Of the 170 million rural households in the country, a government website claims to have connected 82 per cent of them. The metered households are 50 per cent of the total. As on February, 2018, of the 780,000 villages to be intensively electrified or provide connection to all in households, 493,000 have been covered. However, the amount and quality of the power supply cannot be ascertained from this data. No clause in any of the rural electrification programmes promises 24 hours' power supply.
'This speech is going to be more of a punishment. I spoke too much this afternoon' A tireless Prime Minister Narendra Modi left over 700 notable luminaries in peals of laughter with his quick wit and sense of humour during a dinner and reception hosted by Indian Ambassador Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Taj-owned, The Pierre Hotel. In the presence of the who's who of desi Americans and US lawmakers, Modi once again thanked the Indian-Americans for their contributions and discussed his plans of developing India and the ties he hopes to nurture with America. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com presents a sneak-peak into the festive, grand dinner.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday seeking immediate resumption of talks with the government over their six demands, including a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for all farmers.
Narendra Modi's diplomacy and persuasive prowess has ensured long-term investments from China and Japan.
IPL can be truly said to have come of age. It is now more Indian than ever before. Teams often fielded fewer than the four allowed foreign players. Indian batters and bowlers were simply better in performance, consistency and reliability, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
'We cannot afford to be complacent about our food security needs.'
The AAP, which is the only party to declare its chief ministerial candidate before the polls, is trying hard to make the contest triangular.
The swearing-in ceremony may take place on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states likely to attend the event, he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
'Today in Uttar Pradesh all big parties like Samajwadi Party, BJP or even Bahujan Samaj Party are out to woo smaller parties as they know the Hindu votes are getting divided.'
Despite the prime minister's surprise announcement, farmer leaders have maintained the protesters won't budge until the three contentious laws are formally repealed in Parliament.
Amid opposition charge of political vendetta in the sacking of Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal, the government on Thursday said the decision was prompted by "serious allegations" against her and insisted there was no politics behind it.
As voting got underway in this high-profile Lok Sabha constituency, AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal said his direct fight was with Bharatiya Janata Party's Narendra Modi and Congress' Ajay Rai was nowhere in the contest.
Opposition parties on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh for not allowing their leaders to visit Lakhimpur Kheri after eight people died in violence there during an anti farm law protest, alleging it was an attempt to cover up and demanding the sacking of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and the arrest of his son, who have been named in an FIR.
As politics played out over Uttarakhand floods, Congress on Sunday targeted Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saying he wants to become a "Rambo", dismissing reports he had helped in evacuation of 15,000 stranded people from Uttarakhand in two days.
A political uproar erupted on Friday over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's controversial remarks on the 2002 riots.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
Dipak Haksar, bottom, left, chief executive, ITC Hotels and WelcomHotels, tells Ajay Modi that FY19 is going to be a year of strong growth, and tariffs are likely to see a substantial improvement in the fourth quarter
Sources in various parties suggest that two lakh votes of the Patel community, locally known as OBC kurmi, for which mother-daughter led Apna Dal (S) and Apna Dal (K) are competing and over one lakh of OBC Rajbhars would be crucial in deciding the outcome of the assembly seats in Varanasi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, including the security arrangements along the border with Pakistan, officials said.
'If Mayawati had performed better, then the BJP would have had a much tougher time to win UP.' 'The present gap in number of seats between the BJP and SP would have got reduced.'
Factors like high fuel prices, higher insurance cost and firm interest rates kept buyers away, especially in case of passenger vehicles.
Recipients of these damaged mementos have been given the option to either seek a refund of their bid amount or get a replacement for these broken items.
'Our task at Mercedes is to have the right setup. It is the customers who make the decision. But, if our approach with the Indian customers is right, we will grow.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes that poured in for Badminton Association of India president Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, who passed away in Lucknow after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.
Rahil Ansari, 38, recently took charge as head of Audi India, one of the youngest brand directors in the German luxury car maker.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is headed for a big win in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council polls, bagging Barabanki and Ayodhya and leading in several other places. But it lost Varanasi to an Independent candidate.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York on Friday on a five-day US visit, he was greeted with 'Har Har Modi' slogan.
Sales, which were growing impressively in the first seven months of the year, decline in November. Ajay Modi reports.
From the Republic Day violence to Lakhimpur Kheri incident and terms such as 'toolkit' and andolanjeevi entering the Indian political lexicon, it was controversies galore during the year-long farmers' movement against the contentious agri laws.
Audi and Mercedes-Benz have already opened dealerships in Guwahati -- a gateway to all the north-eastern states -- and BMW intends to join them soon. Ajay Modi reports.
Congress leader Manish Tewari demanded that the government should provide Rs 5 crore compensation to the families of the farmers who died during the farm laws agitation
Narendra Modi could be in for a tough fight in Varanasi with the Congress declaring its resolve to put up a formidable candidate against the Bharatiya Janata Party's PM nominee in the Lok Sabha polls and ruling out support to the Aaam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal.
Across India, decades of mismanagement and political meddling have left utilities selling electricity below cost and turning a blind eye to rampant theft.
If he doesn't win next year, it will set back the party's prospects in 2024. If he wins, it will be seen as his win as much as the BJP high command's, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress on Monday attacked the government over the passage of the farm laws repeal bill in the Lok Sabha without a discussion, charging that all parliamentary norms have been 'thrown to the wind'.
A political slugfest broke out on Wednesday between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cavalcade, in a major security breach, got stranded on a flyover, 30 km away from Hussainiwala in Punjab, as a group of protesting farmers blocked his route.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monogrammed bandhgala, which he wore at his meeting with United States President Barack Obama in January and which has been under auction for the last three days in Surat, has finally been sold for a whopping price of Rs 4.31 crore.
Ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, several Union Ministers, including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigned from their posts.
As many as 586 candidates are in the fray in this phase with the seats spread across Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur.
