A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to commence a crucial hearing from Tuesday on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties.
The BJP declared a total income of Rs 1917.12 crore during 2021-22 and spent Rs 854.467 crore or 44.57 per cent of it.
For over a decade, HDFC Bank consistently outperformed industry growth rates in both deposits and advances, maintaining impeccable asset quality. Amid a landscape where other banks struggled with soaring non-performing assets (NPAs), HDFC Bank thrived, eventually surpassing ICICI Bank to become the largest private sector lender in India. Its net interest margin (NIM) remained stable in the range of 4.1-4.4 per cent.
Nearly Rs 3,400 crore (Rs 34 billion) in cash and other items were seized in the elections in 2022-2023, an increase of 835 per cent over 2017-2018.
The Election Commission has opposed in the Supreme Court an NGO's demand to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections, contending it will "vitiate" the electoral space and cause "chaos" in the poll machinery in the midst of the general elections.
Of the 788 candidates contesting 89 seats in the first phase of Gujarat Assembly polls, 211 are 'crorepatis', with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party accounting for 79 such nominees, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated criticism of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a "humongous task" and attempts should not be made to "bring down the system".
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting 88 seats out of the total 89, tops this list among major political parties in the fray with 36 per cent of its candidates having criminal cases. Thirty per cent of its candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, among others, the ADR said in its report. The number of candidates having criminal cases fielded by the AAP is 32.
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 Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions claiming the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results.
'This is total fraud. You are showing me the slip of my vote but not counting it so this is fraud.'
'Democracy cannot be taken for granted. It has to be fiercely guarded.'
As many as 13 (93%) are crorepatis with their average assets pegged at Rs 3.93 crores, the report said.
Electoral trust is a non-profit organisation formed in India for orderly receiving of contributions from corporate entities and individuals to political parties.
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Thursday said its board has approved raising of up to Rs 14,500 crore, including Rs 4,500 crore from promoter entities. An amount of Rs 10,000 crore would be raised by way of sale of equity or through debt instruments such as ADR, GDR and FCCBs. In a regulatory filing, the company said the board has cleared issuance of up to 338.3 crore equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs 13.30 per equity share for an aggregate consideration of up to Rs 4,500 crore.
Re-elected MLAs from the ruling party added more wealth in the last five years than re-elected candidates from other political parties, shows an analysis of ADR electoral data.
In a landmark judgment that delivered a big blow to the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday annulled the electoral bonds scheme, saying it violates the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression as well as the right to information.
Darshan Solanki, who hailed from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and was a first-year student of B Tech (Chemical) course at the IITB, allegedly died by suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of a hostel building located on the campus on February 12.
'Not even a single rupee from the electoral bonds should be allowed to be used in the election.' 'If it is used in the election, it will taint India's electoral process itself.'
A three-year-old boy died after he fell from the fifth floor of a club in south Mumbai where his family had gone to watch the FIFA World Cup final, a police official said on Tuesday.
The Congress declared Rs 526 crore as income from unknown sources which is 15.57 per cent of the total income of the national parties from unknown sources, the ADR said.
The total income of national and regional parties from unknown sources for 2020-21 stands at Rs 690.67 crore.
There are a total 623 candidates in the fray, and affidavits of eight of them could not be analysed because they were either badly scanned or incomplete, the ADR said.
The market breadth has turned sharply positive since May amid hopes that a decline in Covid-19 infections will lead to a revival in the economy. At 3.8, the advance-decline ratio (ADR) for May was the best since June 2020. So far this month, the ratio has remained above three - in simpler words, for every declining stock, there were nearly four advancing stocks in May and three this month. ADR is a popular market breadth indicator, with a ratio of more than two signalling an extremely bullish undercurrent.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to produce before it in sealed cover the "up to date" data of funds received by political parties through electoral bonds till September 30, 2023.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday declared 21 universities as "fake" and not empowered to confer any degree, majority of which are in Delhi followed by Uttar Pradesh.
'ADR's success is its ability to remain non-partisan for a very long period, sheer professionalism and tenacity, and that makes it one of the good things to happen to our democracy.'
The electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties should not become a tool for "legitimisation of quid pro quo" between power centres and people who are benefactors of that power, the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it underscored the need for reducing the cash component in the electoral process.
'Consumers are willing to increase travel spends by 20-30 per cent versus pre-pandemic.'
After years of being sequestered by the pandemic, some intrepid travellers are planning to settle their score with the novel coronavirus. With fewer or no travel curbs, they are eager to get back on the road, again. Hotels and tour operators, too, are eager to shed excess Covid baggage. And this year's Diwali promises to add that extra layer sparkle with the introduction of new flights.
The "opaque" electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties will "destroy democracy" as it promotes corruption and does not allow a level playing field between the ruling and opposition parties, the petitioners challenging the validity of the scheme told the Supreme Court, which on Tuesday observed election funding was a "complicated issue".
The driver of the car in which Cyrus Mistry was travelling lost control due to overspeeding and rammed into the divider, said Palghar Police sources on Sunday.
Lakhs of people had come for the event held on a 306-acre ground in Kharghar. The nearest weather station to the spot had recorded a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.
Indian shares listed on the American bourses settled mostly in the red, while Infosys defied the trend, after the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in Satyam Computer at its bourses.
The study showed the ruling BJP has 132 crorepati MLAs, followed by 14 of the Congress, all three Independents, and one each of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Samajwadi Party.
The Congress raised Rs 918.03 crore, of which 383.26 crore came through the debt instrument, which can be purchased from select branches of State Bank of India and donated to any political party.
Only 18 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators switched parties to contest the polls in this period
Donations from corporates to the national parties increased by 109 per cent between FY 2017-18 and 2018-19, said an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO working for bringing in transparency in electoral politics.
Business executives are finally dusting off their long-unused suitcases to resume travel, thanks to a good vaccination rate, a drop in fresh cases, and an easing of travel restrictions. It comes as a huge relief for the ravaged aviation, travel and hospitality sectors. "We are witnessing a 40 per cent recovery on pre-covid volumes from our business travellers, signalling the return of corporate confidence in air travel," said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) & SOTC.
Patni's margin pressures have eased and their topline growth is robu
