In a significant policy shift aimed at boosting agri-productivity and rural prosperity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new agricultural schemes while increasing the subsidised Kisan Credit Card loan limit to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 3 lakh, benefiting 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, stating that he had forged alliances 'by mistake' with the opposition party which 'did nothing' while in power.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill moved in Lok Sabha
'When so many young Baloch men and women are willingly volunteering as fighters and even suicide bombers.'
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh lays out the roadmap for rural growth --- without mincing words.
After the infrastructure sector, the public-private partnership model will be extended to rural job generation as well.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Travel is about making memories, experiencing the unknown, and engaging in new experiences -- not worrying about fluctuating exchange rates or hidden expenditures. With a little planning and a proactive approach to handling your foreign exchange, you can reduce financial stress and enjoy your trip, suggests Pavan Kavad.
Mobile banking will soon reach Indian villagers as state govts tie up with banks, telecom companies to provide this facility to them.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
'Inflation is not good for industry. Nor for the economy as a whole.'
The number of people averse to the surveys by the National Statistical Office (NSO) has more than doubled over the last five years between the 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) round (July 2017- June 2018) and the 79th NSS round (July 2022-June 2023), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation MoSPI) said on Friday in a conference organised to discuss the issue of 'non- responsiveness' to its sample surveys. The ministry said that nearly 6.9 per cent people in urban areas surveyed by the NSO for the 79th NSS round did not participate in the exercise, while the number of people in rural India that refused to participate in these surveys stood at 3.9 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
Could the MPCE survey results be used as a basis of reconstructing the Consumer Price Index with new weights, asks Madan Sabnavis.
Goa has the highest number of people who could 'search the Internet for information and can send or receive e-mails and can perform online banking transactions'.
The UPA government's flagship programme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that proved to be a vote churner for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections is being expanded to cover the rural artisans like masons and carpenters. So far only manual work was available to those seeking employment under the Act.
'Any finality in such matters requires political views. We will review it closer to the full Budget.'
Claiming taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former were not getting their due share, Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the 'injustice' was not rectified.
'Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups.'
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the rural spending would not be affected by the drought situation caused by delayed monsoon, but was likely to improve due to the government's flagship NREGS. He said there would be some revival in the third and fourth quarters though the overall growth would be moderate, with the current year recording a growth rate of 6 per cent.
'... that it once again shies away from renewing its commitment to strategic divestment,' points out A K Bhattacharya.
The need for a manufacturing policy, reining in food inflation and raising investment in the country were among key suggestions given by economists who met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior ministry officials in the first round of pre-Budget consultations on Friday.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
The BJP's victory in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections was largely attributed to the Yamuna pollution issue, with the party successfully capitalizing on the backlash from Haryanvi-origin voters who perceived AAP's narrative on the river's pollution as an attack on their home state. The BJP's campaign focused on presenting itself as both the protector of Haryana's honor and the party with a concrete vision for the Yamuna's revival, ultimately leading to AAP's significant decline in the Yamuna belt and rural areas.
Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places.
'The very fact that his autobiography is called India Rising is a correct example of his wish for India to be a developed country and do as best as possible by science reaching to the common people.'
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, will be applicable to whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, an official release said.
A year after the launch of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, two sets of figures that it throws up are arresting.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
This survey also shows how things have moved forward since the last large-scale sample survey conducted by NSSO in 2012-13
When Kasturi Rajamurty won a gold medal in powerlifting at the WPPL World Cup in Russia, she sure had come a long way. From a life of penury to constantly being short of funds to fuel her passion, she had finally triumphed, and how.
'We give them problems so that they can come up with solutions using the technological skills they have learnt.' 'In fact, changemaking and problem solving are interchangeable, in a way.'
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
'The message is loud and clear: "If you're not falling in line, we will open a line of understanding with the MNS, and then the Shiv Sena will be in trouble".'
Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance throwing all its weight to snatch Jharkhand from the hands of a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-headed coalition, the saffron camp suffered a debacle leaving the party's rank and file wondering what had gone wrong.
The TMC has won in 34,560 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 705 seats, according to the SEC as of 11.30 am on Wednesday.
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