'Our intentions are clear. If I keep all the acquired land under the ownership of the government, why do you raise questions about my intentions?' 'One achievement of my ministry would be the gas pricing policy. Two, we made a delivery mechanism (for domestic LPG) which is the largest in the world. We are crediting money to the poor directly. It is the biggest structure of direct subsidy transfer.' 'It is very easy to work with Modi. He gives everyone a chance in decision-making. I have become a minister for the very first time, but if we want to raise any issues in the Cabinet, we have full freedom to do so.' The second and final part of Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's exclusive interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
At these 'relief camps' people had nothing to sleep on except for a piece of cloth and men and women, boys and girls all cramped together. Factor in the fact that Kakching in the 2011 census had a population of 28,746 people and that about 90 per cent of that population has been affected by the floods now, and one can work the math of the crisis at hand.
Many corporations extended benefits to same-sex couples well before the law was overturned.
Commercial banks are also expected to be soft on loan repayments and restructure the loans, if not write them off.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
India has just had one of the worst quarters in export earnings.
'Without it, it is going to be much, much, much, much worse.' 'In the meantime, we really need to work on a sort of war footing, given that it is a natural disaster, provide relief, provide essentials, till we get biological herd immunity, we need to get economic immunity, and also social immunity.'
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the states were free to announce farm loan waivers if they had the fiscal space and that there would be no shortfall this year in divestment and non-tax revenues.
Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini are trying to improve education across India.
'There are 25 million farmers in India with at least 2 to 3 cows each.' 'If all them use biogas to cook, millions of LPG units and firewood can be saved.'
'By 2020 around 34% of India's population will be in the 15-34 age group.' 'More than 70% of them live in rural areas.' 'Their energy and enthusiasm need to be tapped in order to meet their aspirations and transform agriculture and the rural economy,' says P K Joshi.
Don't be led by emotions while self-introspection your efforts, but get a grip on the facts, says Suhita Saha.
'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.
'Challenges will come but we will stay the course. No big step can be taken if one is afraid of criticism. We will not flinch from criticism,' says Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.
The cab-hailing firm needs to jettison its baggage of dysfunctional corporate and gender insensitivity, finds out Ritwik Sharma.
'There is a communication gap between the Modi government and the allies. During the last one year, the NDA has met only once and that was two hours before the land bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.' 'When Vajpayee was prime minister if any NDA chief minister asked for time , he was given it the next day. Modi is not doing it.' 'If there is tension on the streets, if there is insecurity amongst the minorities, then Make in India will remain a pipe dream.'
Dr Talat Ahmad, vice chancellor of Jamia Milia Islamia suggests important reforms in the Indian education system.
'50% of students lose out because of lack of English language skills.' 'Only 15% to 20% have the functional skills companies are looking for.'
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
According to a report, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have already declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012.
'The Hindu quest for political power in terms of a Hindu identity can pose a problem for tolerance, as the alignment of religion with power often does.'
They can carry huge amounts of data, have a lot of bandwidth, but operate at short ranges, between 200 metres and 2-3 km reports Surajeet Das Gupta
'... for two reasons: the poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.' 'Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his second 'Mann ki Baat' radio address to the nation on Sunday, said as far as the issue of black money was concerned, he would work to ensure that every single penny was returned back to the country.
Here is the complete text of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's address at the inauguration of the national media centre in New Delhi on Saturday.
Even as you fight the ongoing health challenge, here are some tips to strengthen your personal finance in the time of coronavirus.
Uttar Pradesh still remains far behind the Indian average on most health indicators, says Dipa Sinha.
Hippocampus Learning Centres bridges urban-rural gap through affordable, quality pre-schooling for kids.
Two young engineers educate children with iPads n remote villages.
'The number of deaths attributable to warming is likely to rise in the future.'
The Haryana 'incident is a manifestation of a far greater malady -- mobocracy -- that continues to afflict our society,' says Vivek Gumaste.
Workers' attitude is changing and they want to work more and demand more wages. They want more productivity.
If the impact of the Greece crisis spreads across Europe and parts of the world which are more interconnected than ever before, India cannot hope to be insulated, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
'I assume Ramachandra Guha's neglect of this aspect of Gandhi grows out of the belief that Gandhi's life had no central text,' says Rudrangshu Mukherjee, professor of history, Ashoka University.
'There will be some issues of contention, especially on H1B visa and on trade policy.'
No successive government thought of reviving the idea of an exit policy.
This Budget plans for an increase to 10.3% of GDP from 9.9%.
Delayed project delivery and unrealistically high real estate prices, which developers are unwilling to lower despite piled up inventories, have adversely hit the sector.
But he is actively pursuing greenfield steel plants in Karnataka and Jharkhand; ultimately, only one of these might come up.
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