When the electoral bonds scheme was introduced in the Finance Bill, 2017 only a few months after the Narendra Modi government’s other grand, sweeping move to cleanse the country of black money overnight: demonetisation—it was touted as a move designed to “make political funding more transparent through the flow of clean cash”. So, whether you were an individual, an NGO, or a corporation, you could purchase these interest-free, tax-exempt bonds from the State Bank of India (SBI) and contribute to the political party of your choice, which could then encash the same within a stipulated time-frame. The transparency, however, did not extend to the identity of the donors, who could remain anonymous. This, the then Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, the chief architect of the scheme, had reasoned was necessary to protect the donors from “any retribution from political parties”.
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Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS