Will Indian democracy benefit from the potential that Shashi Tharoor stores in his mind, spirit and intellect? Or will it be the saga of another leader who promised much but delivered too little, asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Though COVID-19 will wreak more damage to the finances of the Indian population, the insurance sector is unlikely to get hurt.
'Employment of dedicated lightweight special forces aircraft may provide the answer for repeat anti-terror air strikes with surprise elements intact, the cost benefit assured and attrition minimal,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd), India's former air adviser in Pakistan.
Though three crops of onions are raised in a year - early kharif, late kharif and rabi - their harvests are not evenly spread out.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said. Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
The meeting is significant as PM Modi heaped heavy praise for the NCP during a debate on Monday to mark the 250th session of the Rajya Sabha was viewed with interest.
As many as 17 farmers have allegedly committed suicide in the agrarian crisis-hit Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the last five days, a non-government organisation working for their cause claimed on Monday.
Even as fears of major crop loss due to blight disease in potatoes, scientists at the Shimla-based Central Potato Research Institute said that use of genetically modified potatoes can reduce damages.
'People thought the cyclone would miss their area as a short while before it struck, the sun was shining.' 'Some people had not evacuated, but stayed at home. They died when the walls collapsed.'
With the green cover gone, the bald roads to Puri are now reigned by lorries laden with electric poles, ambulances, fire service vehicles and cranes, signalling the rebuilding effort is in the works.
'Never ever have so many states across the country declared animals as vermin as they have in 6 to 8 months.'
The former Union minister filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani after she named him in the #MeToo campaign.
Incessant rains have claimed as many as 29 lives in Andhra Pradesh during the past four days while more than 72,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas.
Ten people were killed in various rain-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh as incessant rains lashed the state for the third consecutive day on Thursday.
GMR Male' International Airport Private Limited (GMIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited (GMR), has claimed $803 million (around Rs 4,987 crore) from the Maldivian government for 'wrongfully' terminating the international airport contract in that country's capital.
The resentment against the government has increased.
The domestic availability of onion has been affected on account of damage to kharif crop because of unseasonal rains in key producing states including Maharashtra.
At least twenty two people are dead and 80,000 have been evacuated to government shelters as many parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh were flooded after heavy rains brought by the Cyclone Nilam that hit Indian shores on October 31.
Critics argue that much more could have been done and that the government was slow to react to many events.
Dhubri is the worst hit with over 8.72 lakh people affected, followed by Barpeta with more than 4.78 lakh people and Goalpara with around 4.28 lakh population.
As of the week ended July 2017, the unemployment rate was 3.1 per cent. This is the lowest unemployment rate recorded. Rural unemployment was also very low at 2.8 per cent.
The death toll has climbed to 12 in the first wave of flood in Assam this year.
Villages are flooded, roads have washed away and railway tracks have submerged under the rising waters.
The state government has instructed officials in coastal districts and various departments to be alert to tackle any emergency situation
Don't expect the synthetic stones to surpass natural ones anytime soon because the world's biggest miners of diamonds aren't looking to get into man-made diamonds.
Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday urged the central government to announce Rs 5,000 crore interim package for taking up relief works in drought-affected areas in Karnataka.
It is a grossly underexplored but highly lucrative branch of beekeeping for India.
'The central government is putting conditions on farmers organisations, that they have to allow passenger trains to ply, only then will they allow goods trains to ply.'
Dozens of farmers have already committed suicide in India after damage from unseasonal rains this year.
Heavy rains caused by cyclonic storm Nilam have left a trail of destruction and thrown life out of gear in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. The state government announced on Saturday evening that nine people have been killed in rain-related incidents in different districts in the wake of the cyclonic storm and standing crop in 1.79 lakh hectares was damaged, as per preliminary estimates.
Cyclone Nilam has so far claimed lives of eight people in Tamil Nadu and three in Andhra Pradesh. The devastating storm swept across north Tamil Nadu coast near Mahabalipuram.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and discussed issues related to the Maratha reservation, pending GST compensation and the proposed Metro car shed in Kanjur.
People in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday as the third cyclonic storm in over a month, which was expected to cause extensive damage, weakened before it hit the state.
'Monkey menace' has reached epic proportions in India. So pronounced is the problem of monkeys, that they have even derailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plans of making his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi Wi-Fi-enabled.
Technology and prudent practices can ensure that crop output does not suffer in years of drought.
Kerala floods take a toll on small businesses, NBFCs brace for losses
The flood situation affected nearly 26.5 lakh people across 28 districts.
Amphan was the fiercest Cyclone to hit West Bengal in the last 100 years. A large part of the state was without power as electricity poles have been blown away. Mobile and internet services were also down as the cyclone has damaged hundreds of communication towers.
Twenty-three people died and 102 others injured in a recent hailstorm in Madhya Pradesh, which also caused extensive damage to crops in 30 districts, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Thursday.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan speaks to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
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