Indian billionaires saw their combined fortunes more than double during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their count shot up by 39 per cent to 142, while the wealth of the ten richest is enough to fund school and higher education of children in the country for 25 years, a new study showed on Monday. In its annual inequality survey released on the first day of the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda summit, Oxfam India further said that an additional one per cent tax on the richest 10 per cent can provide the country with nearly 17.7 lakh extra oxygen cylinders, while a similar wealth tax on the 98 richest billionaire families would finance Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance scheme, for more than seven years. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge rush for oxygen cylinders and insurance claims during the second wave last year.
'The government is just laying foundation stones everywhere.' 'It has hardly inaugurated anything.'
While household toilets are only one part of the large challenge for the government, having liquid and solid waste management facilities, along with water delivery across the entire country, is a trickier one.
The PM's choice of ministers is interesting, to say the least, says Jyoti Punwani.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the residential property market during the April-June period last year but sales have improved in affordable homes segment since July onwards, reflecting economic recovery in the real estate sector, according to the Economic Survey. The National Housing Bank's (NHB) Housing Price Indices (HPIs) are a broad measure of movement of residential property prices observed within a geographic boundary. The NHB-RESIDEX captures two housing price indices -- HPI@ Assessment Prices and HPI@ Market Prices - Under Construction Properties based on the data available for 50 cities with quarterly updation.
'If deaths had been properly reported, it would have helped contain the pandemic.'
The court impleaded the civic authorities and directed them to produce details on the action taken against violators who had failed to comply with the conditions stipulated for digging borewells and tubewells.
Experts, however, have raised concern over the decision, saying the move is akin to treating symptoms instead of the underlying causes.
This will help expand the distribution channels, said Subhash Chandra Khuntia, chairman of the insurance regulatory and development authority of India.
'The package is for the distressed farmers who are committing suicide due to the severe drought,' Nitin Gadkari tells Arup Roy Choudhury and Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
In his address after more than 75,000 people were given appointment letters for various government jobs in the first tranche, Modi acknowledged the challenges facing the economy the world over with many countries hit by a record inflation and unemployment and said India is making every effort to come out of the situation unscathed.
'We are planning load shedding in such a way that the entire state will not suffer.'
Modi said the coronavirus pandemic made people learn new things.
There are many such young men in Maharashtra, mainly in the industrially backward Marathwada region, who had once fallen victim to ISIS's propaganda but are now leading a normal life with the help of the employment training programme.
A BJP source admitted that a census will inevitably reconfirm the numerical majority of the OBCs. 'That will overturn social equations and consign the upper castes to a twilight zone of marginalisation. The RSS won't accept it.' Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Nitin Gadkari has seven portfolios, but does not seem weighed down at all by the many things on his plate. The minister is brimming with ideas...
The column marked 'miscellaneous' in statements of accounts of Non-Governmental Organisations who receive foreign funds is turning out to be a headache for the Indian authorities. Vicky Nanjappa tells you why
'There is no money with the villagers as there is little work.'
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy tells rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why the UPA lost in the general elections, the decline of the Left and what he expects from the Centre.
It is time we recognise Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power, he said.
The Budget outlay for health and well being is Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2021-22 as against BE of Rs 94,452 crore and marks an increase of 137 per cent," she said while presenting 2021-22 Budget in the Lok Sabha.
Listing of LIC will help bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market.
'There will always be hiccups given that the Namami Gange programme is spread over different sectors and involves several agencies.'
Amarinder would hold the portfolios of General Administration, Personnel, Home Affairs and Justice, Vigilance and other departments not assigned to any other minister.
Sitharaman does away with loans from National Small Savings Fund to Food Corporation of India.
The output has seen a decline due to the ban in Karnataka and Goa.
The CoWIN portal will be made available in Hindi and 14 regional languages by next week, while 17 more laboratories will be added to the INSACOG network to monitor the variants of COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inducted 19 new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday has carried out major changes in the portfolios of his top ministers.
Merely bringing down the government stake below 51% may not find any taker for the PSBs. The government must bring down its holding to at least 26%, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The rebel legislators have been maintaining that they were forced to go against Thackeray as he kept ignoring their plea to snap ties with the MVA allies despite being told that these constituents were trying to 'finish off' the Sena.
PM extended some old schemes and finally said yes to one that was legally mandated for past 2 years.
Wearing a seat belt could have saved Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road accident, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday and announced a major campaign to spread awareness on observing safety measures while driving.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
The background work of creating a suitable digital architecture of a website also remains unfinished as it has been a challenge to shortlist technology partners.
Stating this Union Tourism minister, Subodh Kant Sahai said on Friday his ministry has appointed a national level consultant to identify four tourism circuits in each state, excluding the North Eastern states and 2 in each union territory for integrated development of tourism circuits during the 12th Plan period.
The districts are Gondia (Maharashtra), Raj Nand Gaon (Chhattisgarh), Davangiri (Karnataka), South Goa, Wayanad and Kottayam (Kerala), West Imphal (Manipur), Rajouri (J&K), Aizwal West (Mizoram), Mahe in Puducherry, SBS Nagar in Punjab, Patna, Nalanda and Munger in Bihar, Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Panipat, Rohtak and Sirsa in Haryana, Pauri Garhwal in Uttrakhand and Bhadradari Kothagudem in Telangana.
The states need to identify the children in distress through outreach and surveys and prepare a database with a profile of each child, along with the details of their specific needs and requirements, and ensure that the data is uploaded on the Track Child portal.
As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
In India, Sartaj Azizis respected as a man of grace, wit and patience. He is a wizened soldier of many diplomatic battles between the two neighbouring nations
The deadline for officers to decide on their career path in the biggest organisational rejig in the central bank's 85-year history ends on January 31. The immediate fallout could be its disruptive impact on the supervisory process for 2020 -- and beyond -- given the manpower shortfall, even as more entities are set to come under closer central bank scrutiny.
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