The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of post-retirement employment possibilities for 'Agniveer' like priority in recruitment to the central armed police forces (CAPF) and Assam rifles but that failed to assuage the concerns of the opposition Congress which warned the 'transformative' 'Agnipath' scheme will reduce the operational effectiveness of the armed forces.
'You may see some movement indicating a simpler tax regime with less exemptions but with fewer tax rates making life simpler for taxpayers.'
Is it time to take a relook at our economic theories? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
After a two-year lull, the deal pipeline in India's hospitality sector, which has witnessed a strong revival since the second wave of the pandemic receded, is running full. Family offices, high net-worth individuals (HNIs) and institutional investors are looking at the sector with renewed interest, according to investment and transaction advisory firms working on multiple deals. Most of them declined to divulge details of the deals for reasons of confidentiality. The cumulative debt of the tourism, hotels and restaurant sector rose 8.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 64,408 crore as of March 25, 2022 against Rs 59,519 crore on March 26, 2021, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
Modi's emphasises on transit for trade comes amid Pakistan's reluctance to provide such a facility for two-way trade between India and Pakistan.
The protests brought home the fact that the Sri Lankan public is in no mood for halfway measures, as voices against Rajapaksa 'family rule' and 'securitisation' of the civilian administration began sidestepping the more critical economic crisis, affecting the nation and afflicting the individual, observes Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is because of the bravery of Colonel Santosh Babu and his men that we have not seen a violent escalation anywhere else along the LAC.'
Nearly 125 people from Maharashtra and Telangana are stranded in Nepal after a high-magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan nation.
'The impact of economic shocks on the labour markets is usually on the young who delay their entry in response to a fall in job opportunities,' says Mahesh Vyas.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said Indian banks face a systemic risk as the second COVID wave will impair the performance of financial institutions in the April-September period. Stating that economic recovery remains highly vulnerable to setbacks due to COVID, particularly if fresh outbreaks trigger new lockdowns, S&P said the banking sector's weak loans will likely remain elevated at 11-12 per cent of gross loans in the next 12 to 18 months. "The second wave has front-ended weakness in asset quality," said S&P Global Ratings Credit Analyst Deepali Seth Chhabria. "Financial institutions face a strained first half amid weak collections and poor disbursements."
After yoga and meditation, it is now designer smiles, fresh crowns and tooth implants, which promise a refashioned "nirvana" for an increasing number of foreigners and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) visiting Jalandhar.
While the meetings on Friday were preliminary discussions, it is learnt that sectors like tourism; hospitality; aviation; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and livestock have sought deferring loan repayments and temporary tax holidays in specific cases to help them tide over the steep fall in economic activity.
Virgin Galactic spaceship Unity carrying a crew of four, including British billionaire Richard Branson, dabbled into space and returned to Earth safely, a live stream of the event showed on Sunday.
India's largest online travel agency, MakeMyTrip said that it is premature to assess the impact of Omicron variant on overseas tour bookings. Others in the travel sector however are worried about cancellations in the coming days as countries tighten travel restrictions. "It is too early to assess the impact of the new Covid-19 variant on outbound travel. "Additional protocols are already set in any case from several countries which will help contain the variant coming to India.
Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday visited the iconic Wankhede stadium in Mumbai to review the preparations ahead of the Indian Premier League, starting next month.
The total cost includes Rs 44 crore for contingencies and overhead expenses.
Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed military personnel at State-run petrol pumps to monitor and manage fuel distribution amidst a shortage that led to serpentine queues of consumers outside filling stations.
Cricket fans in England could get the chance to see the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma clearing boundaries on a regular basis, with London mayor Sadiq Khan set to spearhead a campaign to bring the Indian Premier League to the English capital.
The CDS has the option to focus on key areas of capability development to fight new generation wars or get bogged down in trying to bring cosmetic changes to humour the political leadership, asserts Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Rural tourism in the country is still evolving and The Rural Tourism Network Enterprise is here to make life simple, yet attractive.
Travel companies have been seeing cancellations and enquiries on safety issues are piling up.
A visiting delegation from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and Indian industry on Monday decided to study the feasibility of laying a natural gas pipeline across the two countries.
Nepal on Monday wrapped up week-long rescue operations in the Himalayas after rescuing about 300 people stranded in one of the worst snowstorms that killed 40 hikers, including four Indians.
'Since the bilateral deficit is a reality -- and a worry -- we need to find a way to deal with it,' says Ravi Bhoothalingam.
'This is necessary for protecting the Hindu religion'
Hit by Covid waves and slowdown, the Indian Railways has still not been able to return to its pre-pandemic passenger traffic, data by ministry of Railways has revealed. In February, the national transporter received 413 million ticket bookings - 43 per cent higher than the previous year, but only 61 per cent of the 675 million in February 2020. According to the statistics, that was the last time the Railways saw more than 500 million bookings in a single month.
Besides urging the Centre for extension of loan moratorium, the hotel and travel industries have also demanded deferment of GST and advance tax payments and waiver of fees for all forthcoming licences and permits.
As many as 200 Hindu pilgrims, most of them from India, were overwhelmed with emotions as they prayed at the 100-year-old renovated Maharaja Paramhans Ji temple in Pakistan on Sunday amidst tight security, a year after the temple was demolished by a mob belonging to a radical Islamist party.
Laxmi Sorte and Kaustav Ghosh, who travelled across 29 Indian states and five Union territories in 101 days, recommend a list of lesser known places in India to add to your travel bucket list.
He said in the last 8-10 days, the active cases in the state stood in the range of 5,000-6,000.
Spending has begun rising in infrastructure, construction and Indian firms have started to benefit.
Licence winners are expected to be announced by the first quarter of 2014.
Rediff labs analyses the number of visitors to centrally protected monuments in India and how much the revenue it generates for the government through the tickets to see these monuments.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
IRCTC to restore service charges on e-tickets from Sep 1; Rs 15 for non-AC, Rs 30 for AC classes.
The Airports Authority of India, which manages the Goa airport, said in an advisory that the passengers who do not have a COVID-19 negative certificate will have to undergo 14 days' home or paid quarantine on arrival in the state.
Tourist arrival growth down to 1.9% over poor marketing and terror threats. Airlines, too, have been forced to reroute following airspace closure. UK and Australia advised their citizens from travelling to Srinagar following the Pulwama attack.
Nearly 250 private liquor vends, licensed under now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, are running currently in the city.
Umar Ganie captures glimpses of Vidya Balan and Arbaaz Khan's visit to Kashmir for Rediff.com.
