Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
'We are targeting the 5G tender around January-March 2023.'
According to the sources, there are limited prospects of J&J exporting its vaccine from the US to other countries in the near future and the "entire production" at the BE facilities in India, beginning July/August, will be handed over to the pharma giant under a contract between the companies.
The government has also extended till August 31 the repayment date of short-term crop loan of up to Rs 3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities. The decision, taken by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will give respite to farmers and also help them take a call on which kharif (summer) crop to grow as sowing picks up with the arrival of southwest monsoon.
Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday agreed to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra chief minister after a last-minute call from BJP President Amit Shah inviting him to the event.
The government is engaged in talks with telecom firms for a launch of commercial 5G services in some cities by Independence Day and has assured them that spectrum auction will take place in April-May, providing them a three to four-month window for the rollout. A top executive of a leading telecom gear company said the deadline was feasible in some cases. "It can be achieved in some cities as it will take us 4-6 weeks to deploy a network, once the equipment or components have reached India.
The prime minister also decided to stop using special plane for foreign visits or domestic travelling and use business class.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK will hit Russia with a "first barrage' of economic sanctions, warning that President Vladimir Putin is fixed on a "full-scale invasion of Ukraine".
The temporary ban begins on Monday and applies to any travellers who have visited India within 14 days of their intended arrival date in Australia.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the party's chief whip in the Upper House Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government is throttling the voice of the Opposition leaders to prevent them from raising issues of public importance.
Projects in Delhi-NCR, delayed by a much as 6-7 years
'By the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they moved back to the BJP almost totally and later their backing helped us win the local body elections.'
Just a few weeks ago, Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw did some tough talking with the senior managers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the ailing state-owned telecom service provider. The message was clear: They had to perform, quit by taking the voluntary retirement package or be compulsorily retired from service. The terse message from an otherwise polite and soft-spoken minister came just days after he announced a second and bigger package of Rs 1.64 trillion as part of a four-year turnaround plan for BSNL.
'Our legal team is doing their best to argue the matter in the court.'
The initiative would provide double the relief announced by the states of UP and Maharashtra, the Punjab CM said.
Dismissing as baseless Kitex group chairman Sabu Jacob's allegation that the atmosphere in Kerala is not industry-friendly, state Industries Minister P Rajeev on Wednesday said his government stands for "responsible investment" and the southern state would be made a destination of such investments in few years. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Rajeev said the focus of the government is to attract green industries and IT-based industries in Kerala as land scarcity and environmental issues associated with it have been a problem in the state. "We are always taking a stand in favour of investment, in favour of industries. But our need is that--investment should be responsible. We stand for responsible investment," said Rajeev, who represents Kalamassery-an industrial hub in Kerala--in the state Assembly. Elaborating on responsible investment, the minister said it is a strategy and practice to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions.
Employee integration and branch rationalisation are major challenges.
"Sidhu could not manage a thing. I know him very well. Don't think that he is some sort of magic word for Punjab. He is going to be a disaster," he said.
"The two (the Pradesh Congress Committee chief and the chief minister) consult each other, but the final decision is of Channi, who is the chief minister, not Sidhu," the former chief minister told reporters at the Chandigarh airport.
Singh and his wife have been accorded the cover with a strength of about 45 armed commandos who will guard them round-the-clock at their residence on 3, Motilal Nehru Road and during their movement across the country.
The prime minister initiated the discussion on the move, which was announced last month, with the ministers after the meeting of the Union Cabinet ended in New Delhi.
The Jammu and Kashmir government will start functioning from the civil secretariat from Thursday, according to an official statement.
First time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both according to the ordinance.
Cities, roads, stations rechristened in the time of Modi.
A 73-year-old Australian, who is stranded in India since March last year, has filed a lawsuit before a Sydney court against the federal government for banning flights from India and threatening to prosecute those attempting to enter the country with the possibility of a jail term and a penalty, saying the move is "unconstitutional".
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
Analysts have their doubts how much independence she has as finance minister. As Amit Mitra advises the chief minister, day-to-day work is done by the finance secretary and the chief secretary.
As state-level leaders tried to placate Sidhu, he made it clear through the video that he was in no mood to budge on his 'principles'.
Throughout the governor's 35-minute address, Samajwadi Party legislator Rajesh Yadav blew a whistle.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday joined his sister Priyanka Gandhi in attacking Narendra Modi over snoopgate controversy, saying the Gujarat government has no regard for women as it gets their phones tapped.
The Shiromani Akali Dal had on Saturday quit the National Democratic Alliance over the farm bills issue.
The MLAs, who are seemingly unhappy with their leadership, arrived in Surat on Monday night and are camping at the Le Meridian Hotel, they said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said his party had anticipated such an action against its leader Malik as he 'speaks openly'.
After being officially recognised as a minority community, the Jews would enjoy several privileges like other minority communities.
The ceasefire, which followed mounting pressure from the United States, Egypt and other international brokers to halt the violence, came into effect on Friday.
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
In 2010, Gujarat government is believed to have allotted 250 acres of land next to Gir Lion Sanctuary to Wildwoods Resorts and Realties Pvt Ltd for setting up a resort which was allotted at a price of Rs 15 per square metre or Rs 60,000 per acre.
The names of several probables, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had led the BJP government in the state in the past, were doing the rounds at the state party office.
Kumar insisted that allies should have been given proportional representation in the cabinet.
