It was not immediately known whether the deportees were in shackles, as the previous batch was.
We the people are left in the wind, waiting on the whims of an unengaged president and an oligarch with a nearly bottomless wallet, observes Sree Sreenivasan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
State Bank of India (SBI) - the country's largest lender - has unveiled two new schemes to boost deposit mobilisation at a time when most banks are facing challenges in raising resources. The first is 'Har Ghar Lakhpati,' a pre-calculated recurring deposit (RD) scheme designed to help customers accumulate Rs 100,000 or multiples thereof and develop a savings habit.
The government resolution does not spell out what action would be taken, if any, against those writing and publishing 'negative' news. Nor does it define 'negative news and "misinformation', explains Jyoti Punwani.
At least 27 terrorists were killed and 155 passengers rescued by the security forces after Baloch militants hijacked a passenger train in a tunnel in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province on Tuesday, security officials said.
As a leader, he was ambitious, not for himself but for India and its people. His was not the short-term election cycle calculation of individual political gain. His was a practical vision of how to better the lives of his fellow citizens, asserts Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, who served as foreign secretary and national security advisor when Dr Singh was prime minister.
Privately, many bankers admit their immediate goal is not growth but slowing the erosion of Casa deposits, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Gyanendra back on the throne would be bad news for the Nepali people. He may not have learnt from his experience, but we have.'
'We also realised that locking customers to our Cloud was not fair to them.'
While 392 people arrived in New Delhi in a C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the Indian Air Force, another batch of 362 Indians were brought to Bengaluru.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
The obsession for migrating to the US is visible mostly in Majha and Doaba regions of Punjab, he further said.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
India has always been open to legitimate return of undocumented Indians to their country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday, noting that New Delhi is still in the process of verifying those from the United States who can be deported to India and the number of such individuals cannot be determined yet.
In June, President Joe Biden issued a massive immigration relief to non-citizens offering a path to citizenship to the non-citizen spouses and children of American nationals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met and interacted with leading cricket players of Guyana in Georgetown on Friday.
Seema's questioning also comes at a time when a little-known right-wing fringe group in Greater Noida has threatened a protest if Haider, who illegally entered India with her four children, is not evicted from the country 'within 72 hours'.
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (SAD), which led protests against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has launched itself as a political party called the National Citizen Party (NCP). The new party, which aims to 'dismantle constitutional autocracy' and establish a 'second republic,' has pledged to create a 'solely Bangladesh-oriented' political system, with no room for 'pro-India and pro-Pakistan politics.' The NCP's inaugural rally was attended by representatives of various political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, and envoys from the Vatican and Pakistan.
rediffGURU Samkit Maniar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
Trump has made it clear to Prime Minister Modi that India will not be spared from Washington's reciprocal tariffs and emphasised that "nobody can argue with me" on tariff structure.
The tech community, which was getting ready to use the ChatGPT fever and raise unlimited capital for their businesses, is going to face tougher obstacles now, predicts Ajit Balakrishnan.
Nitin Desai, who has known Dr Singh from 1971, extends his 'deepest condolences to his wife Gurcharan Kaur and to his three talented daughters Upinder, the historian; Daman, the writer; and Amrit, the human rights activist.'
Kejriwal described the BJP's election manifesto as "dangerous for the country".
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday unveiled 'transformative' tax reforms that ranged from a simpler income tax law to higher TCS threshold for remittances and income tax benefits for middle class.
Uttarakhand will become the first state in independent India to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on January 27. The UCC will bring about uniformity in the society and ensure equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens. The law was passed by the state assembly in February 2024 and received presidential assent a month later. The UCC will govern and regulate laws relating to marriage and divorce, succession, live-in relationships and related matters. It sets equal marriageable age for men and women, grounds of divorce and procedures across all religions, and bans polygamy and 'halala'.
'It feels great to carry on this musical tradition.'
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
India has confirmed that 12 Indian nationals have died while serving in the Russian military during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Another 16 Indians, who were serving in the Russian armed forces, are listed as missing by Russia. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said a total of 126 Indians were serving with the Russian military and 96 of them have so far been discharged.
Qin, who recently succeeded Wang Yi, had a phone call at the request of Bilawal on January 9, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement in Beijing said on Tuesday.
The Maharashtra cabinet has approved the mandatory use of FASTag for toll collection across the state from April 1. This move is expected to streamline administrative processes, enhance transparency, and reduce congestion at toll plazas. The cabinet also approved revisions to the Rules of Business, streamlining administrative functioning and making it more efficient. The revisions include provisions related to matters to be presented before the cabinet, cases requiring approval from the Chief Minister or Governor, and procedures for meetings of the cabinet and council of ministers.
US President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs and a travel ban on Colombia after the South American nation refused to accept two American military planes deporting undocumented Colombians. The move comes after President Trump announced mass deportations of illegal immigrants and warned countries of consequences if they refuse to accept them. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a post on X, said that the US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals and denied the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into Colombian territory. Trump responded by imposing a 25% tariff on all goods coming into the US, a travel ban and immediate visa revocations on Colombian government officials, and visa sanctions on all party members, family members and supporters of the Colombian government. The US also announced enhanced customs and border protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds. In retaliation, Colombia announced a 25% import tariff on American products.
Notably Trump had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement immediately after his first inauguration in January 2017. Joe Biden reversed that decision later.
Addressing a rally in Mhow on Monday, Gandhi said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before Independence, when "only maharajas and rajas enjoyed rights".
Opposition leaders in India have expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the deportation of Indian illegal immigrants from the United States during his recent visit. They criticized the manner in which the Indians were sent back, shackled and handcuffed on a military aircraft. The leaders also discussed the need for India to address the root causes of migration and the importance of national interest in diplomatic relations with the United States.
'Modi's intention was to create goodwill that will allow India to be seen by Trump as more than just a bad tariff problem.' 'He succeeded brilliantly on that count but none of these wins are unfortunately permanent.' 'Modi will have to do this again and again if Trump's grievances are to be durably assuaged.'
Prominent businessman Boby Chemmanur was taken into custody on Wednesday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the sexual harassment case filed by Malayalam actress Honey Rose, official sources said on Monday.
More than 750 eminent citizens, including historian Romila Thapar, economist Jean Dreze and actor Naseeruddin Shah, on Wednesday came out in support of a news website which is alleged to have received dubious funds to spread Chinese propaganda.
The CBI has booked five people for allegedly posing as Microsoft tech support and siphoning off USD 400,000 (Rs 3.37 crore as per current rates) retirement funds of a US citizen, officials said on Friday.
