Mehdele, 71, has often made headlines with her unconventional, controversial remarks.
Likening the situation in the country to a "social emergency", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made it clear that the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 cannot be lifted in one go on April 14, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".
In an ambitious initiative aimed at empowering women, the government has proposed to set up an exclusive bank for women having branches across the country which may see merging of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank launched last year by the UPA government.
Life expectancy at birth improved from 59.7 years in 1990 to 70.3 years in 2016 for women.
Top Union ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office.
The government is also thinking of introducing direct benefit transfer for women
Standing amid the bombed ruins of their lives, these weary people are residents of the Yarmouk Refugee Camp awaiting food packets from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
Kumar, who had been away in New Delhi since Saturday, returned to the state capital on Monday evening and held an emergency review meeting on the AES situation with officials.
With the death of nine children on Thursday, as many as 15 more kids have succumbed due to encephalitis during the past three days.
'These days, you could give the money to your maid or the person who comes to collect your garbage or your watchman; they are struggling to make ends meet.' 'You could help a friend whose business is at risk due to the lockdown and the struggling economy.' 'Even if you lend money to someone in this crisis, it will be more useful to the economy than parking your money in some government fund,' says Praful Nikam.
While the motives of the Bill are of course laudable, there is every likelihood that the consequences of its passage will be dire.
The powerful cyclone, strongest to hit India in 20 years, made landfall at around 8 am in India's eastern state of Odisha, killing at least 12 people.
Saeed Mirza on two young men who have broken barriers and emerged as beacons for a New India.
Contrary to Modi's claim of the state being the largest beneficiary of Foreign Direct Investment, Gujarat has received only $8 billion of foreign investment during the 13-year period beginning 2000, according to the Union Minister.
Glimpses from the Trudeau photo diary in India on Day 1.
"Fish is a good source of protein and it can overcome malnutrition in areas where fish is available in abundance," she said.
Making a strong pitch for growth of farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country cannot move forward without their progress.
The central government was aware of illegal immigration in Mizoram and would take measures to check it, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said on Monday.
'Afzal Guru was convicted of supporting the attack on India's Parliament. The Supreme Court said "the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded" to Guru.' 'Till we can think up similar justifications for hanging non-Muslims, I do not think we can delink terrorism from religion in our minds,' argues Aakar Patel.
Cereals like millets can help alleviate malnutrition and improve public health, reports Surinder Sud.
With less than a month to go for the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress have exuded confidence of winning the elections.
'The real reason is early marriage, which is prevalent in many parts of Tamil Nadu.' 'These girls are married off at 15 and by the age of 19 they have three children.' 'By the age of 21 they are separated and the children are abandoned.'
'We in the Anglicised middle class are unconcerned about the vast majority of Indians. We insist on only our concerns and anxieties being debated. All other Indians are irrelevant,' says Aakar Patel.
"Hungry for power" Narendra Modi has already assumed himself as the prime minister even before the results of Lok Sabha elections are out, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's much touted Gujarat Model is actually 'Modi model' under which the common man is suffering in the state and may God save the country from it.
The formula for success of farm economy is very simple -- farmers should be able to produce more from the same piece of land at reduced cost while minimising risk and be connected to market to get higher realisation for their produce, points out Siraj Chaudhry.
Though hunger levels are not alarming in India, it still fares badly, lagging behind Nepal and Sri Lanka on the Global Hunger Index.
Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power by "making false promises", Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said some shortcoming lay with his party too in taking the United Progressive Alliance's achievements effectively to the people.
"We can celebrate technology, but if it doesn't truly empower every Indian and every Indian organisation to achieve more...we would have achieved nothing," the Microsoft CEO said in Mumbai.
Around 700 migrant workers, women and children have lost their lives in this reverse migration. But what is happening today with the migrant labour is only a continuation of the policies pursued by the Modi regime during the last six years. It is not for nothing that India was ranked the most dangerous country in the world for women in 2018 by the Thompson Reuters Foundation poll, points out Rashme Sehgal.
The expectation that Mr Modi would be a major reformer, capable of reinvigorating the Indian economy, were based on a complete misreading of both his actions and his performance as Gujarat chief minister, says Mihir S Sharma.
'Economically, if there are too many losers, macro-demand will suffer and undercut growth.' 'In more developed societies, the issue is resolved through the provision of safety nets, which don't exist in India.' points out T N Ninan.
India's human development indicators show that deprivation extends well beyond the 22 per cent of population who live below the official poverty line.
'We need good teachers at the primary, secondary and higher education levels.'
From the political maelstrom in Washington to the humanitarian disaster in Yemen to the deadly unrest along the Israel-Gaza border, photographers captured a world in turbulent transition.
Firing yet another salvo at RSS, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh alleged that all arrested "Hindu terrorists" had links with the Sangh.
Modi highlighted the importance of assimilating technology with governance to ensure equitable growth and prosperity for all.
As Modi completes a year in office, his cuts in federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 bn people are coming in for sharp criticism.
"The issue is not what someone has said. The issue is about starvation deaths and condition of tribal children in the state," Shah told reporters at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.
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