'Non-BJP state governments and their leaders, navigating today's political landscape, know well they have no clue what awaits around the corner.' 'The chances of charges pressed and oneself getting parked in custody play out on an uneven playing field,' points out Shyam G Menon.
Geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainties, volatility in international commodity prices and financial market uncertainties pose considerable risks to India's economic growth in the coming year, the finance ministry cautioned on Wednesday. "Global trade continues to be affected by uncertainty in the policy environment... tariff-related developments in multiple countries have heightened trade-related risks, affecting investment and trade flows globally.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
'...they always address problems superficially, never tackling root causes.' 'Currently, the policy response will focus on immediate relief -- getting people to safety, providing facilities, clearing debris.' 'This is necessary, but once immediate relief operations end, everything returns to 'normal' without addressing underlying vulnerabilities.'
'The government is actively engaging with EU to ensure that concerns of Indian companies and hard-to-abate sectors are adequately addressed under CBAM'
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a petition filed by an NGO challenging the construction of a renewable energy project at the Jayakwadi Dam in Maharashtra. The court criticized the NGO for opposing the project, stating that it would be detrimental to the country's progress if every project was resisted. The court also raised questions about the NGO's bona fides and funding, suggesting that it may have been influenced by a company that lost the tender for the project. The project, a floating solar power plant, was approved by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The NGT had previously dismissed the NGO's plea, stating that it could not find any law prohibiting such activities in the eco-sensitive zone. The Supreme Court upheld the NGT's decision, finding no grounds to interfere.
Fresh smoke was witnessed on Monday at the Deonar dumping ground, where the fire which has been raging for three days now intensified last evening even as people living in the vicinity complained of discomfort due to the fumes emanating from the site.
A total of 750 pilgrims have been selected through a computerised draw for the upcoming Kailash Manasarovar Yatra in Tibet, marking the resumption of the pilgrimage after a five-year gap. The Yatra's resumption is seen as an attempt to normalize India-China relations, which were strained by the eastern Ladakh border standoff. The pilgrimage will begin in June and continue until August, with pilgrims traveling in five batches via the Lipulekh route and ten batches via the Nathu La route. The selection process was deemed "fair, computer-generated, random, gender-balanced" by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which organized the pilgrimage.
Amid Delhi's worsening air quality, which has plunged into the severe plus category with an AQI consistently above 450, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday called for immediate intervention from the central government.
'Even one accident can cause problems for the entire coastal system.'
The environment ministry on Thursday gave its nod to a plan for constructing a grand statue for Maratha warrior king Shivaji in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai.
The draft environment impact assessment (EIA) notification, 2020, which involves the procedure of issuing environmental clearances to various projects, was issued by the Environment Ministry in March this year and has received thousands of suggestions from the public.
'If you don't fulfil whatever they ask, you are in trouble.'
The recent helicopter crash near Kedarnath, in which seven lives were lost, has proven yet again that aviation regulatory authorities have not learnt lessons from similar air mishaps in the challenging Kedar valley and have done little to improve flying conditions.
The Delhi government will stop providing petrol to vehicles older than 15 years at fuel stations across the city after March 31, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced. The decision is part of the government's efforts to combat air pollution in the national capital. The meeting focused on key policy decisions, including restrictions on older vehicles, mandatory anti-smog measures, and the transition to electric public transport. The government will install gadgets at petrol pumps to identify vehicles older than 15 years, and no fuel will be provided to them.
India has exempted Bangladeshi exports to Nepal and Bhutan as such trade facilitation is mandatory for landlocked countries under the framework of provisions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
The Slovak Republic's President, Peter Pellegrini, has expressed interest in adopting a tree-planting initiative similar to India's "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam," launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The inspiration came during a meeting with Indian President Droupadi Murmu, who was on a two-day state visit to Slovakia. During a tree-planting ceremony in Nitra, Murmu highlighted Modi's initiative to plant trees in the name of mothers. Pellegrini was impressed and suggested that Slovakia could consider a similar program. The initiative, launched on World Environment Day last year, encourages people to plant a tree in their mother's name as a symbolic gesture of love and respect.
'Illegal gambling operators are systematically exploiting India's advertising and payment infrastructure, siphoning off crores of rupees from outside the country.'
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an ambitious plan to develop the country's top 50 tourist destinations in a "challenge mode", with the aim of boosting employment-led growth and attracting international visitors. The Ministry of Tourism has received a significant budget increase for 2025-2026, with a focus on enhancing tourism infrastructure, promoting domestic and international travel, and ensuring the safety of tourists, particularly women. The government plans to promote homestays, improve connectivity to tourist spots, and provide performance-linked incentives to states that demonstrate effective destination management. The budget also includes investments in public enterprises, skill development programs, and initiatives to promote medical tourism and spiritual tourism.
The disbursement of the second tranche comes on a day when the International Monetary Fund is holding virtual discussions on Pakistan's upcoming budget, as the visit of its mission to Islamabad was delayed due to security concerns in the region.
ONGC's overseas arm applied for a sanctions waiver to access $500 million dividend from two Venezuelan projects.
Retail inflation eased to a nearly six-year low of 3.16 per cent in April mainly due to subdued prices of vegetables, fruits, pulses, and other protein-rich items, creating enough room for the Reserve Bank to go for another round of rate cut in the June monetary policy review. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 3.34 per cent in March and 4.83 per cent in April 2024. It was 3.15 per cent in July 2019.
Data from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change reveals that 30 cities recorded an increase in PM10 levels compared to 2017-18 (FY18), indicating deteriorating air quality.
The government of India was suspected of using proxy agents to provide "clandestine financial support" to candidates from three political parties in a federal election, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported.
For the first time, the Data Security Council of India assembled a joint task force to source threat intelligence at the origin and ensure coordinated action across the cybersecurity spectrum.
Being a 'fauji' kid, Sofiya Qureshi grew up listening to tales of valour and sacrifice of the army shared by her grandfather, who was a soldier.
The Delhi government has announced that vehicles older than 15 years will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting April 1.
Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, India's 52nd chief justice and its first Buddhist one, has played a key role in shaping the judicial landscape, penning about 300 verdicts, including landmark rulings on constitutional issues, liberty, and perhaps most important against the executive's 'bulldozer justice'.
Moody's Ratings on Wednesday said India's economic growth will exceed 6.5 per cent in the next fiscal, up from 6.3 per cent this year, on higher government capex and consumption boost from tax cuts and interest rate reduction. Projecting a stable outlook for the banking sector, Moody's said although the operating environment of Indian banks will remain favourable in the next fiscal, their asset quality will deteriorate moderately after substantial improvements in recent years, with some stress in unsecured retail loans, microfinance loans and small business loans.
With the expert panel's recommendations, the project comes a step closer to getting the environment clearance (EC), to be given by the Union Environment Minister.
Citing evolving needs and aspirations of the citizens, he said that the civil service must adapt to contemporary challenges to remain relevant.
The Taliban have announced they will close all national and foreign nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) employing women in Afghanistan.
The environment ministry is likely to soon issue regulations that will mandate automakers to recycle a specified percentage of steel from old vehicles, starting from the next financial year, according to people familiar with the matter. "We recently held a meeting with members of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). "The final regulations are likely to be issued in the next 10 days," a government source informed.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
The National Green Tribunal has been informed by the Uttar Pradesh government's environment department that over 1.12 lakh trees will be felled in the protected forest area in the state to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.
The Supreme Court of India directed the government to establish a legal framework to protect domestic workers and address their exploitation.
The Centre on Monday earmarked a separate Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres to tackle air pollution and announced the much-awaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, even as it shrunk the budgetary allocation for the environment ministry from the last fiscal by nearly eight percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech for 2021-22, announced a total of Rs 2869.93 crore for the ministry, Rs 230 crore less than the last fiscal. Officials said the outlay has been lesser this time as the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
After HPCL, the government headhunter struggled to find a suitable candidate for the top job at Bharat Petroleum, as most applicants were narrow specialists lacking multidisciplinary experience needed to run a large organisation. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) last month interviewed a dozen candidates including BPCL director (finance) Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta and its director (refineries) S Khanna but found none suitable for the job of chairman and managing director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), according to a PESB order.
