With the spate of businesses turning their attention to Ayodhya, land rates have shot up, in some pockets by as much as 10 times. Whether one walks into a hotel lobby or sits down for a meal, land deals are being discussed at every other table -- one on one or among groups.
Magsaysay Award winner and social activist Sandeep Pandey on Wednesday rued continued imposition of 'draconian' Armed Forces Special Powers Act and other 'black laws' in conflict-ridden north-east India and Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides, two new entities-- IDFC and Bandhan -- have been given full-fledged banking licence.
Narendra Modi has proved through execution of this event in Ayodhya that amongst all his contemporaries in politics he knows ordinary Indians like none other, notes Sheela Bhatt.
Recently, Slice, a payment app, acquired a 5 per cent stake in North East Small Finance (NESF) for $3.42 million - the first such deal by a fintech in a small finance bank. Slice (valued at $1.5 billion, and backed by Tiger Global, Blume Ventures and Axis Bank) will technically get a toehold in a scheduled commercial bank if NESF were to get a licence to morph into one down the line Such a transition is well within the banking regulator's declared framework. The transaction has to be seen in a larger context.
India is set to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at a fresh round of high-level military talks with China on August 14, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Bankers on Wednesday asserted that interest rates were unlikely to go up in the immediate future. They said this on the eve of a crucial meeting of state-owned bank chiefs with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, where the government is expected to signal a bias towards a soft interest rate regime.
Pawar reminded PM Modi of his recent remarks about 'corruption' of NCP leaders, and asked him to act against those who are guilty.
There was no comment from the Indian side on the statement made by the Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian, and carried by China's official media.
There are plenty of shootouts and a fair amount of sex over the nine brisk episodes though the dialogue is thankfully free of profanity, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The heartburn is over six sensitive issues
'Slaughter of cows will be opposed by all parties in UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc while it is different in Kerala, Goa and the north east.' 'Every national party adapts and take a view on various issues depending on the local situation and the feelings of the local people.' 'So, the Kerala BJP will look at each issue from the Kerala perspective, and not that of UP.'
The committee headed by RBI's Deputy Governor Usha Thorat made a series of recommendations that include increasing banking penetration and strengthening of Regional Rural banks and Urban Co-operative banks in the region. It said post offices, traditional institutions and NGOs need to be co-opted by the banking industry so as to encourage economic activities.
These banks are finding it hard to pick up seasoned bankers at the pay they are offering
This month has been the "wettest" March in northern and central parts of the country in the past 100 years, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Sunday, and predicted more rains in the coming two weeks.
For that to happen, Moitra's much followed speeches should be heard outside Parliament so that the PR spins of the ruling dispensation are countered with informed debate, argues Shyam G Menon.
Religion matters. Aspirational India is still poor. India admires strong leaders. India values decency. Shreekant Sambrani highlights the reasons why the BJP pulled off improbable victories in the Hindi heartland.
'We will see a lot of investments from the private sector.' 'As long as we are not impacted by some global events, I think we will be in a strong place.'
RBI's licensing norms require a bank to bring down promoter holding to 40 % within 3 years of operation - which, for Bandhan Bank, will be by Aug 23
'Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza city inside tunnels, underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent Gaza civilians. Civilians of Gaza city evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields'
An escalation in the already simmering tensions between North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, and Russia and Ukraine could prove to be a bigger worry for the markets over the next few months rather than central bank policy action, said analysts. The markets, they said, are still not fully factoring in this possibility. "The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is another geopolitical worry.
The ministry also made certain clarifications in the statement, and said, "the assertion that Indian territory is up to Finger 4 is categorically false. The territory of India is as depicted by the map of India and includes more than 43,000 sq km currently under illegal occupation of China since 1962."
For the longest time, the court did not even hear important matters that the government did not want it to. Of late, it has begun to form benches. Meanwhile a lot of the damage has been done and continues to be done, asserts Aakar Patel.
Back home, the Nifty IT index - a gauge of the performance of the IT stocks on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that has closely mirrored the performance of NASDAQ over the past few years - has lost nearly 2 per cent in CY23.
'The market will focus on the fact that India does have strong earnings growth this year.'
Does the Union government or the RBI see itself as Krishna beheading Shishupal and what will constitute the 101st or indeed the past many sins for which a Sudarshan Chakra will have to be used? More importantly, what are those sins?
The Indian Army has occupied several key heights in the strategically located Rezang-La and Reqin-La areas on the southern bank of the lake since the end of August.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg are being finalised, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday but did not give a direct reply on the possibility of a meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
... And what explains the directions of change? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'We will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2024.'
Is it a case of poor targeting of a welfare scheme, or is it a reflection of the government's desire to expand the scope of this benefit to secure greater electoral dividends? asks A K Bhattacharya.
It has come to light that Rs 25,000 cr cash was deposited in dormant bank accounts while nearly Rs 80,000 cr of repayment of loans was done in cash since November 8
Ahead of the Budget, the government has achieved almost half the divestment target of Rs 65,000 crore. FY23 divestment receipts are unlikely to be anywhere close to the budgeted target.
The Chinese have only created limited defences for protection of their posts which are located well in depth and much away from the Line of Actual Control, notes Colonel S Dinny (retd).
This is the first time that the defence ministry has admitted officially about the transgressions by the Chinese troops.
The Popular Front of India (PFI), banned recently by the government for alleged terrorist links and spreading communal hatred, has a "well-structured and organised" presence in the Gulf countries for raising and mobilising funds, the Enforcement Directorate said on Monday after a local court took cognisance of its latest charge sheet filed against three PFI office-bearers.
The KMSS and the All Assam Students Union are opposing the NHPC's dam project at the lower Subansiri site and are blocking the movement of men and materials related to the project at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
This could become tricky territory for India, given its basically adversarial relationship with China, its moves to block imports and investment from that country, and to deny market access for Chinese technologies, observes T N Ninan.
'The Israeli government is saying, "OK, leave northern Gaza, because we're going to fight Hamas there".' 'But Hamas is not stupid. They are going to put militants in southern Gaza too. And then what's Israel going to do?' 'At some point are they going to say, 'Leave southern Gaza too because we want to fight Hamas there? Go across the border to Egypt"'? 'That's what people are worried about. Because they fear that once they cross the border into Egypt there will be no coming back.'
At a time when Manipur is burning, voices like Colonel Sapam's serve as a healing balm. 'These are voices that need to heard and their stories of peace and reconciliation must be retold -- over and over again.
