The government aims to cover around 60 million people in the age category, irrespective of income, with an assured 5 lakh annually to be shared within the family.
Glimpses of Home Minister Amit Shah's busy busy Sunday, crisscrossing India.
In a first, Indian oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) finalised a one-year contract to import around 2.2 million tonnes (mt) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US. The LPG import deal comes at a time when negotiations for an India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are gathering steam. Earlier in the month, US President Donald Trump had said Washington and New Delhi were "pretty close" to reaching a fair trade deal.
The Opposition in Maharashtra boycotted the government's customary tea party on the eve of the Winter session, citing its failure to appoint leaders of the opposition (LoPs) in both houses of the state legislature.
Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Krishna on Monday lauded Deputy Superintendent of Police and international cricketer Deepti Sharma for her "exemplary and historic performance" in India's win at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 final.
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor on Tuesday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United would have been bundled up with just 25 seats had his government not given Rs 10,000 to 60,000 beneficiaries in each constituency just before the assembly elections and promised Rs 2 lakh to 1.5 crore women across the state under self-employment initiatives.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
With less than six months left for this financial year and poor response from applicants, launching the scheme this year is unlikely.
Hardworking people who toil from dawn to dusk and beyond speak about their everyday lives and what they want from the sarkar as Bihar prepares to vote.
The Bihar chief minister had a point to prove in the latest assembly elections, which were held amid speculations of a fatigue factor, if not downright anti-incumbency, made worse by rumours of his indifferent health.
'These children possess catastrophically low birth weights -- often 1.4 kgs or less. Such extremely low birth weight results in profoundly compromised neo-natal immunity.' 'The escalation to 97 deaths in three months precipitated contemporary attention precisely because this magnitude concentrates the humanitarian emergency, rendering it impossible for the administrative machinery to ignore.'
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
Farmers in some villages of Maharashtra's Akola district claimed to have received as little as Rs 3 and Rs 21 as compensation under a central insurance scheme for the crop losses they suffered due to heavy rains, and called the aid as 'insulting' and 'mockery' of their plight.
After four failed reform drives, a new plan aims to rescue India's debt-laden power discoms through privatisation, accountability and long-term financial fixes.
Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj expressed disappointment over its poll debacle in the Bihar assembly elections, attributing the NDA's victory to cash transfers to women.
As the Bihar assembly results swept in, Patna's Veerchand Patel Marg, the city's political artery, split into two starkly different worlds, with celebrations at the BJP and JD(U) offices and disappointment at the RJD headquarters.
Voters in Bihar's Jehanabad and Ghosi express their hopes for change, particularly regarding job creation and development, in the upcoming government following the state elections.
Saudi Arabia's steep cut in LPG benchmark prices has pushed India's household LPG underrecoveries to their lowest level in over two years, slashing oil companies' losses from Rs 200-250 per cylinder last year to about Rs 20-40 now.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claimed that people were not voting for the Rashtriya Janata Dal-helmed opposition in Bihar as they fear that if voted to power, its regime will 'put katta to their heads and order them to hold their hands up'.
'This election was won because of Nitish Kumar's face and his policies.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp critique of the RJD, emphasizing the hardships faced by women in Bihar under its governance. He highlighted the current government's initiatives for women's empowerment and urged them to prevent the RJD's return to power.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
A string of welfare schemes and promises tests the state's budget, which is already heavily dependent on central support and spends little as capital outlay.
The scheme would be rolled out on the lines of the model adopted by the Congress government in Karnataka.
India's housing finance sector is riding a wave of post-pandemic revival, driven by policy support, digital innovation, and growing demand from younger homebuyers in emerging cities.
Once a quiet riverside ritual, Dev Deepawali has evolved into UP's largest soft-power spectacle -- merging faith, art, enterprise into a global cultural brand that reflects state's growing confidence.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The Bihar government will provide a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 to unemployed graduate youths for two years under the 'Mukhyamantri Nishchay Swayam Sahayta Bhatta Yojana'. This scheme has been expanded from intermediate-passed youth to include graduates.
'At COP30, the emphasis will be on unlocking climate finance, reinforcing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and building resilience through inclusive transitions and the mainstreaming of adaptation.'
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar disbursed Rs 2,500 crore to 25 lakh beneficiaries of the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana', raising to one crore the number of women to have received Rs 10,000 each under the self-employment scheme.
'The informal sector can grow at a 100 per cent rate -- we have to plan big.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Bihar's 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana' on Friday and transfer Rs 10,000 each to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women across the state, totalling Rs 7,500 crore.
'Sometimes I wonder whether the meeting really happened. Everything seems like a dream from which I do not want to wake up.'
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