We all know the Internet has revolutionized civilization, but have you ever stopped to think just how much it has changed your life over the past 15 years — and what the future may hold? The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reports unprecedented growth in information and communications technologies (ICTs) since 2000. Here are some mind boggling statistic from the latest ITU report: there are over 7 billion […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An unfortunate upshot of the ongoing bar bribery scam battering the ruling United Democratic Front Government has been the war of words which raged for a while between the CPI and the CPI(M). Instead of cashing in on the acute discomfiture felt by the UDF Government on account of the bar bribery controversy, the CPI and the CPI(M) expended precious energies […]
By Nora Chopra The erstwhile commerce minister in the UPA government Anand Sharma is the man to watch. Sharma who is known to be a man without roots is tipped to become the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha if the present leader Ghulam Nabi Azad does not get re elected from any state by February next year. Congress leadership wanted to give Azad the Rajya […]
By Praful Bidwai All those who expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver on his election-campaign promise of cleaning up Indian politics of money power and crime, making a break with short-term caste-and-community calculations, and placing merit above personal loyalty, would be sorely disappointed at his cabinet reshuffle, including the induction of 21 new ministers. The composition of his team also reflects a great paucity […]
Brisbane: DRIVEN by a strong domestic political agenda of getting black money back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday managed to get the Group of 20 include a certain clause in the final Leaders’ Communique that will make it difficult for tax havens to give complete tax exemption to companies. This, along with the G-20’s endorsement of a global Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of […]
By Amulya Ganguli The losers have banded together again. Their perseverance is admirable considering that repeated failures of the so-called Third Front or Janata experiment of constituting a non-Congress, non-BJP outfit haven’t dissuaded them. Probably, the success of the first memorable effort in 1977 which saved democracy in India continues to motivate them. As a result, whenever there is a low ebb in the political […]
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: Under severe political pressure and feeling vulnerable, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee has reacted characteristically, by going on the offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the last few weeks, Ms Banerjee, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has been keeping away from the media. Her leadership and the role of her party, in the multi-crore Saradha chit […]
By Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: In the end, the outcome of the high level Trinamool Congress (TMC) meeting last month was disappointing. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is usually at her attacking best whenever she feels politically cornered. There was no better time like the present, if she wanted to take on her critics, who have been tearing into her over the multi-crore rupees Saradha chit […]
By S. Sethuraman Tamil Nadu political scene is now astir, with BJP and other state-level parties looking ambitiously for a hold on power through new alignments in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, and thus hoping to open a new chapter in the State’s chequered politics, hitherto dominated by two Dravidian majors alternately. Undoubtedly, political space dramatically opened up in the wake of the […]
By Nora Chopra The much awaited reshuffle of the Congress party is likely to be deferred indefinitely till the organizational elections next year. Disillusionment is fast taking over within the party in the wake of a defeat after defeat since 2011 when state after state started falling like nine pins. The worst was of course the Lok Sabha polls where the party faced a defeat like never […]
Mumbai: Credit in the banking system slipped marginally despite the festive season. Data from the Reserve Bank of India suggests that in the period between October 3 and 17, bank credit slipped 0.7 per cent. However, in the past one year, credit growth was up 11 per cent. In the period ended October 17, it was Rs 62,20,004 crore, up from Rs 55,97,985 crore a year before. […]
By Ashis Biswas Relations between India and Bangladesh are on the upswing if recent Dhaka-based media reports are any indication. The Government of India’s decisive intervention into the law and order situation in West Bengal, following the Burdwan blast on October 2, ignoring the state Government’s objections, has been welcomed among the ruling Awami League circles in Bangladesh. Significantly, Bangladesh authorities have been interacting […]
NEW DELHI: Private power producers have raised several concerns over bidding norms for ultra mega power plants (UMPPs), particularly the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) model where lenders’ exposure to the project is not fully secured. Under the model, developers are required to transfer the power plant to the government at the end of the contract period, a provision that makes potential lenders jittery. Last week, Adani Power, […]
By Nora Chopra Congress is supposed to have conceded defeat both in Haryana and Maharashtra even before the results are out. The general secretaries in-charge of Haryana and Maharashtra Shakeel Ahmad and Mohan Prakash have submitted their reports to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and are supposed to have made the submission that the Congress does not stand any chance to win in any of the two […]
By Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: There are no two opinions about it: unless the Indian government cracks down hard on the unholy nexus between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bangladeshi Jamat-e-Islami, India’s regional foreign policy objectives will be seriously compromised. The recent accidental explosion at a house in Khagraghar, Burdwan town, where Muslim extremists with Bangladeshi links had set up an explosive manufacturing centre and […]
By Kalyani Shankar Will the ensuing Assembly polls to Haryana and Maharashtra be seen as a referendum on the new Modi government? No doubt stakes are high for both Prime Minister Narendra Modi who feels on the top of the world after his landslide victory and congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is suffering from the most humiliating defeat in the recent Lok Sabha polls. It is […]
By Ashok B Sharma Engulfed with scams and scandals in the functioning of the government, the Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik is finding himself difficult to manage the growing dissatisfaction within his own party. There is no other option left for him but to expel anyone who raises voice against him. The party vice president and former finance minister Prafulla Ghadai was expelled from the party […]
By L.S. Herdenia BHOPAL: Brisk preparations are on for the mega investors’ summit to be held in Indore in the first week of October. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh is hopeful that the summit will open the doors for massive investments in Madhya Pradesh. Almost all the important and leading industrial houses of the country are likely to be present in the summit. According to a government spokesman, […]
By S. Sethuraman Tamil Nadu, noted for stability and good governance through decades, may be in for political uncertainty, without a robust leader at the helm like Ms. Jayalalithaa, the convicted and jailed Chief Minister. But this is dependant on the outcome of the 2016 assembly elections. Meanwhile, her ruling AIADMK will hold the fort firm. The space for political rivalry may open wide especially if […]
By Ashis Biswas Is Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee about to join regional leaders like Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ms Mayawati, Ms Jayalalithaa or Mr, Lalu Prasad Yadav, with the CBI probing the Saradha chit fund scam ? The question intrigues most observers because of the way the Central Bureau of Investigation officials have conducted their inquiries into India’s biggest multi-crore chit fund scandal. […]
NEW DELHI: The central government’s worries on the Insurance Bill aggravated on Tuesday with Congress accusing it of adopting double standards on the issue and dismissing threats from the treasury benches that a joint session may be convened, forcing BJP ministers to knock on the doors of parties like SP and BSP to muster the numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Congress sources maintained the government was reportedly keen on passing the insurance bill in Parliament in this session so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can showcase it to the US during his visit in September and hence wants to hurry through the process without sending it to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha. BJP leaders, on the other hand, alleged Congress was playing politics on
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said the government was open to accommodating minor modifications to the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, so that it could be passed in the current session of Parliament. He also said calling a joint session of Parliament was a real option if the Bill was defeated in one of the Houses. After an all-party meeting failed to break the deadlock on the issue between the government and Opposition, Jaitley on Monday reached out to the Congress. But the Congress continued to insist the Bill be sent to a select committee of Parliament, as it now was much changed from the one the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had tabled in the Rajya Sabha. The party added it would be willing to support the legisl
New Delhi: The NDA government has deferred its decision on the procurement of 16 multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy as one of the two companies in the race for the deal is linked with Finmeccannica– the parent organisation of the scam-tainted firm AgustaWestalnd.
The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley put off its decision on the procurement of the helicopters for the Navy from vendors including American Sikorsky and European NH Industries, which has Finmeccannica as one of its partners, highly-placed sources said.
Finmeccannica is the parent firm of AgustaWestland firm, whose Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the IAF has been scrapped by the
The power sector is one of the biggest concerns in terms of potential non-performing loans of banks given the host of headwinds the sector is facing. About a quarter of banks’ total exposure to the power sector is to the stressed players. Slowdown in the economy, shortage of coal, mounting losses of state electricity boards (SEBs) and non-remunerative tariffs have stymied the sector. The government’s high-level panel to revamp the power sector headed by former power minister Suresh Prabhu will have to address these challenges at the earliest and create a roadmap for the long-term sustainability of the sector.
As the gap between demand and supply of coal is increasing, the dependence on imported coal will rise from 150 million tonn
