NEWS

Bihar chief minister and JDU leader Nitish Kumar on Friday rejected Opposition RJD's "prediction" that 2021 would bring political trouble for him and possibly a new government in the state.

"No, no, there will be no political problem in the new year," Nitish Kumar said while speaking to the media about his government's challenges in 2021 after holding a review meeting of Bihar's transport department.

Several RJD leaders, including former Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary, former minister Shyam Rajak and party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari, have, in the last couple of days, "predicted" a change of guard in Bihar in the new year.

The Delhi High Court has stayed the eviction notice issued to Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj by the Centre asking him to vacate the government accommodation allotted to him.

"In view of the above, the impugned notice dated October 9, 2020, is stayed till the next date of hearing," the high court stated in its order on passed on Wednesday.

A vacation bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru issued notice and sought response of the Centre on a plea filed by the Kathak artist challenging the government's decision to cancel the allotment of his accommodation.

The Centre had asking him to vacate his accomodation by December 31.

The Modi government has asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take “necessary action” against e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart for alleged violation of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. 

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) told reporters that the government was acting on complaints it had filed against the e-commerce giants. 

The ED, however, is yet to register a case in this regard. “We will look into this. No case has been registered in this regard until now,” an ED officer said. 

AAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal told ThePrint that acting on complaints that the trade body had submitted to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, the Department of Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which falls under the ministry, has written to RBI and the ED to take “necessary action” against Amazon and Flipkart.  

The Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday observed that the recent transfer of Chief Justices of High Courts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana would delay proceedings in the three capitals case and the CBI cases pending against Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, giving him an "undue advantage".

The scathing observation was made by Justice Rakesh Kumar, while rejecting an application moved by the AP Government to recuse himself from a case involving the sale of government land in Guntur and Visakhapatnam districts.

Justice Kumar also observed that Andhra Pradesh High Court and Supreme Court is "under attack" by those in power.

"We are not aware as to whether any contempt proceeding for such an action (Jagan's letter to CJI) has been taken or not by the Chief Justice of India. But, it is a fact that recommendation has been made on December 14 by the Collegium of Supreme Court for transfer/appointment of Chief Justices, which includes transfer of Chief Justice of AP High Court to Sikkim High Court and transfer of Chief Justice of Telangana High Court to Uttarakhand High Court.