The solicitor general said that the PM CARES Fund is a 'voluntary fund'. "It is a public trust. It is a body where you can make voluntary contributions and no budgetary allocations to the NDRF or SDRF are being touched. What has to be spent will be spent," the law officer said.
'COVID-19 is just an excuse to pass anti-labour laws.'
Modi said the biggest challenge would be to ensure that the disease does not spread to villages across the country after relaxations provided by the government.
Two to five volunteers, with the support of bank employees, could offer guidance and help to customers.
According to the bill, Indians should not exceed 15 per cent of the population.
An Indian and a Bangladeshi have won $ 2 million each in a Singapore lottery, reports the Straits Times.
Calling for availability of all necessary equipment for medical professionals, she said the onus lies on the government to ensure that the spread of infection and casualties are not caused owing to lack of infrastructure or preparedness.
The study said India was the top receiving country for remittances in 2016 at USD 62.7 billion, followed by China (USD 61 billion), the Philippines (USD 30 billion) and Pakistan (USD 20 billion).
'Wasn't it the PM's duty to reach out to the daily wagers of whom he claims to have been a part?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
Recovery was largely driven by the European Union markets.
An Indian national in Singapore was on Thursday jailed for 18 weeks for his role in the country's worst riot in 40 years, becoming the third to be punished in the case.
A class XI student was killed after school students demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit system in Manipur clashed with police.
In her fourth tranche of the economic package, she said commercial mining will be done on revenue sharing mechanism instead of the regime of fixed rupee/tonne.
At least 79 foreigners, including 49 Indians have been killed in the devastating earthquakes, according to a statement by the Nepal police.
The SOP said priority will be given to compelling cases of in distress, including migrant workers and labourers who have been laid off, short term visa holders faced with expiry of visas, persons with medical emergency/ pregnant women and elderly persons or those required to return to India due to death of family member, and students.
Business Standard checks out trade hubs across the country to assess the impact of demonetisation. The first of a six-part series takes a look at Tirupur.
Modi reviewed the situation in West Bengal and Odisha with chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, two days after the cyclone, the worst in years, devastated their states.
Railway officials also indicated that possible 'sabotage' and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
Claiming that the BJP's government's works in the three holy cities are only follow-ups of her government's initiatives, Mayawati went on to promise, in what is being seen as a subtle shift towards soft Hindutva ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, to complete all those work on time.
"I don't know what to do, it really hurts my heart," said Narindervir Singh after he was told to go back to his own country.
A large number of American companies like Google, Uber and IBM are offering their resources to help India successfully fight the battle against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
'There is lack of demand because people have no jobs, and no income.' 'Lakhs of people have lost their jobs and they have no income which has led to no demand in the market.'
India has asked its nationals living in Saudi Arabia, who have received their Emergency Certificates, to get their final exit visa immediately from the Saudi authorities.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting five measures to conserve money for the fight against COVID-19, including a complete ban on media advertisements by government and PSUs for two years and suspending the Central Vista beautification project.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has warned its citizens not to overstay their visa in Saudi Arabia and leave the country immidiately once they have obtained Emergency Certificates to avoid penal action over Nitaqat law
The Madras high court has observed that free PDS rice given to ration card holders should be restricted only to families below the poverty line, noting that doling out freebies to all sections of people have made people "lazy".
"As many as 1.12 million expats corrected their professions until July 6. We have also issued and renewed more than 1.6 million work permits during the period," Abdullah Abuthnain, Deputy Minister for Inspections and Developing Work Atmosphere, was quoted by the local media as saying.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the economy is showing "green shoots" as the country emerges from the coronavirus lockdown and underscored the importance of being focussed on both life and livelihood.
'As for people like me, if the virus doesn't get us -- the measures being taken against it definitely will.'
Scores of protesting Kashmiri Pandit prime minister's package employees on Monday reiterated their demand for relocation outside the valley, saying their worst fears have come true with the latest killing of a community member in Pulwama.
In this COVID-19 phase, the BJP leveraged its pre-eminence again to tip the power scales in its favour and relegate its allies in the National Democratic Alliance to a lesser position. Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
As the Tata group inches closer to taking over Air India in January 2022, the $242-billion conglomerate will also inherit a stake in Kerala's Cochin airport. The Tatas would become the only airline to have an operational stake in a major Indian airport. The airport is a strategic hub connecting India to Middle East nations - home to the largest share of Indian migrant workers. In addition to Air India and Air India Express, private carrier Indigo also uses Cochin to ferry the lucrative 'Malayali Gulf traffic' to multiple locations like Jeddah, Riyadh, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait and Bahrain, among others. According to regulatory filings, Air India has a three per cent stake in Cochin International Airport.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
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