Latest News LIVE: German hospital finds poison in Russian dissident

Stay tuned with Business Standard for all LIVE updates

9:49 PM

Telcos seek service tax waiver on AGR dues

Telecom operators' body COAI has approached the finance ministry seeking waiver of service tax on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to be paid to the government.
 

The telecom operators have been paying service tax and then GST under the reverse charge mechanism (RCM) on licence fees (LF) and spectrum usage charges (SUC) made to the Department of Telecom for the period starting April 1, 2016.
 

The industry paid around Rs 6,600 crore between April 2016 to March 2017 in cash to discharge its output service tax liability, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in a letter to the ministry dated July 17.
 

"Telecom Sector should not be burdened with Service tax liability due to incremental LF and SUC payable pursuant to the SC decision, as it is going through challenging times," COAI Director General S P Kochhar said in the letter.

9:36 PM

No-confidence motion against Pinarayi Vijayan govt defeated

9:29 PM

DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy gets two-year extension

Renowned scientist G Satheesh Reddy was on Monday given two-year extension as the chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), according to a Personnel Ministry order.
 

He was appointed to the post in August 2018 for two years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension of Reddy's tenure as the DRDO chairman and as the Secretary of the Department of Defence Research & Development (DoDRD) for a period of two years beyond August 26, the statement said.
 

9:16 PM

Fire breaks out at a hosiery factory in Ludhiana

8:44 PM

Delhi riots 2020: HC asks police to respond to plea on officials leaking info

The Delhi High Court Monday sought response of the Delhi Police on a plea by a Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university student, who was arrested in a case related to communal violence in northeast Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in February, seeking inquiry against officials for leaking information to the media.

 

Justice Vibhu Bakhru also asked two media houses and two social media platforms to respond to the plea which also sought direction to take down the sensitive/confidential information leaked to them by the officials of Delhi Police.

 

The high court, which listed the matter for further hearing on September 11, however, refused to pass an ex-parte order directing the media houses, Zee News and OpIndia and social networking platforms Facebook and YouTube to remove the content. READ MORE...

8:25 PM

CWC asks Sonia to continue as interim chief, effect organisational changes

The Congress Working Committee on Monday urged Sonia Gandhi to continue as its interim chief till an AICC session can be convened and authorised her to effect necessary organisational changes to deal with the challenges facing the party, news agency PTI reported.

 

At an over seven-hour long meeting, which took place in the backdrop of more than 20 party leaders seeking an immediate organisational overhaul and a collective leadership, Gandhi is said to have offered to quit but was requested by the party's top decision-making panel with over 50 members to stay on.

 

Announcing the resolution passed by the CWC, the party's General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal later said at a press conference that the CWC unanimously requested Gandhi to continue to "lead the Indian National Congress until such time as circumstances will permit an AICC session to be convened."

 

The CWC also authorised her to effect necessary organisational changes to take on various challenges before the party.

8:16 PM

Bihar flood situation stable; 8.36 million people affected

The flood situation remained stable in Bihar for the second consecutive day and the number of people hit by the deluge is 83.62 lakh across 16 districts, the Disaster Management Department said on Monday.

 

The number of flood victims and affected areas remained the same since Saturday, the department's bulletin said adding that 83,62,451 people in 1,333 panchayats of 130 blocks are reeling under the impact of the calamity. Flood-related deaths also remained unchanged at 27.

8:09 PM

Inner-party issues cannot be deliberated through media or in public fora; Such issues must be raised within party: Congress

7:47 PM

CWC meeting concludes, Sonia Gandhi to remain interim president till new party chief chosen

Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim president of Congress and the election of new party chief will take place as soon as possible, party leader KH Muniyappa said after a crucial meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday.

 

"Madam (Sonia Gandhi) has to continue and the election will take place as soon as possible which is the unanimous decision of the working committee," Muniyappa, who is a special invitee to CWC, told ANI. He said there was no difference of opinion on the leadership.

 

"There is no different opinion on leadership and even Ghulam Nabi Azadji, Mukul Wasnikji and Anand Sharmaji have given in writing that there is no dispute on leadership," Muniyappa said.

 

Sources said while CWC members talked of election of new president in one year, party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the process should start in six months. They said a session of AICC session is likely to be convened in six months and a new president will be elected.

7:41 PM

CWC unanimously requests Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead Indian National Congress: KC Venugopal

7:37 PM

CWC urges Sonia Gandhi to continue as interim party chief and to bring changes to strengthen organisation

The Congress Working Committee on Monday urged Sonia Gandhi to continue as the party's interim chief and to bring about necessary changes to strengthen the organisation, sources said.

 

The CWC also decided to convene the AICC (All India Congress Committee) session at the earliest possible time to start the process for selecting the new party president, sources added.

 

At the crucial CWC meeting, Gandhi is said to have offered to quit, but she was urged to stay on as the interim chief. The meeting followed a letter by more than 20 party leaders demanding an "active, full-time and visible" president.

 

Though a large section of the leaders backed Sonia Gandhi at the nearly seven-hour virtual meeting of the Congress' highest decision making body to discuss the pivotal leadership issue, the faultlines were clear and appeared to deepen at some points as the day progressed.

7:36 PM

Sonia Gandhi said organisational issues are always addressed: Surjewala

7:23 PM

Responsibility of every Congress worker, leader is to fight pernicious assault on India’s democracy: CWC

7:20 PM

Internal party issues cannot be deliberated through the media or public fora: Congress Working Committee

7:02 PM

ICAR's entrance exam for UG programmes in agriculture to be held on Sep 7-8

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on Monday said all India entrance exam for undergraduate programmes in agriculture will be conducted by the National Testing Agency on September 7-8 this year.

 

The dates for the post-graduate and PhD programmes are yet to be announced, it said.

 

Earlier, the exam was scheduled to be conducted in June but it was postponed on account of different phases of lockdowns and other central government guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic.