Terming corruption as a "major stumbling block" in the country's progress, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked the central vigilance commission to lead the way in cleansing the government.
Lush agricultural lands have turned parch as groundwater levels deplete to new lows, and wells and water reservoirs go dry. While the administration points to deficient rainfall as a reason, experts and activists say the drought is mostly man-made.
The ability and quality of implementation of development initiatives remains India's Achilles' heel.
India's economy - ranked eighth in 2015 with a GDP of $2 trillion - is projected to climb past Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan and become the world's third-largest in 2030 with a GDP of $7.3 trillion.
Earlier, while presenting the Budget on February 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to cap cash transactions at Rs 300,000 with effect from April 1.
After Singapore Airlines and Emirates, Lufthansa on Wednesday announced the launch of flights of the superjumbo Airbus A-380 to India from New Delhi later this month.
Noting that tax evasion is not a criminal offence in Switzerland, a senior Swiss official has acknowledged differences with India on what can be made public about Indians having unaccounted money parked in Swiss banks.
The prime minister made the reference about the functioning of the Parliament against the backdrop of the virtual washout of its Monsoon session over various issues.
The Union home ministry termed the suspension as null and void.
Arun Jaitley addressed a post-Budget press conference.
'Strengthen hospital capacity, look after patients who need care, primarily ICU care...' 'Train doctors, get PPE, get ventilators, have treatment protocols in place.'
What if the digital records of a food delivery service are leaked? What if a tech-savvy gaurakshak scans those records and discovers who the beef-eaters are? What happens next? Devangshu Datta highlights the risks posed by leaks of digital databases.
Should the Income-Tax Act have been simultaneously amended to exclude Sikhs and Jains from the definition of HUF once they were declared a minority by the government? Sanjeev Nayyar discusses the curious dichotomies in our laws.
Some 74 projects from Odisha and another 51 projects from Chhattisgarh have lined up before the Project Monitoring Group.
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At the retreat, PSBs had suggested the government cut its stake in these entities to less than 51 per cent over a period of time and empower the boards of individual banks.
'The core sectors have not done very well in the past one year.'
Change in performance appraisal system will deter corruption and motivate officers to pass correct orders.
Ban on purchase of vehicles, except for defence, continues.
'The genetic thing is not in your control. The virulence is not known.' 'The only thing is if you can avoid it.' 'Once you get COVID-19, none of it is in your control.'
With all the brouhaha over GST, and (often) a limited understanding of the long-term forces shaping India's logistics sector, companies seem to have omitted factoring in some underlying trends that could shape supply chain excellence, says Neelesh Mundra.
Security of tenure is important for a bureaucrat to work efficiently. There has to be some rationale behind posting a bureaucrat to a particular department, says former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian
In the first half of the fiscal year, government had borrowed Rs 3.44 lakh crore.
The most pressing issue facing the financial sector is the rising stock of non-performing assets in the banking system
'The two-word answer is: Proper oversight,' says T N Ninan.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Shaktikanta Das said in Washington, DC, that there was nothing sacrosanct about the 25 bps rate cut and that monetary policy could be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation, and the size of the change itself could convey the stance of policy.
PwC one of the big four audit firms, has expressed disappointment at the conviction of two former partners in the Satyam scam.
Besides a minority stake, the UK and Welsh governments are considering additional grant funding
On government's last week's announcement of revamping of PSU banks, Fitch Ratings said the move is "credit positive, but risks remain".
All the poor people identified by the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 will be eligible for the scheme, officials said, adding that it will be linked to Aadhar but will not be a mandatory condition for availing the benefit.
Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad tells Rediff.com that the government have decided to repeal 36 obsolete laws immediately, but many more will be added to this list in the coming months. The minister also informs that this exercise was undertaken on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had flagged the issue soon after he took charge. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
The new rail and road cargo service launched on Friday, linking Guangdong, Tibet and Nepal, aims to boost trade with the South Asian neighbour as China pushes forward its Belt and Road (Silk Road) initiative, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
The President noted that the green shoots of recovery were already visible, with the economy growing at 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of current fiscal.
The e-passport will replace the existing passport document with a plastic card embedded with an electronic chip containing all the details.
It is mind-boggling to find our prime minister putting exports on the back-burner, says Jayanta Roy.
'Reluctance to go against temple rituals is understandable and the Hindu vote bank is extremely important at the ensuing elections.' 'But even the devout Hindus will not hold it against the government if the opportunity presented by the tragedy is utilised at least for a temporary ban.' 'Later, it may be too late as it might dawn on people that a hundred lives are not too much of a sacrifice to save a tradition,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
It is a Budget 'high on promises but low on design,' the agency said.
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Under constant attack from the press, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is being counselled by his well-wishers to appoint a personal media advisor to shore up his image in the run-up to the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Spectrum trading will happen in 9 circles.
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