Editor's Pick: Electoral Bonds on sale for the third month

The Finance Ministry on Saturday announced the 24 th tranche of electoral bond sales through 29 authorised branches of State Bank of India (SBI) across the country to issue and encash these bonds between Dec 5 to Dec 12. The development implied that the government opened yet another week-long window for electoral bonds less than a month after it amended the Electoral Bond Scheme to provide for an additional fortnight of sales in years when states and union territories with legislature are headed to polls. December would be the third successive month that electoral bonds open up for sales, starting with a ten-day window in October as per the original scheme, followed by week-long sales that commenced on November 9 ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections - adhering to the amended norms. The Electoral Bond Scheme was introduced in January 2018 as an alternative to cash donations ‘to cleanse the system of political funding in the country’. It allowed the donors to fund their preferred political parties’ poll campaigns by purchasing bonds through specified bank branches. Eligible political parties must be registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and must have secured not less than 1% of votes polled in the preceding General Elections to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State. The scheme originally envisaged making bonds available for a period of ten days each in January, April, July and October, with an additional thirty-day period to be specified by the Central Government in the year of the general election. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here. The Hindu’s Explainers Explained | Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India Explained | What impact will the G7’s $60 price cap on Russian oil have on markets? Explained | Are rhino and elephant conservation efforts a success? The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz When is the second phase of voting for the Gujarat assembly elections set to take place? December 8 December 5 December 4 December 10 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 04 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID Electoral Bonds on sale for the third month The Finance Ministry on Saturday announced the [24 th tranche of electoral bond sales]( through 29 authorised branches of State Bank of India (SBI) across the country to issue and encash these bonds between Dec 5 to Dec 12. The development implied that the government opened yet another week-long window for electoral bonds less than a month after it amended the [Electoral Bond Scheme]( to provide for an additional fortnight of sales in years when states and union territories with legislature are headed to polls. December would be the third successive month that electoral bonds open up for sales, starting with a ten-day window in October as per the original scheme, followed by week-long sales that commenced on November 9 ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections - adhering to the amended norms. The [Electoral Bond Scheme was introduced in January 2018]( as an alternative to cash donations ‘to cleanse the system of political funding in the country’. It allowed the donors to fund their preferred political parties’ poll campaigns by purchasing bonds through specified bank branches. Eligible political parties must be registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and must have secured not less than 1% of votes polled in the preceding General Elections to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State. The scheme originally envisaged making bonds available for a period of ten days each in January, April, July and October, with an additional thirty-day period to be specified by the Central Government in the year of the general election. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. [Click here.]( The Hindu’s Explainers [Arrow][Explained | Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India]( [Arrow][Explained | What impact will the G7’s $60 price cap on Russian oil have on markets?]( [Arrow][Explained | Are rhino and elephant conservation efforts a success?Â]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz When is the second phase of voting for the Gujarat assembly elections set to take place? - December 8 - December 5 - December 4 - December 10 To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here.]( Today’s Best Reads [[Delhi MCD election live updates | 18% voter turnout recorded till 12 p.m. across the 250 municipal wards in the Capital] Delhi MCD election live updates | 18% voter turnout recorded till 12 p.m. across the 250 municipal wards in the Capital]( [[Explained | Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India] Explained | Cheetahs and tigers: the saga of big cats in India]( [[Congress decides on Parliamentary strategy for winter session] Congress decides on Parliamentary strategy for winter session]( [[Gianni Infantino | The master of ceremonies] Gianni Infantino | The master of ceremonies]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](