Top headlines: Pegasus controversy grows; apex court rules on AGR dues

Business Standard brings to you the top headlines on Tuesday

A media report said spying tool Pegasus was found in the smartphones of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor and two government ministers. More on that story and other headlines.

Cairn Energy arbitration case: Riders to invoking 'sovereign immunity'

For India to invoke “sovereign” or “state” immunity to safeguard its foreign assets, which are under threat of getting seized in the intensifying legal battle with Cairn Energy, may come with several riders. Experts point out that the Indian government has to first satisfy the French court that the properties or assets that are under consideration are being used to dispense the state’s sovereign functions. Read more

IT minister, Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishor among Pegasus 'targets'

The government on Monday denied claims that it had used spyware Pegasus to “compromise” the phone data of some persons but The Wire, the news portal which was a part of the Pegasus project that investigated possible snooping using the Israeli spyware in many countries, published fresh data that revealed IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw himself was on a long list of people who might have been victims. Read more

Banks once again move top court to keep inspection reports hidden

The country’s top banks have once again moved the Supreme Court against attempts to make their sensitive inspection reports public under the Right to Information Act. The inspections are done by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and not even the employees of the banks, except the top management, are allowed to see it. Read more

AGR dues cannot be recomputed: Supreme Court reserves order

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday maintained its stand on the government’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demand from telecom firms, observing that it had multiple times said the dues can’t be recomputed. It, however, reserved the order. Three telecom firms — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices — had moved the apex court seeking correction in calculation errors in the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT’s) AGR demand. Read more

Sebi, DRI probing some Adani Group firms for non-compliance of rules: Govt

While the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is investigating some of the companies “with regard to compliance with Sebi regulations”, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is probing “certain entities belonging to the Adani Group of Companies under laws administered by it", Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to a question.
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