The levy of retrospective tax on the UK's Cairn Energy Plc is a tale of bizarre twists and turns that saw its attached shares being sold in May 2018 amid the passing of the baton from a full-time finance minister to interim one and the talks at the highest level to resolve the dispute, to claims that levy of back taxes was a result of an investigation into Panama Papers leak. The government late last month refunded about Rs 7,900 crore it had collected from selling residual shares of the British firm in its erstwhile India unit, seizing dividend and withholding tax refunds, to settle an eight-year-old dispute that had tarred the country's reputation as an investment destination. But, this did not come about easily. For seven years, the establishment vehemently justified in courts and outside seeking of Rs 10,247 crore in back taxes plus interest and penalty from a firm that gave India its biggest onshore oil discovery.
On production capacity of Covishield, the vaccine being manufactured and supplied by Serum in India under a licensing agreement with Oxford and AstraZeneca, he said the present capacity is 130 million doses per month and always try to increase it further.
The targeted budget for the project was reportedly projected at 750,000.
The government was hoping to roll out the GST regime from April 2016.
Foreign Secretary William Hague is set to inform parliament on Tuesday about Britain's alleged involvement in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in 1984, with Sikh groups criticising the probe conducted by the government.
The House of Commons petitions committee has confirmed that 77,000 signatures were added fraudulently and have been removed.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rebutted Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Randeep Singh Surjewala's allegations regarding "wilful defaulters, bad loans and write-offs", and stated that they have "attempted to mislead people in a brazen manner".
Kapil Sibal, a prominent member of the Congress's group of 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul last year, on Thursday slammed fellow letter signatory Jitin Prasada for crossing over to the Bharatiya Janata Party and said it represented politics of "prasada" or personal gains.
There is disquiet and discomfort in the citizenry that can be touched and felt. No one is talking, but then, the Indian voter has not talked much -- with the conviction that all that goes up has to come down, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Under the new code, the board intends to criminalise match-fixing and spot-fixing and also specify punishments for offenders, including jail time.
May told House of Commons that there was "clear evidence" the Bashar al-Assad government was behind a recent chemical weapons attack in Douma.
Haley said that she believes that legal immigration is the "fabric" of America, pointing out that she is the "proud daughter" of Indian immigrants.
Today, the two countries, ruthlessly divided by the Radcliffe line that pierced their very heart, grapple with the political challenges of the present. Yet, when friendships develop there are no borders, observes Payal Singh Mohanka.
Asserting that "an assault on one democracy is attack on all," a prominent Labour party MP has tabled an Early Day Motion.
The report claims that the military experts who have analysed the evidence collected by its Investigative Unit say an airstrip under construction in Agalega will almost certainly be used for maritime patrol missions by the Indian Navy.
The Lords and Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights urged the immigration minister to change the rules to ensure that they apply only to new migrants rather than the 49,000 who have already arrived under the HSMP.
UK environment secretary Michael Gove became the latest Tory MP to announce his intention to challenge Johnson on Sunday.
The new arrests came as the injured toll doubled from 59 to 119.
Scottish lawmakers voted 69 to 59 to give the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, the authority to negotiate with the Westminster government on holding another vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
'Hello Namaste' has been described as a "festive upbeat Hinglish" number which highlights the UK-India friendship.
As lobbying and counter-lobbying intensify, right now, it looks like a T20 match, discovers Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament Chris Davies said the decision showed the Indian government was trying to hide the "reality of its actions" and blocking absolute freedom of the press.
The Gandhi statue to be unveiled in Parliament Square will be his second in London. There is another one at the city's Tavistock Square. Aditi Phadnis reports
A 75-year-old Indian-origin Maoist cult leader was on Friday found guilty of rape, child cruelty and falsely imprisoning his daughter for 30 years by a British court.
In India, Opposition parties along with healthcare professionals have urged the government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top leaders, to take either of the Covishield or Covaxin doses, which could help in drastically reducing trust and fear issues amongst citizens., reports Sohini Das.
The criteria for allowing companies to avail of this provision will include profitability, networth, paid-up capital, and turnover.
British telecom giant Vodafone Group plc on Friday won an arbitration against the Indian government over a demand for Rs 22,100 crore in taxes using retrospective legislation.
While most economies contracted in the second quarter of 2020, the Chinese economy grew by 3.2 per cent.
The vote assumes significance as it could end Scotland's 307-year union with England and Wales as Great Britain -- and see it launch into the world as an independent nation of some 5.3 million people. Here's what you need to know about the landmark referendum.
A top Member of Parliament in the UK has asked if the government knew about the US missile strike in Pakistan which killed an on-the-run militant from the UK.
Tesco was the first global retailer to apply for multi- brand retailing in India.
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
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 minister clarified that she had not favoured the former IPL chief and all such allegations were 'baseless'.
The English language may be one of the casualties of Brexit as it emerged that no state other than the United Kingdom has registered it as a primary language among the 28 countries within the European Union.
A short video released by Islamic State militants on Friday night shows the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning, with the executioner blaming the death on the United Kingdom for joining the US-led bombing campaign against the group.
According to the resolution plan, the airline is planning to start with six to seven aircraft on domestic routes and looking to restart international service within six months of resuming operations.
The British PM clearly indicates that Kashmir was unlikely to be on the agenda during her bilateral meet with PM Modi when she visits India between November 6 and 8.
Modi told the delegation that urgent action was needed against those supporting and sponsoring terrorism.
