In 2017, a retired R&AW officer conveyed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was keen to get monarchy restored in Nepal and suggested that I support these efforts.
Corporate India is starting to step up its capital expenditure plans amid government incentives and signs of rising demand, company executives and analysts have indicated. This coincides with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently citing a double-digit growth in private capital expenditure. Healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, along with increasing capacity utilisation and improving business sentiment, are contributing to a favourable environment for sustained growth in private sector investments, the RBI said in its policy last week.
According to officials, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana wanted the lockdown to be continued, some of them wanted the powers to decide the zoning of districts -- green, orange and red -- as per the COVID-19 situation.
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
Half of the smoking population in the country thinks smoking 'within limits' is harmless, a survey by a private general insurance firm has found.
The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the RBI's decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, which had reserved its order on the PIL on May 30, rejected the plea. Petitioner Rajneesh Bhaskar Gupta has contended that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has no power to withdraw Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation and only the Centre could have taken a decision in this regard.
If the BJP gets only 200 seats and wants to remain in power, Modi will have to make way -- either for a proxy of his choice, or for an internal rival, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Expressing concern over instances of 'unwarranted' confiscation of personal devices during raids, the CJI said they highlight the pressing need to strike a balance between investigative imperatives and individual privacy rights.
We need not spend much time going over what this government has done and is doing to the Opposition, by misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI. There is a daily update on that, notes Aakar Patel.
The bill also makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the L-G before any executive action.
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
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Modi government must push reforms at a fast pace to restore growth.
Policy decisions, particularly those which have wide-ranging implications on the nation's health and security, should be decided by bodies best suited to do so, the Delhi high court said on Monday while refusing to interfere with the Agnipath scheme.
Sources said the Congress may consider opposing the bill when it is introduced in Parliament. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Delhi, has been seeking the support of various political parties on the matter.
A severe cold wave brought the minimum temperature down to a numbing 1.5 degrees Celsius at the Ridge weather station in central Delhi.
Forget team colours! Let's build the ultimate dream team, a team that would dominate any opponent...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday mounted a shrill attack on the Aam Aadmi Party
'The concept of an MP IPL team is the brainchild of Kamal Nath.' 'If the Congress government comes to power in the state, he will assemble an IPL team for MP with the assistance of his business contacts.'
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
China has signalled that it will prevent India from assuming leadership of the Global South, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Policies to break down the business group format are far more likely to be effective, argues Simon Commander.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the Centre to intervene to ensure that levels of the Yamuna, flowing at an all-time high of 207.55 metres, don't rise further.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Babun Banerjee expressed displeasure over the party re-nominating Prasun Banerjee from Howrah Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal.
Way before the rains arrived at Talwandi Sabo Power plant in Punjab, the one check the coal ministry was carrying out was the availability of coal stock with the generator. Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), the 1,980-Mw thermal power plant of Sterlite Energy, part of the Vedanta Group, which supplies about 15 per cent of Punjab's power, is one of the most difficult locations to manage coal supplies. It is nearly 1,700 km from the mines of Mahanadi Coalfields in Odisha, the longest coal route in India and possibly the trickiest as it cuts through the traffic heavy rail lines between Delhi and eastern India.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of Sunak Bali, who was an aide of Satya Pal Malik when he was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and 11 other locations in Delhi and Rajasthan in the alleged insurance scam case, officials said.
Patients and pregnant women, people out to buy essential items, and those travelling to or from railway stations, bus stops and airports will be exempted from the night curfew that kicks in at 11 pm on Monday due to rising COVID-19 cases in Delhi, according to a DDMA order.
In the current complex and dynamic strategic environment, refining the IAF's strategy, building robust capabilities and developing a flexible mindset to "prosecute future wars" will prove decisive, the chief of air staff said.
Battling the virus, enduring separation from loved ones, and working extended hours became part of the job.
Most politicians and even non-politicians have been honoured because of what they were purported to be electorally worth for the ruling party of their time, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia, in an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt says, what Russia can do and has done for India nobody can do.
Experts recommend awaiting the findings of the 2021 Census, which is yet to be conducted, before introducing population control policies.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
One looks upon the coming new year with foreboding as current wars in Ukraine and Gaza spill over and escalate and new ones erupt in incipient fault lines across the world, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
Sources pointed out that according to initial feedback received during the meetings, the party did not properly handle issues such as the Aam Aadmi Party government's announcement of freebies and the anti-citizenship law protest at Shaheen Bagh.
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
