Madras High Court bans medical attempts to cure sexual orientation
The Madras High Court in a progressive move during the pride month has suggested comprehensive measures to sensitize the society and various branches of the state including the police and the judiciary to remove prejudices against the LGBTQIA+ community and to ensure that they are brought into the mainstream of the society (S Sushma v. Commissioner of Police).
Towards this end, the Court suggested that changes be made to curricula of schools and universities to educate students on understanding the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Court also ordered strict action against those found to be indulging in attempts to cure/change sexual orientation.
Source- India Today
AIIMS Delhi to start screening children from Monday for Covaxin trials
The All India Medical Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is expected to start screening children for clinical trials of India-made Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin from Monday.
After getting permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), AIIMS Delhi is now starting the screening process before starting the actual trials, news agency ANI reported.
Last Tuesday, AIIMS Patna started a similar trial after Bharat Biotech's vaccine received DCGI nod on May 11 to conduct clinical trials on children.
Source- Hindustan Times
New Income Tax e-filing website launched: ITR e-filing 2.0 portal new features
The Income Tax Department has launched the new e-filing website for Income Tax Returns (ITRs) on Monday, June 7, 2021. The new e-filing portal can be accessed here. It comes with new features which are expected to make the ITR process much smoother and faster.
What are some of the new features?
The new website will enable a new online tax payment system with multiple new payment options using net banking, UPI, credit card, and RTGS/NEFT from any account of the taxpayer in any bank, for easy payment of taxes.
New taxpayer-friendly portal integrated with immediate processing of ITRs to issue quick refunds to taxpayers
All interactions and uploads or pending actions will be displayed on a single dashboard for follow-up action by the taxpayer
New call center for taxpayer assistance for prompt response to taxpayer queries. Detailed FAQs, User Manuals, Videos, and chatbot/live agent also provided
Source- Indian Express
Jeff Bezos to fly to space in July 2021 on Blue Origin flight
Amazon Inc. founder-CEO Jeff Bezos and his brother Mark Bezos will fly to space next month on the first space flight launched by his space exploration company Blue Origin. The Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft is scheduled for launch on July 20. Blue Origin mentioned that one one seat will be given to the winner of a month-long auction that's currently in progress. Till Monday morning, the bidding had reached $2.8 million. Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000 and it had conducted over a dozen test flights with no one on board at Blue Origin's facilities in rural Texas.
Source- MoneyControl
Landmark G-7 deal to tax giants like Amazon, Facebook for profits abroad
The Group of Seven rich nations secured a landmark deal that could help countries collect more taxes from big companies and enable governments to impose levies on U.S. tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc.
The agreement by the G-7 finance ministers in London satisfies a U.S. demand for a minimum corporate tax rate of “at least 15%" on foreign earnings and paves the way for levies on multinationals in countries where they make money, instead of just where they are headquartered.
The deal is aimed at modernizing the century-old international tax code and cools transatlantic tensions that threatened to spill into a trade war under Donald Trump. But key details are yet to be nailed down, more nations must sign-on, and full implementation could take years.
Source- Mint
India vs Sri Lanka Series to kickstart on July 13
The schedule for the three-match ODI series and three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka has been confirmed. The three ODIs will be played on July 13, 16, and 18. While the T20I series will commence on July 21, and the next two matches will be played on July 23 and 25. None of India's players, who are a part of the traveling group for the World Test Championship final and the England Test series, will be part of the Sri Lanka series. Former India skipper and current National Cricket Academy (NCA) head Rahul Dravid will coach the Indian limited-overs team. This will be his second stint with the Indian team after working with the boys as a batting consultant during the England tour in 2014.
Source- ESPN
SoftBank Group may invest $700 million in Flipkart after exiting firm in 2018
SoftBank Vision Fund has held discussions with Flipkart to invest around $600-$700 million, three years after the Japanese group exited the Indian online retailer by selling shares to Walmart Inc. Significantly, if the SoftBank capital comes in, it could lead to Flipkart pushing back its plans for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the US. The potential funding could help Flipkart invest in its supply chain, technology and possible acquisitions as it battles rising competition. Besides Amazon, a pair of domestic entrants are backed by two of the country’s most powerful conglomerates, Reliance Industries and the Tata Group.
Source- Mint
Live-in-couples denied protection by high court get SC cover
The Supreme Court, on Friday, ordered Punjab Police to grant protection to the live-in couple whose plea was earlier dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Earlier on May 11, Punjab and Haryana High Court, while hearing the couple’s plea described such relationships as “morally and socially unacceptable”. The court had even said that the entire social fabric of the society would get disturbed, and hence, the couple couldn’t be granted protection.
Several cases related to live-in couples have been heard by Indian courts of late. For instance, the Allahabad High Court recently granted interim protection to a live-in interfaith couple, noting that such an arrangement between consenting adults was not an offense.
Source- The Wire
Thousands join pride parade in Jerusalem
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Jerusalem, on Thursday, in the city's annual pride parade. Waving rainbow flags and blaring music, throngs of people joined the procession amid tight police security.
Source- The Times Of Israel
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