'I had to persuade him. I think he was a sceptic to begin with, but later on he was convinced that what we were doing was the right thing to do, that there was no other way out.'
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday reviewed relief and rescue operations with senior officials of the government after returning to Dehradun from on-site inspection of Joshimath landslide area gave directions for forming a coordination committee immediately at the government level under the chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary and at the local level under the chairmanship of the Commissioner Garhwal.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
'It is only natural that in such a national crisis, we should lend a helping hand to the less privileged members of our communities.'
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
Hundreds of people are facing a shortage of food, safe drinking water and sanitation in Kathmandu following the natural disaster, according to eyewitnesses.
Captain Sharan and Flight Engineer Anil Jaggia both confirm that the hijackers seemed to know a lot about flying an aircraft. Without help from the ISI or the Pakistan army, it was impossible, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
The administration started preparing for the demolition of two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, but faced protests from their owners and locals on the issue of compensation, while more families were evacuated from the danger zone as the number of affected houses rose to over 700.
Chaired by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and attended by chiefs of the three services, secretaries of home, defence and others, the National Crisis Management Committee took stock of the prevailing situation in Kerala and directed all concerned to ensure continued assistance to the state government to meet the crisis, a home ministry spokesperson said.
Sri Lankan Cricket, on Wednesday, slapped a defamation lawsuit against sports minister Roshan Ranasinghe for making "damaging defamatory statements" against it, deepening the administrative crisis in the country.
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.
States have been told to prepare in advance to counter any impact of an adverse southwest monsoon.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
Pakistan's newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday announced that he would not draw any salary during his tenure as part of his bid to help the cash-strapped country face the challenging economic hardship.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
The external environment has worsened further. While the Finnish economy entered into a recession, Swedish economic growth also dipped. The Finnish gross domestic product (GDP) dropped 0.6 per cent in October-December, 2022. It was the second quarter of negative growth, which is a technical definition of recession.
Following a virtual meeting on June 16th, 2024, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced a change in leadership for the Senior Men's National Team.
"International Cricket Council Board has suspended Sri Lanka Cricket's membership of the ICC with immediate effect," read a statement from the ICC.
106 people died on a single day on Thursday.
The Centre on Monday reviewed the preparedness of relief and rescue measures taken by Gujarat and offered help to the state in the wake of impending cyclonic storm Nilofar, which will make its landfall on Friday.
'I have no doubt that when she was prevented from meeting Kejriwal, she felt humiliated.'
Sources said the reshuffle will also aim at an image makeover for the party hit by school jobs scam probe.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
In Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah assessed the situation in Joshimath and steps taken to ameliorate people's hardship at a meeting attended by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, R K Singh, Bhupendra Yadav and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and top officials.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
"You cannot have a lockdown of people, and a lockout of the economy. That is not the way to formulate policy. We are not criticising, we are only saying it is time to rethink, we will support the government in every possible way," said Kapil Sibal.
The Centre on Sunday assured all help and assistance to Bihar for rescue and relief in the wake of emerging situation due to overflow in Kosi following a landslide in Nepal creating an artificial dam on the river and triggering possibility of floods.
Chairman of National Assembly standing committee on sports, Iqbal Muhammad Khan once again blamed PCB Chairman Ejaz Butt for Pakistan's debacle in England and asked for his removal.
As Kashmir valley remains under flood water, Air India has decided to ferry free of cost tourists trapped in Srinagar while Gujarat and Bihar governments are sending 75,000 food and dry food packets for affected people.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
The directives came after he took stock of the situation arising from the massive earthquake at a high-level meeting attended by Ministers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra and senior officials of National Disaster Response Force and Indian Metereological Department.
Making a statement in the House "regarding an avalanche in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand", the Union minister said these inputs were based on the information received till Monday 5 pm from the state government.
The Kerala government has set up a web site, keralarescue.in, to coordinate relief and aid for the floods-affected people. It has also set up a website for online transfer of donations towards flood relief.
The armed forces have roped in Battlefield Nursing Assistants (BFNA) to help fight the second wave of COVID-19 and have suggested that a similar model can be followed by state governments and hospitals, according to senior officials.
'There's also a possibility of the cyclonic system changing its course, thus avoiding a landfall in Odisha'
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
Ajit Balakrishnan on learning from past technology revolutions.
Chennai on Wednesday turned a virtual island after unprecedented rains in 100 years pounded the city, shutting the airport and rendering thousands homeless.
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