The government's largesse was widely expected after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost power in the recent assembly polls in three Hindi heartland states, where rural distress was cited to be one of the reasons for the defeat of the saffron party.
'The global situation is not very good.'
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday replaced his 'Team-11', a group of officials tasked with managing the crises, with a new nine-member set of ministers and bureaucrats.
A day after Rajasthan sports minister asked to be relieved from his post over the conduct of the CM's principal secretary, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said Ashok Chandna's tweet should not be taken seriously as he might be under pressure due to the workload.
The appointment of new expenditure secretary comes a month-and-a-half ahead of the Budget for 2020-21 to be presented on February 1.
Some of the sacked employees have already been booked under the Public Safety Act, while others have evaded arrest.
Whether the age-old cry of kendrer banchana will be able to drown out pangs of Sandeshkhali, the EVM will tell.
Coal Secretary Anil Swarup has been appointed as school education secretary.
Spurring the economy, currently in the throes of a slowdown, remains the prime focus for most ministries, but the government is also looking to make women's welfare and environmental protection key to policymaking in this term.
The finance ministry is working on a second relief package for the Indian economy hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the contagion, sources said. Last month, the government announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package in the form of foodgrains and cash transfers for the poor and vulnerable section of the society to help them deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown. Now, the government is working on a stimulus to be given to hard-hit sectors of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, sources said, adding that an announcement is expected in the next few days depending on the severity of the pandemic.
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
Portfolio sharing had turned out to be a thorny issue between the Congress and JD-S and was thrashed out after much haggling, with both parties announcing an agreement on June one.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
The Congress has conceded the plum Finance portfolio to its junior partner, resolving a thorny issue, after its president Rahul Gandhi intervened and spoke to Kumaraswamy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
The total direct tax collection stands at a little over Rs 9 trillion, giving the taxman just few days to reach the 2018-19 revised target of Rs 12 trillion., reports Shrimi Choudhary.
Veteran legislator Kodela Sivaprasada Rao has been unanimously elected as the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation of the state.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
DEA is currently headed on an interim basis by Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray
Arvind Kejriwal will monitor the work of various departments. Adarsh Shastri might also aid Kejriwal in this task. Somesh Jha reports
The health and family welfare ministry spent 70 per cent of its allocation till October. The ministry may need additional funds for the vaccination drive which is expected to be kicked off from January.
This takes the total number of apprehended persons in this case to nine, a police officer said.
Timely onset of south-west monsoon is crucial for kharif (summer) crops.
Need for consent of affected families and social-impact assessment could go.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee died while being treated for cardiac ailments at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
Since much of the voting was on religious lines, Mamata's rural focus became irrelevant.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting runs various awareness programmes for the citizens leveraging the Internet and the social media.
With more than 21 lakh migrant workers returning to the state as per official data, the Nitish Kumar government faces an enormous challenge in providing jobs for them.
Right now the challenge before the government is to double the speed of construction in order to complete the remaining 6.6 million houses before March 2019.
The PM is keen to fill 40 per cent of joint secretary level openings with outsiders.
'Similarly, he is against Dalits forgetting that the only way to get rid of poverty is to empower poor people.'
BJP hints at implementing Modi's model of minimum government maximum governance in Maharashtra
The ministry of health and family welfare spent Rs 3,948 crore in May this year compared to Rs 7,816 crore in the corresponding month of the previous year. On the other hand, at Rs 12,930 crore, the expenditure had risen almost 200 per cent in April against Rs 4,327 crore in the corresponding month of 2019-20.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
Less-than-expected rainfall and a poor spatial distribution, experts say, can rekindle fears of a rise in food and fuel inflation that can have an impact on the RBI's monetary policy. The fear of less than optimal rainfall due to El Nino this year, analysts believe, is the biggest short-term risk for the markets, which they said has not been fully priced in yet by them. Monsoon set over Kerala on June 08, a week later than its scheduled date.
Credit to priority sectors as well as small and medium industries will be discussed to find ways to accelerate economic growth.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet his six-member cabinet at 1pm on Monday as the new Aam Aadmi Party gets down to work.
The new Land Acquisition Act, which he hoped to notify by January 1, 2014, does not have under its purview 13 different acts, which dealt with land acquisition for various government projects, including the national highways, power transmission and railways.
A lesson we have not learnt from China is the urgent need to knit the vast country together to keep it from falling apart at the seams. While there is considerable dent in poverty, sadly, the North East remains as distant today as it always was, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
'Just the amount of work which is there just to become more and more successful in banking. For this to happen you need to have leaders who understand technology.'
