Courts Financial News

US regulators for the first time approved exchange-traded funds that invest directly in bitcoin, a move heralded as a landmark for the roughly $1.7 trillion digital-asset sector that will broaden access to the largest cryptocurrency on Wall Street and beyond.

The SEC has approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, the government agency said on Wednesday. The news comes one day after the SEC's X, formerly Twitter, account was hacked, announcing the same news.

By Luc Cohen

Congress on Wednesday «respectfully declined» the invitation to attend the 'pran pratishthan' (consecration) ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya and said that RSS and BJP had made the temple a «political project» for «electoral gains». In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the «incomplete» temple by BJP and RSS leaders. Last month, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had received the invitation to attend the ceremony on January 22. «Lord Ram is worshipped by millions in our country. Religion is a personal matter.

Japanese authorities have resumed landfill work at the planned new site of the U.S. military base on Okinawa despite protests by island residents that it tramples on their rights

Donald Trump won’t make his own closing argument in his New York civil business fraud trial

Donald Trump plans to deliver his own closing argument Thursday in his New York civil business fraud trial, in addition to the ones made by his legal team

A union representing many of Germany’s train drivers has started a nearly three-day strike in a rancorous dispute with the country’s state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay

High Courts of Bombay and Karnataka, seeking to be heard before the courts pass any stay order on the restrictions imposed on usage of sugar for ethanol production, an official told ET. Several sugar firms have approached various courts seeking a stay on the Centre's December 7 order prohibiting mills from producing ethanol from sugarcane juice in the 2023-24 season. In the absence of a caveat, the courts can pass a stay order without hearing the government, explained the official cited above. The Centre issued the ban to keep a check on rising sugar prices in the domestic market despite restrictions on exports due to lower sugarcane yield in main producer states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Sugar prices had touched ₹40 in northern India by the end of sugar season 2022-23 (October-September). The government later allowed diversion of 1.7 million tonnes of sugar for ethanol production in the 2023-24 marketing year that started on October 1, 2023, to allay industry concerns. Industry body Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), which has now renamed itself as Indian Sugar and Bio-energy Manufacturers Association, had said the «sudden ban» on the use of cane juice for ethanol would have an adverse impact on capacity utilisation of mills, putting at «risk» their ₹15,000-crore investment in the last three years to set up plants for green fuel. In July, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) had stopped supplying rice for ethanol production to distilleries, leaving distilleries with fewer options for raw materials for ethanol production.

Supreme Court against the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's ruling in the MLA disqualification case. Narwekar had earlier today ruled that Eknath Shinde is the leader of the Shiv Sena and rejected the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction's attempt to disqualify Shinde and other MLAs. Uddhav Thackeray, who heads the UBT, slammed Narwekar's decision and said that the latter had disregarded the Supreme Court's last year decision. «This is a shameless decision, they have crushed the SC's earlier decision.

Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar on Wednesday ruled that Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) was the «real» political party while dismissing the Uddhav Thackeray (UBT) camp's petition to disqualify 40 MLAs, including Shinde for violating party discipline. In a 1,200 page verdict on 34 petitions that the two rival parties had moved against each other, Narwekar held that the Shinde faction was the real Shiv Sena. «I hold that the Shinde faction was the real political party when the two rival factions emerged on June 21,2022.

Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar's verdict in the Shiv Sena MLAs disqualification case, which went in favour of the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, was «not at all surprising» but should be challenged in the Supreme Court by the rival group led by Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday. I n a huge relief to Shinde, Narwekar held that his Shiv Sena faction was the «real political party» when rival groups emerged in June 2022.

Congress of being stuck in its "rhetoric", Union minister and BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said the party (Congress) will regret its decision to not attend the consecration ceremony of Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22. The BJP leader was reacting after senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury turned down the invitation saying the BJP and the RSS have made the temple its political project. "They are stuck in their rhetoric...Why take them seriously? They will regret it if they don't go," said Puri.

judicial custody of AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal also allowed Singh to visit the returning officer to receive his election certificate upon his re-election to the Rajya Sabha on January 12.

₹440 crore in interest from the arbitral award, while SpiceJet claims it has already paid ₹100 crore following a court directive in August and owes an additional ₹194 crore. SpiceJet also anticipates a reimbursement of ₹400 crore from Maran if its arbitration challenge is successful. During previous proceedings, SpiceJet highlighted its financial challenges, citing operational losses, a negative net worth, and employee-related obligations that could lead to insolvency.

Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday justified the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government's order directing the police to open fire on 'karsevaks' in Ayodhya in 1990, saying that it was done to protect the Constitution. Maurya, who has been inviting controversy through his statements in the recent past, was in Kasganj to participate in a Buddhist conference. «The firing on karsevaks (volunteers) in Ayodhya was carried out by the then government to fulfil its duty to protect the Constitution,» the SP leader told reporters.

Sotheby’s abused its “privilege, power and reputation” to help dupe a Russian billionaire out of millions of dollars as he amassed a world-class art collection, a lawyer for the businessman argued on the first day of a closely watched trial in New York.

₹71,000 crore to China, the ED alleged. Several arrests have been made and a court room drama is expected soon. We will return to the charges in a bit.

Ram Temple inauguration: The Congress party has decided to skip the Ram Temple inauguration ceremony on Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, scheduled for January 22. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had received an invite to attend the ceremony from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra trust.

BERLIN (Reuters) — German wholesalers expect their revenues to fall 2% in nominal terms this year, continuing a downward trajectory after a 3.75% decline last year, the BGA lobby group said on Wednesday, saying sentiment in Europe's biggest economy was «on the floor».

match fixing" raised by Shiv Sena (UBT) faction leader Sanjay Raut ahead of the verdict in the Shiv Sena MLA disqualification case, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the decision to be announced later in the day by Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar will have to be made on merit. Speaking with reporters in Mumbai on Wednesday, ahead of the verdict, CM Shinde said the Election Commission of India had allotted his faction the Shiv Sena name and symbol. «We are official Shiv Sena and we have the majority in the state Assembly… but some are making allegations of match fixing, but they also had a meal with the speaker but we didn't make any such allegations; the speaker is an MLA too and the meeting was official and it's in open light...,» CM Shinde said, responding to Sanjay Raut's allegation of «match fixing.» Earlier, Uddhav faction-led Shiv Sena raised objections to Speaker Narwekar meeting Shinde, ahead of the verdict at his residence on January 7 «Whether it's High Court or Supreme Court, they keep making comments on it… the decision will have to be on merit, as we (the government) are formed on merit,» CM Shinde added. Referring to the 2023 Supreme Court verdict refusing to disqualify the Maharashtra government, CM Shinde said, «They (UBT Shiv Sena) have lost ground as the government is functioning properly and working for the people...» On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court extended till January 10 the time for the Speaker to pronounce a verdict on disqualification petitions against MLAs including Shinde. The disqualification pleas have been pending since the Maharashtra political crises started.