The Indian government has approved two major manufacturing initiatives worth nearly Rs 1.9 lakh crore (USD 22 billion) to expand the country's semiconductor ecosystem and scale up mobile phone production, aiming to strengthen its position as a global electronics manufacturing hub.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the central government have introduced a package of measures, including tax exemptions for FPIs on government securities and a concessional foreign-exchange swap facility, aiming to attract up to $50 billion in foreign capital. This initiative is designed to strengthen India's balance of payments and potentially cover the projected BoP gap for FY27.
The Indian government has issued an updated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) applications, aiming to clear all proposals within 12 weeks, a two-week extension from the previous 10-week target, to ensure a fully paperless and transparent process.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
The BJP has released its election manifesto for West Bengal, promising a hardline stance on infiltration, financial assistance for women and unemployed youth, and the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission for state employees.
The Indian government is considering additional relief packages for vulnerable sectors like MSMEs to mitigate the impact of the ongoing West Asia crisis on the economy and inflation.
A mobile app 'CAA-2019' will also be launched shortly to facilitate applications through mobile app.
With the Iran war escalating sharply and crisis deepening in the global energy market, India on Monday unveiled a coordinated plan to support exporters and shippers caught in the fallout.
The Meghalaya government in partnership with startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia's first drone delivery hub and network which is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state, a release said on Tuesday. The project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network, it said. On Monday, the first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub Divisional Hospital, which will act as the hub, and delivered medicines to Padeldoba primary health centre in less than 30 minutes, which would otherwise have taken 2.5 hours by road, TechEagle said in the release.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's biggest challenge will be to find a new growth driver, particularly against the backdrop of a global economy ravaged by heightened uncertainty and fragmentation, financial markets on a precipice, and global commodity prices on a continued uptrend.
The policy also aims to provide training to physicians and paramedical staff for treating psychiatric patients.
'What the government is doing would be a drop in the ocean. It has to be matched by investments by industry.'
The government on Friday unveiled long awaited Unified Licence norms that provide for delinking of spectrum from operational permits and allows companies to offer services using any technology.
With an eye on the general election, the government on Monday unveiled a series of audio-visual clips, as a part of its multi media campaign to highlight its achievements and showcase the impact of the United Progressive Alliance's policies in the last nine years. Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, in whose presence the presentation was made, said the multimedia initiative was different from the 'India Shining' campaign of the NDA.
Among key guidelines, the e-commerce companies will also be required to ensure that personally identifiable information of customers are protected.
'In so far as bilateral sports events in each other's country are concerned, Indian teams will not be participating in competitions in Pakistan. Nor will we permit Pakistani teams to play in India.'
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 41.95 points to 4,572.65, after touching the day's high of 4,582.20. Marketmen said trading sentiment turned bullish after President Pratibha Patil presented the agenda of the UPA government in Parliament.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved 'Mission Karmayogi', dubbed as the biggest bureaucratic reform initiative, aimed at capacity building of government employees to make them more "creative, proactive, professional and technology-enabled". The core guiding principles of the competency-driven programme will be to support a transition from "rules based to roles based" HR management to prepare the Indian civil servant for the future, according to a government statement.
The BJP regime, which is unable to take on the DMK, the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu is involved in a "cultural invasion," Siva, a Rajya Sabha MP, alleged.
The draft rules underline security parameters that digital wallet companies, such as Paytm, FreeCharge and Mobikwik, will have to follow
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced that a football stadium of international standard will be constructed in Lucknow for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed soon.
It is a question now whether the makers of the statue had comprehended all these factors before making it, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.
Meanwhile, a structural engineer named in the case registered in connection with the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue claimed that he was not the structural consultant for the project.
In the wake of collapse of the Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg, the Maharashtra government has issued a tender for the construction of a new 60-foot-tall statue there, nearly twice the size of the previous one, officials said on Wednesday.
The Tamil Nadu government is set to unveil a housing initiative for 18,720 women employed by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, a key supplier to iPhone-maker Apple, this Saturday. The project, located at Vallam Vadagal near Chennai, marks the first time an Indian state government has constructed a hostel of this scale for a private firm - a model that's been successful in China and Vietnam.
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
Murmu's address to the joint sitting of Parliament will also be the first after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.
There has been a long standing demand to unveil the statue of the renowned Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar in Bengaluru. The Karnataka government agreed to go ahead with the univeling of the statue after their counterparts in Chennai agreed to unveil the statue of renowned Kannada poet Sarvangnya. Tamil Nadu has scheduled the unveiling of the statue in Chennai on August 13.
On the heels of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), which revealed new demographic trajectories including the replacement level of fertility, the government will, on Monday, unveil extensive economic data related to health and the broader economy. New data will relate to per capita spending on health and proportions of the GDP to health spending. Health ministry sources said the NFHS-5 marked some areas for celebration but also some markers that should cause concern.
Industry players believe the new DFI model will be initially risk capital, which will then be used to mobilise additional resources from development agencies such as World Bank.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
The policy was earlier expected to be unveiled by December this year, but delays in receiving recommendations have pushed the date to next year.
The government will unveil measures in the Budget for helping exporters who are hit hard by recession in the developed economies, new Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said on Friday.
Addressing a public meeting after unveiling a 125 ft-tall statue of B R Ambedkar here, KCR said the BRS party was getting a tremendous response from Maharashtra and was expecting a similar reaction from West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.
Continuing on the fiscally prudent path, the Modi government in the interim Budget refrained from announcing populist measures, which will help it trim the fiscal deficit to 5.1 per cent of the GDP next fiscal and 4.5 per cent in FY26.
According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
Lamenting the abysmally low budgetary support to animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh on Monday said the government will soon unveil a livestock policy to enhance resources for the neglected sector.
Taking potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party, some opposition leaders also wondered if Goel resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls on its ticket like former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
