'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
The government issued a fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas, except a few categories like diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in the wake of new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the country.
As daily testing of samples of blood and throat and nose swabs crossed two lakh for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, over 14,000 new coronavirus cases were registered in the country for the fifth day in a row to take the total count to 4,56,183, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The government also appointed Dr Vinod Paul, a pediatrician at the AIIMS, as a member of the NITI Aayog
Thakur, who is expected to meet Board president, Jagmohan Dalmiya at his residence later in the afternoon, said that an announcement on support staff is on the cards.
The 47-year-old Ganguly was officially entrusted with the task of heading Indian cricket for the next nine months at the BCCI's General Body meeting in Mumbai, ending a tumultuous 33-month reign of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).
Economists have cautioned that any deferment of the government's fiscal goals would prove counter-productive and raise the interest payment burden.
In September, Bharat Biotech aimed to supply 35 million doses, and take this up to 55 million by October. This is still less than what the Indian government expects from the company.
Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in a Pakistani jail, appears to be a case of mistaken identity, former Pakistani minister and United Nations Human Rights Council advisory committee member Ansar Burney said in Chandigarh on Friday.After collecting evidence in the shape of a video CD and copy of an FIR from the family members of Sarabjit, Burney said, "Prima facie it appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
India's largest airline has also told its crew members -- who are working on flights connecting India with East Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore -- to wear N95 masks at all times when they are on ground.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope warns that the state government will go aggressive if appeals to reduce social distancing are not adhered to.
The ICMR has already approved a bunch of rapid test kits for launch. The health ministry admitted that clusters of COVID-19 had appeared in many states and the risk of further spread remains very high.
Country's economic growth at 9% requires exports to rise by around 20%, says NSC chairman Pronab Sen
Ajay Banga is one of the nine members of the Commission on Enhancing National Cyber Security.
Labour Law in Saudi Arabia has called for replacement of foreign workers in stores by Saudi nationals.
'So far as supervision is concerned, there are enough powers but to take action on public sector banks, consultation with the government is needed.'
It will be unfair to put a date for any COVID wave as the behaviour of coronavirus is unpredictable and a disciplined and effective pandemic response can help the country get away from any significant outbreak, COVID Task Force chief V K Paul said.
Out of the 12 deaths reported in the last 24 hours some are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a daily media briefing.
The court noted that the daily number of new COVID-19 cases received for November 10 was at 8,593 and "still counting" and the number of containment zones in the city were 4,016.
The money-spinning Indian Premier League has mulled a closed-door edition in a desperate bid to avoid cancellation as the deadly COVID-19 sent Indian sports into quarantine after a government directive for fans to be kept away from all action to prevent the pandemic from spreading.
The NTAGI has also stated that those having laboratory test proven SARS-CoV-2 illness should defer COVID-19 vaccination for six months after recovery, the sources said.
With wages rapidly rising in China, all is still not lost. Wage costs in India are significantly lower and this fact could still help us turn the tide in our favour.
''Even without major reforms, with a business as usual scenario, and with current inflation trends, we should be clocking around 11 to 12 per cent nominal growth.' 'That is not happening and is a source of worry,' Rathin Roy tells Arup Roychoudhury.
The differences between the US and China over rival free trade agreements being floated by them threatened to derail the APEC Summit which got off to a colourful start in Beijing China on Monday.
Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting the entry of people from seven Muslim-majority nations widened the rift between the Trump administration and several leading American companies.
Responding to another question, Choubey said that the phase-I of clinical trials have revealed excellent safety of the two candidate vaccines indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research and Cadila Healthcare Ltd, and now their immunogenicity testing is in progress. Their phase II clinical trials are ongoing.
The previous high GDP growth of 8.1 per cent was recorded in April-June quarter of 2016-17.
In the midst of huge job losses as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has signed 17 MoUs for an investment of Rs 15,100 crores that aim to provide 47,100 jobs. But a clearer picture on where the projects stand will emerge only after the Covid-19 induced fear psychosis ends, to see if popular protests will derail them like they have done so many others, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The aim of the mission is to accelerate the development of at least six vaccine candidates and ensure that they are licenced and introduced in market for emergency use at the earliest.
The ICMR has approved over 200 labs (both public and private) for COVID-19 testing through-PCR machines.
Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Ambassador Prabhat P Shukla, Member Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation, reviews Claude Arpi's The End of an Era: India Exits Tibet.
State governments are expected to play a more significant role
The need of the hour is to strike a balance between the capability of the conventional and the prospect of the renewable to give a realistic shape to the Prime Minister's vision, says Rajiv Mishra.
AAP has been vociferous since its inception and has mainly raised issues pertaining to corruption. A political party must have crisp and specific standon all issues which concern the nation not just corruption or secularism; and AAP has failed to deliver on all these counts, says Aditya Shah and Aadit Kapadia.
The AICS said a National Anti-Doping Organisation would soon be formed to tackle the menace.\n\n
The Union health ministry said West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday, taking the total number of deaths to nine in the country due to COVID-19.
How will the return of a majority government at the Centre, the new India-US friendship and the Mangalyaan triumph change India?
Budget speeches have been replete with incomprehensible and even hilarious statements, says Rathin Roy.
Panagariya has advocated a more liberalised spending, arguing that greater capital expenditure could relax some of the infrastructure bottlenecks facing the country.
