Monsoon is expected to cover central and eastern India after Tuesday.
Justifying the United Progressive Aliance government's decision to bring the food security bill through an ordinance, Union Food Minister K V Thomas on Thursday said the Centre is confident that it will be ratified in the monsoon session of Parliament commencing on August 5.
While the Delhi and Haryana governments have declared that they are all set to roll-out the food security programme on August 20 -- Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary -- there is confusion among the chief ministers about the implementation of the ordinance which gives the right to people to receive adequate quantity of food grains at affordable prices. Anita Katyal reports.
'The Budget has maintained fiscal prudence while announcing a number of steps to boost growth, particularly in infrastructure and rural sectors.'
The unfolding scenario has thrown up doubts in the minds of people whether the government will be able to complete its tenure.
Ramaiya Vastavaiya will leave you with a couple of good laughs, if nothing else.
Given that Mumbai civic body deals with the lives of the people at the cutting edge, the better way would have been to agree to have giant television screens put up outside the civic headquarters to relay the proceedings live so the people are kept in the loop. It eliminates to an extent the distance between the people and their civic keepers but perhaps it is farfetched now, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
The agricultural supply system has to be able to respond to this increasing demand, which it is not able to do.
The narrow win in Gujarat can be contributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his no-holds-barred approach and party president Amit Shah who plays to win and knows that there are rules to be followed when suited and broken when needed.
Shubham Kumar Gautam, son of a farmer and a Super 30 student, recounts how, in a journey laced with perseverance, grit and determination, he achieved what seemed impossible.
Younger party leaders are livid with the Murli Manohar Joshi-headed manifesto drafting committee for not taking their suggestions, reports Archis Mohan.
Rebuffed by Narendra Modi, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he was not a terrorist and the Gujarat chief minister should have granted him a meeting out of courtesy.
Land ordinance has done away with consent and social impact assessment.
'If the RSS should be saluted for choosing such a scholarly statesman to address its highly trained cadre, one must also praise Pranab Da's sagacity for having gracefully accepting the invitation, thus disapproving any ideological apartheid,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.
Education remains one of the key focuses of the new government.
'Well begun is half done, today there are more hits than misses by the Modi government in its support towards science in India,' says Pallava Bagla.
The focus on non-issues like 'love jihad' has dragged radicals like Vijaykant Chauhan from the fringes to the mainstream in Uttar Pradesh
The families that were affected by the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district have no hope of their homes being restored to them. Is the government really unable to reassure them of a safe return?
'The horrific episode of January 18 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, is quite different from what happened in Muzaffarnagar, UP, in September 2013. The Akhilesh Yadav-led administration in UP and riot-mongers among our political formations need to learn lessons from the response of the state and society in Bihar's Muzaffarpur,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
If money allocations, investment commitments are a sign of better things to come, the state can be optimistic.
A raise in the I-T exemption limit has been sought by many.
Arvind Kejriwal's strategy to take the pollution bull by the horns needs to be applauded. And I am sure that all the imaginary problems and grievances will be addressed before the restrictions are actually implemented, says Sudhir Bisht.
Aam Aadmi Party member Sanju Verma on what constitutes modern-day anarchy and why AAP is the only political party that can make a real difference.
Modern science, has taken decades and decades to prove what has been clearly documented almost 3500 years ago in our ancient texts like the Ashtanga Hridaya, says V R Ananthoo, a strong advocate of age-old healthy eating practices and one of the coordinators of Safe Food Alliance.
'This is not a small change, it's a BIG change. People wanted to hear the voice of their PM. They can do so now. This is a big parivartan.'
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and various other top leaders have condoled Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise and paid glowing tributes to her.
Milind Deora, minister of state for communication and information technology and shipping, is one of the Congress' young guns under Rahul Gandhi. He tells Kavita Chowdhury that the core problem for the United Progressive Alliance in its second term has been its inability to communicate effectively. Edited excerpts:
'Himalayan glaciers are expected to become smaller, and small glaciers will have disappeared, but by no means will all glaciers have melted by the end of the 21st century,' glaciologist Markus Stoffel tells Rashme Sehgal.
In spite of the glitches and scramble, the Mumbai Film Festival shaped into an enriching experience, feels Sukanya Verma.
Boosted by handsome royalty from oil facilities at Barmer, the Rajasthan government has spent nearly Rs 30,000 crore on various social welfare schemes in the last four-and-a-half years. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tells Business Standard's Mayank Mishra that the state's better performance on various socio-economic indices is a result of that. The excerpts:
Implementing the Food Ordinance is the bigger challenge and there are many provisions of the National Food Security Bill which need to be expanded and strengthened.
Presenting the best of Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Awards 2015.
Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.
NDA government has shunned populism.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
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We present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's full speech as he addressed the country on the occasion of 66th Independence Day, from Red Fort, Delhi.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday addressed the first joint sitting of Parliament as mandatorily required under the Constitution after the general elections. The address is the political, economic and foreign policy road map of the Narendra Modi government and covers virtually all crucial areas.
