Author: Legal Parivar

he US Embassy in India has announced that its embassy in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru will remain closed from Wednesday, December 24, to Friday, December 26. The shutdown follows a Presidential Executive Order issued by former US President Donald Trump, which mandates the closure of federal executive departments and agencies on these dates. While December 25 (Christmas Day) is a regular US federal holiday, the order grants additional holidays on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, resulting in a five-day holiday stretch for federal employees. In a post on X (formerly Twitter),…

The United States is set to introduce a major change to the H-1B visa allocation system from February 27, shifting away from the long-standing random lottery model to a wage-based selection process, according to a Bloomberg report. The new rule, released by the Trump administration, will come into force just weeks ahead of the annual spring H-1B filing season, a crucial hiring period for technology firms and other industries dependent on skilled foreign workers. End of random lottery system Currently, when H-1B applications exceed the annual cap, visas are allocated through a random lottery. Under the revised framework, applications will…

A fresh piracy claim has put Spotify under scrutiny after a hacker group alleged that it scraped a massive portion of the streaming platform’s music catalog. The claim, made by a piracy activist collective called Anna’s Archives, has sparked concerns across the music industry around copyright protection, data misuse, and potential artificial intelligence (AI) training risks. What is the piracy claim about? Anna’s Archives claims it has collected 86 million music files from Spotify, which it says represents nearly 99.6% of total Spotify listens. Spotify currently hosts over 100 million tracks and serves more than 700 million users globally. According…

After decades of planning and development, the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is set to commence commercial operations from Thursday, marking a major milestone in Maharashtra’s infrastructure expansion. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the implementing agency for the project, said in a statement on Tuesday that the airport will handle 30 air traffic movements (arrivals and departures) on the first day of operations. The launch is expected to significantly reduce congestion at Mumbai’s existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and establish a robust multi-airport aviation system for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. “The commencement of operations at the…

Investigative journalism platform Cobrapost has alleged that Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd (CIFCL), a leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) of the Murugappa Group, was involved in related-party and intra-group transactions amounting to nearly ₹10,262 crore. In its recent investigation report, Cobrapost claimed that several transactions involved related parties, family members, and key management personnel, with portions of the funds allegedly routed through layered transactions that may warrant regulatory scrutiny. The report further alleged that CIFCL made cash deposits of around ₹25,089 crore across 14 banks between FY20 and FY25, and earned insurance commissions of ₹942 crore during FY25. Cobrapost…

State-owned Coal India Ltd on December 23 announced that its board has granted in-principle approval for the listing of two key subsidiaries — Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL). The proposed listings are subject to multiple regulatory and statutory approvals, the PSU said in a post-market filing on Tuesday. The development follows guidance from the Ministry of Coal, which on December 16 advised Coal India to take concrete steps toward listing select subsidiaries in the financial year 2026–27. SECL Overview South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) is a Mini Ratna public sector enterprise with operations spread across…

On December 22, ACC and Orient Cement announced that their boards have approved merger plans with Ambuja Cements, along with the respective share swap ratios. The mergers are subject to regulatory and statutory approvals, including the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Merger Overview Ambuja Cements stated that the mergers will create a Pan-India Cement Powerhouse, aiming to optimize manufacturing and logistics networks, streamline corporate structures, strengthen balance sheets, and enhance capital allocation to support growth and market leadership. Operational synergies are expected to improve margins by at least Rs 100 per metric tonne (PMT). Share Swap Ratios The record dates…

ESDS Software Solution, BLS Polymers, and Dhariwal Buildtech have obtained approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise funds through initial public offerings (IPOs) collectively worth over Rs 1,700 crore. The regulator issued observations on the draft papers of these companies last week, allowing them to proceed with IPOs within the next year. Dhariwal Buildtech received SEBI observations on December 15, BLS Polymers on December 16, and ESDS Software Solution on December 19, according to the processing status published on December 23. Company-wise details: These approvals mark a significant step toward the capital market debut of…

Rajasthan-based spices maker Shyam Dhani Industries has continued to witness strong investor demand on the second day of its initial public offering (IPO) on December 23. Grey market trading also reflected bullish sentiment, with premiums rising significantly. The IPO, which opened on December 22, aims to raise Rs 38.48 crore through 54.98 lakh fresh shares, priced at Rs 65–70 per share. So far, the company has received bids for 94.91 crore shares, representing 241.02 times subscription of the offer size via 1.85 lakh applications. Non-institutional and retail investors led the subscription, bidding 372.82 times and 352.8 times their respective quotas,…

The Indian rupee on Tuesday closed flat at ₹89.65 against the US dollar, unchanged from Monday’s close. During the afternoon session, it inched slightly higher to ₹89.83. Analysts attributed the stability to central bank intervention, with state-run banks selling dollars aggressively to curb volatility. The rupee had reached an intraday high of ₹89.25 last Friday following RBI measures, which also helped reduce speculative positions in the market. Overseas investors have shown renewed interest in Indian equities, purchasing $644 million of local shares in the past two months—the highest since mid-October—according to Bloomberg. This inflow coincided with the rupee posting its…