Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on moonlighting, Covid threat, free grain scheme, and much more

BS Views of the week: Moonlighting, Covid, PMGKAY, and more

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by BPSL's former promoter Sanjay Singhal, seeking enforcement of the Supreme Court's recent order directing the company's liquidation

Departures come as Flipkart gears up for a $60-70 billion IPO and expands its quick-commerce play against rivals like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto

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Observing senior designation couldn't be a monopoly of selected few, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said lawyers practising in subordinate judiciary and other fora must be considered for designation as senior advocates.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ujjal Bhuyan and S V N Bhatti said the process of designation must be objectively fair and guided and there is a need to have at least one exercise of designation conducted every year.
"When we talk of diversity, we must ensure that the high courts evolve a mechanism by which the members of the bar practising in our trial and district judiciary and before specialised tribunals are considered for designation as their role is no inferior to the role played by advocates practising before this court and high courts. This is also an essential part of diversity," it said.
The top court noted the high courts could always call for the views of the principal district judges or the heads of tribunals on such applicants.
"Moreover, when the cases

The top court noted the high courts could always call for the views of the principal district judges or the heads of tribunals on such applicants

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dismay over the misuse of dowry harassment and cruelty provisions by wives against the kin of husbands including elderly parents in matrimonial cases.
A bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said, "The term cruelty is subject to rather cruel misuse by the parties, and cannot be established simpliciter without specific instances, to say the least. The tendency of roping these sections, without mentioning any specific dates, time or incident, weakens the case of the prosecutions, and casts serious suspicion on the viability of the version of a complainant."
The verdict, authored by Justice Sharma, came on an appeal against a Allahabad High Court order convicting the man.
The top court acquitted him of offences under Section 498A (cruelty) of IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Notwithstanding the merits of the case, we are distressed with the manner, the offences under Section 498A IPC, and Sections

The bench ruled the wife's allegations of cruelty and dowry harassment were vague, lacking specific details, and unsupported by corroborative evidence

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Friday presented a Rs 40,187 crore-budget for the megapolis.
Infrastructure spends across projects have been pegged at Rs 35,151 crore or 87 per cent of the overall expenditure, as per an official statement. The revenues have been estimated at Rs 36,939 crore, and the body chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be borrowing Rs 22,000 crore.
This will result in a budget deficit of Rs 3,249 crore, which the body plans to bridge through land sales, issuance of bonds, financial assistance from the government, and loans from financial institutions, the statement said.
The ongoing metro line projects have been earmarked Rs 10,969 crore of expenditure in the new fiscal, which is a fourth of the overall expenditure..
Over Rs 5,697 crore have been allotted for multiple tunnel projects which are going across the megapolis, with Rs 2,684 crore earmarked for the four-lane road running under the Sanjay Gandhi National 

Infrastructure spends across projects have been pegged at Rs 35,151 crore or 87 per cent of the overall expenditure, as per an official statement

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday returned the Finance Bill 2025 to the Lok Sabha, along with 35 government amendments, including one that abolishes a 6 per cent digital tax on online advertisements, thus completing the 2025-26 budgetary exercise that started on February 1.
The House also returned the Appropriation Bill (3) with a voice vote.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had moved the two bills in the House.
The Lok Sabha had passed the Finance Bill on March 25 and passed the Appropriation Bill on March 21.
Replying to the debate later in the evening, she said the tendency of the finance ministry would be to exercise caution and not let go of revenues.
"But, here we wanted to use this opportunity to show our respect for Indian taxpayer. We have moved towards setting Rs 12 lakh as threshold up to which no one will have to pay any tax," Sitharaman said.
The Union Budget 2025-26 envisages a total expenditure of Rs 50.65 lakh crore, an increase of 7.4 per cent ov

The Union Budget 2025-26 envisages a total expenditure of Rs 50.65 trillion, an increase of 7.4 per cent over the current fiscal

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Celebrity and Travel Photographer Rahul Lokare from Flamingo Productions creates waves of change in the world of photography.

Xiaomi 13 Pro

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BS Views of the week: Moonlighting, Covid, PMGKAY, and more

Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on moonlighting, Covid threat, free grain scheme, and much more

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