The paper suggests the strategy needs to be area-specific eg, border tourism can be promoted aggressively in the Turtuk or Siachen sector, and Daulat Beg Oldi or Depsang plains.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a statewide curfew for 15 days from 8 am on April 14 to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus in its second wave. With Section 144 being imposed across the state, Thackeray essential services have been exempted from the restrictions. The curfew will be in place till 7 am on May 1.
Reliance Industries Ltd, the nation's most valuable company, on Thursday said it has raised $4 billion (around Rs 30,000 crore) in debt through the largest ever foreign currency bond issuance by an Indian entity. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate plans to use the proceeds of the three tranche issues to retire existing borrowings. The issue was "nearly 3 times oversubscribed with a peak order book aggregating around $11.5 billion," the company said in a statement. This is the largest ever foreign currency bond transaction in India, eclipsing ONGC Videsh Ltd's $2.2 billion US dollar bonds issue of 2014.
At 37, Annamalai Kuppusamy, is the youngest president Tamil Nadu BJP ever had and he is the first to rise to the position in the state unit within a year of joining the party.
The pandemic has brutally highlighted the inadequacy of India's administrative systems. And, the government has demonstrated its culpable inability to speed up vaccination in a timely manner, says Jaimini Bhagwati.
Internal strife and tribalism is endemic to Afghanistan, notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
We must seize the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 crisis to kick-start indigenous research efforts, recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Pakistan is yet to comply with 13 conditions out of the 27-point Action Plan of the FATF including curbing terror financing, enforcement of the laws against the proscribed organisations and improving the legal systems.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The government may soon give the green light to bilateral trade between Russia and India in their national currencies to avoid any trade disruptions, multiple people aware of the matter said. While the Department of Commerce has recommended the proposal, an announcement is likely to be made by the finance ministry after further deliberations between the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Financial Services. "The finance ministry will take a call on how to peg the two currencies," a senior government official told Business Standard. In the past, the two nations have had rupee-rouble trade, and when such an arrangement is implemented again, it will bypass the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.
American help in defending our independence will send a strong signal to the Chinese, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'When I started this, I just took it as an ordinary yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Slowly we understood that this yatra has a voice and feelings'
'India's edtech and start-up story will be in danger.'
India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the United States company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.
Most of those who tested positive either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people.
The US wants its trade with India to grow multi-fold, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told lawmakers.
General Pande said the northern border region has been peaceful and steps have been taken to maintain peace through established protocol and existing mechanism.
We should be relieved that we got the doses but we must also know where they came from and who was and who was not responsible for this achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
The United States is committed to ensuring India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a top American diplomat said on Wednesday, expressing "regret" that his government was unsuccessful in making it a member of the grouping at its pleanary in Seoul last week.
'Often reviled, mostly ignored, sometimes venerated, he has taken it all in his stride.' 'He has stood by the nation through thick and thin,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The notice also said service tax amounting to Rs 28.08 crore (Rs 280.8 million), in addition to education cess of Rs 56 lakh and secondary and higher education cess of Rs 28 lakh (Rs 2.8 million) for the period between October 2007 and September 2012, should be recovered from Amity under the provision to sub-section 1 of section 73 of the Finance Act.
Chinese hubris and the slippery slope it finds itself on have important lessons for authoritarian leaders elsewhere, including in India, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Chinese envoy recommends an early harvest on the border issue while maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas, reports Ajai Shukla.
The Uttar Pradesh government will tap the Indian embassies in the US and European countries in its bid to double merchandise shipments to Rs 3 trillion in the next 4-5 years. The Indian embassies in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Israel, Singapore, etc. will promote the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) products, apart from traditional handicrafts and indigenous products, under the state's flagship One District One Product (ODOP) scheme. "Indian embassies will provide the much-needed traction and visibility to our traditional products in key export destinations across the globe," UP additional chief secretary (MSME and export promotion) Navneet Sehgal told Business Standard.
'Definitely, they are going to attempt this, not only in Kashmir but elsewhere, maybe in the Jammu area and beyond.' 'They would want to expand the battle space and the conflict area.'
The PMO said mass yoga demonstrations will be organised at 75 iconic locations across the country under the leadership of 75 Union ministers, with Modi attending the exercise at Mysore.
No decision on granting indemnity to any foreign or Indian Covid vaccine-manufactures has been taken yet, the government said Friday, underlining these decisions are to be taken 'in the interest of nation and people'.
The rupee depreciated 39 paise to an all-time low of 82.69 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as elevated crude oil prices and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and firm American currency sapped investor appetite, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.68 against the greenback, then slipped further to 82.69, registering a fall of 39 paise over its previous close.
The rupee depreciated further by 13 paise to hit a new life-time closing low of 82.30 against the US dollar on Friday as a firm American currency and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices sapped investor appetite, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 82.19, then fell further to 82.43. It finally settled at an all-time low of 82.30 against the American currency, registering a decline of 13 paise over its previous close.
What the UK is getting out of the Serum Institute is what India is losing. And the responsibility of the Indian State ought to have been to dictate where Serum Institute's vaccine doses should go, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In the prevailing difficult circumstances, the Congress is the only party that can provide capable and decisive leadership to the country, Kharge asserted.
Developing more sources of supplies to guard against disruptions may emerge as the next big trend. But that may not necessarily mean flow of more investments into India, unless investors are assured, besides important economic factors and impartiality of institutions, that social disharmony will not cause unexpected disruptions.
The USS John Paul Jones acted like a dog marking the lamp post, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The health system is trying to ensure that it isn't caught by surprise -- the way it was last time. So, hectic preparations are on.
The National Judicial Commission Bill, 2022, was introduced after the majority of voice votes were in its favour.
Sliding for the fifth straight session, the rupee fell 3 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 79.06 against the US dollar on Thursday amid a strong greenback overseas and unrelenting foreign fund outflows. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 78.92 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 78.90 and a low of 79.07. It finally settled at 79.06, down 3 paise over its previous close of 79.03.
Only 30 flights per week will operate between India and the UK when services resume from January 8 and this arrangement will continue till January 23, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Friday.
Britain has finalised 1 billion pounds worth of new trade and investment with India, creating over 6,500 jobs in the UK, to be signed off at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Tuesday. The investments confirmed by Downing Street on Monday evening form part of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade by 2030 and declare a shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA). "Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer," Johnson said.
The rupee tumbled 19 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 77.93 against the US dollar on Friday as rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign capital outflows soured sentiment. A sell-off in equity markets and stronger greenback overseas also weighed on the domestic unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 77.81 and witnessed an intra-day high of 77.79 and a low of 77.93 against the US dollar.