The government has identified 50 public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore, significantly surpassing the original targets of the National Monetisation Pipeline, said Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the Business Standard Infrastructure Summit on Thursday.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
Recognising job creation for the youth as the foremost challenge for the economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a comprehensive Prime Minister's package to facilitate the employment and skilling of 41 million youth with a central outlay of Rs 2 trillion over the next five-year period. The package will consist of five schemes and initiatives - three focused on jobs and two on skilling.
Questioning the Congress's stand on caste census, the BJP leader made certain remarks on Gandhi's caste that triggered the uproar and had Congress members trooping into the well of the Lok Sabha. "Anurag Thakur insulted me and I don't want any apology from him. Abuse or insult me as hard as you can but don't forget we will pass the caste census in this Parliament for sure," the Leader of the Opposition said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Congress stands 'badly exposed' in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
Modi said the transformations in the country in the past 10 years have reignited a risk-taking culture among the citizens.
Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
GST 2.0 may cushion consumers against US tariffs, but like the 2019 corporate tax cut, it risks being another tactical fix rather than a structural growth strategy, expects Debashis Basu.
'The Bhashini Mission has delivered a working technology at large scale, which is as good as or better than the one with MNC tech giants.'
Communication channels between India and the US are open to resolve the ongoing tariff issues, and the glitch in trade ties is only temporary, given the long-term relationship between the two nations, government sources said on Wednesday. The US' 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to America came into effect from August 27, barring a few sectors.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday issued a three-line whip to all of its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House for the passing of the Union Budget 2025-26.
Several executives argue that UPI has the potential to grow tenfold, but warn that the absence of a monetisation model risks stagnating the real-time payments system, which has been recording all-time-high transaction volumes every year.
Vijay, with his chief ministerial ambitions, is a one-man army, at least as of now, and his campaign team considers him omnipresent. He has to be present in all districts, if not all constituencies at the same time, as there is no second-line leader or platform speaker in the party, who can draw crowds, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government of wasting a decade fighting with the Centre and urged its people to give the Bharatiya Janata Party an opportunity to turn the national capital into a city of the future.
As the row erupted in Parliament, the Congress said the Gandhi family's caste is martyrdom but the BJP-RSS will never understand that.
Parliament introduces a new 'Health Menu' featuring millet-based dishes, salads, and lean protein options to promote healthier eating habits among lawmakers, officials, and visitors.
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
Kharge's remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
The rising goods and services tax (GST) and personal income-tax collections may bolster the Narendra Modi government's ability to announce new schemes or enhance existing ones.
'There is no retrospective changing of the law, only its simplification.'
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman finance minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
All eyes will be on whether Sitharaman will deliver a populist budget leaving more money in hands of the common man or push the reform agenda by staying on the fiscal glide path to lower the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26.
'If the BJP detoxifies the nuclear liability law, it will bring economic, environmental and, most of all, strategic benefits.' 'Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that this Budget promise is met soon -- ideally, before Mr Modi heads to his first meeting with Trump 2.0,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
To offer additional support at the low end of the income ranges, the Centre will consider a large-scale jump in exemption rates under the old income-tax regime in the vote on account, or interim Budget, according to a senior official in the know. Those will include an extension of the income tax exemption rates close to Rs 7 lakh and additional measures for women farmers.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging the 'deplorable' conditions in residential hostels for Dalit, ST, EBC, OBC and minority students and the delay in post-matric scholarships for those from marginalised communities.
The session will conclude on July 3.
'India has resolved to hold the 2036 Olympic Games in these 10 complexes.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure and amenities will be taken up 'on our islands, including Lakshadweep' to address the 'emerging fervour' for domestic tourism in the country.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced a Rs 11.11 lakh crore spending on infrastructure and vowed to continue reforms as she resisted resorting to populist measures in Modi government's last Budget before general elections, instead choosing to stay on the path of cutting deficit while bolstering measures for focus groups.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said elections keep happening but Parliament's Budget session is very important and urged all MPs to make it fruitful.
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
Why did the political system in the country react to these two decisions of the Modi government in a diametrically opposite manner? asks A K Bhattacharya.
There will be no second term for President Kovind and no elevation for Vice President Naidu.
In a heinous terror attack, two Indians were killed while one was abducted in the Dosso region of Niger, as noted by the Indian Embassy in Niger.
The Modi government is notoriously honest about one fact: It does not listen to economists, observes Shekhar Gupta.
India has no intention to escalate tensions with Pakistan, but any military attacks on its soil will be met with a "very" firm response, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. Jaishankar made the remarks at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, emphasizing that the "barbaric" Pahalgam terror attack compelled India to carry out strikes on "cross-border" terror infrastructure on Wednesday. He reiterated that India's response was targeted and measured, but stressed that any further military attacks would be met with a firm response. The Iranian foreign minister, who landed in New Delhi amidst escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, called for de-escalation of the situation and stressed the need for regional cooperation to eradicate terrorism. The meeting also focused on boosting ties in areas of trade and investment, including the Chabahar port project.
'We've moved from thousands killed yearly in Jammu and Kashmir to 127 last year.' 'Cross-border terrorism in Kashmir is being solved. We are winning it.'
Perhaps because the Modi government had some differences of opinion with two of the economist governors (one of whom was appointed by the Manmohan Singh government), there is a view that its political leadership prefers a civil servant to head the RBI, notes A K Bhattacharya.
The time limit is proposed to be extended from the current two years to four years.
