'Traders have stocked up for upcoming festivals and will make a loss if stores remain shut now. We suffered last year. We can't suffer again. There is no scientific basis for closing all commercial establishments. How long will the government keep them shut?'
'Supplies should start moving to the Serum Institute without any impediments.'
As the COVID wave gradually shifts to rural areas, several states are gearing up to check its spread through self-proclaimed lockdowns by Panchayati Raj institutions, creating a database of migrants and providing free online medical consultation to the sick.
The bench termed as "inhuman" the situation where the people are not provided with any protective gear and they are dying during the process of cleaning of sewage and manholes across the country.
Opposition MLAs on Wednesday held a parallel assembly session chaired by RJD leader Bhudev Choudhary in the lawns of the Bihar Assembly, even as proceedings went on in the state legislature.
The Joe Biden administration has come under intense pressure from various quarters, including the powerful US Chambers of Commerce, lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans, to ship AstraZeneca and other Covid-19 vaccines along with several life-saving medical supplies to India, which is witnessing a deadly surge in coronavirus cases.
The BJP had on Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on moral grounds after his government said in a reply to a question in the state A assembly that it taps phones in the interest of public safety and order.
Opposition parties created an uproar over its demand to hold a discussion on the steep rise in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders.
Pulse oximeters, hand sanitisers, temperature check equipment and ambulances too will attract lower 5 per cent tax.
Innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, the real life Phunsukh Wangdu of Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots, has developed an eco-friendly solar heated tent that Army personnel can use in extremely cold places like Siachen and Galwan valley in the Ladakh region.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said there is a need for coordinated action between the centre and state governments to reduce taxes on petrol and diesel prices. "There is a need for coordinated action between the centre and states because there are inherent taxes levied by both," the Governor said adding that calibrated reduction of taxes was important. He was speaking at an event organised by Bombay Chamber of Commerce.
In a show of solidarity, the CEOs of some 40 top American companies have come together to create a global task force to mobilise resources to help India fight the battle against Covid-19.
Amid oxygen shortage and a faltering health system in the country, India is seeing over 300,000 cases daily.
Capital dumping is being used by foreign e-commerce firms to subsidise and engage in predatory pricing, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) has told the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in an internal document. The document alleges that this is leading to massive unemployment and financial distress among small merchants and kirana stores. It consists of various recommendations and proposed changes that deal with Press Note 2 of 2018 (PN 2), which RIL wanted Assocham to present to the government, according to sources.
Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was a minister himself in the previous National Democratic Alliance government, was visibly shaken at the disdain shown towards the Chair by Samrat Chaudhary who holds the Panchayati Raj portfolio.
The weekend curfew, aimed at breaking the chain of spiralling coronavirus infections, was clamped at 10 pm on Friday and will continue till 5 am on Monday.
The Bihar assembly plunged into turmoil on Saturday when the opposition sought to raise the issue of alleged involvement of revenue and land reforms minister Ram Surat Rai in illicit liquor trade, forcing adjournment of the House around noon till lunch.
'If they think they can silence us by suspending us, then they don't know what BJP MLAs are made of.'
He said that the members should desist from such "unwarranted" activities inside the chamber as its circulation on social media may lead to a breach of privilege and contempt of the house.
Chinese hubris and the slippery slope it finds itself on have important lessons for authoritarian leaders elsewhere, including in India, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Tanden, president of the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, would have led a key economic post that oversees the production of the President's proposed budget for his agenda if she had been confirmed.
Vijay Mallya has applied to Home Secretary Priti Patel for "another route" to be able to stay in the UK, the liquor tycoon's barrister representing him in bankruptcy proceedings in the High Court of London confirmed during a remote hearing on Friday. The 65-year-old businessman, whose legal challenge to the Indian government's extradition request was turned down at the Supreme Court level in the UK last year, remains in Britain on bail until Patel signs off on the order for him to be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering related to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The UK Home Office has so far only confirmed on background that a confidential legal process remains ongoing before the extradition order can be executed.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday swore-in three senators -- Georgia's Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, as well as her replacement in California, Alex Padilla.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the central bank's asset purchases, aimed at mitigating COVID-19-related liquidity stress in the system, did not dilute its balance sheet or compromise on core principles of central banking. In the wake of the pandemic, the RBI undertook several conventional and unconventional measures. "Unlike many central banks, the RBI's asset purchases did not dilute its balance sheet and hence, did not compromise on core principles of central banking," Das said while addressing an event organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce. These purchases were confined to risk-free sovereign (government) bonds including state government securities only, he said.
The venture, they said, would focus on technology and media opportunities in emerging markets. Industry sources said the focus would be on digital media, with India being the big driver.
Images from Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
The Democrats have enough votes to impeach the president in the House, which requires a simple majority. But the Senate, where the Republicans have a razor-thin 51-50 majority -- requires votes of two-third of the members to remove the president out of the office.
Unprecedented chaos erupted inside the Bihar assembly on Tuesday when police was called inside to assist the marshals in evicting unruly opposition members who tried to physically prevent the Speaker from taking his Chair.
The top court said there may be some spontaneous protests but in case of prolonged dissent or protest, there cannot be continued occupation of public place affecting the rights of others.
In an unprecedented assault on democracy in America, thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and clashed with police, resulting in at least four deaths and interrupting a constitutional process to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the election.
A joint session of the US Congress on Thursday formally certified the electoral victory of Joe Biden as the next US president and Kamala Harris as the vice president in the November 3 election.
The 42-metre-high sandstone monument, sometimes compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was laid down by Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught.
Led by Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, a battery of his party colleagues from the House of Representatives alleged that Trump incited his supporters for violence on January 6 as they stormed the Capitol Hill wherein Congressmen and Senators were performing their constitutional duty of counting and certification of the November 3rd presidential election results.
The farmers' agitation against new agri laws will lead to economic loss of over Rs 70,000 crore in the December quarter owing to supply chain disruptions, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and border areas of Delhi, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Thursday. The chamber's president Sanjay Aggarwal said "the 36 days farm agitation so far will have more than Rs 70,000 crore economic loss in the Q3 FY 2020-21 due to...disruption in supply chains and day-to-day economic activities particularly in the progressive states of Punjab and Haryana and border areas of national capital Delhi."
According to the order, all factories producing essential goods and services will remain operational at full capacity.
The Shram Shakti Bhavan and Transport Bhavan in Lutyens' Delhi will be the first two buildings to be razed to pave the way for the construction of chambers of members of Parliament there as part of Central Vista redevelopment project.
Biden said that 100 days since he took the oath of office on January 20 and inherited the worst pandemic in a century and the worst economic crisis in a decade, America is on the move again, turning peril into possibility, crisis into opportunity and setback into strength.
Several parties had requested that the session, which was originally scheduled to continue till April 8, be curtailed due to the five assembly elections being held in eight phases till April 29.
During the webinar, 'COVID-19: Vaccination and Potential Return to Normalcy - If and When', Dr Hotez, an internationally-recognised physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, said that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is "India's gift' to the world in combating the virus.
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances