1. From Selling Tea to Becoming PM, You’ve Proved Change is Possible: Ivanka to PM Modi
Whether or not all of the 1,500 businesspeople attending the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2017 that opened in Hyderabad on Tuesday, 28 November, got a leg up, the governing dispensations of India and the US, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, respectively, linked arms and gave each other a political boost.
In an accomplished keynote address that had none of her father’s rambling digressions, Ivanka was effusive in her praise for Modi’s leadership, noting that “from your childhood selling tea to becoming prime minister, you've proven that transformational change is possible.”
More acclaim for Modi followed, including approval for his “firm belief that the progress of humanity is incomplete without the empowerment of women” and her expectation that the people of India “will continue to grow under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.”
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Net Neutrality Gets Big Boost From TRAI
India’s telecom regulator has backed an open and free internet, saying internet service providers cannot discriminate on how people access web content.
In its recommendations issued on Tuesday, 28 November, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) upheld the concept of so-called net neutrality and said no Internet Service Provider (ISP) can grant preferential data speeds or treatment to any web content.
“A licensee providing Internet Access Service shall not engage in any discriminatory treatment of content, including based on the sender or receiver, the protocols being used or the user equipment,” Trai said in its much-awaited recommendations.
The global debate over net neutrality revolves around whether ISPs should be treated like public utilities to ensure the internet is open and free, or be allowed to prioritise access to content of their choosing for an extra fee from websites and services.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Don’t Comment on ‘Padmavati’ Till Censor Call: SC Warns Netas
The Supreme Court has taken strong exception to people in “responsible posts,” such as ministers and chief ministers, rushing to comment on Padmavati even before the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared the controversy-hit Bollywood movie.
With several states banning the film, the apex court said the film was being prejudged and the actions of those in office could prejudice the minds of CBFC members and pulled up the petitioner for filing a frivolous plea.
Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali said reports that the film was being released abroad were incorrect and added that he would await certification.
“The movie is before CBFC and a decision has not been taken yet. But people holding responsible posts are commenting on it. CBFC is a statutory body and it should be allowed to take a call as per rules and guidelines. Nobody should comment on the film. This is not done,” a bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday, 28 November.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Panama Papers: I-T Searches 25 Locations in Delhi-NCR
Searches were conducted at more than 25 locations in Delhi and National Capital Region by the Income Tax Department probing alleged tax evasion related to the Panama Papers, sources said.
Three business groups with interests in metals and food processing, financial services, and tyres were being searched, said a PTI report, and Rs 4 crore cash and jewellery were found during ongoing searches in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.
These business groups had allegedly concealed turnover and income, officials said.
Earlier this month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had said that the Panama probe had led to the detection of undisclosed wealth of Rs 792 crore.
The Panama Papers were investigated last year by The Indian Express as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the CBDT said it had found 147 of 426 cases “actionable”.
(Source: Indian Express)
5. No Foul Play in Justice Loya’s Death: Family
Brijmohan Loya called on Bombay High Court Chief Justice Manjula Chellur on Tuesday, 28 November, to convey that the family had no complaints or suspicions about the circumstances of his father’s death. The meeting came on a day Bombay High Court Justice Bhushan Gavai told TOI that there was no foul play in Loya’s death in the early hours of 1 December 2014.
The judge had died during a trip to Nagpur to attend the wedding of a fellow judge's daughter. “We have full faith in the members of the judiciary who were with him on the night of 30 November,” his son Anuj said in a letter handed over to the Chief Justice.
He also said the family had no doubts about the integrity of investigative agencies. Anuj told the Chief Justice that the family was certain that his father had died of a heart attack.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. Steps on Bad Loans Taken to Clean up UPA Mess: Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday, 28 November, defended recent steps taken by the government to tackle bad loans in the Indian banking system, and blamed aggressive lending during the years the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power for the pile-up of toxic assets.
In a blog, the Finance Minister also defended amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) through an ordinance aimed at keeping wilful defaulters away from regaining control of their assets.
The government has been criticised by Opposition parties for introducing amendments to IBC through an ordinance. The ordinance, which came into effect last week after receiving the President’s signature, bars errant promoters of defaulting companies as well as guarantors to the debtor, directors in the companies that are disqualified and those with loans classified as non-performing assets (NPAs) for at least a year from regaining control of the assets being sold under the bankruptcy process.
(Source: Livemint)
6. BCCI Retires No 10, Was for Sachin & Sachin Alone
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to “unofficially” retire the No 10 jersey for international matches. The No 10, worn by Sachin Tendulkar throughout his career in ODIs and for a solitary international T20, will, henceforth, be associated only with the man himself.
Tendulkar retired in November 2013 bringing a 24-year-long career to an end. He had last worn No 10 in March 2012 when he played his last ODI against Pakistan.
Since then, No 10 was unused for nearly five years before Mumbai fast bowler Shardul Thakur decided to don it for his ODI debut at Colombo last August. This prompted trolling of Thakur and BCCI on social media with a flood of comments ridiculing the player for “trying to be a Sachin.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Prices of Onions Soar Across Country, Cross Rs 60 in Delhi
The retail price of onion, a key ingredient in Indian kitchens, touched Rs 63 per kg in Delhi on Tuesday, 28 November, on tight supplies and lower arrivals in wholesale markets, according to data from the Consumer Affairs Ministry. The current price is more than double the Rs 27 per kg at which onions sold in early August.
It isn’t just Delhi. On Tuesday, 28 November, retail prices were around Rs 55 per kg in major eastern Indian cities like Kolkata and Ranchi. In Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, which is also a major producing state, the bulb retailed at Rs 50 per kg, a three-fold rise in price compared to early July.
The spike in retail prices comes despite export restrictions announced by the Centre last week when a minimum export price of US$ 850 was imposed.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Drug Case: HC Tells Punjab Police to Probe SAD’s Bikram Singh Majithia
Without referring to former Punjab Cabinet minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia by name, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday, 28 November, asked the state police’s Special Task Force on drugs to study a note prepared by a top Enforcement Directorate official on his alleged role in an international drug racket case and co-ordinate with the agency to investigate the allegation.
However, Majithia’s name was repeatedly mentioned by lawyers when the application seeking investigation into his role was mentioned before the division bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sudhir Mittal.
Majithia was a Minister in the previous SAD-BJP government, holding several portfolios, including Revenue, Information & Public Relations, and Non-Conventional Energy.
(Source: Indian Express)
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