Common items between Centre and states - bread, eggs, milk, vegetables, cereals, books and salt - will continue to be exempted.
Two decisions handed down by the Supreme Court have spread gloom in Kerala as they have shaken two basic faiths of a majority of the people in the state, says T P Sreenivasan.
First tranche of central funding of Rs 200-cr each to come in FY16 for those who meet all criteria.
Over 2.52 lakh who were in close contacts with patients had been traced with over 1.85 lakh others still under medical observation.
'I do not believe that they have become terrorists and have gone to Syria to fight.' 'I feel they have only become very orthodox Muslims.'
'As an aspirational district, one of the main challenges is health and nutrition of the tribal community.' 'They are 1.5 lakhs to 1.6 lakhs tribals in this district.' 'The major issue among tribals is malnutrition and anaemia.'
'In each hartal, enormous amount of public money is wasted. The entire state comes to a standstill. How long can this go on?' 'Every year 3 crore people sit at home not because they support hartals, but because they are forced to do so.' 'This is part of a larger measure to curb democratic rights.'
'We are a national party that wants to remind people about Bharatiya sanskruti, which, at the moment, is being remote-controlled by an Italian lady and her agents,' says former Union minister O Rajagopal, the BJP candidate from Thiruvananthapuram who will challenge Shashi Tharoor.
Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government, accusing it of being against farmers, labourers, students and the poor.
A Kerala-based private company has proposed to set up a chain of service apartments at the major pilgrim centres in South India with the debut project coming up at the temple town of Guruvayur.
Paswan was a minister under six different prime ministers, hardly out of government since he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday retained its direction to Karnataka to release 2000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu till further orders.
Stalin has given due respect to seniority in the pecking order, but has also taken into consideration the demands of individual ministries and the suitability of individuals, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sreesanth's South African jig, says Madhav Thambisetty, will contribute substantially towards endowing this Indian side with a spine and not a little spunk.
'Renu Raj has exploded many civil services myths.' 'The popular belief is that unless they come from English speaking, sophisticated and affluent families, prepare at a young age, get educated in a first rate college, go to a coaching class in one of the metro cities, take the examination several times, the aspirants cannot make it to the civil services list, particularly its very top.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan -- who serves in an honorary capacity at the NSS Academy where Renu coached for the IAS -- on how she surprised even herself by topping the UPSC exam.
The cases reported on Wednesday include a couple and their two-year-old daughter in Rajasthan who had recently returned from Italy. The patients belong to Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu and had returned from Italy on March 8.
Allegations of strains on democratic and constitutional institutions across the board, security threats from outside, a greedy Opposition inside, were all a part of the package then as now, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Yoga expert Shameem Akthar is organising a two-hour interactive workshop using the ancient kreeda yoga technique of yogic games.
During the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a meeting to review preparedness for COVID-19 management, through video conference with health ministers, chief secretaries of all states and UTs, central ministers and representatives from the related organisations and stressed on the need for keeping testing and quarantine facilities, isolation wards, and labs in active readiness.
On a visit to India in 2013, writer Ved Mehta -- who passed into the ages on Sunday January 10, 2021 - gave Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel a rare glimpse into his state of mind and what he thinks of the changes he encounters in his motherland.
'There are many more bad marriages than we want to acknowledge,' says Deepa Narayan.
Picking up the pieces is not going to be easy for the families of the missing fishermen. More than the compensation, what they seek is closure, discovers A Ganesh Nadar in Kanyakumari, one of the districts worst affected by the cyclone fury.
'Amit Shah was, briefly, a stockbroker before devoting himself to politics. By instinct or training, he knows the value of keeping blue chips in one's portfolio.'
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
Life virtually came to a grinding halt across Tamil Nadu as the state woke up to deserted streets with shops, including eateries, remaining shut in the wake of the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Sub Lieutenant Shivangi, the daughter of a village headmaster in Bihar, will conduct maritime reconnaissance and search and rescue missions.
'What is the need to postpone the exam?'
Thiruvananthapuram did not give him a resounding victory, but did not abandon him either. If he learns his lessons and avoids the pitfalls of the past, he will have a bright political future, says T P Sreenivasan.
Watsa, who has always believed in founders and management of the companies he invests in, has said that he restarted talks for the Catholic Syrian Bank deal due to CEO C V R Rajendran's initiatives
As the BJP snaps at its heels, can the Communists stay relevant in the electoral game?
Barely weeks before he turned 22, a young fisherman was shot, allegedly by the Sri Lankan navy.
'My main priority will be to dispose off the large number of cases that are pending in the court,' he said.
The prospect of further falls in remittances is a hindrance for the Reserve Bank of India, as it seeks to bullet-proof the economy against sudden capital outflows
On October 18, the apex court had directed Karnataka to keep supplying Tamil Nadu with 2,000 cusecs of water till further orders.
All educational institutions in Shimla and Kullu districts will remain closed on Monday as heavy to extremely heavy rains continue to lash the state, district officials said.
Till he took over, political parties ferrying people to the polling stations was considered quite 'normal', and it was during Seshan's stint that it became impossible with the model code being made sacrosanct.
