Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed hope that digital transactions will soon surpass cash as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is increasingly becoming the most preferred payment mechanism in the country. Modi after the launch of the cross-border connectivity between the UPI and PayNow of Singapore said about 74 billion transactions amounting to more than Rs 126 trillion, which is approximately 2 trillion Singapore dolla, was done through UPI in 2022. "Many experts are estimating that very soon India's digital wallet transactions are going to overtake cash transactions," he said.
August 15, 2023 became for me, an extraordinary Independence Day. I will remember it as the day the country's largest political party -- one that struts around like a colossus and tutors us in apt behaviour -- suddenly looked bankrupt in terms of ideas and had to take out a personal guarantee from the prime minister to underscore its capacity to deliver our future, observes Shyam G Menon.
The signatories to a letter sent to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University professor who currently serves as the vice dean at the National University, Singapore, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a former vice-chancellor of the Ashoka University, Rajeev Bhargava, a former director of CSDS, Niraja Gopal Jayal, a former JNU professor, Nivedita Menon, a JNU professor, Vipul Mudgal, the head of civil society watchdog Common Cause, K C Suri, a former professor at the University of Hyderabad who is now associated with the Gitam University, and Peter Ronald deSouza, a former director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.
Several exchanges are facing a cash crunch with committed investment not coming from venture capital funds and trading activity seeing a sharp decline, reports Rajesh Bhayani.
Aditya-L1 will be launched by PSLV-C57 rocket on September 2 at 11:50 am. It carries seven payloads to study the Sun, four of which will observe the light from the Sun and the remaining three will measure insitu parameters of the plasma and magnetic fields.
'Cinema or the sentiment of a people, disgusted by contemporary politics and wanting to feel whole by collectively recalling a moment of great difficulty that was also a cause for togetherness?', asks Shyam G Menon.
Observing that it does not propose to run the administration in Manipur, the apex court said necessary verifications shall be carried out before issuing the Aadhaar cards expeditiously.
'Even though Gandhiji did not know me well, Sardar knew and remembered me working with him till the Congress was banned.' Glimpses from the fascinating memoirs of Chakkedath Sankarankutty Menon, the stenographer who worked for Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel during the freedom struggle.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also took note of the affidavit of the Manipur chief secretary that there was no short supply of basic commodities like food and medicines for people facing economic blockade.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on day six of the Asian Games:
Menon, who is the only Indian umpire in the ICC elite panel, will be the TV umpire while former Sri Lanka spinner Kumar Dharmasena will be the fourth umpire.
The price of bitcoin, the bestselling cryptocurrency, has shrunk nearly three times this year to mark the fate of such digital assets. Crashing prices, regulatory uncertainty and taxes have put Indian crypto exchanges in troubled waters. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget for FY23 announced a 30 per cent tax on any income from the transfer of virtual digital assets.
As Manipur grapples with protracted ethnic strife, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and the state government to ensure uninterrupted supply of basic commodities like food and medicines to people facing economic blockade in certain areas of the border state.
...the BJP's template of operation was different or if the Centre and the state were ruled by dissimilar parties? asks Shyam G Menon.
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Gita Mittal committee, set up to oversee relief and rehabilitation of the victims of ethnic violence in Manipur, on Monday submitted three reports highlighting the need for reconstruction of identity documents, upgradation of compensation and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning.
Priyanka-Nick's night out... Kareena tucks into a yummy meal... Shriya prefers French fries...
I feel it is utterly silly to disproportionately celebrate academic achievements in school and college when there is so much life and transformation by life yet to happen, states Shyam G Menon.
A court of chief judicial magistrate granted the police 60 days to carry out the probe and directed it to provide progress reports every three weeks, public prosecutor K Balachandra Menon said.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the trial in the Manipur violence cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will take place in neighbouring Assam and asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati high court to nominate one or more judicial officers to deal with the matters.
The state with the most people has displaced the state with the largest economy in terms of investor additions. Uttar Pradesh (UP) added 126,000 new investors in April, reveals National Stock Exchange (NSE) disclosures. This is higher than Maharashtra's 118,000. Maharashtra, which is home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, has traditionally been the biggest source of investors.
Big-ticket investments taking off is crucial for Kerala given the years it lost to labour militancy courtesy the same political forces currently in power, explains Shyam G Menon.
Post-Karnataka, it would be a mistake to underestimate the BJP. It should be amply clear by now that the Right-Wing is more an elaborate theatre than a single scene, actor or play, warns Shyam G Menon.
The 48-year-old has previously also worked with Chelsea FC, one of the top clubs in Europe; he has also played an important role in fine-tuning the Chelsea squads that won the UEFA Champions League in the 2011-12 and 2020-21 seasons.
'I do not support this viewpoint that if there is no work here, go to the south, and vice versa.'
No lives were lost after cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. Preparations for Biparjoy were not only extensive, they were also telecast far and wide. Ahead of the cyclone's landfall, Shyam G Menon observes there was considerable publicity on how much the government was geared up to face the storm and its aftermath.
As Manipur sank deeper into ethnic violence, the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the setting up of a committee of three former women high court judges to oversee relief and rehabilitation of victims and compensation to them, besides asking former Maharashtra police chief Dattatray Padsalgikar to monitor the probe in criminal cases.
He, however, made it clear that a sudden change cannot be expected as it was a "sensitive matter" related to an age-old custom and tradition.
Passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers in India rose over two-fold last month on a low base of Covid-19-hit May last year. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicle wholesales rose to 2,51,052 units last month as compared to 88,045 units in May 2021. The two-wheeler sales rose to 12,53,187 units in May as compared to 354,824 units in the year-ago period.
There is the problem of regions in the North East being theatre for power-play by nations with borders and influences converging in those parts, which in turn requires a sizable presence of the armed forces, notes Shyam G Menon.
The passenger vehicle dispatches to dealers increased by 11 per cent in July as improvement in semiconductor supplies helped the companies to ramp up production ahead of the festive season, auto dealers' body SIAM said on Friday. Overall passenger vehicle wholesales increased to 293,865 units last month compared to 264,442 units in July 2021. Passenger car dispatches rose 10 per cent to 143,522 units in July from 130,080 units in the year-ago period.
'Never in the history of Indian cinema did we have a distribution system for 240 countries, but we have it now.' 'And if we still keep catering to the B and C-tiers of our country, and not the whole world, then we are really being losers.' 'The visionaries of the industry must pull up their socks and say that now we will create for the world.'
Shahid Kapoor packs in a lot of blood and gore in his new film, Bloody Daddy, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar (Tiger Zinda Hai, Gunday).
Neeyat is not only sluggish, it also creates zero interest in the characters. It could, perhaps, be watched on OTT, where it is inevitably headed, feels Deepa Gahlot.
Senior Tesla executives including those from its supply chain are planning to come to India on Wednesday and Thursday for meetings with government officials, including those in the Prime Minister's Office, according to sources. Prashant R Menon, director of Tesla India, did not respond to a specific query on the meetings. Sources say that the executives are coming to see how they can expand and develop local sourcing of components from India for the Tesla car.
Katrina wishes her BFF... Karisma's Monday Mantra...Dia has a message for moms...
Sayani is in Paris... Huma explores Goa... Tara takes in the sunset...
PeeCee has been making startling revelations while promoting Citadel recently.
Despite their opposition based on ideology, both the political Right and the political Left possess similar behaviour, observes Shyam G Menon.
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
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