A chance meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union minister Kiren Rijiju at the Tulip Garden in Srinagar has sparked a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the National Conference of laying out a red carpet for the BJP leader in the aftermath of the Waqf Amendment Act. While NC sources termed the interaction as a purely coincidental encounter, opposition parties like the PDP and Peoples' Conference condemned the meeting, accusing the NC of surrendering to the BJP. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, passed by Parliament last week, aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare.
The cancellation means the Leh-based institute will no longer be able to receive or utilise foreign funding.
'Financially we are sound and we have always broken even. 'It is just we don't have the personnel and that is why we have to close down.'
A Class 7 student, forced to drop out due to financial constraints, returned to school after the Chief Minister's intervention, sparking a political debate between the ruling party and the opposition.
After a long time, here's a film that does justice to the people whose stories are never heard or written about, notes Divya Nair.
President-elect Donald Trump urged his supporters to donate to Democrats to help them overcome the 'financial strain' in the aftermath of the general elections.
A reading of the reports suggests that there is no standard practice for reporting political contributions and it is left to the company's discretion to report them as they find fit.
Collectively, these companies spent Rs 628 crore (Rs 6.28 billion) on political contributions in the past five years, according to their annual reports.
The Congress on Friday alleged that the electoral bonds data has exposed 'corrupt tactics' of the Bharatiya Janata Party such as quid pro quo, seeking donations for the company's protection, kickbacks and money laundering through shell companies.
Manas Sood, a Class 12 student from the Delhi Public School, has distributed 2,650 boxes of Tax City Education and empowered over 12,000 students from 52 schools across India. His aim? To help young Indians understand taxes and become financially literate.
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Isaacman's removal comes just days after Elon Musk's official departure from the White House, where the SpaceX CEO was serving in the role of a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency.
'Isn't it obvious? Do you have a doubt? There is so much data that shows that there is quid pro quo.' 'There are many instances of donations being given after the raids, donations being given before the award of a contract and many other permutations and combinations.'
Tax evaders, BEWARE! The Income Tax department is using AI data analytics to bust fake deductions, flag HRA fraud, and trace digital footprints.
The Islamabad high court is set to hear the petitions requesting the suspension of sentences to Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the 190 million Pound Al-Qadir Trust case on June 11.
Go cashless. Go clean, say I=T to people.
Salman, Sirens, Seoul sisters, the OTT menu this week is as diverse as it gets.
Kamal has a crisp pen when it comes to writing short and yet powerful film dialogues. But while speaking ex tempore -- and that has been his style -- he looks every bit a confused man, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioners in the court, said at least 30 shell companies purchased electoral bonds worth over Rs 143 crore.
'There's no transparency in work (of the Wakf Board), in property transactions (of the Waqf).'
Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds.
The BJP cited the amendments to the Representation of People Act, 1951 and the relevant portions of the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Income Tax Act for not revealing its donors.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday launched the party's crowdfunding campaign in New Delhi, asking people to join the fight against unemployment and rising costs.
The opposition Peoples' Democratic Party and Peoples' Conference targeted the ruling National Conference over the meeting, and accused it of surrendering to the Bharatiya Janata Party without even a pretence over the passage of the Waqf act.
A leading Catholic Church daily in Kerala has described the Waqf amendment bill as a crucial test of secularism in Parliament, urging MPs to support it. The editorial in Deepika daily comes as the union government prepares to table the bill for parliamentary consideration. The editorial calls the bill a test of secularism and warns MPs that failing to support it would mark them in history as endorsing religious fundamentalism. The paper added that the bill will also put an end to the injustices faced by thousands of Hindu, Christian, and Muslim citizens who have suffered due to the Waqf law. The editorial also recalled the recent statement addressed to Kerala MPs by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) where the KCBC President Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos urged amending provisions in the Waqf law that validate claims over land which people of Munambam have lawfully possessed. Opposition parties have slammed the bill as "unconstitutional" and against the interest of the Muslim community.
An Indian defence firm has refuted a report in The New York Times that linked the company to a Russian arms agency, calling it "factually incorrect" and "misleading". The report suggested that military hardware supplied by a British firm to the Indian company may have found its way to Rosoboronexport, the Russian state arms agency. The Indian firm said it has scrupulously followed all its international obligations and that India's legal framework on strategic trade guides its companies' overseas ventures. The New York Times report cited documents claiming that a British aerospace manufacturer, H.R. Smith Group, sold sensitive technology to the Indian firm, which is a major trading partner of Rosoboronexport. The company, however, denied the allegations, stating that the equipment was destined for an Indian search-and-rescue network and is not designed for military use.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and others on charges of money laundering in the National Herald case. The chargesheet, filed on April 9, names Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused persons. The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of the National Herald news platform. The ED alleges that Young Indian, a private company "beneficially owned" by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, "acquired" AJL properties for a mere Rs 50 lakh, significantly undervaluing its worth. The case has been transferred to Special Judge Vishal Gogne's court for further proceedings.
While the BJP received the highest amount, securing Rs 1,685.63 crore, the Congress received Rs 828.36 crore, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rs 10.15 crore.
Mumbai accounts for the largest share of electoral bonds sold since inception.
Introducing the bill, Rijiju said the consultation process of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was the largest ever exercise carried out by a parliamentary panel in India's democratic history.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders of Young Indian with 38 per cent shares held by each one of them. They were questioned for hours by the ED in this case a few years back.
Protesters in West Bengal's Murshidabad district set fire to police vehicles and hurled stones during a demonstration against the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Jangipur area, where a large crowd had gathered demanding the withdrawal of the legislation. Police responded with lathi charges and tear gas to control the situation. Several people were detained and police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting. The West Bengal Police has said the situation is under control and strict action will be taken against those who resorted to violence.
The Budget proposal for creation of electoral trusts for political donations came in for severe criticism by Left parties, with the CPI(M) saying it would be the "fountainhead of all political corruption".
Soros, a Hungarian-American political activist, and his organisations like OSF have been accused by the ruling BJP of acting against India's interests. His utterances during the Adani-Hindenburg controversy also drew criticism from the party.
Bangladesh has demanded a public apology and compensation from Pakistan for the 1971 atrocities, raising "historically unresolved issues" during the first foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries in 15 years. Dhaka also asked Islamabad to pay USD 4.3 billion as its share from the combined assets at the time of East Pakistan's split from West Pakistan in 1971 to form an independent Bangladesh.
The Hathras SP said the investigation also revealed that some political parties had contacted him some time back.
The Election Commission (EC) had, in 2019, flagged its concerns in the Supreme Court on the changes made in several laws relating to political funding to facilitate the electoral bonds scheme, saying it will have 'serious repercussions' on transparency.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as a 'very big scam' and demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up with court-appointed officials to probe the alleged quid pro quo and wrongdoings under it.
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.
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