Jharkhand has partnered with CSC eStore to create a digital marketplace for products made by women's self-help groups (SHGs). This initiative aims to expand market access, boost income for rural women, and strengthen the rural economy through e-commerce and digital governance. The state also plans to extend Aadhaar services to all panchayats by November 15.
Underlining that students are the "architects of India's future," President Droupadi Murmu on Friday said the government is taking comprehensive steps to reform public examinations to completely curb paper leaks and unfair means, making the system transparent, secure, and trustworthy.
In her address to the nation on the eve of the country's 80th Independence Day, the president stressed that just as government and society remain united to ensure national security, everyone must contribute through joint and concerted efforts to safeguard the present and future of students.
'You empower a man, you are not necessarily empowering a family, you are just empowering him.'
Through his commitment to democratic norms, debate, dissent and constitutionalism, Jawaharlal Nehru helped ensure that parliamentary democracy took deep root in independent India. Utkarsh Mishra evaluates Nehru's 17 years as India's first prime minister, examining his role in nation-building, democratic institution-building, economic planning, scientific advancement and foreign policy.
Bihar's greatest resource is not beneath its soil but above it -- its people. With a population approaching 140 million and one of India's youngest demographic profiles, Bihar possesses an asset many societies would envy, explains Bihar Governor Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The Maharashtra government has announced a flexible work time initiative for women state government employees working in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The 'Come Early, Go Early' initiative will allow women employees flexible reporting times and earlier departure times.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
As the March 31 deadline arrives, a wave of Maoist surrenders suggests insurgency's end, but political and social concerns remain.
'India's ties with Israel have to do with defence and general technology.' 'The war changes nothing in what India and Israel hope to get from the relationship.' 'It's not as though India will get significantly more benefits from Iran if India abandons Israel at this time.'
'In times of adversity, families unite, but the reverse is happening in the Lalu family.'
'I don't know whether the top Gujarati leaders of Indian politics (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in Delhi realise that the narrative of HindiHinduHindustan will eventually destroy their own language too.'
President Droupadi Murmu's address to the nation on the eve of the 79th Independence Day.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
'When so many young Baloch men and women are willingly volunteering as fighters and even suicide bombers.'
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread -- their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam kindly answered rediff.com's questions for an exclusive interview.
The actor-turned-politician has been allotted Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Environment, Forests, and Science and Technology portfolios.
The ministry of minority affairs informed the Lok Sabha that in 2022-2023, it had been allotted Rs 5,020.5 crore (Rs 50.20 billion); in the Revised Estimates, it had got Rs 2,612.66 crore (Rs 26.12 billion); and had spent, until the end of March this year, Rs 712.5 crore (Rs 7,12 billion).
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
Development economist Jean Dreze said the Indian democracy is currently navigating a crisis that is not only limited to the 'recent wave of authoritarianism' but also suppression of opposition voices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The actual expenditure will only be marginally higher and hence, the multiplier effect will be muted.
'Binary fission will happen -- startups will lead to more startups.'
'It is a balanced and prudent Budget that sets the foundation for future growth in the economy.'
'it's not just youth in India who are left behind because of their inability to find jobs; nearly two-thirds of Indian women of working ages do not participate at all in the paid labour force.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to step up efforts to boost consumption and rural economy while keeping inflation under check when she presents her sixth straight Budget on February 1. Experts said one way to boost consumption is to put more money in the hands of people, and one of the possible ways of doing it is by reducing the tax burden through tinkering with tax slabs or increasing the standard deduction. Another proposal is related to increasing the funds under the rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and higher payout for farmers.
Elections are not won or lost by expounding on such macro-economic matters. For the aam admi, what matters in manifestos are promises that will improve their quality of life, notes Vinayak Chatterjee.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Gaurav Mehta, one of 100 'Young Global Leaders', is tapping entrepreneurs inside rural Indians.
Education remains one of the key focuses of the new government.
'The BJP is trying to change this mantra.'
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
One may fault this government for incompetence, corruption, and delayed action but it cannot be faulted for lacking a vision.
The state's joblessness is three times higher than the national average of 7.8 per cent.
'I will try and make my panchayat a model one in Bihar.'
Shuvajit was confident of making a huge difference in the lives of people in rural India.
The government on Tuesday announced Rs 900-crore allocation in the Budget for the newly set up Ministry of Cooperation for the 2022-23 fiscal, besides slashing Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) on cooperative societies to 15 per cent and surcharge to 7 per cent, which nodal minister Amit Shah hailed saying it will boost the sector. Of the total allocation for the next fiscal, a significant amount of Rs 350 crore has been provided for digitisation of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACs), while Rs 274 crore for an umbrella scheme 'Prosperity through Cooperatives' which would have a number of sub-components with the aim of all-round development of cooperatives in the country. For the first time, a separate budget of Rs 11 crore has been provided to Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICON).
