We the people are left in the wind, waiting on the whims of an unengaged president and an oligarch with a nearly bottomless wallet, observes Sree Sreenivasan.
A protester was killed in firing during a clash between security forces and a mob vandalising properties in Manipur's Jiribam district. The incident occurred late on Sunday night when agitators were protesting the killing of women and children abducted by militants. The deceased has been identified as K Athouba, who was in his twenties. The offices of the Congress and BJP, and a house belonging to Jiribam's Independent MLA were ransacked by a group of agitators. Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed in Imphal Valley, where curfew remained enforced and internet services suspended after agitators vandalised and set ablaze properties belonging to several ministers and legislators.
India has its share of both large tech companies and large national laboratories, but why is it that these don't seem to be at the forefront of any innovation news headlines? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
The Tamil Nadu government has argued in the Supreme Court that Governor R N Ravi's repeated withholding of assent to bills passed by the state legislative assembly would lead to the failure of the democratic system in India. The top court has questioned the delay by the Governor in granting assent to several bills passed by the state assembly and asked why governors should wait for parties to move the court with their grievances. The court has also said that the Governor cannot refer bills passed by the legislature and re-adopted by it for presidential assent.
New India Assurance and Niva Bupa have invested in the Bima Sugam India Federation.
US senators have alleged that TikTok, owned by the Chinese Communist Party, has interfered in elections of various countries, including India, and called for extending the deadline for a ban on the platform in the US. They applauded India's ban on the social media platform, citing concerns about Chinese propaganda and data harvesting. Lawmakers, including Democrats and Republicans, introduced legislation to delay the ban by 270 days, arguing it would allow for a more thorough review of the implications and potential alternatives to a ban. They also criticized the rushed nature of the ban and its potential impact on free speech and the livelihoods of American users.
The privileges enjoyed by MPs and MLAs are "tethered intrinsically" to the functioning of the legislature collectively, the Supreme Court said on Monday while holding that lawmakers taking bribe to vote or make a speech in the house are not immune from prosecution.
The SC questioned the language used by Allahbadia during the show, saying society has some values.
The Assam assembly will discontinue with the two-hour break provided on Fridays to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer 'namaaz', Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The rule will be implemented from the next session, an assembly official said.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
'Each state and central government body may be asked to update its system to ensure PAN is used as a common identification to access its services.'
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday separately visited the memorial of the state's first chief minister Y B Chavan in Karad and paid tributes to him on his death anniversary.
The MLA pointed out that there is already a ban on the consumption of alcohol in four other states, and Goa should also join the list.
He said the resolution was not part of the assembly's listed business and reflects the mindset of the newly-elected government in the Union Territory.
Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the government was not keen to suspend MPs from Lok Sabha, but opposition members came with requests for suspension after action was taken against some of their colleagues.
'Trump has signaled that he has changed his stance on the H1B visa from his first term.'
'It would be reasonable to assume that Modi 3.0 would be more focused on projects and schemes which do not require any legislative change or which have the support of its coalition partners,' asserts A K Bhattacharya.
The governor's approval came a day after the AAP government informed him about the issues to be taken up during the session.
The opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the United States prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.
The outcome of Maharashtra state elections is unlikely to move markets much, said analysts. The markets, they believe, have bigger developments to worry about in the short-to-medium term.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana's Faridabad. He was 59.
The monsoon session is expected to commence in the old Parliament building and later move to the new building, sources said. The new building was inaugurated by Modi on May 28.
The government is set to examine concerns over quick commerce companies potentially undermining businesses of local kirana stores, particularly in the context of the draft Digital Competition Bill, according to official sources. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs recently raised the issue with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs during discussions around the proposed legislation. "We need to assess if and how the Bill can address these concerns and explore further steps to include provisions to keep a check," a senior official stated.
The session is likely to be held in the old parliament building as the construction of the new building may stretch till the end of the year, the sources said.
In 2024, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) implemented significant reforms, focusing on cooling down the derivatives segment, enhancing transparency and accountability in small and midsised enterprise (SME) listings, and deepening the fund management ecosystem.
Tesla owner billionaire Elon Musk and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in an op-ed provided an insight into their blueprint for an unprecedented government reform that includes mass federal job cuts and massive expense reduction.
Eighteen Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs were suspended from the assembly till 2 pm of August 2 and were removed by marshals after they refused to leave the House on Thursday.
The review pleas filed by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara and others contended that the matter related to the scheme falls in the exclusive domain of legislative and executive policy.
Donald Trump's exaggerated opinion of his dealmaking capacity can get him into trouble, observes R Sriram.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.
'We have filed a complaint with the police authorities.'
'The CM's credibility is on the line.'
Tata Steel is in the process of filing a curative petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the apex court ruling which said that states have the power to levy cess on mining and mineral-use activities. The petition by the steel manufacturing firm is aimed at seeking remedy to the order, passed by a 9-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on July 25. However, Tata Steel's managing director and chief executive officer T V Narendran told Business Standard that there was no demand note on the firm.
Operationalising the ban is being fleshed out: it will entail which cryptocurrencies will be banned and how.
Over the last 50 years, the number of sittings of Parliament has been declining and has halved since the 1950s and the 1960s, the report stated.
BJP members, including the Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, opposed the resolution, saying it was not part of the listed business.
The Supreme Court verdict on mining royalty case will give a further jolt to the Indian mining industry and will have very large financial implications, as arrears may work out to the tune of more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore, industry players said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the power of states to levy tax on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and allowed them to seek refund of royalty from April 1, 2005 onwards. According to a senior mines ministry official, the verdict will have a very large financial impact on mining, steel, power and coal companies.
The need for finding options for proper functioning of Parliament is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The government is planning to introduce legislative changes to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) regulations, with a focus on easing the pathway for inflows from a foreign portfolio investor to transition seamlessly into foreign direct investments (FDI) once the FPI surpasses the 10 per cent ownership threshold in a company. This move stems from multiple requests by foreign investors seeking to streamline the reporting requirements that arise when their stakes in Indian firms cross the 10 per cent mark.
The stormy monsoon session of Parliament came to an end on Thursday, becoming a virtual washout and delaying legislations which could not be passed because of continuous acrimony.
