It took a lockdown for us in India to even recognise that the plight of migrants needs to be addressed. They were faceless and unrecognised. They were unappreciated and even hounded. They were poorly paid and exploited, notes Ramesh Menon.
PDS: Smart ration cards need to be smarter
In view of the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday asked scheduled commercial banks and co-operative banks not to make any dividends for the financial year ended March 2020. In view of the ongoing stress and the heightened uncertainty on account of the pandemic, RBI said it is imperative that banks continue to conserve capital to support the economy and absorb losses, if any. The decision is based on review of the September quarter financial performance of banks.
PSB chiefs tried to argue that liquidity is in surplus in the system and the problem was related to lack of demand in the economy, instead of banks' reluctance to lend, but 'the FM said it is a perception issue that loan is not available, which we need to dispel,', reports Somesh Jha.
Top Union ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office.
Modi stressed on the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants and also to ensure increased oxygen availability, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
The vaccine arrives at a critical moment for the US. Hospitalisations due to COVID-19 hit record highs for the seventh day in a row on Saturday.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Budget on February 1.
"The emphasis is on making every rule, law, policy people-centric, and public-friendly. This is the use of the new governance model and the country is getting its results," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the launch of a platform for 'Transparent Taxation -- Honoring the Honest'.
Vaishnaw said that the actual reason behind the accident could be ascertained only after dismantling the engine's equipment.
Inclusive of the July hike of 25 paise, a monthly increase of similar amount would result in a saving of Rs 2.25 a litre for the current financial year alone.
The MCC's World Cricket Committee which includes greats like Shane Warne, Kumar Sangakkara, Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, recently discussed the controversial umpire's call aspect of the Decision Review System.
The bench said it has to balance the equity and it was not against any policy of the government or the scheme.
The Congress will only be able to gain from the bill if its benefits percolate down to the people within the next eight months, says Anita Katyal
The United Progressive Alliance's growth story' and food security scheme dominated a Congress workshop on Monday where its media managers from across the country were given training to disseminate party's message on key issues ahead of next Lok Sabha polls.
There has been criticism of the official statistics ever since MoSPI came out with new methodology to estimate the GDP on the base year of 2011-12 compared to earlier 2004-05.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja on Sunday said he was ready to serve life imprisonment if a single rupee or dollar was found in any offshore account in his name.
Amid a spate of government proposals at its door, the Election Commission has asked all Union government departments to route their proposals through the Cabinet Secretariat.
'Sebi has to make sure that investor interests are protected and at the same time, there isn't over-regulation so that companies don't get discouraged to list here.'
Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, which is spearheading the protests at Delhi border points, distributed handbills in Hindi to commuters on the Jaipur-Delhi Highway near Haryana-Rajasthan borders, where hundreds of farmers have been camping for almost past three weeks now, to convey their apology, and also reiterate their demand for legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price.
'The farm bills will not bring in corporate zamindari'
The country saw two straight years of deficient monsoons.
Expect a more modest out-turn of around 5 per cent (if not less) because of the longer-term scarring effects of the Covid shock, the sharply slowing growth in the pre-Covid years and some scepticism about the growth-efficacy of some of recent official policy initiatives, explains Shankar Acharya, former chief economic advisor to the government.
With Narendra Modi about to make his first Independence Day speech, there is a buzz in Delhi that Modi will make some big announcements to signal major reforms and directional shifts. But we have to wait and see if it happens, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Hemant Shivsaran lists the number of projects the Modi government has announced since August to woo Gujarat voters.
Delhi power minister Satyendra Jain in an interview to Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey, says thatdiscoms will be able to cater to the peak power demand of up to 6,500 MW, provided residents cooperate by reducing peak time usage.
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Sakshi Balani presents an FAQ on the Food Security Bill that was passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The stock and foreign exchange markets have had a negative reaction to the government's biggest social security programme, the National Food Security Bill. Food minister K V Thomas questions the rationale behind such a response
The proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, that are envisioned to protect consumer interests, may further compound the impact of multiplicity of regulations on the e-commerce sector, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) had told the ministry of consumer affairs. IACC, the apex bilateral chamber for Indo-US business, had told the government that the proposed amendments would increase compliance liabilities that risk severely impairing the growth of the sector.
Stressing on the need to protect both lives and livelihoods, he said public health action in India and across the world must be continually guided by evidence from four key questions -- how transmissible is the variant, severity of the disease it causes, how well vaccines and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection protect and how common people perceive risk and follow control measures.
The government chose moral persuasion to make people give up subsidies, notes Rahul Khullar.
India should not be left behind. It should join the seven central banks which are studying feasibility and safeguards necessary to eliminate risks, particularly from hacking, advises former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'Demand is wonderful. We have crossed 10 million on many days.' 'The Swedish trade commissioner recently said, "You guys are vaccinating the entire Sweden in one day".'
In other welfare schemes, such as those for cooking gas, pension and scholarships, which are linked to DBT, cash is transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
This week, global drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is 95 per cent effective, including in adults over 65 years of age.
'The Jharkhand government is increasingly intolerant of voices of dissent.' 'Recently 20 persons, including activists, writers and academics, were booked for sedition.' 'Many of them have been critical of the government's apathy towards Adivasis,' notes Siraj Dutta.
Kavitha Kuruganti has been fighting for decades to ensure farmers are respected and get their due from the Indian nation. In order to ensure they don't struggle for a living, she works to ensure sustainable farm livelihoods and farmers' rights.
K N Balagopal (Communist Party of India -Marxist) said the Congress and the BJP were acting as A-Team and B-Team and not allowing the House to discuss the bills.
Venkaiah Naidu said Aadhaar will not be made mandatory till the entire population gets such cards or UID numbers.
Maharashtra govt, California-based Zipline to launch the automated delivery service funded by Serum Institute.
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