Glimpses from around India that will make you smile and cry.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the Vudget 2009-10 in Lok Sabha on Monday announced the extension in the time given to the farmers having more than two hectares of land to pay 75 per cent of their overdues under Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme extended from June 30, 2009 to December 31, 2009.
State governments have requested the Centre for export incentives, lifting of import duty in the case of cotton for the textile sector and GST exemptions.
...surpassing farmer suicides (11,000) in number. There is a 4 per cent annual increase in student suicides, double the national suicide rate (2 per cent).
Incessant rains and flooding have caused widespread disruption in northern India, with states like Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir facing landslides, road closures, and displacement. Rescue efforts are underway as authorities grapple with the aftermath of the deluge.
'Punjab floods are a calamity.' 'Right from Firozpur to Amritsar nearly 1 lakh homes have been completely damaged due to floods.'concern about the state of affairs.
Public sector banks have been authorised to give more relief to farmers under the debt relief scheme, provided the lenders do not ask the government to bear the losses.
The deal fell through over unresolved disagreements over contentious issues, mainly on agriculture and automotive sector tariffs.
The Congress party has accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of conflict of interest, alleging his sons' companies have benefited from the government's ethanol blending policy. The BJP has rejected the allegations.
Farmers mounted their protest demanding a financial package for losses caused by the recent floods, a legal guarantee to minimum support price, and a sweeping debt waiver.
Speaking at the 65th general council meeting of the National Cooperative Development Corporation, Pawar said the total availability of agricultural credit had doubled in the last three years.
Altogether 41,663 farmers in 383 villages in Washim, Yavatmal, Amravati and Buldhana districts of Vidarbha region were covered in the sample survey. Those reporting land holding in range of two to six hectares were 40 per cent and around six per cent reported land holding of more than six hectares, CAG said. Only eight per cent farmers confirmed visit of any government official in 2006, the report said.
Farmers on Saturday evening ended their three-day 'rail roko' stir that hit the movement of trains, causing inconvenience to passengers in Punjab and Haryana.
A victim of alleged human trafficking and forceful conversion in Chhattisgarh claims she was coerced by Bajrang Dal activists to give a false statement. She also alleges police did not record her statement properly and that the arrested nuns are innocent.
Trump's tariffs, falling shrimp prices, and fears of additional US levies, spark a crisis in Andhra Pradesh's politically vital aquaculture sector.
The march had started from Dindori town, located around 195 km away from Mumbai, on March 12 demanding relief of Rs 600 per quintal to onion growers hit by price crash, 12-hour uninterrupted power supply to farmers, and waiver of farm loans.
Heavy rains across India have led to widespread flooding, causing damage to infrastructure, displacement of residents, and disruption of normal life. Rescue efforts are underway in affected areas.
As many as 12 flights were diverted at the Delhi airport between 3 pm and 4 pm due to adverse weather conditions, an official said.
As scores of farmers and tribals marching towards Mumbai from Nashik district in North Maharashtra entered Thane district, ministers Dada Bhuse and Atul Save met a delegation of farmers late Wednesday night.
Pakistan on Wednesday handed over Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Purnam Kumar Shaw, apprehended on April 23, to India via the Attari-Wagah border front in Punjab, the force said.
The victim was a farmer apparently taking part in the protest in the district's Longowal area, where police were trying to stop protesters from blocking a national highway and a toll plaza, officials said.
A group of farmers demanding relief for crop damage allegedly held 12 government officials hostage for several hours inside a sub-tehsil office in Muktsar district's Lambi, Punjab.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
While releasing the guidelines to operationalise the Rs 71,680-crore (Rs 716.8 billion) loan waiver scheme for farmers, he said: "The scheme of this nature has never been attempted. The NDA government could not even contemplate a scheme of this kind during their six years of rule." The United Progressive Alliance government completed on Thursday four years in office.
The point to note for India is that we must not panic. The United States may be our largest export destination, but high tariffs will not exactly mean gloom and doom. Sure, we can throw some morsels as we continue negotiating, but we must be firm that some red lines cannot be crossed, no matter what, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Barely days after imposing a 40 per cent export tax on onions to cool down soaring prices, which, in turn, triggered widespread protests across the main growing belts, the Centre on Tuesday sought to mitigate both political and economic tensions gripping parts of Maharashtra. It decided to procure an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer stock from farmers, a rate that is strikingly close to the price at which they were being exported before the 40 per cent duty was levied on August 19. The export price before the imposition of the duty stood at around $320 per tonne free on board (approximately Rs 2,650 per quintal).
Farmer Ishwar Gaykar (36), from Pachghar village in Junnar tehsil of Pune district, had faced a difficult decision of dumping a large quantity of harvested tomatoes in May this year due to low prices.
The court also directed that the NDRF should be trained and equipped to tackle the drought-like situation.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday attributed early arrival of the southwest monsoon and heavy rainfall in a short span for the inundation of low-lying areas in Mumbai, which disrupted road and railway traffic.
Simplifying investment policies at the micro level and introducing a time-bound framework will be critical for India's growth targets, notes Krishna Ella.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday issued a three-line whip to all of its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House for the passing of the Union Budget 2025-26.
US President Donald Trump has proposed a deal to China that would see the sale of TikTok's US operations to an American buyer in exchange for a reduction in tariffs on Chinese exports to the US. The proposal comes amid a trade war between the two countries and follows China's retaliation of Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump has also said that tariffs are a powerful economic tool and that he is determined to ensure fair trade between the US and China.
'Rainfall does not appear to have a statistically significant impact on foodgrain production since the last few years, which contrasts with the traditional view of India's heavy reliance on monsoon rains for agriculture.'
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Zomato surged over 7 per cent. Maruti, ITC Hotels, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the biggest gainers. Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Adani Ports were among the laggards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday apologised for the ethnic conflict in the state which claimed over 250 lives and rendered thousands homeless, and appealed to all communities to forget and forgive past mistakes and live together in a peaceful and prosperous state.
The Budget assumes significance as it comes on the back of lower-than-expected growth numbers during the second quarter and geopolitical uncertainty.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta relaxed the interim bail conditions imposed on Mishra by the court on January 25.
The minister also said one can bring his or her blood pressure down by stroking the back of a cow.
The Mumbai police had earlier told the HC that they would not arrest Ranaut till January 25, 2022 over her social media post that allegedly linked farmers' protests to a separatist group.
