Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP D N V Senthil Kumar on Wednesday apologised in the Lok Sabha for his controversial 'north-south divide' remark which had sparked a backlash.
'I learnt today that Bilkis Bano had to change her house after these people were released as some of them lived in her vicinity.' 'This was an injustice to her, she had to do this under duress.'
The party also promised reservation to minorities on basis of their population after the caste census.
The Centre recently released the first advance estimates of kharif crops that, barring tur dal, showed a dip in production due to uneven monsoon and other natural calamities including pest attacks in cotton. The first Advance Estimates, released a few weeks back, are usually initial projections on the crop size and, more often than not, are revised as more inputs come from the fields. But, the findings have rung alarm bells in several quarters. The Centre, along with many others, is confident that as more details come, the estimates will be revised upwards.
The toll in Monday's temple collapse incident increased to 17 with rescue teams recovering one more body on Sunday.
The Garhwal region collectively has deposits worth Rs 2,100 crore and advances worth Rs 1,000 crore.
In his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast, Modi said Amrit Kalash Yatra will be organised under the campaign and 7,500 pots carrying soil from different corners of the country will be brought to the national capital along with saplings.
The duty hike on cigarettes by 16 per cent announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 would have a nominal impact of around 7-12 paise per stick across cigarette categories, according to experts. This upward revision in National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) would have negligible impact on smokers and the companies could easily absorb the shock as it may not also have any resultant impact on margins, they said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama in the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday proposed to revise and increase the duty on cigarettes to about 16 per cent.
Many people are feared trapped following two landslides at Shiv temple in the Summer Hill area and the Fagli area of Shimla city.
For long-term financial security, millennials must not only provide social security for their young families but also ensure that their financial burdens are not passed down to their families, says Casparus Kromhout.
'Till today, we don't know how many people died of Covid in India.' 'How many migrated from cities to villages during the Covid pandemic?' 'How many corporates contributed to PM Cares?'
The government on Monday asked airlines to devise a mechanism to ensure reasonable airfares amid a surge in air ticket prices, particularly on certain routes that were earlier served by Go First. In the case of the unfortunate Odisha tragedy, airlines have been advised to provide free carriage (cargo) services to the families of the deceased, the civil aviation ministry said. During an hour-long meeting of the airlines advisory group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shared his concerns about the steep rise in airfares on certain routes.
The ceremony was organised in a sprawling 306-acre ground in Kharghar area on Sunday morning, which was attended by several lakh people, most of them followers of Dharmadhikari who was conferred with Maharashtra's top civilian award by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were sent to provide help to the quake-hit region on February 7 following Prime Minister Modi's directive to offer all possible assistance under 'Operation Dost'.
'Once elected, you have to act like people's representative for the full five years or else people show you your place.'
Addressing soldiers in Lepcha after celebrating Diwali with security personnel stationed near the border, Modi said the circumstances of the world are such that the expectations from India are constantly rising.
Apart from the 10 persons arrested so far, those found guilty of negligence in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report should also be arrested and punished, said a man who lost his 10-year-old daughter in the tragedy.
Floods triggered by the torrential rain since June 14 have wreaked havoc, inundating a vast swathe of flat land in the south and southwest of the country.
'We cried our hearts out as we saw our huts going underwater. It was hard to believe that I was fast asleep at the same spot just 15-20 minutes ago'
'Cinema or the sentiment of a people, disgusted by contemporary politics and wanting to feel whole by collectively recalling a moment of great difficulty that was also a cause for togetherness?', asks Shyam G Menon.
The ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict has disrupted India's efforts to gain from a recent fall in crude oil prices. Since Hamas' invasion of southern Israel on October 7, petroleum has become costlier by around $5 per barrel, threatening to stoke prices and impact growth. Brent crude was trading at $89.8 per barrel on October 9 (9.15 pm IST), up over 4 per cent, thwarting India's anticipation of a period of declining oil prices - after the leading global petroleum benchmark declined by around 11 per cent last week.
Several rebel Maharashtra MLAs are currently camping in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
With different agencies showing divergent predictions regarding the southwest monsoon, the central government and states are gearing up to face adversity with various line ministries reportedly being directed to undertake mock drills and hold preparatory meetings. Around 56 per cent of the net cultivable area of the country is rain-fed, accounting for 44 per cent of foodgrain production. The June-September rains contribute around 73 per cent of the annual precipitation.
'People understand Hitlershahi, tanashahi and now Modishahi.'
On day three after a flash flood wreaked havoc in Sikkim's Teesta basin, the number of bodies recovered from the river and mud embankments downstream rose to 22, including seven army men.
The lackadaisical approach on part of the management of Oreva company resulting in "one of the most severe and tragic human calamities" cannot be countenanced, the SIT said.
The farmers have been holding a long foot march from Nashik to Mumbai in a bid to put forward their demands before the government.
Banks may become more cautious in extending loans, as more and more farmers may take loans, relying on the assurance that a debt relief commission will back them in the event of default.
'Later, I asked Hrithik how he could have remained so calm in the circumstances. He told me simply, "What could have happened? At the most, they would have killed me".'
Dear patients and caregivers, be forewarned. The disease is deadly in the truest sense. Only the mildest forms seem to be curable, and those too, if detected earlier, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA in Chhattisgarh and former state minister Brijmohan Agrawal has stoked a controversy as he said that those who call inflation a national calamity should stop eating food and using petrol.
Singh emphasised that the Indo-Pacific is no more a maritime construct, but a full-fledged geo-strategic issue, and that the region is facing "a complex web" of security challenges, including boundary disputes and piracy.
Glimpses from Yudh Abhyas, the India-US military exercise currently being conducted in Tapovan, Uttarakhand, 100 km away from the Line of Actual Control.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA) and non-life insurance companies are working towards setting up a pool for creating a capacity within India to underwrite risks from natural catastrophes.
As many as 2,000 tourists stranded in Kasol area of Kullu district owing to incessant rainfall have been evacuated safely, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday.
The old Parliament building will now be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan', Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Tuesday as the functioning of Parliament shifted to its new building in New Delhi.
'Bharat is a name that is 7000 years old.' 'We are not saying the name of the country should be changed from India to Bharat; we only recommended that the stress should be on Bharat.'
G20 is an ideal platform to discuss and find solutions to "most pressing" problems such as global warming and climate change which affect the poor most, President Droupadi Murmu said in her maiden address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day.
