The status of the current submarine force level is alarming and we need to address the threat perceptions expeditiously. Critical decisions pertaining to national security cannot be delayed any further due to the rapidly changing maritime threat perceptions and growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
In most cases, the payback on energy saving projects offered by GIBSS are between one and three years.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance released its manifesto for the February 20 Punjab polls on Saturday, promising a slew of sops for various sections, including 75 per cent reservation in all government jobs for youngsters from the state, an unemployment allowance, 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and massive infrastructure development.
The development of the Rih-Tiddim road and establishment of numerous rural "haat" (flee markets) along the Mizoram-Myanmar border would also increase the trade volume, Modi said while addressing a public meeting at the Assam Rifles ground here after inaugurating the 60-MW Tuirial hydro-electric power project.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of ride-hailing firm Ola who disrupted the electric scooters market in the country, is planning to launch an electric sports car in 2024. The plan will put it in competition with Indian players, such as the Tata group and Mahindra & Mahindra, and global giants like Tesla and Hyundai. Aggarwal, recently, took a group of reporters to the firm's design studio at the Ola campus in Bengaluru where his teams are working on several EVs, including scooters, motorcycles, sedans, and SUVs - and even robotaxis.
'We cannot leave our entire unorganised sector to the vagaries of market forces.'
Dr Sethuraman 'Panch' Panchanathan, senior vice president, Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development, ArizonaStateUniversity, was last week appointed to the United States National Science Board by President Barack Obama.
If nothing is done, the country is set to become 83 per cent energy-import-dependent by 2040.
China said it has suspended the project due to security concerns from a third party.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The government and the farmers must come back to the negotiating table with only the interest of the country in mind, suggests Vivek Gumaste.
With a narrow industrial base and dysfunctional politics, and a counter-productive national security agenda, Pakistan could well remain an 'international migraine', observes T N Ninan.
'The human tragedy in Gorakhpur has left me jolted,' he said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday proposed enhancing the funding under the PLI scheme for domestic solar cells and module manufacturing to Rs 24,000 crore from the existing Rs 4,500 crore to make India an exporting nation. "For facilitating domestic manufacturing for the ambitious goal of 280GW of installed solar capacity by 2030, an additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for PLI scheme for manufacturing of high efficiency (solar) modules with priority of fully integrate manufacturing units for polysilicon to solar PV modules will be made," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in the Lok Sabha. In April 2021, the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 4,500 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to boost domestic manufacturing capacity of solar PV modules.
Blame the voter, who invariably chooses the promise of hand-outs today in preference to a vague promise of, say, better schools tomorrow. Getting the Supreme Court to issue an edict, or Parliament to pass a law, is no solution, observes T N Ninan.
'Everybody says 5G and communication is important.' 'Everybody says automation, robotics, human computing interfaces -- people and machines working together -- is the future.' 'Everybody agrees that cybersecurity is something that is here to stay.' 'Everybody agrees that synthetic biology is important.' 'Instead of outlining thinking about industries for tomorrow and the future, let the evolutionary pathway be built in a way that it promotes robust, creative, thinking.'
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
India believes in sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayaas and walks ahead with it, Modi said.
Reaching out to the youth of the Kashmir Valley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spelled out initiatives for peace and development, and assured they will not inherit the problems faced by their parents and grandparents.
Can the newly-minted Jal Shakti ministry bring water to some 19 crore Indian households that have never had taps or heard the sound of flowing water, wonders Vinayak Chatterjee.
The world's growing demand for energy is also a big problem.
Practising Indira Gandhi's brand of socialism today will not just be anachronistic but also economically harmful.
The game plan is to pressure India and China to come back and commit to further emissions cuts by next year's UN meeting. Neither China nor India has 2030 targets anywhere near in line with a 1.5 degree centigrade pathway, and so will be on the target list of nations under pressure to return next year with more ambition, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Bankrupt Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has sold the entire stake in the waste management arm IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services (IEISL) and its subsidiaries to EverEnviro Resource Management (EverEnviro), an arm of the PE major Everstone Group, the companies said in separate statements. Though the value of the deal was not specifically disclosed, the crippled IL&FS -- which is under bankruptcy proceedings in NCLT -- said the sale will reduce its overall debt by Rs 1,200 crore, which is the combined debt of entities under the group's environment businesses. IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services (IEISL) is one of the leading integrated waste management companies that is into municipal solid waste management apart from presence across various segments including construction and demolition, collection and transportation and waste to energy and currently manages over 8,400 tonnes per day solid municipal waste.
The government will create an EV Venture Capital Fund, for financial support to start-ups in the segment. The overall aim is to make Tamil Nadu the preferred destination for EVs and component makers.
The government's agenda also includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
The culture of freebies burdens coming generations with the huge bill for the flagrant abuse of power by preceding governments, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
'At least we had an asteroid. What's your excuse?'
'We are facing a crackdown for more than a year. Our permission to collect funds was cancelled. Our bank accounts were frozen.' 'We believe that our work in India is very important. We want to be the environment watchdog. We do not want to waste time fighting legal battles.'
Kejriwal alleged that for the last few months, the interference of the lieutenant governor in the elected government's working has increased day by day.
With facts and figures, the CAG report has highlighted how Gujarat was far from a role model for states across India, and that the progress made in this province in western India in improving agriculture, education, healthcare and empowerment of women and children, was not exactly creditable, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
Leading the Opposition attack over the Adani-Hindenburg issue in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday linked Gautam Adani's meteoric rise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coming to power and said "magic" happened after 2014 that propelled the businessman from the 609th to the second spot on the global rich list.
While the likelihood of these states going the Lanka or Greece way may be an alarming assessment, the financial situation of some states such as Punjab and West Bengal is indeed quite weak.
Indian comic book character Chacha Chaudhary has been declared as the mascot of the government's Namami Gange Programme with an aim of bringing behavioural change among children towards the Ganga and other rivers.
Indian 'Vedas' have since thousands of years considered sun as at soul of the universe and a nourisher of life, the PM said.
The logic of deregulation was that the consumer was protected no matter what the price of crude. But now the reverse has happened. The government is protected no matter what the price of crude, observes Aakar Patel.
Of the 170 million rural households in the country, a government website claims to have connected 82 per cent of them. The metered households are 50 per cent of the total. As on February, 2018, of the 780,000 villages to be intensively electrified or provide connection to all in households, 493,000 have been covered. However, the amount and quality of the power supply cannot be ascertained from this data. No clause in any of the rural electrification programmes promises 24 hours' power supply.
Yadav denied any possibility for a post-poll alliance between the BJP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Choudhary.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari known for promoting innovative ideas in transportation, created a stir some time back when he pitched for 100 per cent electric mobility by 2030. In an interview with Megha Manchanda & Jyoti Mukul, he talks about the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) and electric vehicles.