Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Section 124A of the IPC, the Sri Lanka crisis, colonialism, and much more.

BS Views of the week: Sedition law, railway Budget, and more

The web of companies they created has now come to haunt them, especially when their latest creation BluSmart was just catching the public eye and the Jaggis were walking into stardom

The clarification comes amid income-tax notices issued to startups for foreign funding routed via Singapore

Google previews Android XR on smart glasses. Instagram introduces 'Blend' for reels recommendations. WhatsApp lets you create sticker packs. Google releases Android 16 beta 4

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Senior IAS officer of Bihar cadre Keshav Kumar Pathak has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat as part of a major senior-level key bureaucratic changes announced by the Centre on Friday.
Pathak, a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is presently the chairman of Bihar Revenue Board.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, by temporarily upgrading a vacant post of Joint Secretary, a Personnel Ministry order said.
His cadre mate N Saravana Kumar, a 2000 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), it said.
Senior bureaucrat Bhuvnesh Kumar has been named as Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the order said.
A 1995 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Kumar is Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTY).
Amitesh Kumar Sinha,  a 1997 batc

Mugdha Sinha, Director General (Tourism), will be Managing Director, India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd., the order said

Panic gripped the Chakeri Airport in Kanpur briefly on Friday after it received a hoax call threatening to blow up a 72-seater flight.
Police have arrested a 21-year-old man identified as Mohit Singh, who confessed to making the "prank call".
According to ACP Sumit Sudhakar Ramteke, an airport staff named Satendra Singh received the hoax call, in which the caller claimed that a bomb had been planted on a 72-seater aircraft which would explode upon landing.
Alarmed by the call, a bomb disposal squad along with an anti-sabotage check (ASC) team searched the airport premises, but nothing suspicious was found, the officer said.
A surveillance unit with the assistance of local police traced and arrested the caller, Mohit Singh, a resident of Yashoda Nagar locality in the city, within two hours, Ramteke said.
During questioning, Singh admitted that the threat call was a prank.
"Singh has been booked under the relevant sections of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita," the officer said.

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man identified as Mohit Singh, who confessed to making the 'prank call'

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

Russia-Ukraine War

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Blend launches Blend Studio: AI tool for ecommerce photography

New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI/PNN): Blend, an AI-powered design and photography application for DTC brands and ecommerce sellers, recently launched Blend Studio - the Chat GPT for product photos.

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: Sedition law, railway Budget, and more

Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Section 124A of the IPC, the Sri Lanka crisis, colonialism, and much more.

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