Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar clarifies his political affiliations, identifying as a Gandhian, Nehruvian, and Rajivian, while explaining his distance from Rahul Gandhi's political approach and his disapproval of Indira Gandhi's Emergency declaration.
Country's top sports administrators on Tuesday expressed deep sorrow at the death of former IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, calling it a huge loss to the Olympic movement in India.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'Maybe he was wrong, but they believed he genuinely meant what he said.'
Amid the political push and pull, the Centre's decision to allow sugar exports and remove the 50 per cent duty on molasses exports has rekindled hope in the industry that more relief may follow.
'...as then it brings them closer to the complaints and grievances that the public faces.'
Pakistan has approached the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a USD 7 billion loan to upgrade a major railway line after China apparently declined to support the project. The development of Mainline-I (ML-I) railways between Peshawar and Karachi is stuck due to a lack of funds.
Outperforming the likes of Neeraj Chopra and Julian Weber in his debut World Championship is a nice feeling but India's new-found javelin throw talent Sachin Yadav says it cannot make up for the disappointment of "letting slip" an unlikely bronze after a strong start.
The MiG-21 episode demonstrates that procurement is always strategic.
Choices about what aircraft to acquire, who builds them, who supplies the spares, who trains the pilots and technicians are decisions with political consequences lasting for decades.
A recent World Bank report placing India among the most equal countries globally may present a limited view of inequality, with economists suggesting that broader data sets could tell a different story. According to the report, India's Gini index (or coefficient/ratio), a key measure of inequality, stood at 25.5 in 2022-23, placing the country fourth globally in terms of equality, behind only the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Belarus.
Chidambaram, who is also senior spokesperson of Congress, said at the AICC briefing.
M R Srinivasan focused on the peaceful use of nuclear power at a time when the popular view among the 'hawks' was that India should build a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
K Kasturirangan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), passed away at the age of 84 in Bengaluru on Friday. He was suffering from age-related ailments for the past few months. Kasturirangan, who also served as the chairperson of the drafting committee on the New National Education Policy (NEP), was a renowned space scientist and had a distinguished career spanning several decades. He was known for his contributions to ISRO's successful space programs and his role in shaping India's education policy.
Despite facing financial constraints, Kerala has been able to invest in welfare schemes and targeted programmes.
The need for co-ordinated policy between Centre and states was likewise foreseen and assigned.
Senior Congress leader Ripun Bora has been summoned by Assam Police for questioning in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan. The summons comes after Bora publicly stated that Gogoi's wife received salaries from the Pakistan government, which prompted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to claim that Bora "knows a lot" about Gogoi's alleged links. The case centers around allegations of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is claimed to have links with Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, interfering in India's internal affairs. Gogoi has vehemently denied the allegations and accused Sarma of making baseless accusations.
The Plan panel is against an NHAI proposal to increase the cost allocation of building each four-lane highway by 33 per cent.
Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora was on Thursday questioned by Assam Police in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan, officials said.
The Prime Minister said there is a need to have a relook at the structure of the Planning Commission and give it a new shape.
'I do not believe that you would have a booming economy when you go into elections if you had a budget which did not answer the fiscal deficit concerns.'
There are justifiable concerns that, if all financial allocation powers are now shifted to the finance ministry, then the end of the Commission might be counter-productive -- states' needs could, in fact, be addressed less.
Making a brief intervention during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister said government was planning to involve knowledgeable people and those who can provide new ideas to redefine and restructure the Planning Commission.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia is likely to remain deputy chairman of the planning commission, which will be constituted shortly.
State governments are expected to play a more significant role
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi visited Pakistan on an invitation from its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence, and that he worked closely with the establishment of the neighbouring nation.
Economists divided, with no clear answer to what could take over its multiple functions more effectively.
Take the Rediff Business Quiz and find out how much you know about India's Planning Commission.
Modi stunned buttoned-down members of the commission last year by turning up at a meeting with a video that accused them of high-handedness and hobbling states with one-size-fits-all policies.
The assessment sent to the Prime Minister recommended that a new think-tank be set up with experts of domain knowledge to replace the plan body.
What transpired during that drive was one of the most compelling investment pitches made by an Indian state in decades.
The 64-year-old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era, will soon become history.
The Planning Commission has not been central to the policy making process since the mid-1960s, says Nitin Desai.
Caught in the middle of a maelstrom of controversies, the Planning Commission has been accused of being disconnected from ground realities. Its 12th Plan hopes to fix that.
All members of the Planning Commission have submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister's Office paying the way for reconstitution of the institution.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced the formation of a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to study the relationship between the Union and state governments and ensure state autonomy. The panel, which will submit its interim report in January 2026 and its final report in two years, will examine the transfer of subjects from the State List to the Concurrent List, citing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) as an example of a subject outside state purview.
Eminent economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia was on Wednesday appointed deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government may seek the help of agencies like the Interpol in investigating the alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who allegedly has links with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife, in India's internal affairs. Sarma said the probe is at an initial stage and he has informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the developments in the case.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President V M Sudheeran on Monday flayed the Narendra Modi government's move to scrap Planning Commission and bring in an alternative body in its place.
The curtains have come down on the organisation that, for 64 years, was responsible for the country's planned development.
