LIVE: Rajya Sabha passes bill to hike FDI in insurance sector to 74%

By raising the FDI limit to 74%, the current provision of control being vested with Indian companies had to be dropped. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

Latest news live updates: Rajya Sabha on Thursday approved a bill to raise the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying while control will go to foreign companies, the majority of directors and key management persons will be resident Indians who will be covered by law of the land.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today upheld the Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator's (EA) order restraining Future Retail Ltd (FRL) from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail to sell its business, which was objected to by US-based e-commence giant Amazon.
 

Earlier in the day, the Telangana government presented a tax-free Budget for 2021-22, proposing a total expenditure of Rs 2,30,825.96 crore with major allocations made for panchayat raj and rural development, agriculture, irrigation, social security pensions and others.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

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Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to attend a 'mahapanchayat' in support of farmers on April 4 in Haryana

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8:53 PM

LIVE: Rajya Sabha passes bill to hike FDI in insurance sector to 74%

Rajya Sabha on Thursday approved a bill to raise the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying while control will go to foreign companies, the majority of directors and key management persons will be resident Indians who will be covered by law of the land.

 

"The laws of the land are fairly mature. They can control every operation which happens in this country. (No one can) take it (money) away and make us sit and watch," she said replying to a debate on the bill.

 

Giving out reasons for the decision to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit, she said insurance companies are facing liquidity pressure and the higher limit would help meet the growing capital requirement.

 

On change of definition of 'control' of the insurance company with the hike in FDI limit, she said control means right to appoint a majority of directors, control the management of policy decisions including by virtue of their shareholding or management right or shareholder agreements or voting agreements. By raising the FDI limit to 74 per cent, the current provision of control being vested with Indian companies had to be dropped.

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Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2021 passed in Lok Sabha

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Actor Arun Govil, Lord Ram of TV show 'Ramayan', joins BJP

Days before assembly polls begin in West Bengal and three other states, actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram in the famous TV serial Ramayan, joined the BJP on Thursday, saying his decision was triggered by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee 's "irritation" to the chant of Jai Shri Ram.

 

Govil joined the BJP in the presence of its general secretary Arun Singh and Union Minister Debasree Chaudhuri after the party announced the names of 148 candidates for the West Bengal assembly polls.

 

"West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's irritation to Jai Shri Ram was a trigger point for me to join the BJP. And there is nothing wrong in saying Jai Shri Ram....it is not a slogan, not even a political slogan. It is a way of life for us, it represents our culture and ethos," he told the media at the BJP headquarters.

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Rajya Sabha passes bill to hike FDI in insurance sector to 74% from current 49%

Rajya Sabha passes bill to hike FDI in insurance sector to 74% from current 49%

7:10 PM

Majority of directors, key personnel to be resident Indians; percentage of profits to be retained in India: FM

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FM replies to the debate on The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Rajya Sabha

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Insurance companies facing liquidity pressure, says FM replying to debate on bill to raise FDI limit to 74%

Insurance companies facing liquidity pressure, says FM Sitharaman replying to debate on bill to raise FDI limit to 74% from 49%

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Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi are all coming to face law of the land, says Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha

Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi are all coming to face law of the land, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha

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Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi are all coming to face law of the land, says Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha

Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi are all coming to face law of the land, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha

6:02 PM

Delhi HC directs presence of Future Group's Kishore Biyani and others before it on April 28

Delhi High Court directs presence of Future Group's Kishore Biyani and others before it on April 28

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Delhi HC restrains Future Group from moving ahead with Rs 24,000 crore Reliance deal on Amazon's plea

The Delhi High Court Thursday upheld the Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator's (EA) order restraining Future Retail Ltd (FRL) from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail to sell its business, which was objected to by US-based e-commence giant Amazon.

 

Justice J R Midha directed Kishore Biyani-led FRL not to take further action on the deal and held that the group wilfully violated Singapore Arbitrator's order.

 

The high court directed the Future Group and its directors to deposit Rs 20 lakh cost in Prime Minister's Relief Fund for providing COVID-19 vaccines to senior citizens of Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The court directed the presence of Biyani and others before it on April 28 as also attachment of their properties.

5:14 PM

About 200,000 jobs added in IT sector since 2019: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The IT sector has contributed 8 per cent to the country's GDP and two lakh new jobs have been added in the sector since 2019, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

 

He said the government also intends to lay BharatNet in villages all over India and the prime minister wants this to be accomplished in the coming 1000 days.

 

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, the minister said India has attained its image in the world due to digital India. READ MORE...