Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is hailed as the architect of economic reforms in the country, is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, it was announced on Tuesday.
The proposed ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh may hit luxury goods, jewellery sales and real estate.
Customs and excise duty rates have been amended mainly to promote Make in India.
Locally manufactured coaches can achieve similar speeds as Talgo trains.
Crowds expected from Gujarat and other states
The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday reluctantly admitted before the National Green Tribunal that illegal sand mining was going on in the state and not even a single environmental clearance had been granted for it in Gautam Budh Nagar district.
Maintaining that the situation is peaceful, police said stringent action would be taken against miscreants or vandals.
Zahid Rasool Bhat, 19, a truck assistant had received 74 per cent burn injuries with another person on October 9 when a Kashmir-bound truck was attacked by a mob protesting against the beef party hosted by an independent MLA in the summer capital of Srinagar.
Cyclone Hudhud pounded the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with heavy rain and winds of almost 200 kmph on Sunday killing four people and left a trail of destruction with Vishakapatnam where the very severe storm made landfall the worst hit.
Since the disastrous 2005 floods, that crippled Mumbai, little work has been done on disaster management and relief preparations.
Army was called in on Wednesday to help control widespread violence sparked by quota agitation by Patel community in Gujarat which has claimed seven lives even as curfew was clamped in several areas.
SC sought reply from Centre and Haryana over the boy's father's plea seeking CBI probe.
Earlier, The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
Besides reviving investor sentiments, Vasundhara Raje's regime has brought reforms in the social sector.
A few incidents of protests were reported in Jammu city even as mobile Internet services remained suspended and policemen deployed in strength to thwart any flare up.
The EC's actions remain to be seen on 'money-hoarding and transportation' for poll-time use. The question remains if the polity in the state would push the EC so far as to use the countermanding option. Even then EC would have to push its constitutional powers to find a way to prevent 'money-power' in the state's elections, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Despite various political leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealing protesting Jats to maintain calm and peace, the incidents of violence and arson continued during the night in various parts of the state, crippling the normal life in worst affected places like Rohtak, Jind, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Hisar.
Till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs.
Populations of cities are rising, more are coming in because cities continue to attract people for jobs and because of increased economic activity. One standard question would be: What is the government doing about this?
Heavy rains pummelled Mumbai and its suburbs in which two persons died of electrocution and bringing normal life to a grinding halt on Friday with several areas waterlogged.
How to deal with a country that has made export of terror a reason to make the world notice and fund it? Rediff.com contributor Sanjeev Nayyar offers a few suggestions
Bangladesh's violence-plagued general elections, being boycotted by opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance, on Sunday witnessed low turn out in initial hours amid heavy security, as voters preferred to stay inside home fearing violence that has left six persons dead in last 12 hours.
'Our biggest problem has been keeping this country together.' 'Nation building is never easy. It is a very difficult task.' 'Even 70 years is not too long a time.'
Kashmir remained on the edge with six more persons, including a cop getting killed in violence on Sunday.
Are they missing or have they been intentionally removed? A huge uproar has broken out after whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka has revealed that two important pages of a file pertaining to DLF-Robert Vadra land deal, containing notings, are missing.
'The government, supposedly manned by wise and experienced officers, was all at sea, unable to act cohesively, and with restraint. Each agency was out to score brownie points.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday "strongly disapproved" incidents of vandalism of statues in certain parts of the country and spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the matter.
'Some TV channels are wrongly reporting that the Honourable CM is no more. It is totally baseless and false,' the hospital says.
The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament with main opposition Congress too seeking clarification.
The Prime Minister's Office has clarified that the total sanctioned strength of the PMO has been around 525 in the period 2011-14. As against this, the actual strength of the PMO in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 was in the range of 407 to 411. The number has now declined to 385.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came under attack for "utter insensitivity" in going ahead with his rally.
Despite a strong anti-corruption mood, where election costs are seen as the driver for graft, politicians don't change their spots. Unsurprisingly, this trend of unleashing cash can be expected to continue in this Lok Sabha elections too, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
'This is the only country where success seems to be viewed as a bad thing.' 'Other governments and countries go out of their way to protect a successful organisation. Here we find ways of destroying it.'
'From the beginning (I have told her) "Whatever it may be -- you are losing or winning -- on the ground you're not going to cry!" She never cried.' '"I don't want you to project that you are a loser. You are a winner".' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com speaks to Leela Raj about her famous daughter, now in the West Indies for the women's T20 World Cup.
Right now, in Modi's Cabinet and in the BJP, there is no challenge whatsoever to Modi's leadership but even those leaders who have some potential, who the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh can think of backing in an unforeseen circumstance, are fast turning into damaged goods, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
Let Bihar be damned under its contradictions of having gone 'dry' and then having been submerged under flood, which is a recurrent phenomena? After all it is a godforsaken land, having lost its promises of overcoming its problems, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Experts say only three per cent individuals pay taxes.
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The power of a nation is directly related to the revenues it realises from its citizens. But India loses a gargantuan Rs 5.8 lakh crore, as the IT department drags its feet over recovering uncollected taxes in time or holding up files in appeal cases, says Mohan Guruswamy.
With cyclone Phailin expected to make landfall in Odisha on Saturday, the state government mounted a massive operation to evacuate two lakh people from six coastal districts on Friday night
The Centre on Thursday evening took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
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