Balakrishnan refused to react to the India Inc criticism of growing incidents of tax terrorism following Siddhartha's letter. Appearing unfazed, he said, "I only believe in doing my job well."
His remarks came a day after AAP Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann took a dig at the cricketer-turned-politician and asked him to tweet about the 'funds' allegedly accepted by the ruling Congress from private power companies in the state.
Fund managers said investors remained positive on the pharma manufacturing activity in India, which further strengthened during the Covid-19 period, on account of restrictions imposed on pharma imports from China.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
'Most of the cases in Mumbai are asymptomatic -- 85 per cent you can say.' 'Only 10 to 15 per cent are symptomatic.'
Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will likely consider on Saturday a GST rate cut for Covid-19 relief essentials and drugs for treating the black fungus disease and might leave the vaccines untouched. The meeting is being held following a report submitted by a Group of Ministers (GoM) to the GST Council on Monday. The GoM, set up by the Council on May 28, was mandated to look at tax exemption and concessions on various Covid items including vaccines, drugs, and equipment.
Addressing the Sena workers in Mumbai for the second consecutive day, he also said that doors of the state and party are closed for the rebels MLAs.
Deepika may look fragile and delicate and that she needs her man by her side during a crisis but she's a very strong woman.'
The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to formulate within two weeks a national policy on admissions to hospitals in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 and said no patient shall be denied hospitalisation or essential drugs in any state for lack of local residential proof.
China remains a "formidable challenge" that has increased its presence not only along India's land borders but also in the maritime domain, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Tuesday and asserted that the naval force keeps a regular watch in the Indian Ocean Region.
Pakistan on Wednesday said it has formally informed India about its decision to allow the transportation of an Indian humanitarian shipment of 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life saving drugs to neighbouring Afghanistan through its territory on an 'exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes.'
Though Bachchan did not take any names, her remarks come a day after BJP's Lok Sabha MP and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan said there was problem of drug addiction in the film industry and also actor Kangana Ranaut's recent remarks calling Bollywood a 'gutter'.
Sebastian Coe has long been one of the most outspoken critics of doping in athletics yet the newly-elected president of the sport's governing body has remained silent this week in the face of potentially its most damning drugs scandal yet.
Top security czars of India, Russia, Iran and five central Asian countries on Wednesday pledged to work for ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for global terrorism and called for the formation of an open and truly inclusive government in Kabul.
Cut off from the world and having to contend with an orthodox and repressive Taliban government, Afghans are facing the brunt of Pakistan's decades old policy of nurturing militant groups, note Harsh V Pant and Kriti M Shah four months after the Taliban took Kabul.
The central government should provide for free vaccination to all Indian citizens and greatly ramp up RT-PCR testing in both rural and urban areas, a group of former civil servants said on Thursday in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It noted that the government could not accurately anticipate the gravity of the possible resurgence of the pandemic and its subsequent waves.
US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine.
Top officers across various ministries participate in the meeting that started at 8 pm on Saturday. The meeting is currently underway. The country is currently witnessing a second and more severe wave of the pandemic.
I don't want to hide that some questions are still being resolved, Rawat said.
A second wave of Covid driven by the Delta variant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system to its knees and leaving people gasping for help.
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.
Delhi government on Wednesday exempted life-saving medicines from taxation under the value added tax regime and decided to approach the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers for reduction in sales tax on diesel.
Illustrious international thinkers met at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2021 and many discussions addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world at large.
'There is no shortage of any APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in the country'
One Chinese source informed ANI that 10 million new infections are probably occurring daily in China.
This will boost availability of these items as well as make them cheaper, it said, adding that Modi also directed the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick custom clearance of such equipment.
India lost its competitive advantage as China gave fiscal benefits to its local manufacturers. Besides, recent policy flip-flops have, however, dented India's image as the 'pharmacy of the world'.
Amid the ongoing crisis within the Congress in Punjab, its national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on Friday expressed the hope that its leaders "talk more in private and less in public."
'I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem arose and he was terrific. We will remember it'
'We have to ensure the European situation does not occur in India and we don't see a spread like theirs.'
In a virtual address at the G20 Extraordinary Summit on Afghanistan, Modi also pressed for 'urgent and unhindered' humanitarian assistance to Afghan citizens and underlined the need for having an inclusive administration that includes women and minorities, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The letter to Sonia Gandhi reminded her of the party's 18-point agenda "given to the last chief minister" of Punjab and said that those were "equally relevant today".
"The president pledged America's steadfast ongoing support for the people of India, who have been impacted by the recent surge in the COVID-19 cases," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Indian Medical Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that vaccination be allowed for all people above the age of 18 years.
Replying to a short duration discussion on COVID-19 management in Rajya Sabha, the minister said technology transfer to several companies has started and they will begin production in the coming days to reduce vaccine shortage in the country.
"Notwithstanding my personal anguish, I hope this will not cause any damage to the hard-earned peace and development in the state," Singh wrote in his letter to Gandhi
