On Agri Stack, Expenditure Secy V Vualnam says it's progressing well; using IT, farmers will be able to choose exact fertiliser quantities needed, reducing crowding at fertiliser outlets.
Bangladesh's newly-elected Prime Minister Tarique Rahman pledged to strengthen the rule of law and ensure the country is a safe land for people of all faiths, while also addressing corruption and improving law and order.
'No, India and China were not about to go to all-out war over a few rocks of Galwan.' 'The full picture of what went on at the highest level between two heads of State will not be known for a very, very long time and rightly so,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'If all of us (all the 57 Shiv Sena MLAs) stand together we can change the dynamic. We are not afraid of anyone.'
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
Sonia Gandhi criticizes the Modi government's environmental policies, claiming they endanger the Aravalli hills and disregard environmental protection.
This was perhaps a missed opportunity for India to spotlight a core domestic challenge: The scale of workforce preparation required for a young, populous, rapidly growing country seeking to reach net zero, points out Radha Roy Biswas.
'These children possess catastrophically low birth weights -- often 1.4 kgs or less. Such extremely low birth weight results in profoundly compromised neo-natal immunity.' 'The escalation to 97 deaths in three months precipitated contemporary attention precisely because this magnitude concentrates the humanitarian emergency, rendering it impossible for the administrative machinery to ignore.'
If they act now, they can reshape the strategic map of Asia without firing a shot. If they wait, the next opportunity will come only after a serious Taiwan Strait incident -- by which time the price will be far higher, and the room for boldness far smaller -- the opportunity may well be lost by then. The question is no longer whether this can or should be done, points out Varun Arya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 1,600-crore assistance package for flood-hit Punjab after reviewing the damage. He also announced ex gratia for the deceased and injured. The state is battling its worst deluge since 1988.
'Stage five of this catastrophe has begun: Starvation.'
Moody's Ratings on Tuesday said India's growing water shortage can disrupt farm and industry sectors and is detrimental to the credit health of the sovereign as rising food inflation and decline in income may spark social unrest. It said decreases in water supply can disrupt agricultural production and industrial operations, resulting in inflation in food prices and hence can be detrimental to credit health of sectors that heavily consume water, such as coal power generators and steel-makers.
'We have created massive infrastructure in the past six years.'
Authorities continue evacuating stranded pilgrims from areas around Dharali village in Uttarkashi, focusing on air rescue and relief operations due to damaged roads. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is overseeing the efforts, with central government support.
The MEA said the flood in Bangladesh has been caused primarily due to waters from these large catchments downstream of the dam.
China has approved the construction of the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, close to the Indian border. The USD 137 billion project, which is expected to dwarf even China's own Three Gorges Dam, has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh, the downstream riparian states. Concerns in India are centered around China's potential to control water flow, potentially enabling the release of large amounts of water to flood border areas in times of hostilities. The dam is part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the Chinese government claims that the project is safe and prioritizes ecological protection.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
The Standing Committee on Water Resources has recommended renegotiating the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address the impact of climate change on water availability in the river basin and other challenges which are not covered under the agreement.
Water is going to be a central part of the government's 2024 election campaign. And Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's work will be crucial for it.
Only 40 of the 160 projects under the Namami Gange Mission -- a Rs 20,000 crore project for cleaning the river -- have been completed.
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Water Resources, the water storage position in major reservoirs has gone down to a record low of 34.86 billion cubic metres (bcm) -- about 22 per cent of the total storage capacity of 151.76 bcm of all the 81 reservoirs taken together. The storage level was above 26 per cent last year. Of the total 81 reservoirs in the country, 36 have significant hydro power potential with an installed capacity of more than 60 Mw each.
Almost a year after he was forced to resign in the aftermath of the terror attack on Mumbai, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader R R Patil is back in the saddle as Maharashtra home minister. NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar will handle the prestigious Power portfolio, in addition to the Water Resources Ministry he handled earlier. NCP leader Jayant Patil, who was home minister in the outgoing government, will now handle the Rural Development Ministry.
The Group of Ministers, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, met on Monday for discussion with Union ministry secretary-level officers.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
The highest water-use efficiency of more than $ 50 per cubic metre is in Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, Denmark, Finland, and Great Britain while the lowest is in Central and South Asia, including India, at less than $ 10 per cubic metre.
India to exploit to the maximum the capacity of Pak-controlled rivers -- Indus, Chenab, Jhelum as per the Indus Treat, source said.
'The cost of flying to Prayagraj has gone up six times due to the Kumbh Mela.'
India's energy deficit is likely to improve as hydro power stations can ramp up generation on account of adequate rainfall in the last fortnight of July, wiping out the shortfall of the previous months.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
The Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision, hailing it as a 'grand victory for the 'Amma (Jayalalithaa) government' and the state's farmers'.
At the review meeting, chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba in New Delhi, the IMD said above normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of northeast, east and central India and some parts of northwest India.
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According to the latest data, until May, 48.3 per cent of the total 207 projects worth Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) or above, also termed as mega projects, faced delays and witnessed a cost overrun of 19.2 per cent from the originally-sanctioned Rs 656,000 to Rs 781,000.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
India's water future remains very bleak. The monsoon season, which once extended to 4 months, is now down to less than 30 days of heavy rain.
With this decision, Malik will be left with no portfolio in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Portfolios were on Tuesday allocated in the new Bihar cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, predictably, retained the all-important home department which helps him keep direct control on the state police.
Maharashtra government on Saturday gave a clean chit to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam as it tabled in the Legislative Assembly the report of Madhav Chitale committee on the issue alongwith the Action Taken Report.
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