Economists, however, caution against interpreting the data as a broad-based revival
The passage of the bill will pave the way for setting up of a GST council that will decide the tax rate, cess and surcharges.
'UP, Maharashtra, AP (including Telangana), Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, MP, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala.' 'We chose these nine not only as being among the biggest, but also because in these states radical change is possible,' explains Shekhar Gupta.
The well-irrigated states of Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, western Uttar Pradesh and coastal states such as Odisha are, for the first time, feeling the effects of a poor monsoon.
This is the fifth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000 in the country.
The seasonal temperature would be above normal by more than one degree Celsius over Northwest India.
Floats from 13 states, including Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha weren't present at parade
The Dalimia Bharat group, under the memorandum of understanding, would maintain the monument and build basic infrastructure around it and has committed a sum of Rs 25 crore for the purpose over a period spanning five years.
Rediff Labs analysed the data on MPLADS to see how the money given to each constituency was spent.
The BJP and its allies now rule over 70 per cent of the country's population, marking an unprecedented saffron footprint.
Fadnavis also dismissed Hegde's claim as 'absolutely wrong' and said nothing of that sort happened.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
The opposition has been critical of the Centre's handling of the situation, accusing it of not doing enough to ease the hardships of the migrant workers, many of whom have lost their jobs during the lockdown which started on March 25.
The development comes after a recent notification from the Union home ministry, which has permitted companies to resume manufacturing operations and reopening of shops in red, green and orange zones with certain riders.
The slow progress of the south-west monsoon has led to overall deficiency of rains by 22 per cent over the last fortnight, the meteorological department on Wednesday said.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
India on Friday sent two naval ships and a C-17 aircraft with relief material like medicines and tents along with teams of rescue experts to Sri Lanka which has been severely battered by tropical cyclone Roanu.
Light to moderate rainfall in various parts of the country, including Delhi, on Tuesday brought respite from the scorching sun but heat wave claimed 16 more lives in Andhra Pradesh and three in Odisha, raising the nationwide toll to 2,357.
Smriti Irani will reprise her electoral battle with Rahul Gandhi from Amethi.
Indicating that regional parties will play a major role after the elections, the NCP leader said, "My own thinking and assessment is that ultimately it will be a state-wise position. There might be states like Tamil Nadu, where the number one party will be Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other non-BJP parties will have to accept it."
Out of 98 cities selected for the Rs 48,000 crore Smart Cities project, 24 are capital cities.
In a first, the government has planned a training programme for Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service officers on dealing with Naxalism.
JD-U sources conceded that the BJP's "Bihari martyrdom" line will give the coalition an edge or "at least help us combat anti-incumbency if the Opposition makes an issue of Nitish's governance".
Harivansh, a Janata Dal-United MP, is likely to get the support of 126 members in the Upper House, which has an effective strength of 244 MPs, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party said.
The IMD on its part is sticking to its forecast of July rainfall.
For the government to meet its GST roll-out deadline of April 1, 2017, the states will have to ratify the Bill before Parliament's winter session, starting November.
During his interaction with the chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured that more economic activities would resume; he also said that zone identification may be left to the states.
'In India, we are very far away from the per capita incomes of the West. And so the need to support many more people with much more money will come sooner in India than in other nations,' says Aakar Patel.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
Come May 16, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will have more seats from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh than any formation mustered by the Congress, notes T V R Shenoy.
As nominations for Rajya Sabha biennial polls closed on Tuesday, a contest is on the cards in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana even as Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram are among those set to be elected to the Upper House.
Also, the recovery rate in COVID-19 patients has progressively improved from 13.06 per cent to over 25 per cent in the country over the last 14 days. Addressing a press briefing, Joint Secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in several states is better than the national average.
The Congress's new treasurer Ahmed Patel has been meeting industrialists and businessmen. He met one of the biggest industrialists of the country last week, but the assurance of any significant donation was half-hearted from the other end. Business houses aren't exactly queuing up to offer donations, reports Archis Mohan.
In its daily briefing, the government also reported Goa is now free of coronavirus.
The death toll due to the coronavirus infection rose to 7,466 and the cases mounted to 2,66,598 in the country.
While some states like Kerala and Telangana were badly hit by the strike, the impact was partial in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra
Amit Shah said simultaneous polls would curb expenditure.
The numbers, however, look very good for Modi. We could say it is his election to lose, rather than the Opposition's to win, says Aakar Patel.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal: 'I hope the Congress governments and other states like West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana will support our effort to bring petrol and diesel into the GST regime.'
Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
