LIVE news: Parliament monsoon session from Sept 14 to Oct 1, say reports

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8:46 PM

Patient, baby carried on a palanquin for 15-km to reach ambulance due to non-availability of roads in Surajpur district of Chhattisgarh

8:42 PM

IPL 13: Mobile Premier League signs on as sponsor for Royal Challengers Bangalore

eSports and mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) announced on Tuesday that it has signed as a sponsor for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The T20 league is set to start on September 19 and will be played in the UAE, according to an IANS report.

 

"We are delighted to have Mobile Premier League as one of our partners. RCB's biggest strength lies in the love and support the team gets from their fans and it would be exciting to open avenues for them to engage with the team and we share this ethos with MPL of being committed to our fans to bring continuous at-home cricket experiences for them," said RCB Chairman Sanjeev Churiwala.

 

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad unveiled a spate of existing and new sponsors for the 13th edition of the IPL.

8:26 PM

Two-wheelers neither luxury nor sin goods, merit GST rate revision: FM Sitharaman

Two-wheelers are neither a luxury nor sin goods and so merit a GST rate revision, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at an industry interaction on Tuesday. According to a statement issued by CII, which was also issued by the finance ministry's spokesperson, Sitharaman said a rate revision proposal would be taken up by the GST Council. Two-wheelers currently attract 28 per cent GST, according to a PTI report.

 

"Responding to a question about the need for lowering GST rates on two-wheelers, she assured that this was indeed a good suggestion as this category is neither a luxury nor a sin good and hence merits a rate revision," the statements said.

8:05 PM

Govt says deadline to submit bids for Air India extended by two months to October 30

The government has extended by two months the deadline for placing bids for Air India till October 30 as the Covid-19 fallout has disrupted economic activity globally.

 

The process of stake sale in the national carrier was initiated on January 27. This is the fourth extension given by the government for putting in bids.

 

Issuing a corrigendum to the Expression of Interest (EoI) for sale of Air India, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management said the deadline has been extended in view of the "request received from the IBs (interested bidders) in view of the prevailing situation arising out of Covid-19". READ MORE...

7:59 PM

Monsoon session of parliament to be held from September 14 to October 1

observing precautions related to COVID-19, sources said on Tuesday. The decision on the dates of the session was taken in a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, sources told ANI.

 

The sources said provision has not been kept for holidays or weekly offs during the 18-day session but a final decision on "no-leaves during the entire session" will be taken at the all-party meeting.

 

7:45 PM

17th Meeting of India-Vietnam Joint Commission was held via video-conference today: MEA

7:31 PM

Intense rainfall activity expected over north, central and east India during next 4-5 days: IMD

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted very heavy rainfall over east, north and central India during the next five days and issued a red alert for Odisha for August 26 and for Chhattisgarh, a day later, according to a PTI report.

 

It said a low pressure area (cyclonic circulation) over north Bay of Bengal and its neighbourhood is very likely to move west-northwestwards during the next four-five days.

 

Under the influence of this system, widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are very likely over Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand till August 28 and over Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and west Rajasthan during August 26-28, the IMD added.

7:24 PM

MGNREGA monthly wages double to Rs 1,000 per person amid pandemic: Report

The rural distress following the pandemic has seen the average monthly income per person under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) doubling to around Rs 1,000 in the first four months of the fiscal from Rs 509 in FY2020, according to an analysis by Crisil.

 

The April-July period typically sees around 25 per cent more work execution in terms of person-days under the scheme compared to the rest of the year, thereby aiding rural income. This is understandable as tens of millions of workers have returned home jobless from cities due to the pandemic driven lockdowns, according to a PTI report.

7:00 PM

Land acquisition for commercial mining may come under coal law of 1957

In order to ease the coal mining process for the upcoming commercial coal auction, the Centre is mulling to allow land acquisition under the Coal Bearing Areas Act, 1957. This would entail the Centre acquiring land and then giving it on lease to the miners.

 

Speaking at a stakeholders’ discussion on commercial coal mining held by Ficci, the nominated authority for coal auction said the Centre can only assist, and that it is the miners who need to persuade the state government for land acquisition.

 

“The Centre is thinking on an initiative wherein land acquisition would be allowed under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 and the land could then be given to private miners on lease,” said M Nagarau, joint secretary, ministry of coal and nominated authority for commercial coal auction. READ MORE...

6:53 PM

Water-logging reported in several areas of Gujarat's Surat following rainfall

6:35 PM

Death toll in building collapse in Maharashtra's Raigad district rises to 10: Police

6:23 PM

Latest News LIVE: Rs 2,000 currency notes not printed in FY20, says RBI

Currency notes of Rs 2,000 were not printed at all in financial year 2019-20, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank's Annual Report for 2019-20 also showed that the supply of banknotes during the period was lower by 23.3 per cent than in the previous year, mainly due to the disruptions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown, according to an IANS report.

 

The number of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation came down from 329.10 crore pieces in March 2019 to 273.98 crore notes in March 2020.

 

The quantity of Rs 2,000 denomination notes constituted 2.4 per cent of the total volume of notes at end of March 2020, down from 3 per cent at end-March 2019. Further, in terms of value, the share of Rs 2,000 notes has come down to 22.6 per cent at end of the financial year 2019-20, down from 31.2 per at the end of the previous financial year.

6:10 PM

Amount in bank fraud up 159% to Rs 1.85 trn in 2019-20: RBI annual report

Bank frauds, in value terms involving an amount of Rs 1 lakh and above, have more than doubled in 2019-20 period to Rs 1.85 trillion from Rs 71,543 crore in 2018-19 period, up 159 per cent. In volume terms, however, the total fraud cases have jumped 28 per cent to 8,707 in 2019-20 from 6,799 in 2018-19, revealed the annual report of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the year 2019-20.

 

While the increase in the number of fraud cases and the amount involved is substantial, the RBI has said that the date of occurrence of these frauds is spread over several previous years. “Frauds have been predominantly occurring in the loan portfolio (advances category), both in terms of number and value”, the RBI noted in its annual report. READ MORE...

6:04 PM

Ex-gratia of Rs 500,000 each to families of the deceased in Maharashtra's Raigad building collapse incident

6:02 PM

Prashant Bhushan contempt case: SC reserves verdict on quantum of sentence

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved the verdict on the quantum of sentence to be given to advocate Prashant Bhushan, convicted for contempt of court for his tweets against the judiciary, according to an IANS report. A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B.R. Gavai and Krishna Murari reserved the verdict after a detailed hearing on the matter.

 

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Bhushan, contended before the bench that the top court can say that it does not agree with Bhushan and exercise restraint while making statements in the future. Justice Mishra said, "We thank you, Dr Dhavan. Even Prashant Bhushan has shown respect in some part of his statement."

 

Attorney General K.K. Venugopal submitted before the bench that his suggestion would be to close the matter without punishing Bhushan.

 

Justice Mishra observed that for how long the system would suffer this. The bench noted that judges are condemned and their families are humiliated. "They cannot even speak," noted the bench.