The recently concluded assembly polls in the four states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and one Union Territory -- Puducherry saw a blatant use of money power. But interestingly, the newly elected members of Legislative have claimed in their expense statements submitted to the Election Commission that their expenditure was well below the prescribed limit.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are ahead of Bihar in terms of remittance sent by Indians to their home through Western Union money transfer with assistance from post offices, Anil Kumar, Director, Business Development, Bihar postal services told PTI.
Udayanidhi has handed over to the BJP one real issue to draw the line between it and the INDIA alliance, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Kamal Haasan starrer releases amid much controversy.
Kerala is likely to witness all-time high liquor sales this Onam, the harvest festival, with the season already reporting a 30 per cent hike. According to the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BevCo), the first few days of this Onam season have set the tone for record sales. "During last year's Onam season, our sales were around Rs 561 crore. This year, we expect it to be over Rs 700 crore," said Yogesh Gupta, chairman and managing director, BevCo.
Kerala has retained the top rank in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2020-21, while Bihar has been adjudged as the worst performer, according to a report released on Thursday. The Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) evaluates progress of states and union territories on social, economic and environmental parameters. Kerala retained its rank as the top state with a score of 75. Both Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the second spot with a score of 74. Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing states in this year's India index.
A special quiz to mark the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
A new entrant, whether a popular actor or not, has not been able to sweep the polls, as their fans had hoped for. Given a proven pattern, it should hold true for Vijay as well. Or, something drastically has to happen between now and 2026, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There are a few states which are reporting higher numbers of cases indicating possible localised spread of infection,' Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said in a letter to these states.
Personnel of NDRF, Fire, Forest and police departments have expanded their search operations to the downstream of a river in their efforts to trace 19 more people who were still missing in the August 7 tragedy near Rajamala.
Anish posted 35 hits out of 40 in the final
According to the petitioner, P G Hari, who is a homoeopathy practitioner in Wayanad and president of the 'Jankeeya Manushyavakasasamrakhana Prasthanam' (Organisation Fighting for Protection of People's Rights), "adverse effects" of the vaccine had been reported from Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh and no proper studies were conducted before it was introduced in India
Southern states have been asked to reduce load for maintaining 'grid discipline' to avert power blackouts like the one caused by the collapse of three grids which has hit 22 states in north, east and north-east region.
Rediff.com readers tell us how they are celebrating the festival.
'Even though we are very religious and God fearing, we do not subscribe to the kind of Hindutva they practise, a very hierarchical, Brahmanical, Hindutva.'
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
As the counting process into election to five assemblies reached its final phases, Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that the people have given their verdict towards both 'stability' and 'change.'
Central intelligence agencies were aware of 'the presence of small LTTE pockets and their counterparts in the two states had been asked to closely monitor such activities,' Narayanan told media persons.
This rule came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to conserve oil in 'Man Ki Baat'
Kerala-based Popular Front of India has come under the scanner of intelligence agencies for its suspected role in spreading inflammatory SMSes and MMSes following the Assam violence, that triggered exodus of northeastern people from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The ministry said 24.44 per cent of the total active cases in the country have been reported from 10 districts including Bengaluru Urban, Pune, Delhi, Ernakulam, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Thrissur, Jaipur, Kozhikode and Mumbai.
The Telangana issue assumed centre stage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was absolutely no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders. However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states.
Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi stoked a fresh controversy on Thursday, remarking that the anti-Sterlite protests in the state in 2018 had been fuelled by foreign funds and was aimed at hindering progress. His comment instantaneously drew an outcry from the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its allies.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday.
The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra re-entered Haryana on Thursday evening from Uttar Pradesh but he left for Delhi to meet his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi and will return next morning, a senior Congress leader said.
Threaten similar action on competitors if tyre prices aren't cut.
The six week-wait for who will rule Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal will end on Friday as counting of votes for assembly elections begins.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
Uttarakhand saw the sharpest decline (of 11 per cent) in the "total persons engaged" in manufacturing in the worst-hit pandemic year of 2020-21 as industrial units shut shop, according to the latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). This was followed by the decline in the workforce in states such as Jharkhand (8.9 per cent), West Bengal (8.3 per cent), Kerala (8 per cent), and Karnataka (7.8 per cent). The "total persons engaged" in an enterprise is defined as the sum of directly employed workers, supervisory or managerial workers, and the unpaid family members who might be engaged in the enterprise.
"Congratulations to Mamata Didi for @AITCofficial's win in West Bengal. The Centre will continue to extend all possible support to the West Bengal Government to fulfil people's aspirations and also to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic," he tweeted.
Intense heat swept through east India and parts of the southern peninsular region on Thursday, testing power grids and prompting the Kerala government to order closure of educational institutions till May 6.
Nath said the foot march will enter the central Indian state from Burhanpur district on Wednesday morning.
The southwest monsoon is expected to reach Kerala during the next two to three days, marking a sluggish start to the seasonal rains that are the lifeline of India's agri-based economy.
As the COVID-19 vaccination of children falling into the age bracket of 15 to 18 years is scheduled to begin from January 3, the Kerala health department has prepared an action plan for inoculation of all eligible beneficiaries.
Mumbai-based couple Jyoti and Shrinath Iyer travelled 4,600 km by bike from Maharashtra to Kerala and back.
Edamame + truffle oil + basmati rice = an exquisite combo.
Moving the submission on the issue at the outset, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy it was unfortunate that Tamil Nadu had not taken into due account the anxieties and fears of Kerala arising out of the existing dam, even in the backdrop of frequent tremors in the area.
Term life insurance policies, and senior citizens' health insurance premium are likely to be exempted from GST as most members of a state ministerial panel favoured cutting taxes to benefit the common man, an official said on Saturday. The GoM to decide on GST on health and life insurance premiums in its meeting on Saturday decided to exempt GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance with coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. However, 18 per cent GST will continue to be levied for health insurance cover of over Rs 5 lakh.
'The staff student ratio in Kerala medical colleges is already compromised as in the last few years, the Kerala government has taken a decision to admit maximum number of students in all the medical colleges.'
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'