Three-quarters into the 10 years that Mr Modi had sought for transforming India, the 'output' numbers look impressive, but the key 'outcome' numbers don't show up much, if at all, observes T N Ninan.
The Centre's push to sell Air India on priority has led to delays in other strategic divestment proposals, such as privatising United India Insurance, as well as ongoing transactions, such as Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), revealed multiple officials involved in the process. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is yet to take new privatisation recommendations of the NITI Aayog to the core group of secretaries on disinvestment (CGD) headed by the Cabinet secretary, said one of the officials. The priority now is to ensure all approvals for Air India are in place since the government intends to hand over the national carrier as early as this month.
'It will impact the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.'
The government on Friday said there is no need to panic on the need for an immediate change in the dosage interval of Covishield vaccine, underlining that reducing the time gap requires proper scientific study in the Indian scenario.
While presenting her 2021-22 Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had set a fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) against the 2020-21 Revised Estimate of 9.5 per cent. The fiscal correction in the upcoming 2022-23 Union Budget is unlikely to be that steep. Even as discussions among top Budget-makers are ongoing, the fiscal deficit target for 2022-23 may likely be in the range of 6.5-6.8 per cent.
So far, 1.1 crore doses of Covaxin have been administered. Out of which 93 lakh received the first dose and out of that 4,208 (0.04 per cent) people got the infection which is four per 10,000 individuals. About 17,37,178 people received the second dose of which only 695 (0.04 per cent) tested positive for COVID-19, Bhargava said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan called up MLAs considered close to Vasundhara Raje to ensure their presence at Monday's assembly proceedings, party sources said amid concerns that they could instead opt for events connected with the former chief minister's 'temple yatra'.
The Indian economy has recovered 'handsomely' from the pandemic-induced disruptions, former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Tuesday, while expressing hope that the recovery will be sustained and the growth rate of 7 to 8 per cent will be restored. Panagariya suggested that the government must now signal its intention to wind down fiscal deficit by cutting it by half-to-one percentage point in 2022-23. "The Indian economy has recovered handsomely, returning to its pre-COVID GDP... "Only private consumption is still below its pre-COVID-19 level," the eminent economist told PTI in an interview.
These kinds of assumptions to be used for a nation of India's size and "to put us in poor light is not desirable"
Describing state and district officials as 'field commanders' in the fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said localised containment zones, aggressive testing and sharing correct and complete information with people are weapons to defeat the pandemic.
Modi stressed on the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants and also to ensure increased oxygen availability, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
'As the demand for transferable skills that can be remotely applied increases, the need for tech-based courses is on the rise/'
The trial is to be conducted on 525 healthy volunteers. In the trial, the vaccine will be given by intramuscular route in two doses at day 0 and day 28.
No decision on granting indemnity to any foreign or Indian Covid vaccine-manufactures has been taken yet, the government said Friday, underlining these decisions are to be taken 'in the interest of nation and people'.
India has too many small companies and this is inefficient. It should instead have only a handful of very large players running its economy and these giants can then compete with the world, observes Aakar Patel.
This is the second case of an official posted in the building testing positive for the infection.
Govt mulls gradual switchover to the January-December financial year
The study will provide information about the spread of the infection and also throw light on herd immunity.
PM also said that states must act against any hoarding of oxygen and directed officials to ensure that the oxygen supply to various states happens in a smooth, unhindered manner and called for fixing responsibility with the local administration in cases of obstruction.
Responding to a question on the Rajasthan government's claim that there is a shortage in COVID-19 vaccine stock, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the central government regularly monitors the availability of vaccine supply in all states and UTs and their consumption on a daily basis.
The soap queen tells us what to expect from Bol Niti Bol.
NITI Aayog's Rajiv Kumar accused former prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram of creating a 'false narrative'
Jewellers across the country will go on a 'token strike' on August 23 against the "arbitrary implementation" of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery, All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) said on Friday. The strike will be supported by 350 associations and federations from all four zones of the entire gems and jewellery industry, the GJC claimed. Mandatory gold hallmarking has come into force from June 16 in a phased manner. The government has identified 256 districts from 28 states and union territories for the phase-1 implementation.
Most economists were of the view that the NSSO should release the data, as any move to withhold it will dent the image of country's statistical system.
Bharat Biotech applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking permission for conducting phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials of the intranasal vaccine following which the subject expert committee of the CDSCO on Tuesday deliberated on the application and recommended granting permission for phase 1 trial.
Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy lent support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government's fight with the Centre.
NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said the pandemic situation in the country worsened with a sharp rise in cases and a large part of the population is still susceptible to the virus.
NITI Aayog recommendations cite the need for greater industry-academia collaboration to meet skill demand
The aim of the programme is to increase the water table in the stressed areas through dams, ponds, and afforestation. According to a NITI Aayog study, by 2030, the country's water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual 6 per cent loss in the country's GDP.
While Bibek Debroy echoed his view in Twitter, Pronob Sen questioned Kumar's conclusion
The civil aviation ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected there.
The Sports Ministry has made it mandatory for all the National Sports Federation (NSFs) to register themselves with NGO-PS Portal to receive grants.
JioMeet, which has already got the endorsement of top government officials and politicians, saw a huge surge in its ranking on Google Play, based on its downloads.
The official asserted that following social distancing, wearing masks, maintaining hand hygiene and avoiding big gatherings remain vital in preventing the spread of the infection.
Bharat Biotech recruited 13,000 participants for the Phase-3 clinical trial of Covaxin. This is one of the largest efficacy trials held in the country.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) has asked ministries, government departments, and public sector undertakings (PSUs) to send a list of assets that can be monetised under the proposed National Monetisation Pipeline. The list will be used for creation of an asset monetisation dashboard, which will keep a track of such assets. The government, meanwhile, has asked CRISIL to prepare a road map for monetising assets of PSUs and government departments.
Sugarcane dues accruing to farmers rose to almost Rs 21,321 crore as of May 2021. Of that Rs 18,820 crore is for the cane supplied in the current season, which will end in September, while the remaining Rs 2,501 crore is from previous years. Of the pending sugarcane dues of 2020-21, almost 63 per cent accrues to the poll-bound state of Uttar Pradesh. The remaining are from Maharashtra and others.
According to Niti Aayog Member V K Paul, India is in a somewhat better position now but the country still has a long way to go because 90 per cent of the people are still susceptible to coronavirus infections.
'Supplies should start moving to the Serum Institute without any impediments.'
