Mobile phones and TV sets manufactured in India would become cheaper with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing cuts in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of their components but smokers would have to pay more as the government has increased taxes.
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
The Indian government is keen to woo major semiconductor players, but a global race to attract them to countries where there is already an ecosystem is making it difficult for India to attract the biggies in the business. On Wednesday the government decided to throw open the doors to more players to participate in its semiconductor scheme. It is now looking at not only 28 nanometre (nm) chips and below, but higher nodes like 40 nm.
Known as 'Sentinels of the North East' and 'Friends of the Hill People', the officers, drawn from the Army, and jawans have been fighting a war of nerves since the ethnic clashes between majority Meitei and hill tribe Kukis erupted on May 3.
The petition was filed by advocate Iman Singh Khara, seeking the "release" of Amritpal Singh from alleged police custody. Khara is the legal advisor of Amritpal Singh and his outfit 'Waris Punjab De.'
Is there no mechanism to abrogate Article 370 even when the people of Jammu and Kashmir want it, the Supreme Court asked on Thursday and wondered if the now repealed provision can't be touched, will it not amount to creating a "new category" beyond the basic structure of the Constitution.
'We will think (of the sequel) if we come across a story that shares the same plight.'
'It is this fear that is behind all that has happened to Rahul Gandhi.'
"It is a fair assumption that INC possesses the material/empirical/verifiable evidence based on which these specific/explicit 'facts' have been published, an action which can fairly be assessed to embed knowledge, motive and intent to do so by the author," the EC notice read.
The top guns of all the major political parties were on a campaign blitz across the state in the past few days, even as the ruling BJP has been striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its southern citadel.
Justice Bharati Dangre on March 30 allowed applications filed by Salman Khan and his bodyguard Nawaz Shaikh and quashed the proceedings and process (summons) issued to them by a lower court.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar arrived in New Delhi on Friday to discuss with the party's high command the names of ministers to be inducted into the new cabinet and the allocation of portfolios.
'We have made a pledge; those who kicked Rahul Gandhi out of the house he had lived for 19 years, will be kicked out from the corridors of power.'
Chandrasekhar was reacting to the arrest of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party leader S G Suryah under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology (IT) Act allegedly over a social media post.
Authorities on Monday attached a house belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin's son in the city's Ram Bagh area, officials said.
State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, sources said. To effect this, SBI has issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanction on it as well, sources said. No transactions involving entities, banks, ports or vessels appearing on a US, European Union or United Nations sanctions list would be processed irrespective of the currency of the transaction, they said. Payments due to such entities have to be processed by other mechanism rather than through the banking channel, sources added.
In an appeal filed before the top court against the May 4 order of the high court, the state government said the stay will adversely affect the entire exercise.
These officers will oversee the entire poll processes as eyes and ears of the commission on the ground to ensure free, fair and voter-friendly elections.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked whether Parliament could have enacted the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which divided the erstwhile state into two Union territories, during the subsistence of President's rule in 2018-2019.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation of four distinct cases from the Assam police, all connected with the death of the state police sub-inspector Junmoni Rabha last month in a suspected road accident, according to officials.
Amid a police crackdown against radical preacher Amritpal Singh and his associates, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Monday asked the Punjab government to stop arresting 'innocent' Sikh youths.
Is Governor Ravi acting without informing/consulting the Centre, or is the BJP leadership unsure of what to do with the DMK in Tamil Nadu? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court said on Thursday the surrender of Jammu and Kashmir's sovereignty to India was "absolutely complete" with the accession of the former princely state in October 1947, and it was "really difficult" to say that Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state, was permanent in nature.
During the raid, the ATS recovered 63.6 kg of mephedrone and 80.26 kg of its raw material worth Rs 478.65 crore, the release said.
Supreme Court judge Sanjay Karol on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by the Bihar government challenging a Patna high court order granting a stay on the caste survey it was conducting.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to a 19-month low of 8.39 per cent in October, on easing prices of fuel and manufactured items. This is the first time in 19 months that WPI inflation print has come in single digit. Last was in March 2021 at 7.89 per cent. Since April 2021, WPI inflation remained in double digits for 18 months with September print at 10.79 per cent.
Polling will take place in 3,328 polling booths, out of which 1,100 are sensitive and 28 are categorised as critical.
As part of the deradicalisation strategy, the army, with the cooperation of the Union Territory administration, has undertaken a series of initiatives.
When the House was taking up private members' business, Chowdhury urged Rajendra Agrawal, who was presiding over the proceedings, to allow Gandhi to attend the House.
Four National Disaster Response Force teams are engaged in rescue work, he added. The village has around 50 houses, of which 17 were buried under the landslide, the official said.
The Congress seems to be heading for the Karnataka polls so far on the strength of its local leadership and focusing on issues concerning the state, making corruption a central theme of its campaigning.
Priyanka Gandhi led the party's charge in Himachal Pradesh with several rallies and was also closely involved in strategy planning for the polls.
Amid a spurt in Covid-19 cases, the use of face masks has been made mandatory for employees, patients and visitors in all civic-run hospitals in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday as it reviewed preparedness to deal with rising infections, especially availability of medical oxygen and medicines.
State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha on Thursday said that the village council elections will be held on a single day, with the deadline for filing nominations set for June 15. The votes will be counted on July 11.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
Hope this film would be able to teach Indians the value of their rights and the perils of exchanging those for 'economic development' or promises of a better future by some populist leader, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
Overhaul of the goods and services tax (GST) structure, including possible changes in the tax slabs, may now be taken up only after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, given the number of states that are going to the polls in its run-up. "No major overhaul of tax rates is expected in GST until the end of next fiscal year. One major reason for this is that some members of the group of ministers (GoM) - mandated to look at rate rationalisation by the GST Council - are from poll-bound states. Later, this may lead to reconstitution of the panel," a senior government official told Business Standard. Besides, both the Centre and states are not in favour of frequent changes in the tax rates amid inflationary uncertainties; they believe any major change should be brought in after extensive deliberations, according to the official.
Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister-designate D K Shivakumar on Friday discussed the modalities of cabinet formation in the state with the party leadership in Delhi and are learnt to have shortlisted some names of ministers and their portfolios.