India has expressed resounding commitment to finding long-term solutions for minimizing the impact of desertification and land degradation as it took over the presidency of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertifica
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced what is described as ‘Big Bank’ reforms, consolidating the public sector banking by merging 10 banks into four. This will make Punjab National Bank the second largest PSB in the country
Allaying fears of an economic slowdown, RS Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) which owns the brand Amul, has said there is no slowdown in the dairy industry which is growing at an average of 14 pe
The petroleum and energy sectors will play a vital role in making India a 5 trillion dollar economy, as envisaged by prime minister Narendra Modi. Addressing the 7th convocation of the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) t
Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor have stirred the hornet’s nest in the Congress. They have argued that the party should not “demonise” prime minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders believe constant criticism and negativity would
India has pledged to convert nearly 50 lakh hectares of degraded land into fertile land in 10 years, union minister for environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javadekar has said. He was addressing a curtain-raiser press meet
The central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to transfer Rs 1,76,051 crore to the government, ending a long debate and opening new options for injecting fresh money into the economy. The RBI central board on Mon
Sometime in 1999, I took Arun Jaitley out for meal for the column, “Lunch with Business Standard”. As is his wont, he chose his own place for lunch. It was at the Chambers at the Taj Mansingh hotel, an exclusive domain of the high and
The arrest of Palaniappan Chidambaram, former union minister of home & finance, by the CBI, albeit after his much dramatic disappearance and reappearance, has brought an end to his long run from the arms of law. As a finance min
An unintended consequence of the inversion of Article 370 and the division of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories is the curious revival of Pakistan’s interest in Indian history and sociology. For the fir
Prime minister Narendra Modi has told US president Donald Trump that Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s “incitement to anti-India violence” was not good for peace in south Asia. Modi and Trump had a telephonic co
As children are consuming more and more fast foods and sweetened beverages are becoming, leading to obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has come out with guidelines on such substances.
Contrast prime minister Narendra Modi’s first Independence Day speech in 2014 with his latest, the first in the second term, and you know the difference. His first speech was less about future and much about the basic needs like Swachch Bhar
With Mumbai city battling myriad civic issues and annual flooding year after year, stakeholders and experts came together to discuss ways of dealing with these issues as community work. The discussion was held at the TEDxVersova Salon- Vibrant Civ
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first in his second term, prime minister Narendra Modi highlighted the new beginnings his government has made in recent days, and underlined the hopes of a new India in the making.
India has told China that the legislation changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir was “an internal matter. External affairs minister S Jaishankar, visiting China Monday, told foreign minister Wang Yi that the legislative mea
When considering climate change, one of the greatest threats before the humanity, discussions usually focus on air and water, but land too is affected by and in turn affects global warming as much as those two elements. A new report from the Inter
To revive bus ridership, the BMC-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) reduced its bus fares in Mumbai to minimum Rs 5 for non-AC buses as against Rs 8 earlier for the first five kilometres and capped maximum fare at Rs 20. For its
During her long and enviable career in politics, Sushma Swaraj fashioned a one-of-a-kind place for herself: a spirited debater who could articulate the common man’s aspirations in the common man’s language – with grace, nuance an
In a historic move with long political repercussions, the Narendra Modi government on Monday moved to scrap the special status granted via Article 370 to Jammu and Kashmir, ending decades of debates over the controversial provisions and fulfilling
