News Highlights: Amazon sues ED in latest twist of battles

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to examine the health of employees who are attending duty and also others willing to join amidst the ongoing strike after it was told that many staffers are feeling depressed and developed suicidal tendencies.

The HC also directed the MSRTC to arrange for medical examinations to ensure the physical and mental well-being of its employees.

A division bench of justices P B Varale and S M Modak gave the order after it was informed by MSRTC workers' counsel that “many of the employees were in depression and had developed suicidal tendencies”.

. To promote 'Ease of Living' as well as 'Ease of Doing Business', the Centre has reduced more than 25,000 compliances. The figure was furnished by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry after the valedictory session of the "National Workshop on the next phase of reforms to reduce Compliance Burden" which was held here.

. Thirty-eight workers who were injured in the fire at Indian Oil Corporation’s refinery in Haldia (south Bengal) are undergoing treatment at hospitals in Kolkata, while three contract workers have been discharged after treatment.

. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he had sold "enough stock" to reach his plan to sell 10% of his shares in the world's most valuable car company, according to an interview released on Tuesday.

The billionaire, who moved the company's headquarters from California to Texas this month after his personal move, also slammed California for "overtaxation" and "overregulation."

Tesla shares, which had hovered near record highs, lost about a quarter of their value after Musk said on Nov. 6 he would sell 10% of his stake if Twitter users agreed.

Tesla shares surged nearly 4% in morning trade on Wednesday.

. Amazon.com Inc is taking theEnforcement Directorate (ED) to court, seeking to quash an investigation into one of its 2019 deals, a court filing seen by Reuters shows.

. Tomato prices in retail markets have declined by 13 per cent at the all-India level as on December 21 as compared to a week ago on increased supply, the government said on Wednesday.

. Kerala's Kiran George and top seed Aakarshi Kashyap of Chattisgarh clinched the men's and women's singles titles at the All India senior ranking badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

In the men's summit clash, Kiran defeated the experienced Subhankar Dey 21-17, 21-12 in 39 minutes while the women's singles final was also a one-sided affair as Kashyap dominated qualifier Tanya Hemanth of Karnataka 21-15 21-12.

National champions and women's doubles top seeds Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K got the better of Uttar Pradesh's Shruti Mishra and Shailja Shukla 21-14, 21-16 while the unseeded combination of Rohan Kapoor and Sanjana Santosh defeated S Sunjith and Gowrikrishna TR 21-18, 21-16 to clinch the mixed doubles title.

. Come January 1, GST officers can directly initiate recovery action against errant businesses that show higher sales in monthly return GSTR-1 but under-report it while tax payment in GSTR-3B.

The move will help curb the menace of fake billing whereby sellers would show higher sales in GSTR-1 to enable purchaser to claim input tax credit (ITC), but report suppressed sales in GSTR-3B to lower GST liability.

Under the goods and services tax law, so far, show cause notices were first issued and then recovery process was initiated in such cases of mismatch in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

. The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a US-proposed resolution that facilitates humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is on the verge of economic collapse.

The resolution states that "payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such activities are permitted."

Such assistance supports "basic human needs in Afghanistan" and is "not a violation" of sanctions imposed on entities linked to the Taliban, it adds.

. Hyderabad witnessed reduction in overall crime in 2021 compared to the previous year, a top police official said on Wednesday.

The number of cases registered during 2021 were 20,012 as against 22,641 in 2020, while 25,187 cases were registered in 2019, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar told reporters here.

However, the overall cases of crime against women increased to 2,393 this year, (with harassment and outraging of modesty instances seeing higher reporting) as against 1,908 in last year.

The number of rape cases went up to 328 in 2021 from 265. Most of the offenders were in the circle of trust (among known people to the victim on the pretext of love, promise to marry and then not marrying) of the victim and only in seven cases the accused were unknown, police said.

Of the 328 incidents reported, 228 were with respect to minors and of this in 75 per cent of cases the victims were in the age group of 15 to 18 years. Ease of reporting and access to policing is helping women come forward with their grievances, police said.

. Chinese President Xi Jinping strongly endorsed Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday, saying the former British colony had transformed "from chaos to order" since a controversial security law was imposed last year, the city's media reported.

China has overseen a sweeping crackdown in Hong Kong after huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago, introducing a national security law that criminalised much dissent and introduced political rules that vet the loyalty of anyone standing for office.

The first public vote under this new order was held on Sunday for the city's legislature, with a historic low turnout recorded.

. Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra was appointed as the acting chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday.

A notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry said Justice Mishra, the senior-most judge of the Uttarakhand HC, will be the acting chief justice with effect from December 24 consequent upon the retirement of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan.

Justice Chauhan demits office on Thursday on the eve of turning 62 -- the retirement age for high court judges.

. Former BJP MLA in Goa Carlose Almeida on Wednesday joined the Congress in Panaji, a day after resigning from the ruling party and the legislative Assembly, a switch over coming just a few months before polls

Almeida joined the opposition party in presence of All India Congress Committee in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar and Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, among others.

. Fighting between Myanmar government forces and ethnic guerrillas has sent about 4,200 villagers fleeing across the border into Thailand over the past week, a Thai army officer said Wednesday.

That number includes more than 2,500 who fled into Thailand on Friday from territory held by the ethic Karen minority. A similar wave took place in April, when several thousand villagers from Myanmar's eastern state of Karen fled following airstrikes by the Myanmar government.

Usually when such incidents occur, the villagers are allowed to stay in Thailand for a few days and then are returned to Myanmar.

. Ecommerce major Amazon on Wednesday said it will acquire Prione Business Services - its joint venture firm with Catamaran, subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

Prione Business Services was formed in 2014 and was coming up for renewal on May 19, 2022. In August this year, Amazon and NR Narayana Murthy's Catamaran announced that they will not continue their JV beyond May 2022.

The two parties had not disclosed the reason behind the decision. Cloudtail - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prione Business Services - is one of the biggest sellers on Amazon.in.

In a statement on Wednesday, Amazon said it will acquire Prione Business Services, subject to requisite regulatory approvals.

. New Indian airline Akasa Air on Wednesday unveiled its tagline 'It's Your Sky' and aircraft livery that consisted of 'rising A' symbol in orange and purple colour.

Backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and aviation veterans Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh, Akasa Air had in October got the no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to operate commercial flights.

In a press release on Wednesday, the airline said the symbol 'rising A' was inspired by elements from the sky.

"It symbolises the warmth of the rising sun, the effortless flight of a bird and the dependability of an aircraft wing," it said.

. Dutch prosecutors on Wednesday called for life in prison for four suspects on trial in absetia accused of downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with a surface-to-air missile in 2014, killing 298 people.

The four suspects on trial are Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko, accused of launching the BUK missile that hit the plane over war-torn eastern Ukraine.

. Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) new CEO Faisal Hasnain has revealed that "largely negative" reports and "headlines" on the country would be put up on ICC notice boards, saying its perception and reputation is a problem.

This is affecting not just the country's cricket but also trade and tourism, Hasnain, who has earlier worked as the ICC's chief financial officer, added.

"Pakistan's perception is not good. I can be very honest about it; I've worked in the ICC and with Zimbabwe cricket, so I know the discussions which take place in the corridors about Pakistan cricket. Pakistan's perception and reputation is a problem," said Hasnain on Wednesday.

The "not good" reputation makes it difficult for the country to invite top international cricket team.

. Various irregularities have been reported in the functioning of Ahmedabad-based Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society and a liquidator has been appointed for winding up of the Society, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday informed Parliament.

In his written reply to a query to the Rajya Sabha, Shah said various irregularities including embezzlement, siphoning and diversion of funds have been reported by multiple law enforcing agencies in the functioning of Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society Ltd.

. Congress campaign head for poll-bound Uttarakhand Harish Rawat on Wednesday alleged non-cooperation from his organisation and said he sometimes feels it is time for him to rest.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Rawat said, "Isn't it strange that the organisational structure at most places, instead of extending a helping hand, is standing with its head turned away or playing a negative role at a time when I have to swim across the ocean of elections."

. The EU and Britain have agreed post-Brexit quotas for shared fish stocks, overcoming disagreement that simmered against a separate UK-France feud over fishing boat licences.

"We have an agreement with Britain on fishing opportunities for 2022," EU fishing commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius tweeted on Wednesday.

The deal, struck on Tuesday, "covers all shared and jointly managed fisheries in EU-British waters and is based on (the) best available scientific advice," he said.

. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday recalled the iconic dialogue from Bollywood movie Deewar to counter critics that her party had lost base in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, saying, " Mere Paas Behene Hai " (I havesisters).

. Indian captain Virat Kohli slipped a notch to be placed seventh in the latest ICC rankings for Test batters even as Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, riding on his prolific Ashes form, displaced England skipper Joe Root to become the new world number one.

. Vehicle registration facility under Bharat series will be available on a voluntary basis to Defence personnel, employees of Central Govt/State Govt/Central/State PSUs & private sector companies/organisations having their offices in 4 or more States/UTs: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (ANI)

. "Gangsters and mafias used to exploit people in Sonbhadra, women in this city were not safe. After 2017, PM Awaas Yojana started here & connected every home with Sauchalay Yojana. Today there is electricity and drinking water in every village of Sonbhadra,"UP CM Yogi Adityanath.

. Pro Kannada organisation have set a deadline of December 29 for the Karnataka Govt to ban the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) outfit in Karnataka. If the Government fails, the organisation have called for Karnataka Bandh on December 31.

. The year 2021 was "historic" for the Jal Shakti ministry as several landmark decisions were taken and many long pending issues were resolved, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said, noting that the focus next year would be to expedite the Jal Jeevan Mission to provide tap water connections to more rural households. ( PTI )

. (ANI)

. Children exercise on the banks of the Yamuna river on a cold winter morning in the old quarters of Delhi. ( PTI Photo)

. Today India successfully testfired the Pralay surface to surface ballistic missile which can strike targets from 150 to 500 km: DRDO officials. ( ANI )

. Five SDPI workers were arrested in connection with the murder of OBC Morcha State Secretary Renjith Sreenivasan.Sreenivasan was killed in Alappuzha on 19th December. ( ANI )

. Today at around 01:40 am, a group of Indian and Bangladeshi smugglers forcibly tried to smuggle contraband items in the area of BOP Nawada in the Malda Sector of West Bengal. These miscreants encircled our Jawans and attacked them: Border Security Force. ( ANI )

. Former wicketkeeper-batter Vijay Dahiya was on Wednesday roped in as the assistant coach of the new Lucknow franchise ahead of IPL 2022.

The 48-year-old from Haryana is the current coach of the Uttar Pradesh team. He has earlier worked as an assistant coach of two-time IPL winning Kolkata Knight Riders. He has also served as the talent scout for the Delhi Capitals, apart from coaching the Delhi Ranji team.

"I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity given to me to work with the Lucknow IPL franchise," Dahiya, who has played two Tests and 19 ODIs for India, said in a statement. ( PTI )

. The combined entity, nearly 51% owned by Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), will own popular channels such as Sony MAX and Zee TV, along with streaming platforms ZEE5 and SonyLIV, as part of the deal.

. An earthquake of magnitude 3.3 hit the North-Northeast of Bengaluru at 07:14 am on Tuesday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NSC).

. The government said that in a ‘closely coordinated’ effort with intelligence agencies, it has ordered the blocking of 20 YouTube channels and two websites which were allegedly spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news.

. After setting in late due to unseasonal rains, winter has turned severe with mercury levels dropping considerably across the plains in both north and south interior Karnataka. Bidar, which recorded its lowest temperature in 85 years with 9.7 degrees Centigrade on Monday, dropped further to 9.4 degrees on Tuesday.

News Highlights: Amazon sues ED in latest twist of battles

US authorizes certain transactions with Taliban to ease flow of aid to Afghanistan

HC tells MSRTC to check health of staffers after advocate says they are in depression, feeling suicidal

Centre cuts over 25,000 compliances for 'Ease of Living', 'Ease of Doing Business'

Haldia refinery fire: 38 workers undergoing treatment

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