Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world beset by geopolitical tensions as the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday released its manifesto, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The observation was made by a bench headed by Justice UU Lalit which was hearing a plea seeking adequate infrastructure across the country for providing effective legal aid to women abused in matrimonial homes and creating shelter homes for them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday pledged to make 30 million 'Lakhpati Didis', up from the 10 million rural women who have already achieved the feat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday released the BJP's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The manifesto says the ruling party will continue the quarterly financial disbursements under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) yojana.
The government on Thursday said it has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to the health sector and 26 other sectors identified by the Kamath Committee. The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) has issued the operational guidelines for implementation of ECLGS 2.0 scheme, the finance ministry said in a statement. The scheme was announced by the government earlier this month as part of the Rs 2.65 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 package.
'Modi's health scheme has changed the national conversation. For that reason it must be supported.'
Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs dropped to the severe category again on Wednesday morning, with smoke from post-harvest paddy straw burning in neighbouring states accounting for one-third of the air pollution in the national capital.
Modi was in Lakshadweep on January 2 and 3 to inaugurate the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection and lay foundation stone for the renovation of primary healthcare facility and five model Anganwadi centres.
Amid the rhythmic chug of the train, a chorus of voices rises, each bearing its tale of hope and despair.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
'Apart from providing you with the ability to withstand escalating medical expenses, a dedicated financial plan for health will also ensure financial independence in old age,' advises Arun Thukral, MD & CEO, Axis Securities.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
The NITI Aayog's views are in contrast to the National Health Policy.
'We have often heard the mythical argument that patents block access to life-saving drugs, but only 5% of medicines from multinational companies are under patent protection in India.' 'Where these patented products are beyond the reach of Indian patients, the companies have programmes to facilitate access to their drugs, for free or for a fraction of the price,' points out Ranjana Smetacek, former director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
'The biggest gainers under this scheme would be insurance companies.' 'If the government is going to route the payments through the insurance companies, these companies will be making nearly 30 per cent of the money.' 'For instance, if the government is paying Rs 100, then Rs 30 will go to these insurance companies.' 'Only Rs 70 will be available for expenditure that will be incurred by the hospitals.'
In Chhattisgarh, 40 lakh BPL smart card holders under the state's existing MSBY will be beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ayushman Bharat health care scheme is just a slogan for the moment, it is the state's Mukhyamantri Amrutum health assurance scheme which is a comforting reality for many.
Here's the full text of address to the nation by President Droupadi Murmu on the eve of the Republic Day 2023.
The Centre will create a Special Rhino Protection Force in Assam to protect the animal from poaching and form a task force to enquire into encroachment of forest land in the state, Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday.
The prime minister also praised the Dawoodi Bohras, a sect within Shia Islam known for their trading and business acumen, for their efforts in making the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a success.
The National Digital Health Mission seeks to provide a unique health ID to each citizen who wishes to have one and also on-board the healthcare service provides - hospitals, pharmacies and diagnostic labs, among others. It will have an online database of doctors and personal health records.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2023, insurers are hoping that the Centre will act on their recommendations, which includes increasing the limit for tax deduction under 80D of the Income Tax Act. Also among them are issuance of long-term bonds, tax incentives for home insurance premiums, and a separate section to claim deduction for term-insurance premium, among others. These suggestions would help improve the penetration of insurance in the country.
'If you want it to grow well and serve the true needs of the economy, it needs a lot of freedom and flexibility, which comes in terms of the reform objective set by the regulator.'
In an affidavit filed in the top court, the health ministry told the apex court that the family welfare programme in the country is voluntary in nature, which enables couples to decide the size of their family and adopt family planning methods best suited to them, according to their choice and without any compulsion.
'If you look at household hospitalisation compensation, then you will find only one-third is hospitalisation. Two-thirds is outpatient.' 'Even if you provide Rs 5 lakh coverage, people will still have a tough time.'
The prime minister highlighted the gains made during his last four years vis-a-vis the previous governments to suggest that he has lived up to the promise of hope he had offered to the electorate in 2014.
A timely phone call to Childline by a 15-year-old girl from a remote village in West Bengal's Purulia district helped the teenager prevent her marriage.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the tributes with UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street for the National Health Service (NHS) and other key workers across care homes and public transport at 11 am local time. So far 82 NHS staff are known to have died after testing positive for the coronavirus, including many with their roots in India.
If you have seen Zwigato, Param Kumar's story will sound familiar. Laid off from his job as a repairman at a Gurugram-based water purifier provider, he now delivers groceries and food for a mobile-based delivery app, in Delhi. Kumar, who started making deliveries last August, told Business Standard that he is working longer hours than his older salaried job as an RO repairman, and has no paid leaves or health insurance. Kumar is part of India's estimated 7.7 million-strong force of gig workers.
The GoM will meet on Saturday to finalise single-stage, simplified, return filing under the GST; report will be placed before GST Council on March 10.
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day. Here's the text of what he said:
Jaitley said a 10 per cent tax long on capital gains exceeding Rs 1 lakh made from the sale of shares has been introduced but those made till Janaury 31 would be grandfathered. A 10 per cent tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual funds has also been proposed in the budget.
"There has been a 0.05 percentage points decline in the share of allocation for child budget to the Union Budget from 2.35 per cent (2022-23 BE) to 2.30 per cent (2023-24 BE).
Calling for 'equal recognition of vaccines', COVAX on Thursday urged all governments to recognise as 'fully vaccinated' those people who have received COVID-19 vaccines deemed safe by World Health Organisation, saying any move that restricts travel of people based on the vaccines they have received is 'counter-effective, both in spirit and outcome'.
'The pandemic had a significant impact on child trafficking.' 'With economic hardships, traffickers exploited the situation to target desperate parents and children.'
Insurance companies are seeking a separate deduction limit of Rs 1 lakh for insurance premium payment under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act in the upcoming Union Budget to bring in more people under the ambit of insurance. The insurers also want reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rate of 18 per cent currently applied on health insurance products to 5 per cent to make such products more affordable to common people. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2022-23 on February 1.
India has a huge untapped population which doesn't have facilities for financial aid and insurance, and it is perhaps plausible to look at the option of having niche players catering to smaller sectors akin to non-banks and microfinance institutions in lending, said Rakesh Joshi, member (Finance & Investment), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Joshi said, "Today, most of our insurance companies operate at a national level. There is arguably a case for having differentiated operations, which cater to niche sectors the same way we have non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and microfinance institutions in lending." "The capital requirement for niche players may not be as large as those having national ambitions. "Enabling these niche players, which require lower capital, will enhance the penetration in areas which hitherto had not seen traction from large players," he said.
From India's fight against COVID-19 to China face-off, Kovind spoke on several issues during the televised address.
Overall slowdown in the economy and growing volumes of unbranded generic medicines in the domestic market are behind poor sales.
As the petition points out, new medical colleges entail adjunct government hospitals, thus making specialised medical care that much more accessible to the vast majority of population that otherwise could not afford high-cost medical care in the private sector, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
The prime minister was often seen vigorously thumping the desk, prompting his Cabinet colleagues and NDA MPs to follow suit.
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