India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
Condolences have poured in from across the globe, including from the United States, Canada and Sri Lanka following the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for removing an elected woman sarpanch of a remote village for 'unjustified reasons', the Supreme Court on Monday observed the state wanted the village head to go with a 'begging bowl before a babu (bureaucrat)'.
Nitin Desai, who has known Dr Singh from 1971, extends his 'deepest condolences to his wife Gurcharan Kaur and to his three talented daughters Upinder, the historian; Daman, the writer; and Amrit, the human rights activist.'
Of those who were willing to pay, two-third said they can pay up to Rs 500 for two doses of the vaccine, whenever it is available.
The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) has faced a rout as it could win only 10 seats, while the main opposition ZPM bagged 27 seats in the 40-member House.
Gadkari said we have taken note of issues raised by states and will prepare a report which will be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ten days.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Eleven states and Union territories -- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand -- had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
State-owned mining giant, Coal India, is hoping to recover around 75-80 per cent of its liabilities from customers with whom it has long-term fuel supply agreements (FSAs) after the Supreme Court (SC) allowed states to recover dues retrospectively. A legal recourse, however, is underway. "We are impacted in two states - Jharkhand and Odisha.
Maharashtra recorded a voter turnout of 58.22 per cent till 5 pm on Wednesday in the elections to the 288-member state legislative assembly, with Gadchiroli district logging more than 69 per cent voting, poll officials said.
Social stock exchange (SSE) saw its first listing on Wednesday, with SGBS Unnati Foundation becoming the first entity to take this route to avail financing. The foundation - engaged in vocational training of youth - raised Rs 1.8 crore from four investors. These include brokerage firm Zerodha and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard).
Co-founder of the Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Institute (Chilume Trust) Krishnappa Ravikumar was the main accused, according to the police.
Patel was administered the oath as the 18th chief minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function held at the Helipad Ground near the new Secretariat.
'If you look at the average age of all our candidates, you will notice that their average age is between 35 and 40. It is a kind of revolution that the MNS is bringing in Maharashtra.'
'Some of the astounding proposals, if translated into statutory provisions, would be suicidal.' 'This would not be a wonder cure for increasing insurance penetration and only result in mushrooming growth of players like paan kiosks with deleterious consequences.'
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
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 corpus of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), which is the main instrument of the government to channelise bank funds for financing rural infrastructure, has been increased from Rs 5,500 crore (Rs 55 billion) in 2003-04 to Rs 14,000 crore (Rs 140 billion) for the year 2008-09 ensuring greater availability of funds for its activities.
Much of the rural recovery story is based on the premise of agriculture doing well. Even if it clocks a growth of 2.5-3 per cent this year, it is still just around 15 per cent of the overall GDP. The non-farm sector, which constitutes a bigger portion of the overall rural economy, is now hampered by disruptions and lockdowns.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
'Given our turbulent neighbourhood, the prime minister is likely to emphasise on democratic dividend as the reason behind India's continuous prosperity.'
Despite declining by three percentage points in 2022-23 (FY23) compared to FY19, Odisha's unemployment rate remains higher than the average in India.
It would involve constructing over 125,000 kilometres of roads and would form part of the third phase of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
The IT-BT minister claimed that the then BJP government did not merely charge a '40 per cent commission', as his party had claimed during the assembly election, but had collected a commission of more than 400 per cent.
The government has decided to set up a national council headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a committee under the rural development minister to prepare national land reforms policy.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed criminal proceedings against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in connection with a protest march held in the state in 2022.
'The dakiyas will be our partners, receiving credit proposals from micro-enterprises at the grassroots level.'
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said he will participate in the party's protest programme in New Delhi on October 3, a day after he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the school jobs scam in Kolkata on the same day.
Good monsoon is likely to create more jobs in the agriculture sector, which in turn could save the exchequer around Rs 10,000 crore
State-run BSNL on Friday said it will not raise rural telecom tariffs but will reduce some of the development expenditure in those areas to bridge the financial loss of Rs 1,254 crore (Rs 12.54 billion) caused by the latest Access Deficit Charge regi
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday commended Indian financial sector regulators for doing a "world-class job" and bringing greater transparency into the system. Underlining that she is not against questioning or critiquing regulators, Sitharaman said there is a need to be "extremely conscious" about contributions made by them as well. Speaking at the Financial Express Best Banks Awards, the finance minister said, "I strongly recommend that facts are taken on board before we discuss anything to do with the regulators, strictly speaking."
At least five people were killed in separate rain-related incidents on Tuesday in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days causing widespread flooding in several residential areas and turning roads into virtual rivers.
Ganesh Joshi also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the smooth conclusion of Rahul Gandhi's Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir.
Tamil Nadu's Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has reacted to Andhra Pradesh counterpart Pawan Kalyan's out-of-turn taunts with a one-liner, 'Let's wait', and thereby hangs a tale, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Voters of Bihar have made it clear that their aspiration and priority are development alone, Modi said in a series of tweets, adding that the people's blessings for the NDA's good governance show what are the state's dreams and expectations.
Although demonetisation and improper implementation of GST along with falling prices are being blamed for much of the distress in rural India for some time, experts believe those may not be the only reason.
About 78 per cent respondents said they were also satisfied with the steps taken by their own state government, according to the findings of the survey.
A freebie once granted can hardly be discontinued. All that can happen is to substitute it with a bigger freebie, notes A K Bhattacharya.
While the likelihood of these states going the Lanka or Greece way may be an alarming assessment, the financial situation of some states such as Punjab and West Bengal is indeed quite weak.
