Presenting the Budget for 2020-21, Sitharaman said Rs 1.7 lakh crore has been provided for transport infrastructure in 2020-21.
In the global platform, India continues to register and maintain the lowest COVID-19 mortality rate, it said and asserted that this is a testimony to the focused, coordinated, pre-emptive, graded and evolving "test, track, treat" strategy and efforts of the Centre, states and Union Territories.
Completed projects saw an improvement of 29.2 per cent over the June quarter, which is valued at Rs 0.31 trillion.
The total number of recoveries crossed the 19 lakh-mark with 57,937 patients having recuperated in a span of 24 hours, the highest recorded in a day so far, it said.
According to the health ministry's data updated at 8 am, the number of recoveries exceeds active cases by 2,81,668.
'Even if Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech were successful in ramping up production overnight, what happens to the capacity after the demand from India is met?' asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
Consumers are paying an exorbitant 180 per cent tax on petrol, and 140 per cent on diesel in Delhi and in most other towns in India. Little wonder then that the central government expects a staggering Rs 3.46 trillion by levying excise duties on retail sale of the two fuels this year, and Rs 3.2 trillion the next. States would generally have had reason to cheer, as they command a 41 per cent share in Centre's tax revenues. But as the Centre has raised excise duties in the form of "cess," the revenue proceeds are by nature not shareable with states.
India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 63.13 per cent on Wednesday with a record 28,472 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, while the case fatality rate further dropped to 2.41 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
The number of recoveries from COVID-19 exceed active cases by more than 10 lakh.
The number of recoveries has surged to 14,80,884 with 53,879 coronavirus patients having recuperated and discharged in 24-hours, the highest in a day so far.
Indications are that Modi will have words of encouragement for Stalin, and the meeting is likely to be much less acrimonious than critics of either would want it to be. notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Imagine taking care of a patient who is infected with Covid. A human nurse is unable to do that due to fear of infection. The robot can do that task, while it is controlled or supervised by the human nurse. So the robot becomes an extension of the nurse.'
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged start-ups to focus on three Ps - product, process, people - for building Aatmnirbhar Bharat.
As many as 29,557 COVID-19 patients have recuperated in the past 24 hours.
The department of economic affairs, in its Monthly Economic Review for September, said critical reforms undertaken by the government will put India to a strong and sustainable growth path in the long run.
Sitharaman exhorted the states to work together with the Centre, stating that while the Union government sets the direction of economic growth, it is for the states to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
The number of tests for detection of COVID-19 also crossed the three crore-mark in the country, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 50,921 with 941 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours.
"Anything can happen in cricket and politics. Somewhere you feel you are losing the match, but the result is exactly the opposite," Gadkari said when asked about the current political situation in Maharashtra
The 57-year-old Rajya Sabha member and Shiv Sena's spokesperson, who underwent an angioplasty procedure on Monday, has been tweeting from his hospital bed over the current political situation in Maharashtra.
A senior official at the health ministry told ANI: "For HCQ, we have placed orders for about 11.45 crore tablets to two Indian firms -- IPCA laboratories and Zydus Cadila. So far, we have received 6.64 crore HCQ drugs and remaining will arrive by May 16."
Modi urged the country to show patience during the vaccination drive as it had shown till now in fighting the pandemic.
Vardhan said the fatality rate is 3.2 per cent while the recovery rate is progressively increasing and stands at 31.74 per cent.
As many as 1,578 dedicated COVID hospitals are providing quality medical care.
'Without reviving employment, consumer confidence will not go up.'
Loud applause and cheers rang out as the first jabs were administered to frontline workers at hospitals and healthcare centres across the country on Saturday at the start of the gargantuan COVID-19 vaccination exercise, hailed as a 'momentous' occasion in India's fight against the pandemic.
In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, the prime minister also said that the threat of coronavirus is not over yet and we need to remain vigilant against the deadly virus.
In the Saamana, the party went on to state that whatever has happened is a "conspiracy to downgrade the Shiv Sena."
Of the seven surveys presented under Modi govt, predictions of three were quite close to the actual GDP growth rate, one saw the base year change in between, but the last three were way off the mark.
This is a moment when the leaders at the Centre and states must show true leadership for the sake of the country. And it is the top political leaders, not attorney generals or bureaucrats, who should be sitting together and settling this thorny issue of compensation, says Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
Unlike the frenzy and buzz in political circles during the last few days, the meetings on Thursday were held in a discreet manner.
Criticising the governor for giving the Shiv Sena just 24 hours to stake claim and refusing it additional time to muster numbers, an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, "It looked like some invisible power was controlling this game and decisions were taken accordingly."
Unless we control the coronavirus, we are going to struggle to get our economy and country back on track. The spectre of the virus haunts recovery, warns Naushad Forbes.
Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is "injustice" to the migrant workers from the state.
Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.
The petition claimed that the voters had given a clear mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena alliance, and it cannot change now.
The question on who should borrow from the market and whether the borrowing will be under two buckets should be decided by the GST Council, and not by the Centre. If there is no consensus, there has to be a vote, says A K Bhattacharya.
In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast, Modi said all classes of people have suffered during the pandemic but it is the poor who have suffered the worst.
Regarding alliance with the Congress, the Sena's political rival till recently, Raut said leaders of the country's oldest party have contributed to freedom struggle as well as development of Maharashtra.
'Why should the state and Centre fight?'
'Most of the measures the finance minister announced will take effect after the lockdown.' 'By that time, millions of people will be starving.'
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