and Services Tax (GST), despite tax cuts on fuel. Notwithstanding an increase in spending due to expanded fertilizer subsidies and food subsidies for vulnerable households in response to the commodity price shock, the government is on track to meet its FY22/23 fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP and the general government deficit is projected to decline to 9.6 per cent from 10.3 per cent in FY21/22 and 13.3 per cent in FY20/21.
The girl was leaving school on Wednesday when the accused, Ram Asre (37) allegedly took her to a pump room in the school premises and forced himself on her.
The credit guarantee cover under the scheme would be both transaction-based (for single eligible borrowers) and umbrella-based (for a group of eligible borrowers).
Markets watchdog Sebi on Tuesday decided to tighten norms for utilisation of IPO proceeds by companies, introduce special situation funds to invest only in stressed assets and amend various regulations, including those on mutual funds and settlement proceedings. The board of Sebi, which met on Tuesday, also gave its nod for amending Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) regulations and introducing a provision for appointment or re-appointment of any person, including as a managing director or a whole time director or a manager, who was earlier rejected by the shareholders at a general meeting. Once the amended norms are in place, such appointments or re-appointments can only be done with the prior approval of the shareholders.
Quad leaders are also planning to roll out vaccine deliverables and announce a series of measures in the field of healthcare and infrastructure sector, officials in Washington, DC said.
Security incidents became more costly and harder to contain due to drastic operational shifts during the pandemic with the cost of data breaches to Indian organisations rising close to 18 per cent to Rs 16.5 crore on an average between May 2020 and March 2021, according to a report by IBM. The study pointed towards similar trends in other parts of the world with data breaches costing surveyed companies $4.24 million per incident on an average - the highest in the report's 17-year history.
Authorities also released photographs of six suspects, including three women, wanted for their involvement in the attacks and sought information regarding them from the public.
Just two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, security forces on Friday foiled a suicide attack in Jammu by the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, eliminating two suspected Pakistani terrorists in an encounter after they fired on a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) bus and killed an officer.
'Many senior officers are unhappy with him, but many lower level officers are still supportive.' 'This is also not something that has happened for a long time. So this is certainly a milestone.'
Debutant Akash Kumar (54kg) signed off with a bronze medal in the AIBA men's World Boxing Championships after losing to Kazakhstan teenager Makhmud Sabyrkhan in the semi-finals, in Belgrade, on Thursday.
The legislative amendment was passed on Thursday by voice vote as part of an en bloc (all together as a single unit) amendment during floor consideration of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA).
The government is set to initiate consultations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to devise a new security clearance framework for screening potential bidders of public sector banks (PSBs) as it kick-starts the privatisation process, beginning with the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank. As the government is moving ahead with strategic divestment of IDBI Bank and is looking to privatise two PSBs, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is looking to put in place an appropriate framework as the potential buyers will have to meet the RBI's fit and proper criteria, said an official. The process of bank privatisation would be different from the sale of any other public sector undertaking (PSU), and more restrictions and measures will have to be put in place, the official said.
The 91-year-old was buried at a mosque near his residence according to his wishes, his close aides said.
His comments came in the midst of the disengagement process between Indian and Chinese armies in Pangong Tso areas in eastern Ladakh where the two sides have been locked in a nine-month standoff.
The US military has intensified its efforts to collect the remnants of the high-altitude surveillance balloon from China that floated over the United States over several days last week from Montana to South Carolina.
Indian start-ups raised issues, such as blockages in international wire transfers, disruptions due to threshold limits on withdrawals, lack of communication from US agencies, and the need for preferential access to credit, in a meeting with the government over the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology, held a virtual meeting with over 450 members from start-ups, venture capitalists, and investors who have been directly affected by the closure of SVB. He assured them that the IT ministry would put together a list of suggestions and give it to the finance minister on behalf of start-ups.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday streamlined the payment of processing fee through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system for shares applied for and allotted during an initial public offering (IPO). In addition, the regulator has devised a new reporting format for capturing the data of all ASBA (Application Supported by Block Amount) applications unblocked by Self Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSBs) and their corresponding date of actual unblock. The new format has been put in place after reviewing the performance of SCSBs on timely unblocking of application amounts and feedback received from market intermediaries, Sebi said in a circular.
The 193-member general assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to condemn Russia's "illegal so-called referendums in regions within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine and the attempted illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, following the organisation of the above-mentioned referendums".
The US-based firm, however said it does not have any direct evidence of customer data being breached illegally by the government.
Climate experts also warn the intensity of rains in Kerala and Uttarakhand is "alarming" and must draw immediate attention towards "climate emergency".
India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022 with its child wasting rate at 19.3 per cent, being the highest in the world.
Referring to the Nagrota incident, the MEA said the huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosive material indicate detailed planning for a 'major attack to destabilise the peace and security' in the Union Territory of J-K, in particular, to derail the ongoing democratic exercise of conduct of local district development council polls.
Over the past decade, a change in consumer choice swept through the battery industry - the walkman lost its mojo, smartphones took over cameras and batteries were tucked away in remotes and wall clocks that hardly needed frequent call-ups. The result: Brand Eveready lost mind space. And the company's attempt to stick to the on-ground marketing activities didn't quite help. But Eveready, now at the cusp of change, is putting things right - a new Give Me Red television commercial has been launched after a gap of 7 years featuring an empowered bride ski-diving to her wedding venue. The creative, according to Eveready sources, is in sync with the brand doctrine.
Jaitley's tenure as defence minister saw clearance of a number of big ticket reform measures and simplification of military acquisition process.
The development comes after after reaching a consensus in the 16th round of military talks, the two sides said in a joint statement this evening.
With the banking regulator lifting restrictions on HDFC Bank's digital initiatives, the largest private sector lender is now girding up to launch a clutch of customer-facing applications (apps), which will act as stepping stones in its journey to morph into a technology (tech)-led bank from a conventional one. Following repeated outages in its digital offerings, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had barred HDFC Bank from issuing new credit cards in December 2020 and prevented it from going ahead with its digital launches. The embargo on issuing credit cards was lifted in August 2021 and the ban on digital launches was lifted last week.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
The finance ministry said the sharp inflows last fiscal were due to the government's policy initiatives and economic recovery.
It is time the new government, unencumbered with the burden of past, initiates a wide ranging review and open debate on the security issues to rectify our short term and long term shortcomings. It has taken some wise steps but has to go beyond this to identify the structural weakness and create systems, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'There are challenges of being in the bubble, you do not meet new people. People have to be mentally strong'
With the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) extended deadline coming to an end, there will be no automatic recurring payment for various services including recharge and utility bill as the additional factor of authentication (AFA) will become mandatory from Friday. On December 4, RBI had directed all banks including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways that the processing of recurring transactions (domestic or cross-border) using cards or Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) or Unified Payments Interface (UPI) under arrangements/practices not compliant with AFA would not be continued beyond March 31, 2021. As part of risk mitigation measures, RBI announced this step to bolster safety and security of card transactions.
At interactions last week with senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India, select banks gave feedback on two key bond market concerns, namely, recent volatility in the rupee-dollar exchange rate and heavy losses incurred on floating rate government bonds due to a demand-supply mismatch, sources told Business Standard. The discussions were held ahead of the RBI's next monetary policy statement, scheduled on August 5. Indian banks are large holders of government securities because of a regulatory mandate to set aside a certain percentage of deposits in sovereign bonds.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which monitors data related to the pandemic, said the sub-lineage known as BA.2 shows a low number of cases in the country, with the original Omicron lineage BA.1 still dominant.
NDA government has shunned populism.
"Fact that persons with disabilities get marginalised from every scheme does not require a debate," the court said.
The ministry also decided to dispense with the requirement of the Integrity Pact Bank Guarantee to reduce the financial burden on the Indian defence industry, a move aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing.
An Allahabad high court bench of Justice Shekhar Yadav had on Thursday last urged the government and the poll panel to consider postponing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a month or two and banning all political rallies amid the fears of an impending third wave of Covid.
The initial public offering (IPO) market has come to a grinding halt due to sharp correction in the broader markets and uncertain outlook created by the Russia-Ukraine offensive. So far this year, only three companies have managed to launch their maiden share sales. In comparison, close to 10 companies were able to come out with their IPOs during the same period last year. Investment bankers say it will be challenging to launch a single deal in March as large institutional investors have turned extremely risk-averse and don't wish to commit any capital.
