The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the first part of its manifesto for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, promising Rs 2,500 monthly aid for women, LPG cylinders at Rs 500, and Rs 2,500 pension for senior citizens. BJP president JP Nadda also assured that all existing public welfare schemes in Delhi will continue if the party is voted to power. The manifesto also includes a promise to implement the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme in Delhi, providing additional health cover of Rs 5 lakh.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
'Where is the spirit of Team India?' asks Chandrababu Naidu.
She also accused the Union government of making "false claims" about crop insurance benefits to the farmers, even as the state government was bearing 80 per cent of the cost.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta and her Council of Ministers will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan on Thursday afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking a return of the BJP in Delhi after 26 years.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has vowed to take strict action against travel agents involved in sending youth from the state abroad through illegal routes. He said the government is identifying those involved and will introduce a law to control illegal immigration. Saini also commented on the recent Delhi elections, praising the BJP's victory and criticizing former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Atishi, a former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader, accused the newly formed BJP government of failing to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of providing financial assistance to women under the Mahila Samridhi Yojana. She questioned why the scheme, which promised Rs 2,500 to each woman in Delhi, was not passed at the first cabinet meeting.
The PM alleged that a 'PC' (percentage commission) culture has become the state government's identity.
The Union health ministry has been allocated Rs 99,858.56 crore in the Budget 2025-2026, an around 11 per cent hike over the Rs 89,974.12 crore in the budget (revised estimates) of 2024-2025 with the government announcing setting up daycare cancer centres at all district hospitals over the next three years.
As a result of the mass state-led scheme, the processes in the health insurance market could get simplified over time and become uniform
Healthcare: Good news for all ASHA, anganwadi workers
Be it poor, middle class, upper middle class or rich, every individual who is 70 years and above is eligible for getting Ayushman card and will receive free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh at any of the AB PMJAY empanelled hospitals once the expanded scheme gets launched.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, accusing them of "speaking the language of urban naxals" and being "AAP-da" for the youth. He also took a swipe at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying those who entertain themselves by getting photo sessions done in huts of the poor will find the talk about the poor in Parliament boring. Modi also hailed his government's decisions in the Budget and said that the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which his government started for the poor, has been stalled by some states, leaving poor people in hardship.
'Both international cooperation and self-reliance will now acquire new purpose.'
The newly-formed Delhi Cabinet in its first meeting approved the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in the national capital. The cabinet also decided to present 14 pending CAG reports in the first session of the assembly. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that the previous AAP government did not allow the health scheme in the city, preventing the people from availing its benefits.
'Cancer incidence is projected to increase by 12.8 per cent by 2025 compared with 2020, necessitating more dedicated cancer treatment centres and specialised beds.'
Ayushman Bharat aims at providing a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family annually and is aimed at benefitting more than 10 crore poor families across the country.
The dichotomy between richer and poorer states is largely in consonance with the diversity in state level disease burden in the country.
The ICMR's network of laboratories will take care of diagnostics and there is enough capability to step up the supply of diagnostic kits if required, they said.
While the BJP has assured voters that these benefits will not be discontinued, AAP leaders have questioned the party's long-term commitment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party as an 'aapda' (disaster) for Delhi, saying this 'aapda' had taken the national capital in its grip in the past 10 years.
'We have often heard the mythical argument that patents block access to life-saving drugs, but only 5% of medicines from multinational companies are under patent protection in India.' 'Where these patented products are beyond the reach of Indian patients, the companies have programmes to facilitate access to their drugs, for free or for a fraction of the price,' points out Ranjana Smetacek, former director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
Delivering her sixth straight Budget, on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman left the taxpayers disappointed by not proposing any changes.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
Banerjee expressed skepticism about the BJP's ambitious target of achieving 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Here are the key highlights of the BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' for the 2024 parliamentary polls.
Shah, while releasing the saffron party's manifesto 'Sankalp Patra' for the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand, announced that a Displacement Commission would be formed to ensure rehabilitation of people displaced by industries and mines in the state.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
The COVID-19 virus got mutated 223 times in the world and its harmful effects have come down substantially over time, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
With the tagline "Na duri hai, na khai hai, Modi hamara bhai hai, (there's no detachment, there's no chasm, Modi is our brother)", the campaign aims to attract at least 1,000 Muslim women towards the party.
'There is no immediate threat to the government, and they would prefer the growth agenda.'
The reports also claim that the same beneficiary had been found to avail treatment at two hospitals at the same time.
India's unemployment rate is at a record low and the country's labour market is undergoing a structural transformation, a report said on Tuesday. In the new report, the economists at the country's largest lender SBI also pitched for a "reinterpretation of old fashioned rhetoric" while looking at a subject like employment. "India's unemployment rate is at a record low, India's labour market is undergoing a deep structural transformation with self-entrepreneurship across all echelons and higher educational attainment emerging as key enablers," the report said.
The government also announced that healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme will be extended to all ASHA and anganwadi workers and helpers.
Taking a dig at Pakistan without naming it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said a country which was a supplier of aatank (terror) is struggling for aata (flour) these days.
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
Deloitte India on Friday said it estimates India's GDP growth at 6.6 per cent in the current fiscal helped by consumption expenditure, exports rebound and capital flows. In its India's economic outlook report, Deloitte said the rapid growth of the middle-income class has led to rising purchasing power and even created demand for premium luxury products and services. With the expectation that the number of middle-to-high-income segments will be one in two households by 2030/31, up from one in four currently, we believe this trend will likely become further amplified, driving overall private consumer expenditure growth, it said.
'We are sure FY25 is going to be better...But to call out that all problems are behind us is a bit early.' 'The underlying business sentiment has not changed significantly.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances