India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an ambitious plan to develop the country's top 50 tourist destinations in a "challenge mode", with the aim of boosting employment-led growth and attracting international visitors. The Ministry of Tourism has received a significant budget increase for 2025-2026, with a focus on enhancing tourism infrastructure, promoting domestic and international travel, and ensuring the safety of tourists, particularly women. The government plans to promote homestays, improve connectivity to tourist spots, and provide performance-linked incentives to states that demonstrate effective destination management. The budget also includes investments in public enterprises, skill development programs, and initiatives to promote medical tourism and spiritual tourism.
The Finance ministry is believed to have thumbed down the proposals of waiving interest payments on loans taken by states from the Centre.
'Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called us for a meeting in March 2016 and we submitted the same charter of demands that we are submitting now.' 'He gave us wishy-washy assurances.' 'We thought he was the new chief minister and we believed him, but later we found out that nothing is moving on the ground.' 'This time we want a written assurance and a concrete timetable for implementation.' 'We will not leave Mumbai, come what may.'
Shivakumar said, "Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people."
The farmers have been holding a long foot march from Nashik to Mumbai in a bid to put forward their demands before the government.
The challenge for politicians is that the continuous electoral cycle favours short-termism and the loan waiver type of policy, whereas prosperity requires hard decisions where commonly held perceptions must be disrupted and over-turned, says Dhiraj Nayyar.
Banks may become more cautious in extending loans, as more and more farmers may take loans, relying on the assurance that a debt relief commission will back them in the event of default.
Police on Friday used tear gas to disperse Haryana farmers heading towards Khanauri on Punjab's border with the state where farmers, mostly from Punjab, have been camping since last week after their 'Delhi Chalo' march was halted by security forces.
The Economic Survey said that a number of indicators -- GDP, IIP, credit, investment and capacity utilisation, point to a deceleration in real activity since first quarter of 2016-17 and a further deceleration since the third quarter.
A coordination panel comprising senior leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra will look into various aspects of the National Population Register (NPR), Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in Mumbai on Tuesday. Addressing the media in Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, where the budget session of the state legislature is underway, Thackeray said, "Responsible leaders of the three parties will be part of it (coordination committee on NPR)." "I won't let anyone snatch the rights of any citizens of Maharashtra. I am very clear on this," he said, when asked about differences in the ruling alliance over the implementation of NPR in the state.
Freebies being doled out by the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments ahead of the assembly polls Friday came under scrutiny by the Supreme Court which sought responses from the two states, the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL alleging misuse of public money.
Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years. BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of self-help groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas.
Robust procurement of paddy and wheat since 2017 and prompt payment to farmers have helped the UP government cultivate a positive and pro-farmer perception, defusing possible farm face-off situations.
Poonam, daughter of Pramod Mahajan, a MP representing Mumbai North Central said, "They (farmers) are holding the flag of Communists, and urban maoists are misguiding them.
The RBI Governor also reiterated his reservation against repeated loan waivers by various state governments, saying the move distorts credit pricing, thereby also disrupting the credit market.
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance just last year.
The Delhi Police has already stocked up a large number of tear gas shells and ordered 30,000 more from the BSF's Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) located at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, an official said.
Farmer leaders participating in the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation on Friday said the cremation of Shubhkaran Singh, who died amid clashes between Haryana Police and Punjab farmers, will not take place till the Punjab government registers a case against those responsible it.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the manifesto was prepared after taking opinions through multiple platforms such as social media.
The youth -- their dreams of government jobs unfulfilled -- are voicing their frustration.
In an affidavit filed by Union finance ministry on behalf of the Union of India, it said that the relief to all borrowers in respect of compounding of interest during the period of moratorium would be admissible to the categories specified irrespective of whether the borrowers had availed the moratorium or not.
Palaniswami said, "I will take up with PM Narendra Modi the demands put forward by the farmers. I urge them to end this protest."
The farmers entered the national capital riding their tractors and trolleys and proceeded towards Kisan Ghat where heavy police deployment has been made.
The farmers also marched along the ambulance and demanded action against those who are responsible for his death.
Gujarat voters, spoilt for choice, are eagerly waiting to see what the BJP will offer them.
Farmers protesting to press the Centre for their various demands will stay put at the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided, their leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Friday.
Promising various sops for the agriculture sector, the Samajwadi Party on Friday released its manifesto for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections proposing a ban on land acquisition except in urgent circumstances.
In elections for the 230-member assembly last year, the Congress won 114 seats and the BJP coming a close second with 109. The Bahujan Samaj Party has two seats, the Samajwadi Party one and the Independents four seats.
Self-employed individuals often face hurdles in buying term insurance due to financial documentation that doesn't fully reflect their earnings. This complicates underwriting.
Fadnavis assured them of transferring land rights within the next three months.
Modi also attacked the Congress for charging him with corruption in the Rafale deal.
He said trust and confidence were the backbone of any financial system and one should never underestimate the power of ethics and values.
Modi, while speaking at a poll rally in Gujarat on Sunday, had sought to link the dinner meeting hosted by Aiyar for Pakistani dignitaries and attended by Manmohan Singh, among others, with the ongoing assembly polls and a conspiracy against the BJP.
The ruling Congress on Wednesday promised a loan waiver scheme for non-farmer loan seekers -- like the landless, craftsmen and small shopkeepers -- setting up of a farmers' commission, construction of two lakh cheap houses for the urban poor and making the state power surplus in Haryana.
Completely ignoring his sworn rival Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday promised total transformation of the extremely backward and underdeveloped Bundelkhand region in Southern Uttar Pradesh.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday said the Centre should convene a daylong Parliament session to bring a legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers.
"The 40 MLAs betrayed Uddhav. How can they remain true to the people and the state?" Aaditya asked.
A populist Budget providing for a massive farm loan waiver, income tax sops across the board and no no additional burden on the corporate sector on Friday prompted widespread speculation that the Lok Sabha polls may be held before the end of the year, probably by October or November.
'I hope that by seeing us in such huge numbers the government will get scared and agree to our demands.'
