Ajit Balakrishnan offers a thinking man's guide to the state of ecom in a nation of shopkeepers.
The ministry of electronics and IT had set a deadline of July 4, failing which Twitter could have lost the intermediary status, which means it will be liable for all the comments posted on its platform.
Is it permissible in law for a statute to have unbound and limitless discretionary authority, the Bombay high court asked on Friday while hearing a bunch of petitions against the recently amended Information Technology (IT) Rules against fake news.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to roll out a new regulatory framework for registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) - the market intermediaries responsible for the record-keeping of bondholders and shareholders after a company offers securities to the public. The markets regulator, sources said, is considering a multifold increase in net-worth requirement, a move that may dissuade companies from having in-house RTAs for record-keeping. At present, the minimum net worth required for RTAs is Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in categories I and II, respectively.
E-sports experts say the burgeoning sector will not be affected by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council's recent decision to levy a blanket 28 per cent tax on online gaming, which is being viewed by the industry as a death blow to gaming companies.
Google LLC has contended that the information technology rules for digital media are not applicable to its search engine, and urged the Delhi high court on Wednesday to set aside a single judge order which applied the rules on the company while dealing with an issue related to removal of offending content from the internet.
The government has ordered internet companies to block 67 pornographic websites following court orders and for violating the new IT rules that were issued in 2021.
The Reserve Bank is planning to extend wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for transactions for interbank borrowing or call money market, sources said on Tuesday. The pilot in the wholesale segment, known as the Digital Rupee -Wholesale (e-W), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case being limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. "RBI is now planning to go into the interbank borrowing market.
WhatsApp had banned 2.9 million accounts in January, 3.6 million accounts in December and 3.7 million accounts in November.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for amendments in the Insurance Act, paving way for 74 per cent foreign direct investment in the sector. Currently, the permissible FDI limit in the life and general insurance stands at 49 per cent with ownership and management control with Indian. According to sources, the Cabinet in its meeting has approval for amendments in the Insurance Act, 1938.
Over 23.87 lakh Indian accounts were banned by WhatsApp in July.
The government has amended rules under the anti-money law, making it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to record financial transactions of politically exposed persons (PEP).
Lashing out at the micro-blogging platform over non-compliance, Prasad said that it is "astounding" that Twitter that portrays itself as the flag bearer of free speech, chooses the path of deliberate defiance when it comes to the intermediary guidelines.
The ministry has also issued orders for blocking of two Twitter accounts, two Instagram accounts and one Facebook account involved in spreading 'coordinated anti-India disinformation'.
Investors looking for a fixed-income product that is free of credit risk may invest in these bonds.
Sections in the draft Personal Data Protection Bill are a blatant violation of the Right to Privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution.
The draft e-commerce rules released last year held e-commerce marketplace responsible if a seller on its platform failed to deliver the goods or services ordered by a consumer "due to negligent conduct, omission or commission of any act by such seller", causing loss to the consumer.
The show-cause notice dated February 8 by DCGI V G Somani cited a Delhi high court order dated December 12, 2018, which prohibits online sales of medicines without a licence.
The government is looking to sell shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) held through Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) and is soon going to appoint an intermediary to manage it. The plan is to sell about 8 lakh shares of RIL that will help the government garner around Rs 180 crore. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) will appoint an intermediary that will act as a custodian of these shares. The intermediary, based on its market analysis, will offload these shares at the best price, said an official. A final approval on the proposal is expected soon.
The submission was made by the UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan; on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clement Nyaletsossi Voule; and the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci.
'There are already multiple lawsuits against the IT rules.' 'So questions of compliance are like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.'
The government on Wednesday informed Parliament that there is no proposal with the Information Technology ministry to set up a regulator for social media.
The Income-Tax (I-T) department has issued around 8,000 notices to salaried employees, self-employed individuals, and companies who made significant donations to charitable trusts. The department suspects potential tax evasion, as records of these donations do not correspond with the income and expenses of those making them. Sandeep Bajaj, managing partner, PSL Advocates & Solicitors, says, "Notices were issued for donations made during the assessment years of 2017-18 through 2020-21."
We gave them (Twitter) three months' time. Others have followed, they haven't. Rule 7 of (IT) guidelines says if you don't comply then under Sec 79 you may lose intermediary status and may become liable to other laws including penal laws of the country
The government has ordered the blocking of 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels that contained fake news and morphed content with the intent to spread hatred amongst religious communities, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Monday.
'The message is not clear whether we are wanted.' 'All this could adversely impact our strategy in India and also investments.'
In comparison, the messaging platform had banned over 16 lakh accounts of Indian users in the month of April, and 18.05 lakh such accounts in March.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Wednesday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce firm Flipkart for allowing sale of substandard domestic pressure cookers on its platform, in violation of mandatory standards. Headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, the CCPA has directed Flipkart to recall all such 598 pressure cookers sold on its platform, reimburse their buyers, and submit a compliance report within 45 days. The central government routinely notifies the Quality Control Orders (QCOs), specifying compulsory conformity to a standard and use of the standard mark for a product to protect consumers from the risk of suffering injury and harm and in the interest of the public at large.
The Delhi high court on Friday asked the Centre to reply to pleas by Facebook and WhatsApp challenging the new IT rules for social media intermediaries requiring the messaging app to "trace" chats and make provisions to identify the first originator of information.
The Bombay high Court on Tuesday said the recently amended Information Technology (IT) Rules against fake news on social media give "unfettered power" to a government authority in the absence of "guidelines and guardrails".
Is it a case of poor targeting of a welfare scheme, or is it a reflection of the government's desire to expand the scope of this benefit to secure greater electoral dividends? asks A K Bhattacharya.
The content 'actioned' belonged to categories including bullying and harassment, violent and graphic content, adult nudity and sexual activity, child endangerment, dangerous organisations and individuals, and spam, among others.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday closed proceedings in a petition alleging non-compliance of new IT Rules by Twitter, saying that 'nothing remained' in view of the central government being satisfied with the micro-blogging platform appointing a chief compliance officer (CCO), resident grievance officer (RGO) and nodal contact person.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Twitter on Monday online, argued the company was following the rules laid out in the Information Technology Act.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday barred five brokerage houses for up to six months from making fresh applications seeking registration as commodity brokers as they failed to meet 'fit and proper' criteria in the NSEL case. The affected brokerage houses include India Infoline Commodities, Anand Rathi Commodities and Geofin Comtrade (banned for 6 months each), and Phillip Commodities and Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker (for 3 months each). "There were enough red flags for a reasonable person to come to conclude that what was being offered as paired contracts on NSEL were not spot contract in commodities," Sebi said in five separate orders.
The Bombay high court on Friday asked the Union government what was the need to introduce the recently notified Information Technology Rules, 2021 without superseding the existing IT Rules that came into effect in 2009.
Sanjay Bhandari, an accused arms dealer wanted in India on money laundering and tax evasion charges, is pursuing a separate legal battle of his own in France over an alleged unpaid cut from a large Indian defence contract dating back over 10 years, according to a UK media report.
Sources further said that Twitter is the only social media platform among the mainstream that has not adhered to the new laws.
The government has issued a notice to Twitter to comply with all its past orders by July 4, an official source said on Wednesday.
The Centre has told all states and union territories that the power to administer the new rules on digital media publications has not been delegated to them, a day after the Union government overturned a Manipur district magistrate's order issued under the recently implemented guidelines.
