Term life insurance policies, and senior citizens' health insurance premium are likely to be exempted from GST as most members of a state ministerial panel favoured cutting taxes to benefit the common man, an official said on Saturday. The GoM to decide on GST on health and life insurance premiums in its meeting on Saturday decided to exempt GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance with coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. However, 18 per cent GST will continue to be levied for health insurance cover of over Rs 5 lakh.
Several top Congress leaders from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were involved in the hectic parleys with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, which finally helped to break the logjam over the top post in Karnataka.
All shops and commercial establishments, hotels, pubs and bars will remain closed during this period, Yediyurappa said.
The Prime Minister's charge comes a day after former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday.
Political parties earlier used to seek vote on the basis of caste and religion, said Kejriwal.
Prime Minister Modi will visit RSS headquarters in Nagpur on March 30.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
Neighbouring Maharashtra on Monday had declared a night curfew in municipal corporation areas as a precautionary step amid growing concerns over a new coronavirus variant spreading in Britain.
Oxygen crisis deepened in certain parts of Karnataka on Tuesday, with the deaths of seven COVID patients in Kalaburagi and Belagavi allegedly due to oxygen shortage.
'No one was allowed to meet Jaya. Whoever came, would be briefed by Sasikala's relatives that she was 'all right',' Dindigul Srinivasan said.
'The overwhelming evidence from various studies and reports indicates that the current work culture in the IT sector, characterised by excessive hours, has severe consequences for health, productivity, and overall quality of life.'
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
A last-ditch attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party high command to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Karnataka government appears to have failed, with the rebel state ministers -- Tourism Minister Janardhan Reddy, Revenue Minister Karunakar Reddy, Chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation Somashekhar Reddy and Health Minister B Sriramulu -- sticking to their demand for the removal of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Bommai, who is on his first visit to the national capital after becoming a chief minister, also said the Karnataka government will further strengthen the state's health infrastructure to combat the current wave of the pandemic.
The then disqualified Congress-JDS MLAs who had shifted loyalty to the BJP and won the December by-elections, were sworn-in at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan with Governor Vajubhai Vala admistering oath of office and secrecy.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
An association of government doctors in Karnataka has demanded that health care workers be allowed their choice of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying there have been some concerns among a section of the fraternity over the present arrangement for making available the doses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Congress stands 'badly exposed' in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
Kharge's remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
From January 2 to March 5, 451 cases of H3N2 have been reported in the country, according to data shared by the health ministry.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
Within a week of assuming power, the Congress government in Karnataka has expanded its cabinet on Saturday, filling all posts.
'The prime minister took a meeting recently and he asked for suggestions and ideas for a plan till 2047.'
The Centre and the states need to continue working in collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for COVID-19 prevention and management, Mandaviya said.
The assertion by the Congress came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus, urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if adherence to Covid protocols cannot be followed.
The 76-year-old, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, had died on Tuesday night.
An investigation carried by Careers360 reveals the dubious nexus between state universities, education intermediaries and private/public educational institutions, who flout norms with impunity, often endangering the careers of students by conferring on them a degree, which may not be legitimate. All this happens as the regulators choose to look the other way. Read on!
A 13-year-old boy died and 28 other students were hospitalized after suspected food poisoning at an unauthorized hostel in Mandya, Karnataka, India. The incident occurred after students consumed leftover food from a Holi celebration. The school has been operating without a license to run a hostel and was illegally operating the hostel on the first floor of the school building. The school reportedly follows an arrangement where hostel students receive leftover food from nearby events. The school owner, cook, and hostel warden have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The fresh ban came after the government informed the high court last week that it had withdrawn its August 14 ban on the sale of soft drinks.
Foxconn's business in India has grown to over $10 billion till 2024.
Police said the incident happened when officials along with medical staff were trying to shift the secondary contacts to the place identified for quarantine purpose.
Asking people to cooperate by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, he said officials have been instructed to take strict measures against those not wearing masks from Tuesday itself.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
There has been a decline of four points in male U5MR and three points in female U5MR during the corresponding period.
Actor Vijay, founder of the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, has declared that his party will challenge the ruling DMK in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. In a general council meeting, Vijay criticized the DMK's dynasty politics, their handling of law and order, and women's safety. He also targeted the BJP-led central government over issues like the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy. Vijay promised his party's support to working classes, government employees, and vowed to oppose projects harmful to natural resources and agriculture. He assured 100% safety for women and strict law and order if TVK forms the government. The party passed resolutions opposing the Waqf Bill, delimitation, and the three-language policy, and also voiced support for the two-language policy, finding a permanent solution for fishermen's issues, and opposing the Parandur airport project.
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
Eleven villages in Akkalkot tehsil of Maharashtra's Solapur district have asked the district administration to provide them basic facilities or grant them permission to merge with adjoining Karnataka.
'The true measure of Project Tiger's success is not just rising tiger numbers, but our ability to ensure harmonious human-wildlife coexistence'
The video purportedly shows pigs roaming freely in the corridors of the hospital, undeterred by people walking nearby.
Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.
