Officials in Jhansi said the nuns were detained after local Bajrang Dal activists complained that two of the women were allegedly being taken forcibly for religious conversion.
Sources said all the ministers expressed anguish over the "major security breach" during Modi's visit to the Congress-ruled state on Wednesday, with some demanding strong action.
He hinted the decision was partly due to losing the ministerial berth and also differences with the state BJP leadership.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
The hike will benefit about 48.41 lakh central government employees and 62.03 lakh pensioners.
The government is likely to introduce a bill on crypto currencies during the winter session of Parliament beginning November 29, amid concerns over such currencies being allegedly used for luring investors with misleading claims and for funding terror activities, sources said on Monday. Currently, there are no particular regulations or any ban on use of crypto currencies in the country. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, held a meeting on the crypto currencies with senior officials and indications are that strong regulatory steps could be taken to deal with the issue.
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
The announcement of the officer came after the violent protests broke out in some parts of the country wherein incidents like stone-pelting and setting trains on fire were reported.
Earlier this year, the Union Cabinet gave the management of state-run companies the freedom to decide on divesting their subsidiaries. However, the very next day a meeting was held at the top level of the Government of India, for the presentation of proposals for more autonomy for state-run companies. Interestingly, no chiefs of any of these companies were invited. It is a problem that will stare the government in the face with the state-owned banks too, as talks have again begun for inviting strategic investments in these companies.
Redevelopment of the Central Vista Avenue, stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and has a deadline of December 2021, has achieved 60 per cent of physical progress, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to Jio, spectrum worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore is lying unused with the DoT for auction.
Investors have gained Rs 335,770.71 crore in two days of market rally, with the Sensex scaling its fresh lifetime peak on Wednesday. Rising for the second day, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 476.11 points or 0.82 per cent to close at its new all-time high of 58,723.20. During the day, it gained 529.97 points to 58,777.06, its intra-day record.
Amid the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, a heated argument broke out between Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday when the former accused the latter of getting the farm laws enacted while she was a minister in the Union Cabinet, and added that she 'doing drama' over the laws and showing 'fake support' to the farmers' cause.
Terming Jitin Prasada as his younger brother, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday welcomed the Congress leader's decision to join the saffron party.
A decision in this regard was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'Scindia did not just come to a new party, it was an ideological shift for him. In the past one and a half years, Scindia never lost communication with RSS leaders in the state. He left no stone unturned to ensure his acceptability in the party'
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of offering money to its municipal councillors and said it will install CCTV cameras at their homes to prevent any poaching attempt.
The Union Cabinet has cleared disinvestment of the country's largest insurer LIC and a panel headed by the finance minister will now decide on the quantum of stake dilution, a senior official said on Monday. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had in January appointed actuarial firm Milliman Advisors LLP India to assess the embedded value of LIC ahead of the IPO (initial public offering), which is touted to be the biggest public issue in Indian corporate history. The Budget amendments to the LIC Act has been notified and the actuarial firm is expected to finalise the embedded value of the life insurer. Under the embedded value method, the insurance company's present value of future profit is also included in its present net asset value.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organised protests in different states on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against three central farm laws.
Tata Group is in discussions with some major international companies, including those from Taiwan, for its foray into the semiconductor chip business. The Union government had earlier tried to bring in Taiwanese manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) for chip manufacturing in India. A person close to the development said the Tatas have now opened a separate channel for a possible tie-up. Currently, India mostly imports chips, which are fabricated and assembled to put into various applications, including automobiles, renewable power, mobile phones, televisions, and other electronic items.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the most pertinent question playing on the mind of every youngster -- will these sweeping changes being brought in the education system create better employment opportunity?
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to extend distribution of 5 kg foodgrains per month for free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) to over 80 crore ration card holders for four months till March 2022, a decision that will cost an additional Rs 53,344 crore to the exchequer.
Mandaviya said this is the second phase of the Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package as the Central government had given Rs 15,000 crore earlier for setting up Covid-dedicated hospitals and health centres across the country.
The government on Thursday permitted 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in oil and gas PSUs which have received in-principle approval for strategic divestment. The move would facilitate privatisation of India's second biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). The government is privatising BPCL and selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the company.
The government paid Rs 164.5 crore to Infosys to build the new income tax e-filing portal between January 2019 and June 2021, Parliament was informed on Monday. "The contract for Integrated e-filing & Centralized Processing Centre (CPC 2.0) Project was awarded through an open tender published on Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) to Infosys Ltd, the Managed Service Provider on the lowest cost basis.
Sawant swore in as Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises after 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday called for seamless coordination among various agencies involved in protecting India's maritime interests in the face of emerging security challenges and increasing rivalries and competitions in the Indian Ocean.
Kumar said expansion of the Union council of ministers was a prerogative of the prime minister and that he "did not have much information" about what was being offered to his party.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman on Saturday proposed a budget of Rs 85,000 crore in 2020-21 for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes and Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes.
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.
Watch all the debates and discussions in Parliament.
The government's agenda also includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, paving the way for privatisation of government-owned insurers. The amendments, approved by Cabinet, will remove the clause for the Centre to hold at least 51 per cent in public sector insurance companies at any given time. It will also have an enabling provision for the transfer of management control from the government to the potential buyer of the public sector insurance company. The finance ministry will move amendments to the insurance Act in the ongoing Parliament session.
With the Russia-Ukraine war roiling financial markets globally, the government may defer the mega IPO of LIC and wait for an opportune time to get the maximum value of its holding in the state-owned insurance behemoth, sources said. "It's a full blown war now so we will have to assess the situation for going ahead with the LIC IPO," a government source said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, too, had indicated review of the IPO in view of the evolving geopolitical situation.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for amendments in the Insurance Act, paving way for 74 per cent foreign direct investment in the sector. Currently, the permissible FDI limit in the life and general insurance stands at 49 per cent with ownership and management control with Indian. According to sources, the Cabinet in its meeting has approval for amendments in the Insurance Act, 1938.
Dominic Xavier asks if the bills will really benefit farmers or if this is a ploy by the Modi government to push the agricultural sector towards privatisation.
'The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has accepted the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect,' the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday called on President Ram Nath Kovind before presenting the Union Budget 2021-22. As per established tradition, the Finance Minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament. The Union Cabinet will meet at 10.15 am to clear the Budget.
He said his party was neither expecting nor planning to discuss the expansion
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