The Centre will promote Kisan Drones, chemical-free natural farming, public-private partnerships for the delivery of digital and high-tech services to farmers across the country during the financial year 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Presenting the Budget 2022-23 in Parliament, Sitharaman said the inclusive development is one of the four priorities of the government moving forward. As part of the inclusive development, the government will promote the use of 'Kisan Drones' for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insecticides. The government will also facilitate a fund with blended capital raised under the co-investment model through Nabard to finance agri start-ups and rural enterprises, she said.
Shehbaz Sharif, the joint opposition's candidate for the post of prime minister, on Sunday vowed that the new government in Pakistan want to 'move forward' and not indulge in 'politics of revenge'.
India will need to watch carefully and understand the new round of instability and uncertainty in Pakistan, while charting the course of its future diplomatic initiatives, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who took additional charge of the finance ministry recently, has rejected a Planning Commission proposal to increase the upper limit for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for infrastructure projects coming up under the public-private partnership model.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday publicly released the details of assets of key politicians, including that of Prime Minister Khan.
Qatar is the world's richest country in terms of per capita income.
TV footage showed Zardari coming out of his house and embracing his younger daughter Aseefa before getting into a black Landcruiser.
The court ordered all parties to avoid taking any unconstitutional measures and adjourned the hearing until Monday.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 15 of 20 seats up for grabs in the politically crucial province of Punjab on Sunday, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his 13-party alliance led by the ruling PML-N.
Giving a boost to the Pakistan's Ruling Party in the politically crucial province of Punjab ahead of this year's general election, two top leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz and Pakistan Muslim League - F, including Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood, have joined the party along with their lawmaker sons.
Pakistan Peoples Party's firebrand leader Faisal Raza Abidi has accused Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry of misusing his authority to favour his son and asked him to resign, contending that the country was virtually under a "judicial martial law". Asking the chief justice to resign, Abidi, a member of the Senate or upper house of Parliament, demanded a probe against Chaudhry by Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, a distant relative of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pitched for front loading of capital expenditure, saying it is critical for revitalisting the economy post the coronavirus pandemic. During a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead, she also asked ministries to aim to achieve more than their capital expenditure (capex) targets. The Union Budget 2021-22 provided a capital outlay of Rs.5.54 lakh crore, a sharp increase of 34.5 per cent over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21.
The Airports Authority of India plans to privatise 15 out of 40 non-operational airports across the country on a public-private partnership basis to make them function again."Out of 40 non-operational airports, 15 have the potential to operate and we have planned to give the airports to private developers to operate it for a concession period," said a top AAI official, who did not wish to be identified.
A Pakistani court on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan Peoples Party prime ministerial candidate Makhdoom Shahabuddin in connection with alleged irregularities in the import of a large amount of the controlled drug Ephedrine during his tenure as health minister.
Shehbaz, the 70-year-old younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has served as chief minister of the country's most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice.
With the Sharif family set to return to power in Pakistan amid the fast-deteriorating economic situations and political instability, it is to be seen if Shehbaz Sharif infuses fresh energy into the system, or the much-tainted family continues to resort to its old ways.
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party's top leadership has decided to contest the Supreme Court's move to frame contempt charges against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, according to a media report on Friday. Gilani's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan is likely to file an appeal in a few days against the apex court's order summoning the premier on February 13 for the framing of contempt of court charges for failing to act on orders to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. T
Hours after Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday issued a contempt notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the leaders of ruling coalition decided that he should appear in the apex court on January 19 in the matter relating to reopening of corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The government is trying to promote infrastructure development through PPP projects and has suggested the state should pick projects under this mode in a big way.
The National Assembly session for the move is expected to be convened on March 21 and the voting is likely to be held on March 28.
PTI leader Naeenul Haq told media on Saturday night that consultations are on to complete the number game.
The charged PTI supporters, including women and children, showed their solidarity with Khan during the rally that started at 9 pm on Sunday and lasted till 3 am on Monday.
He said alleviation of poverty from interior Sindh will be among top priorities of his government.
Private airport developers under the public-private partnership model will not be able to get additional contracts in and around the airport that are part of the original project by merely matching the lowest bidder without participating in the bidding process.
A larger bench of the apex court -- comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail -- took up the matter after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected the move to dislodge the prime minister by declaring the no-trust motion unmaintainable due to its link with a so-called foreign conspiracy.
The prime minister needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him.
The Centre will release Rs 95,082 crore as tax devolution to the states this month after including one advance instalment to help them push their capital expenditure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. After a meeting with all chief ministers and state finance ministers, Sitharaman said states had said that it would be helpful for them if the tax devolution is front loaded.
India is better positioned to face external shocks emanating from increasing geopolitical tensions, the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the inevitability of climate change, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra said on Monday. Relative to macroeconomic configurations in 2013 when India was described as one of the fragile five countries, he said, "India is better positioned currently, as its macroeconomic fundamentals have improved significantly, and external sector indicators point to the availability of enough cushions to manage external shocks." He was speaking at a conference on 'Growth And Development in the BRICS Economies' organised by the Delhi School of Economics (DSE) and the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).
Asked about the PPP's move to link the restoration of judges with a Constitutional package for judicial reforms, Sharif said the two could not be linked. "We have been discussing both since Wednesday and that (Constitutional package) is a separate issue. The restoration (of the judges) will take place through a resolution," Sharif said after a meeting with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has accused the ruling Pakistan People's Party and main opposition Pakistan Musolim League-Nawaz of providing 'refuge' to terrorists of banned groups, including the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and making seat adjustments with them for the upcoming general election.
A week before Pakistanis vote in the parliamentary elections, the "vast majority" -- 75 percent -- want President Pervez Musharraf to leave office, with his approval rating touching a new low of 15 per cent, the Washington Post reported.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has no plans to visit slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's ancestral village to offer condolence to her family, but her party has said he would not be welcome even if he were to come.
A tribunal consented with the decision of the newly constituted board of the IL&FS and observed that the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings was the best option for the two firms.
Pakistan's beleaguered Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, facing calls to resign from former allies, received a boost on Monday as President Asif Ali Zardari and the ruling Pakistan People's Party threw their weight behind him. Zardari, who is camping in the southern city of Karachi, said he and the Pakistan Peoples Party have "full confidence" in Gilani and would "solidly stand behind him in foiling any attempt to destabilise the coalition government".
Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples' Party submitted the no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government led by Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
Of the seven proposed airports, the one at Shirdi will be greenfield whereas in case of other six cities, airstrips exist already but there is no airport infrastructure, Sinha told PTI in an interview.
Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the rejuvenated Opposition.
Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked various ministries to try to spend more than their capital expenditure targets as well as explore public private partnerships for viable projects. During a meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap, she also urged the ministries and their CPSEs to ensure clearance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) dues at the earliest. This was the fifth review meeting by the finance minister with ministries and departments on the infrastructure roadmap.
No prime minister in Pakistan's recent history has survived long in office after appointing an ISI chief who did not have the army chief's confidence. Imran may be no exception, observes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Sharif, 70, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday filed their nomination papers for the post.
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