Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new schemes and increased the subsidised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh, targeting everything from unemployment to crop productivity enhancement across the country. Presenting her eighth budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman positioned agriculture as "the first engine of growth" and unveiled the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a flagship program targeting 100 agri-districts grappling with low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average credit parameters.
Nearly all FMCG companies like Marico, HUL, ITC and the rest have been indicating that the operating environment has been challenging, with drop in consumption, especially in rural areas, severe crunch in market liquidity conditions, and disruptions and floods in several parts of the country. To overcome this, they are boosting their direct reach in the countryside.
FM has taken up basic issues that concerns the population in India's heartland.
Among urban users, 57 per cent mentioned a preference for accessing Internet content in vernacular languages.
'Although we are facing constraints related to lending and resource mobilisation, the government is aware of these.'
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said describing India's recovery as 'K-shaped' was wrong as both rural and urban economies were recovering, albeit at different paces. Speaking to reporters at the Finance Ministry, Nageswaran said the gross domestic product (GDP) growth print for the recent October-December quarter (Q3FY23) will likely be revised upwards. "The notion of using the letter 'K' to denote urban and rural is somewhat wrong because it is almost as if one is growing and one is contracting. "I would say one segment's slope is more positive, and the other one slope is less positive but it is positive," Nageswaran said.
'AI analyses body language, etiquette, and communication skills, providing an in-depth performance matrix and a ranking system to help employees identify areas of improvement.'
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
'India has the maths talent, academic institutions, and research institutions to do the next big thing.'
The Rajasthan Royals have launched a special 'Pink Promise' campaign to celebrate International Women's Day, featuring an all-pink jersey for their match against Mumbai Indians.
In 2023-2024, 95 scheduled commercial banks received over 10 million complaints from their customers. The process of KYC at many banks has become 'HYC' -- harass your customer, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Hero MotoCorp on Tuesday posted 24 per cent increase in consolidated profit after tax at Rs 1,169 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2025 riding on higher margins backed by better product mix, parts revenue and cost effectiveness. The company had reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 943 crore in January-March FY24.
Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has been picked as India's official entry for Oscars 2025.
'Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something just because it hasn't been done before. Take that first step. Keep learning. Believe in yourself even when no one else does.'
rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'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.'
'Everyone with a low BMI will not get Type 5 diabetes.'
Heavy overnight rains severely affected parts of the city on Monday, leading to water-logged roads, inundated residential areas and traffic pile-up, as the city braces for more spells in the coming days.
The number of people averse to the surveys by the National Statistical Office (NSO) has more than doubled over the last five years between the 75th National Sample Survey (NSS) round (July 2017- June 2018) and the 79th NSS round (July 2022-June 2023), the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation MoSPI) said on Friday in a conference organised to discuss the issue of 'non- responsiveness' to its sample surveys. The ministry said that nearly 6.9 per cent people in urban areas surveyed by the NSO for the 79th NSS round did not participate in the exercise, while the number of people in rural India that refused to participate in these surveys stood at 3.9 per cent.
A district-level investigation has named several individuals, including relatives of India cricketer Mohammed Shami.
There's room for all kinds on OTT this week, as Sukanya Verma tells us.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
'On the governmental level, we are saying all the right things, like beti bachao, beti padhao. Yet, a High Court judge in Prayagraj, who is highly educated, has studied the Constitution and its laws, says breaking the naada of a pyjama or touching the breasts of a minor girl is not part of the reform process. Just giving lip service is not enough, the general mindset has to change.'
Currently, deposits of up to Rs 5 lakh are covered under the deposit-insurance scheme.
The RJD wrote on its X handle, in Hindi, "Just see how Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is pulling towards himself a woman in an objectionable manner with Home Minister Amit Shah looking on".
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.
'I feel the murderers had done a recce of this place before murdering Raja.' 'It is isolated, there are no CCTV cameras.' 'It was a fit place to commit the crime.'
The comedian has failed to appear before the Mumbai police for questioning despite three summons issued to him.
Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1 and covers the entire country by July 8. It starts retreating from northwest India around September 17 and withdraws completely by October 15.
The total vehicle retail sales in India witnessed a 32 per cent on-year rise in October to 28,32,944 units with all segments including two-wheelers and passenger vehicles registering strong growth, Federation of Automobile Dealers' Association (FADA) said on Wednesday. The total vehicle retail sales in October 2023 stood at 21,43,929 units, as per FADA. The strong growth in October this year was largely driven by the rural market, especially boosting two-wheeler and passenger vehicles sales, supported by increased Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Rabi crops, FADA said.
Dr Ganesh Natarajan, a special guest on rediffGURUS, has been addressing questions from Rediff readers, about how to grow professionally, how women can achieve leadership roles in Indian companies, and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
A doctor by profession, Karthik Adapa gave up scholarships to Harvard and Cambridge to join the Indian Administrative Services.
Despite impressive progress, a Green Revolution-era policy framework - subsidies for fertiliser and free electricity for groundwater irrigation - has now become an escalating risk to sustainability.
State Bank of India (SBI), in a report on Friday, claimed a significant decline in the headline poverty ratio in rural areas on account of enhanced physical infrastructure, higher consumption growth in the bottom fractile and direct benefit transfers (DBTs).
Rajbaris are a link to Bengal's rich past, of grand mansions, classical fine dining, and allow guests to be pretend zamindars for those few hours or days that they stay.
The Supreme Court of India has transferred a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the safety and longevity of bridges in Bihar to the Patna High Court. The court expressed concern over the state government's handling of bridge collapses, noting that officials were suspended after incidents but reinstated after the public outcry subsided. The court also criticized the state's voluminous response to the PIL, which lacked explanations for the collapses. The Patna High Court will now monitor the state's efforts to ensure structural and safety audits of bridges in Bihar.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday permitted banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals beyond the mandatory free monthly usage by Rs 2 to Rs 23 per transaction from May 1.
The project also aims to address critical gaps in rural sports infrastructure, particularly at the block level, where facilities remain underdeveloped.
'A weak monsoon always spells disaster. But it's too early to have a pessimistic view.'
