Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani, brought in by the government to simplify the process of filing GST returns, made a long presentation at the meeting of the powerful Goods and Services Tax Council today. There has been no decision on the changes that will be made but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the council had a clear sense of the direction that they will take. A final decision would be taken at the next meeting of the council that has finance ministers from all states, Mr Jaitley said. This meeting would be held via video conferencing. ... Read More

A Haryanvi folk singer, who had gone missing a few days back, was found on Thursday with her throat slit in the fields of Rohtak districts Baniyani village, also Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's native village. Mamta Sharma's family blamed the police, accusing the district police of not acting on their complaint that she had gone missing on Sunday. Her body was found by villagers in a field on Thursday afternoon, the police informed. Mamta Sharma had left home early on Sunday morning with her associate Mohit Kumar for an event in the adjoining district of Sonipat's Gohana town. She woul ... Read More

A woman strangled her 14-year-old son, burnt his body and dumped his charred remains near her house in Kerala on Monday, said a top police officer in Kollam, around 60 kilometres away from capital Thiruvananthapuram. The next day, she went with her husband to the police to file a missing report for the teenager. But the police soon noticed far too many contradictions in her story. The woman, Jaya, also could not explain why she had burn marks on her hand, news agency said. A search around the house on Wednesday led the police to the body about 200 metres from his house. ... Read More

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a terror funding case. The NIA has also accused Syed Salahuddin in its chargesheet along with 8 others who are accused of funding terror activities in India. The eight accused who were chargesheeted by NIA of terror funding were produced in the special NIA court in Patiala House Court today. The accused alleged that there was an ongoing media trial against them which puts them on the backfoot in the trial The NIA team led by SP Arvind Negi carrying 12794 page chargesheet refuted these claims when asked ... Read More

The all-powerful GST Council today revised rates on 29 items and 53 categories of services, and decided to make the process of filing GST returns simpler to ease compliance burden for small businesses. The new GST rates will be applicable from January 25. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the panel, said the next meeting of the Council may consider bringing items like crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, ATF and real estate within the GST purview. Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys, presented a detailed model on filing GST returns. The Cou ... Read More

Rajasthan is in the midst of a poll frenzy. By-polls for three constituencies, including for two Lok Sabha and one Assembly, are to be held on January 29. Crucial by-polls for Ajmer and Alwar Lok Sabha seats and Mandalgarh Assembly seat can well indicate the direction in which the political wind is blowing in the state before the Assembly polls, to be held later this year. India Today visited Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency where both the BJP and the Congress have been involved in high-decibel campaigning. Both parties, aware of the stakes involved, have been trying to woo the Rajput community. ... Read More