All rural households will get piped water supply by 2024, says finance minister

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Centre was planning to provide piped water supply to all rural households by 2024 under the Jal Jeevan Mission. She added that by 2022 every rural family in India would have an electricity connection and a clean cooking facility under the Ujjwala Yojana and the Saubhagya Yojana.

Narendra Dabholkar murder case: Pune court grants bail to accused Sanatan Sanstha lawyer

A court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Sanatan Sanstha advocate Sanjeev Punalekar, an accused in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, on a surety amount of Rs 30,000, ANI reported. Dabholkar, an anti-superstition activist, was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013. Additional Sessions Court judge RM Pande said Punalekar has to be present before the Central Bureau of Investigation every week on Monday and Tuesday.

Mumbai airport’s main runway becomes operational after stranded plane is pulled out

Flight operations resumed on the main runway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai on Friday evening, four days after it was closed because of a plane that overshot it while attempting to land amid heavy rainfall, NDTV reported. The SpiceJet aircraft had got stuck on the runway. Hundreds of flights had to be cancelled or diverted, hampering operations at India’s second biggest airport. A secondary runway at the airport was used for takeoffs and landings during this time.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Convict Nalini Sriharan granted parole for 30 days

Nalini Sriharan, who is serving life sentence for her involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was granted parole for 30 days on Friday, The Hindu reported. The Madras High Court granted Nalini parole to allow her to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding in London.

Aadhaar Ordinance: SC asks Centre and UIDAI to respond to plea challenging law’s validity

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and the Unique Identification Authority of India to respond to a petition challenging the validity of the Aadhaar Ordinance. The ordinance was passed in March. Retired Army officer SG Vombatkere and human rights activist Bezwada Wilson, who filed the petition, alleged that the Ordinance violates the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed in the Constitution.

Gujarat: Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala quit as MLAs after cross voting in Rajya Sabha bye-polls

Rebel Congress MLAs Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala resigned as members of the Gujarat Assembly on Friday, alleging that the party had insulted them, ANI reported. They reportedly cross-voted during the bye-elections to two Rajya Sabha seats in the state. Thakor, who was elected legislator from Radhanpur in the 2017 Assembly elections, told The Indian Express after casting his vote: “The Congress observer tried to create a lot of issues over my vote, so you can understand for whom did I vote.”

Suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant killed in Shopian encounter

A suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday, said the state police. The police identified the suspected militant as Sameer Seh of Shopian, and claimed he was affiliated with the Hizbul Mujahideen.

‘Budget was utterly lacklustre and rubbed salt on wounds by increasing fuel prices,’ says Congress

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday said the first Budget of Narendra Modi government’s second tenure was “utterly lacklustre, nondescript, uninspiring and directionless”. He said that by effectively increasing petrol and diesel prices, the government had “rubbed salt on the wounds” of the common man.

Payal Tadvi case: Police should have informed medical councils about doctors’ arrest, says Bombay HCThe Bombay High Court has said the police should have informed the Medical Council of India and the Medical Council of Maharashtra about the arrest of three doctors – Ankita Khandelwal, Hema Ahuja and Bhakti Mehare – in connection with the suicide of Dr Payal Tadvi at a Mumbai hospital in May, Live Law reported on Friday. The court made the observation during proceedings the day before.

Government allocates Rs 70,000 crore for PSU bank recapitalisation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced that public sector banks will be provided with a capital infusion of Rs 70,000 crore. The minister said this was being done to boost the credit flow to the economy.

Centre extends tax rate of 25% to firms with turnover of up to Rs 400 crore

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced that a 25% tax rate would be extended to companies with an annual turnover of up to Rs 400 crore. Earlier, the turnover limit was Rs 250 crore. This will make the tax rate applicable to 99.3% of firms.

Budget 2019 ‘will boost India’s development in 21st century’, says Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday described the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as “citizen friendly, development friendly, and future oriented”. Modi, who made the remarks in a televised address, said the Budget would empower the poor and provide a better future to the youth. The prime minister also called it a “green Budget” as it focused on the environment and pushed for eco-friendly energy.

Centre eases angel tax norms for start-ups, announces dedicated TV programme for new firms

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a slew of incentives to boost the growth of start-ups in India in the 2019 Union Budget. Sitharaman proposed to resolve the angel tax issue. Angel tax is levied when a privately held company raises funds at a rate higher than its “fair valuation”.

Nirmala Sitharaman proposes easing foreign direct investment norms in media and aviation

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday proposed easing foreign direct investment norms for several sectors, including media, aviation, insurance, and single-brand retail. The minister said this was an attempt to attract more foreign investment to the country.

Budget: Petrol, diesel prices to rise as Centre plans to increases excise duty and cess

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday proposed to increase both the Special Additional Excise Duty and Road and the Infrastructure Cess by Rs 1 per litre on petrol and diesel. This will result in a rise in petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2 per litre in the country.

Nirmala Sitharaman announces creation of a social stock exchange to help NGOs get funds

Organisations that work for social welfare will now have a new avenue through which to raise money. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a plan to create a social stock exchange under the Securities and Exchange Board of India regulator that would allow these organisations to “list” in the same way that private firms list themselves on a stock market.

Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman proposes permitting use of Aadhaar in place of PAN card

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, while presenting the annual Budget, proposed to make it possible to quote an Aadhaar number instead of a Permanent Account Number, or PAN, in cases such as filing income tax returns. Sitharaman said that this will allow those who do not have a PAN card to give their Aadhaar number whenever needed.

MDMK leader Vaiko sentenced to one year in jail in 2009 sedition case

A Chennai court on Friday sentenced Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary V Gopalaswamy, popularly known as Vaiko, to one year in jail in connection with a sedition case filed against him in 2009. Vaiko was sentenced for comments he had made during the launch of his book in support of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman ditches British-era tradition of briefcase for ‘bahi-khata’

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday arrived at the Parliament with this year’s Union Budget documents in a traditional four-fold red cloth ledger or a “bahi-khata”. Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian claimed that the ledger was “Indian tradition”, and said “it symbolises our departure from slavery of Western thought”.

Haren Pandya murder: SC upholds conviction of 12 accused, turns down NGO’s plea for fresh inquiry

The Supreme Court on Friday convicted all 12 accused in the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya. The top court set aside a Gujarat High Court judgement acquitting all the accused. Pandya, who was the Home Minister in the Gujarat government, was shot dead on March 26, 2003 in Ahmedabad while he was out on a morning walk. According to the CBI, Pandya was murdered to avenge the 2002 communal riots in the state.

Gujarat: Voting begins for byepolls to two Rajya Sabha seats

Voting began at 9 am on Friday for the byepolls to two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat. Voting will continue till 4 pm. The Bharatiya Janata party has fielded External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Juglaji Thakor, while the Congress’ nominees are Chandrika Chudasama and Gaurav Pandya. The byepolls were necessitated after Union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

Sensex above 40,000 mark, Nifty edging close to 12,000 ahead of Union Budget

Indian stock markets opened higher on Friday with BSE Sensex reclaiming the 40,000 mark and the National Stock Exchange Nifty inching close to 12,000 ahead of the Union Budget presentation. The BSE Sensex was trading 114.67 points higher at 40,022.73 at 9.30 am, while Nifty gained 31.85 points up at 11,978.60. Markets gained for the fourth consecutive session as investors awaited the budget which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday.

Mumbai airport operations likely to return to normal as SpiceJet plane pulled off runway

A SpiceJet aircraft that was stuck on Mumbai airport’s main runway was pulled from its spot on Thursday night after three days. SpiceJet and city airport officials expect the 737-800 aircraft to be towed to the hangar on Friday.

Preview: 2019 Budget likely to focus on increasing spending, addressing unemployment

Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman will present the first Union Budget of the new government on Friday. Former Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had presented an interim budget in February ahead of the General Elections.

Track our live blog on the Budget here.

Mob lynching: Supreme Court declines urgent hearing of contempt plea against states

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to grant an urgent hearing of a contempt plea against states that have not complied with the top court’s 2018 judgement laying down guidelines to prevent mob lynching. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta said the plea will come up for hearing in the regular course.

Tamil Nadu: Inter-caste couple murdered in Thoothukudi district, police suspect hate crime

A man and his pregnant wife were killed in Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu on July 3 in a suspected case of caste killing. Police have arrested the woman’s father in connection with the incident.

PM Modi is ‘supreme leader’, party’s decision on son will be accepted: Kailash Vijayvargiya

Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said any decision taken by the party regarding his son’s assault of a municipal corporation officer in Indore will be accepted. The party’s disciplinary committee on Thursday issued a showcause notice to Madhya Pradesh MLA Akash Vijayvargiya for assaulting a municipal officer with a cricket bat on June 26.

Jet Airways crisis: Ministry of Corporate Affairs orders probe into debt-ridden airline, says report

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Thursday ordered the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to conduct an inquiry into debt-ridden Jet Airways, Mint reported. The ministry said that seven firms belonging to Jet Airways group of companies need to be investigated, and that the report should be submitted within six weeks.