Tamil Nadu is set to protest against the National Education Policy (NEP) on February 18, with the ruling DMK and its allies announcing a demonstration. The state government has been at odds with the Centre over the implementation of the NEP and the three-language formula proposed in the policy. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the state's opposition as "politics" and asserted that the Centre is committed to implementing the NEP across the country. The DMK, however, accused the Centre of encroaching on the state's rights and using the office of the Governor to push the NEP.
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
Farmer representatives and agricultural stakeholders urged the government to provide cheaper long-term credit, implement lower taxes, and double the PM-KISAN income support during a comprehensive pre-budget consultation with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday. The two-hour meeting saw a detailed discussion of proposals, aimed at addressing multiple challenges in the agricultural sector, with key demands focusing on financial relief, market reforms, and strategic investments.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
Pradhan further said the opposition had a chance to raise this issue during the motion of thanks to the President's address and asserted the government was ready for any type of discussion.
Amid a row over irregularities in competitive exams National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and National Eligibility Test (NET), the education ministry on Saturday notified a seven-member panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA).
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
Ten Union ministers will be the permanent invitees to the Inter-State Council, according to an official notification.
The textbooks themselves have not been finalised by the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC), he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to project senior leader Dharmendra Pradhan, 40, as its chief ministerial candidate in Orissa after its alliance with the Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal came to an end on March 7.The BJP's central election committee on Friday cleared its six sitting MPs to seek re-election, with the exception of Pradhan's constituency Deogarh, leading to speculations that he will be the party's CM candidate for the assembly elections.
The Centre on Saturday night announced that the probe into alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET will be handed over to the CBI for a comprehensive investigation.
The generation of quality jobs and skill development should be the focal point, cutting across ministries and departments, asserts Nivedita Mookerji.
The move to expand the health insurance scheme's coverage comes at a time when several hospitals have complained of delays in reimbursement related to the procedures performed under the scheme.
The credibility of the examination system has also come under question, they said.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
The Centre is considering a proposal on increasing coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 5 lakh.
While BJD leaders held a marathon meeting at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, the BJP leaders had a similar meeting in the national capital, discussing election matters, including a potential alliance.
Even as the Maharashtra government claims it is implementing in phases the Ram Pradhan committee report, which examined the government's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, gaping holes still exist in the security apparatus.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
There have been allegations of inflation of marks in NEET-UG which has led to a record 67 candidates sharing top rank with perfect score.
Janardan Choudhary, a key advisor to Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), was named as one of the seven non-institutional members by the Union Environment Ministry when it reconstituted the Expert Appraisal Committee for hydroelectricity and river valley projects in September.
The Supreme Court on Thursday sought responses from the Centre, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others on petitions seeking the cancellation of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 (NEET-UG 2024), and a court-monitored probe into the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam.
The Ram Pradhan Committee report on the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai has revealed that the Maharashtra intelligence chief never received inputs of Central spy agencies prior to the mayhem unlike the Director General of Police's office, which received alerts from the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a Rs 100 per cylinder cut in cooking gas LPG price to ease financial burden on households. Non-subsidised cooking gas price will be cut to Rs 803 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital with effect from midnight of Friday/Saturday, official sources said. Prices vary from state to state depending on the incidence on local taxes.
The high-level committee that probed the Mumbai 26/11 attacks has blamed the management of Taj and Oberoi hotels for ignoring the security advice given to them much ahead of the terror strikes.
The Maharashtra government on Monday tabled in the state assembly the Ram Pradhan committee report on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, which cited instances of non-adherence to the Standard Operating Practice during the terror siege.
The government also announced that healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme will be extended to all ASHA and anganwadi workers and helpers.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday rejected the finding of the Ram Pradhan committee on the 26/11 terror attacks that the then Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor had "failed" to lead the force during the terrorist strikes last November
Observing that it is the state government and police's duty to protect and thwart untoward incidents like terror acts, the Bombay high court on Thursday sought a compliance report from Maharashtra government on what measures it has taken post 26/11 terror attacks.
Saifuddin Laskar (47), TMC area president of Bamungachi area in Joynagar was shot dead from close range near his house by miscreants when he went out to offer prayers in the morning, the police said.
Now, every state election -- first up, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year, then Delhi in January and Bihar in September next year -- will be seen by his followers for evidence of his recovery, and by rivals of sharpening decline, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Fondly remembering the contribution of retiring members from the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the wisdom shared by them would be greatly missed and their departure would leave a void.
'The Congress in the past backed the demand, but will not support it now since the SP opposes any division of UP.'
The Maharashtra Assembly will today initiate a debate on the Pradhan Committee Report into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Refuting allegations by their former boss that they dithered from "responding to the situation" during 26/11, some police officers said on Friday that they did not understand what prompted former Mumbai police commissioner Hassan Gafoor to make such remarks.
"The copy given to me by the Opposition has no relation with the four copies we have. No photo copy of the original report went out," Chavan informed the Legislative Council, replying to the issue raised by the Opposition leaders.
Highlighting Maharashtra government's laxity in tackling the 26/11 terror attacks, the Ram Pradhan Committee report has pointed out that a study group formed after July 2006 train blasts, for suggesting measures to heighten security in the megapolis and other cities, has failed to submit its report so far.
The Ram Pradhan committee that went into the response by the police to the 26/11 attacks has pointed out "total confusion" in processing of Intelligence alerts at the level of the state government and "inadequacies" in the existing mechanism for analysing alerts about possible strikes.
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