'Unfortunately, our political class is not interested in making this society equal. They just want to exploit the situation for their own benefit.'
'...it gets a survey report that they are going to lose elections.' 'The fear of losing elections will make them immediately conduct a caste census.'
Barely days after imposing a 40 per cent export tax on onions to cool down soaring prices, which, in turn, triggered widespread protests across the main growing belts, the Centre on Tuesday sought to mitigate both political and economic tensions gripping parts of Maharashtra. It decided to procure an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer stock from farmers, a rate that is strikingly close to the price at which they were being exported before the 40 per cent duty was levied on August 19. The export price before the imposition of the duty stood at around $320 per tonne free on board (approximately Rs 2,650 per quintal).
'The BJP is trying to change this mantra.'
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
US Congressman Ro Khanna's message is that instead of depending on the 'hidden hand' of capitalism -- that is to say, the power of markets -- it is time for policymakers to play a more active role in making sure that a wide range of towns become locations for digital economy enterprises and jobs, points out Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Are we supposed to look the other way as Islamists go on a rampage against Hindus and the Hasina government pay lip service to secularism?' A revealing excerpt from Avishek Biswas and Deep Halder's book, Being Hindu In Bangladesh: The Untold Story.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma takes on Narendra Modi, says: Gujrat cannot be sold as a model state as it has many flaws.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has released its manifesto for the upcoming Nagaland assembly elections, promising a special package for the eastern part of the state and establishment of a board for the holistic development of the region if the party returns to power for the second time in a row.
At this year's TIME ball in New York City on Thursday, April 25, you would have run into a Coimbatore-born American scientist, looking lovely in Sabyasachi Mukherjee designer finery, who would most likely have been hanging out with Dua Lipa.
'Growth is predicated on the misery of large sections of people.' 'Maybe Hindutva will be used to suppress any such unrest.'
'In view of these facts I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, 2022 and I am staying away from it'
Most, save Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu, were silent on Bihar polls; it was business as usual for the PM.
In the context of market integrity, the IRAI and RBI should go over the minutes of the LIC and SBI board meetings when the decisions to invest in Adani equity or debt were taken, notes Jaimini Bhagwati, former World Bank treasury professional.
The Congress on Sunday gave a call to party leaders in poll-bound states to work with unity to ensure victory that will 'set the tone' for 2024 Lok Sabha polls even as it showed willingness to forge an alliance of 'like-minded' parties.
'2020 will show whether India's troubled domestic economic and political house reveals a mismatch in their strategic association or whether closer strategic ties are yet possible,' says Anita Inder Singh.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was on Thursday relieved of the finance portfolio by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a 'new vision for India'.
Funding challenges are not limited to just one think tank. Several scholars say that access for conducting research and getting foreign funds has become a major hurdle for think tanks, with the government raising many questions regarding such inflows. As a result, many think tanks are keeping a low profile and becoming less prolific.
The words 'industry', 'industrial development', 'jobs', and 'employment' have been ringing with higher frequency since Mamata Banerjee stepped into her third term with landslide victory after a high-octane election last year. "Our government's next target is industrial development," the chief minister (CM) had been heard stating at different public meetings in the past few months - perhaps setting the tone for the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) slated for later this month. Investor summits by any state are about intent, big numbers, and tall claims. Yet in competitive federalism, its importance as a marketing tool is undeniable.
The prime minister took no names but made an apparent reference to reports about "rate card" for different government jobs in the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal and prevalence of "cut money" in the state.
India on Monday voiced its concern to China over its plan to build a multi-billion dollar Economic Corridor to Pakistan through POK, even as it assured Beijing of its commitment to consolidate strategic bilateral ties.
Gianni Infantino wants the world to 'focus on the football'
Udayanidhi has handed over to the BJP one real issue to draw the line between it and the INDIA alliance, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
A time has thus come when state encouragement for rural students led to empowerment of the socio-economically marginalised sections of the population. It included women. Today, with greater exposure and consequent enlightenment, it has gone beyond 'empowerment' to become 'entitlement', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Earlier, a lot of fear was in the minds of people that the BJP is anti-Christian and anti-minority, but over the years people have learnt to accept that the BJP is just another national party.'
The remarks by Naidu in his last address as the country's Vice President came even as Telangana's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi RS said the welfare of poorer sections of society is not a freebie and that welfare measures taken by governments should continue.
Observing that Laxman rekha of separation of power is 'sacrosanct,' Chief Justice of India N V Ramana Friday said at times courts are compelled to intervene in the interest of justice and the intention is to nudge the executive, and not to usurp its role and they should not be projected as judiciary targeting another institution.
Manmohan Singh and Musharraf felt that what they were embarking upon, if successful, could lead to a future of boundless potential for the two countries and for the relationship that was hard to foresee from the prism of the existing situation and the historical position and orthodox ideas on both sides.
He also said that infrastructure development in the country in the last eight years has been done with a human touch.
The Wayanad MP, who is on two-day visit to his constituency in poll-bound Kerala, also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on MGNREGA.
With social distancing in customer's mind coupled with the government's push to further normalise business conditions and banks becoming more considerate to finance vehicles, entry level passenger vehicles saw good demand.
When there is a state government committed to development, it is important that Mumbai has a civic body that, too, shares that goal, Modi said.
'This is happening regardless of the Budget.'
On his sixth visit this year to Karnataka, where assembly elections are due by May, he also asserted that the 'double engine' government is a necessity for the fast-paced development of the state.
"You cannot just pick Rs 8 lakh out of the thin air and fix it as a criteria. There has to be some basis, some study. Tell us whether any demographic study or data was taken into account in fixing the limit. How do you arrive at this exact figure? Can the Supreme Court strike down the criteria, if no study was undertaken?" the Supreme Court asked.
At an event at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai, Modi first flagged off the the CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express and later another semi high-speed train linking the financial capital to Sainagar Shirdi temple town in Ahmednagar district.
Till such time that a new governance framework comes into being, the progress of reforms in health, education, land, labour, electricity and agriculture could remain fraught with problems, agitations and delays, observes A K Bhattacharya.
'The decision to supply free food grains is not an economically sound decision because the government will find it very difficult in future to charge anything for food grains.'
Dhankhar, who took to cricket in his school days and also had keen interest in spirituality and meditation, began his political journey with the Janata Dal and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989.
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