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LIVE: GST Council to maintain status quo on tax on online gaming, casinos

GoM given 15 more days to iron out the issue of the valuation mechanism and submit the report, says FM Sitharaman

Image BS Web Team New Delhi
Nirmala Sitharaman

1:35 PM

NIA takes over murder case of Udaipur tailor

Thr National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation of the brutal murder of a man in Rajasthan's Udaipur and filed an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as various sections of the Indian Penal Code, says the agency
1:25 PM

L-G Manoj Sinha flags off 1st batch of Amarnath pilgrims from Jammu

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday flagged off the first batch of 4,890 pilgrims for the annual Amarnath yatra from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu city for their onward journey to the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps in Kashmir.

The 43-day pilgrimage to the cave shrine will begin from twin base camps in Kashmir on Thursday and will conclude on August 11 on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

The annual Amarnath Yatra is being organised after a gap of two years due to the Covid pandemic.

1:02 PM

IAF receives over 183,000 applications under Agnipath scheme in 6 days

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received over 183,000 applications under the Agnipath recruitment scheme within six days of the registration process, an official communication said.

The registration process that began on June 24 had seen filing of 94,281 applications by Monday, and 56,960 applications till Sunday.

After the scheme was unveiled on June 14, violent protests against it rocked several states for nearly a week, and several opposition parties demanded its rollback.

 

1:00 PM

Twitter gets time till July 4 to comply with all govt orders

The government has issued a notice to Twitter to comply with all its past orders by July 4, an official source said on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has set a deadline of July 4, failing which Twitter may lose intermediary status, which means it will be liable for all the comments posted on its platform.

"A notice was issued on June 27 to Twitter to comply with all government orders issued till date. Twitter was issued notices earlier this month but it did not comply with it. This is the final notice," a government source told PTI.

12:34 PM

GST Council meet: All eyes on states' compensation; 28 pc tax on online gaming, casinos, horse racing

The contentious issues of extension of GST compensation mechanism for states and a highest 28 per cent tax rate on online gaming, casinos and horse racing is slated for discussion at the second day of the GST Council meeting here.

On the first day, the 47th GST Council chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided to tweak tax rates of some goods and services, including bringing pre-packed and labelled food items under the tax net to check evasion.

Besides, a host of procedural and legal changes, including monthly GST return form, and mechanisms for dealing with high-risk taxpayers were also discussed.

12:23 PM

Lanka IOC provides fuel as government pumps go dry in island nation

Lanka IOC, the subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation in Sri Lanka, kept its pumps open throughout Tuesday as the cash-starved government's fuel entity's fuel stations did not operate in the island nation due to the worsening energy crisis.

On Monday, The Sri Lankan government announced that only essential services will operate from midnight till July 10 and all other operations will be temporarily suspended as the crisis-hit nation faces an acute fuel shortage.

A LIOC spokesperson said they issued petrol to private vehicle owners on Tuesday but had to limit the issues due to the demand.

12:22 PM

Lokpal gets 5,680 corruption complaints during 2021-22

Anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal received 5,680 complaints during 2021-22, of which over 5,100 were yet to be registered, according to an RTI reply.

Of the total complaints received in the last fiscal, 169 were format and 5,511 were under non-format category, it said.

The government had in March 2020 issued a format for filing corruption complaints against public servants with the Lokpal.

12:07 PM

Counting of votes underway for GTA polls in Darjeeling; TMC bags maiden seat

The Trinamool Congress, Hamro Party and BGPM managed to win one seat each, as the counting of votes polled during the elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in Darjeeling hills began on Wednesday morning.

This is for the first time that the TMC has managed to win a seat in the GTA, alongside the newly floated Hamro Party and the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha.

Two independents have also emerged victorious in the GTA polls, officials said.

11:49 AM

Kartarpur corridor represents Pak's commitment to religious freedom: Gen Bajwa

Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the Kartarpur corridor was the practical manifestation of Pakistan's unwavering commitment to religious freedom and harmony, Geo News reported.

His comments came during a meeting with the British Sikh soldiers' delegation, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

During the meeting, General Bajwa said that Pakistan respects all religions and recognises the need for the promotion of religious tourism in the country, Geo News reported.

11:46 AM

Rebel Sena MLAs donate Rs 51 lakh for Assam flood relief

Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs from Maharashtra have contributed Rs 51 lakh for the flood relief wok in Assam, where they have been camping since the last week, their spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Sena legislators, led by senior minister Eknath Shinde, have raised the banner of revolt against their party. These MLAs had first come to Guwahati on June 22 and subsequently in several batches from Gujarat's Surat in chartered flights.

Amid criticism that the Sena dissidents were staying at a luxury hotel in Guwahati even as parts of Assam were grappling with severe floods, Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of the rebel MLAs told PTI, "Shinde has donated Rs 51 lakh to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund as our contribution to their ongoing rescue work. We cannot ignore the plight of people here."

11:45 AM

MHA directs NIA to take over 'brutal' murder of tailor in Udaipur, probe international links

The Home Ministry on Wednesday directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of brutal murder of a tailor in Udaipur and probe involvement of any organisation and international links.

The spokesperson of the MHA said on their twitter handle that "MHA has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigation of the brutal murder of Shri Kanhaiya Lal Teli committed at Udaipur, Rajasthan yesterday.

"The involvement of any organisation and international links will be thoroughly investigated.

11:35 AM

SC to hear at 5 pm Sena's plea challenging Governor's direction to Thackeray govt to face floor test

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear at 5 pm the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala took note of submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi that an urgent hearing was needed in view of the decision taken by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking the MVA government to prove majority at 11 am on Thursday.

"We will keep at 5 pm. Please make sure that paper books are supplied by 3 pm to parties concerned," the bench said.

Singhvi said the floor test cannot include names which are "stigmatised".

11:33 AM

SC to hear at 5 pm Sena's plea challenging Governor's direction to Thackeray govt to face floor test

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear at 5 pm the plea of Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu challenging the Maharashtra Governor's direction to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to take floor test in the Assembly on Thursday.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala took note of submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi that an urgent hearing was needed in view of the decision taken by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking the MVA government to prove majority at 11 am on Thursday.

"We will keep at 5 pm. Please make sure that paper books are supplied by 3 pm to parties concerned," the bench said.

11:32 AM

IMF sets tough conditions for Pakistan to revive USD 6 bn loan facility: Report

The IMF has set tough preconditions like hiking electricity tariffs and imposing a levy on petroleum products to revive the stalled USD 6 billion bailout package to Pakistan, media reports said on Wednesday, days after the cash-strapped country struck a deal with the global lender on the much-needed loan facility.

The International Monetary Fund has also asked Pakistan to set up an anti-corruption task force to review all the existing laws that were aimed at curbing graft in the government departments, the reports, quoting sources as saying.

After implementing the conditions, the IMF would present Pakistan's request for the approval of the loan tranche and revival of the program to its executive board a process that may consume another month, the Dawn newspaper reported.

11:29 AM

Hong Kong in limbo 25 years after British handover to China

When the British handed its colony Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997, it was promised 50 years of self-government and freedoms of assembly, speech and press that are not allowed Chinese on the Communist-ruled mainland.

As the city of 7.4 million people marks 25 years under Beijing's rule on Friday, those promises are wearing thin. Hong Kong's honeymoon period, when it carried on much as it always had, has passed, and its future remains uncertain, determined by forces beyond its control.

Before the handover, many in Hong Kong worried that life would change when Beijing took over. Thousands rushed to obtain residency elsewhere and some moved abroad. For the first decade or so, such measures looked overly dramatic - this bustling bastion of capitalism on China's southern coast appeared to keep its freedoms, and the economy was booming.

In recent years, Beijing has been expanding its influence and control. Those moves appeared to be hastened by mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019. Now, schools must provide lessons on patriotism and national security, and some new textbooks deny Hong Kong was ever a British colony.

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First Published: Jun 29 2022 | 8:50 AM IST