Wielding the broom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the country's biggest-ever cleanliness drive that is expected to cost over Rs 62,000 crore, asserting that the "Swachh Bharat" mission is "beyond politics" and inspired by patriotism.
The agency had received Rs 946.51 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2023-24, which was later increased to Rs 968.86 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Bihar Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh Thursday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could "sack" him for his perceived defiance but he will not step down unless asked to do so by the top leadership of his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Every twist and turn in KMC's civil service career is attributed to serendipity, an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. He plays down his capabilities, which took him to the top of the civil service as the Cabinet Secretary or his misfortune in losing a daughter in her prime and suggests that his career was indeed serendipitous, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has raised India's long-standing concerns about pro-Khalistan extremism in the United Kingdom during his meetings with the country's leaders, stressing that they should be on guard against the misuse of freedom of expression and speech.
Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali on Friday said if action is not taken against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for his derogatory remarks in the Lok Sabha, then he could consider quitting the membership of the House. He also said that people had not elected him to listen to "hate speeches".
Status to enable Arvind Panagariya to attend Cabinet meetings.
The both governments recognise that a ground invasion is very likely and not telling Israel not to launch one at all, but rather hold off to try and see if additional diplomatic efforts can succeed.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state this weekend, while his colleagues Gajendra Shekhawat, Sanjeev Balyan, Prahlad Patel, Arjun Munda and Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting in the next few days, sources in the party said on Thursday.
'It was Maulana Azad's foresight which created the IITs, UGC, science academies across the country.'
Replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, he said the first prime minister of India (Jawaharlal Nehru) wrote to the first chief minister of Assam (Gopinath Bordoloi), saying there was a need to differentiate between Hindu refugees and Muslim migrants.
On Jawaharlal Nehru's 134th birth anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recounts incidents where the first prime minister showed exemplary courage, bravery and integrity.
Indian policymakers must realise that in buying small quantities of equipment, it becomes hard to start manufacturing them in India, explains Ajai Shukla.
SmartCity project is in advanced stage.
Why did Modi single out the Congress and its leaders for the most pugnacious verbal assault while sparing other regional adversaries? If he is trying to get some parties to break the Opposition ranks, it means that the BJP's present bravado is for effect. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, begins a new column for Rediff.com.
The Union cabinet also decided to put in place measures for speedy investigation and trial of rape cases.
Cash-strapped Sri Lanka has decided to temporarily shut its embassies in Norway and Iraq, as well as the country's consulate general in Sydney, the ministry of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.
The Maharashtra government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre respectively, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in Mumbai on Thursday.
The film, which was released on May 5, has kicked up a political storm.
"We (at the cabinet) discussed the hijab row, but as the high court is hearing the matter, we felt it is not appropriate for the cabinet to take any further decisions on the issue today. It was decided to wait for the court's verdict before taking any decision," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.
'The skills and abilities of civil servants are still respected, even though they become whipping boys when things go wrong.'
It was a show where even the models had goosebumps. Designers Shantanu & Nikhil pay tribute to newly Independent India.
Modi's BJP has promised more revdis or freebies for these assembly elections than ever before, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh D Ambani on Wednesday said the latest reforms and relief measures will enable the telecom sector to achieve goals set under the Digital India mission. The Cabinet has announced several reforms for the telecom sector, including redefining adjusted gross revenue (AGR) that will now include revenues earned only from telecom services. The government calculates various levies on AGR. "The telecom sector is one of the prime movers of the economy and the key enabler for making India a Digital Society, I welcome the Government of India's announcement of reforms and relief measures that will enable the industry to achieve the goals of Digital India. I thank Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) for this bold initiative," Ambani said.
'The United States should not, by this logic, expect India to create military distractions along the Line of Actual Control, hold up Chinese shipping in the Indian Ocean, or even openly provide intelligence or basing for US forces transiting the region.'
The party plans elaborate year-long celebrations to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary next year. Kavita Chowdhury reports
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday appointed Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Bhupendra Chaudhary as the party's chief in the state.
'I'm very much against petrol and diesel....'' 'I travel in an electric car.' 'I have had a really good experience with it.'
Known to be having extensive expertise in dealing with India's neighbourhood as well as the US, China and Europe, the 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer pipped nearly half-a-dozen others in the race for the coveted post including Indian High Commissioner to UK Gaitri Issar Kumar (1986-batch IFS) and Ruchira Kamboj (1987 batch IFS).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday directed officials to ensure safe evacuation of all Indian citizens from Afghanistan and to provide refuge to Sikhs and Hindus wanting to come to India from there, as he chaired a crucial high-level meeting in the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, sources said.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is eyeing a majority government in Haryana, has launched a high-pitched poll campaign by pressing its top leadership into campaigning to realise its target of 'Mission 60 plus' seats in the state.
Keeping in mind performance as well as Rahul Gandhi's all-important mission UP, government may see some members promoted and others cut down to size, reports Renu Mittal.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
The MH-60R helicopter is an all-weather maritime helicopter designed to support multiple missions with state-of-the-art avionics.
There is no dearth of political will today to act against corruption and officers should take action against the corrupt, however powerful, without any hesitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday.
As veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh and former Union minister and vice president of the BJP Kisan Morcha Subhash Maharia have now made the infighting within the saffron party in Rajasthan public, chances of the ruling party touching the mark of 25 seats now seems impossible, say political observers. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
The central government on Monday appointed Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next chief of Indian Army.
During the 1971 war, he flew several "active attack missions" to heavily defended targets like the Governor House in Dhaka, which became instrumental in forcing Pakistan's surrender, a former colleague said.
The cable was reportedly sent on March 7, a day before the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion and requisitioned a National Assembly session for voting on it.
