The festival season has already begun in the west and south of India with Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam, respectively, and consumer companies are witnessing a pick-up in sales compared to pre-Covid levels. Retailers, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer durables companies expect their sales to grow in double digits this festival season compared to pre-pandemic times, as there are no curbs on movement now. Adani Wilmar expects sales volume to be higher by 15-20 per cent as rural India has largely witnessed good monsoon rains, and employment has picked up in urban areas.
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.
Diwali is a season in India for sweet-making. A treasure of traditional Diwali recipes from all corners of our India.
The India Meteorological Department introduced the present LRF models during 2007 following review of the old forecasting system.
Alternatively, the government may go in for a five-day session to blunt criticism that it was running away from debates.
'Water is not an economic resource, but we treat water as an economic resource meant for the benefit of human beings.' 'Water is more of a life source than an economic resource.'
The Centre will review the situation on a fortnightly basis.
Sukanya Verma has a whole list of fun things inspired by Bollywood.
'Storms push a lot of water into land, then there is heavy rainfall due to the cyclone.' 'Along with this, we see the gradual rising of the sea level.' 'We see this during and after the latest Cyclone Tauktae.' 'This kind of overlapping events are increasing and we do not know much about how to tackle them.'
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Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
The India meteorological department has stated that day temperatures are likely to be above normal by 0.5 degree Celsius, reports Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
If you are planning a vacation, choose from these most clicked on destinations.
The 10-member jury was headed by filmmaker Vipul Shah. The awards were announced by jury member Dharam Gulati.
Malayankunju is a coming-of-age survival drama that has its heart in the right place, notes Divya Nair.
For Tuesday, the IMD said heavy to very heavy rains, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, are likely over Assam and Meghalaya.
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
A senior EC official said the COVID-19 pandemic and the flood situation were two reasons behind the decision.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting on Friday evening with leaders of 19 Opposition parties, including the chief ministers of some Opposition-ruled states, amid efforts to boost Opposition unity and evolve a common strategy against the National Democratic Alliance government.
This was the very same house from which two nervous women were dramatically winched up to safety by a brave Navy commando.
Retail tomato prices are ruling at Rs 80 per kg in most cities across India but the rates have shot up to as high as Rs 120 per kg in few southern states because of widespread rains, according to government data. In Chennai, retail price of tomato was at Rs 100 per kg, Puducherry Rs 90 per kg, Bengalure Rs 88 per kg and Hyderabad Rs 65 per kg. In Kerala, retail prices of tomato are ruling at Rs 120 per kg in Kottayam, Rs 110 per kg in Ernakulam, Rs 103 per kg in Tiruvananthapuram, Rs 100 per kg in Palakkad, Rs 97 per kg in Trissure, and Rs 90 per kg in Wayanad and Kozikode.
'It could rain about 200 mm in short span of time.'
The displacements were a result of a combination of increasing hazard intensity, high population exposure and high levels of social and economic vulnerability, a report says.
85 rescue and relief teams have been pre-positioned in 'vulnerable' states and all its 12 battalions across the country have been alerted and asked to be prepared to tackle any flood situation caused by heavy rains.
Along with them, ex-BJP lawmaker Ram Shakal took the oath.
India has not reached the drought situation yet, although it faces the challenge of maintaining record foodgrains production due to weak monsoons this year, Agriculture Minster Sharad Pawar said on Monday.
Rediff readers share their holiday photographs.
'The last three decades were the era of D, where D stands for deforestation, destruction, degradation, disaster, damages, diseases, difficulties... and finally it leads to death.'
With 200 MPs out of 785 above the age of 65, there is a serious shadow of COVID-19 looming over the monsoon session Of Parliament.
Some states are taking a legal view on the state GST rate and the compensation rules ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, which is likely to be held in mid-June, said people in the know. While the agenda is still being finalised, several states are likely to take up the matter related to GST compensation and may pitch for its continuation beyond the June 30 deadline. States would like to know how they would divide the compensation collected after June 2022 for payment of principal and interest of compensation shortfall borrowing and arrears to states, sources said.
The demand for gold has bounced back sharply in India from the lows seen in 2020 because of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has even beaten the pre-pandemic level. In the September quarter, the demand for gold jumped 47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 139.1 tonnes, as against 94.6 tonnes in the year-ago period, and higher than the 123.9 tonnes recorded in the pre-pandemic September 2019 quarter, the World Gold Council (WGC) said in its latest release. In value terms, demand surged 37 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 59,330 crore during the quarter.
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Nearly 21 per cent of the country has received "deficient" rainfall till July 31, the India Meteorological Department on Monday said.
The October 5 meeting assumes significance as the Centre and states are at loggerheads over the issue of funding Rs 2.35 lakh crore GST collection shortfall.
Gold and diamond retail chain Malabar Gold & Diamonds will be investing Rs 1,600 crore in FY22 to launch 56 stores globally with 40 across India and 16 internationally in FY22 to further boost its retail presence across the globe. The move is expected to generate over 1,700 jobs. In India, the expansion strategy is centred in states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. Internationally, the expansion will be in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE.
No masks, no sanitisers, and many rules of COVID-19 are not in place and every human activity, including marriages and public gatherings continue, thanks to strict standard operating procedure that bars easy entry of people to the island in the Arabian sea.
'These accusations of my film being a copy only makes our chances at the Academy harder.'
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Crop loss would the highest in Karnataka (where a little more than 75 per cent of the national output comes from), followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
