Health ministry is in favour of imposing deterrent taxes on tobacco industry to end the growing nicotine addiction among Indians. Stating this, director general of health Dr Jagdish Prasad, said India loses 1.6 percent of its gross domestic
A road map for the financial restructuring of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) through various mechanisms, including mergers, would be drawn up soon. Also, the government is looking for options where weak CPSEs can be absorbed by profitab
Jayalalithaa, 68, has come back to power for the second consecutive term, a singular achievement in Tamil Nadu which is otherwise known to alternate its rulers. The victory is significant, yet the road ahead may be difficult for her.
NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra talks about steps taken by the highway authority to speed up highway construction projects, improve maintenance of highways and make them safer and more user friendly. READ:
The Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the government in its 2013 union budget with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. According to then finance minister, P. Chidambaram, this fund was expected to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working toward
Salil Bhatt is an Indian classical musician born in a family that has a 500-year-old legacy in music. He represents the tenth generation of famous Bhatt lineage and is the son of renowned Mohan Veena player, Grammy awardee Pandit Vishwa Mohan
India along with the rest of the world is facing an acute water scarcity, a crisis that is deepening with each passing year and now posing a threat to the world economy. A World Bank report, ‘High and dry: Climate change, wate
The government has announced ‘income declaration scheme’, scheduled to open from June 1 this year, for all those who have not declared income correctly in earlier years, asking them to come forward and declare their undisclosed i
Democracy is defined as “government of the people, by the people and for the people”. Our well established system of elections satisfies to a great extent the definition “of and by the people”. Further, both central and sta
The electoral victory in Assam has come just in time for the Narendra Modi government to celebrate its second anniversary with aplomb. “We used to dream of this [forming government in the north east],” said Amit Shah, p
The stench is unbearable in the dingy lanes of Sanjay Colony of Okhla, south Delhi, where sunlight barely seeps in. An overflooded drain running along the lanes adds to the distressing picture. The place is just like any other slum colony and is h
A high-level panel hosted by India as part of the BRICS group of countries discussed the issues of trade deals that inhibit access to medicines and also limit policy space for governments to legislate in public interest. Mini
The banking coverage might be poor in rural parts but in cities many people have at least two bank accounts. Keeping a tab on them is a hassle. More so, if you are managing them on a smartphone. You would then have multiple apps on your handset, a
Urban development ministry has announced the list of 13 cities which have been chosen to be developed under the government’s Smart
J Jayalalithaa began her second term as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday by announcing closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) liquor shops. The chief minister also ordered that liquor outlets
Delhiites breathed a sigh of relief as light rainfall drenched the national capital region in the late afternoon on Monday. The mercury settled at 42 degrees Celsius in early afternoon. “P
National and regional parties collected a staggering Rs 5323.41 cr during the election period of 1,535 days between 2004 and 2015, shows an analysis of funds collected and expenditure incurred by political parties. The analysis was carried out the
Political war that too on Twitter was a new low on Monday when HRD minister Smriti Irani entered in a Twitter spat with Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi. The nasty conversation started over threats and trolls on Chaturvedi for her blog on
KR Meera is a Malayali novelist. After working as a journalist for years, she embarked on writing fiction and published her first collection of short stories Ormayude Njarambu in 2002. She is the winner of Vayalar Rama Varma Award, the most pr
How NHAI is meeting the enormous challenge of digging long tunnels in mountains to bring Kashmir closer to the rest of India. The Banihal-Qazigund and Chenani-Nashri tunnels are part of an ambitious plan of the NHAI to realign, restructure and
