(PTI) Amid fervent protests in Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Act, PSU major Oil India Limited (OIL) issued an appeal to the people of the state on Saturday to allow it to carry out day-to-day operations, which the firm said has been “severely impacted”.The appeal issued in leading English daily of the state, the Assam Tribune, cautioned that the “total disruption of OIL’s operational activities will adversely impact the economy of the State and the lives of the common people”. Besides loss of production of crude oil and natural gas, the stoppage of OIL’s operations has badly hit production of LPG and supply…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(PTI) Protests over the amended Citizenship Act rocked parts of West Bengal for the third consecutive day on Sunday, prompting the state government to suspend internet services in six districts. Internet services were suspended in Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and parts of South 24 Parganas districts to prevent rumour-mongering and circulation of fake news, especially on social media, a senior government official said. “Despite several requests by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it was found that a few communal outfits have been carrying out violent protests and trying to spread false propaganda. “In view of the situation, the…
(PTI) The series of pathbreaking and ambitious reforms unleashed by the Modi government in the last few years will make India a very competitive and productively-efficient economy in the long run, a top Indian official said on Friday. “There is a great positivity about India,” NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant told PTI in an interview here as he wound up his three-city US tour for a series of interaction with academicians, innovators, startups, corporate leaders and government officials in Boston, New York and Washington DC. People here believe that the fundamental reforms that have been gathered out in India across…
(ET) The Uttar Pradesh government is funding a study on Lord Ram’s international footprint, from inscriptions of Lord Ram and Hanuman found on rocks in Italy and Iraq to an idol of Lord Hanuman found in a jungle in Hondruas in Central America. Such findings, if confirmed, could be documented and featured in the international digital museum on the life of Lord Ram which is coming up in Ayodhya, said UP government officials. The Yogi Adityanath government has allotted Rs 30 lakh to a research institute in Ayodhya, the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan, and released the first instalment of Rs 15 lakh…
(ET) Niti Aayog, India’s key policy think tank, has begun work on a roadmap that will suggest steps to swiftly tackle quality issues confronting official data. NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar has chaired two rounds of high-level meetings to chalk out a roadmap to prevent leakages and establish credibility of data, which has seen a major dent in the past after government tried to suppress bad news. The move comes close on the heels of a controversy over the consumption survey that was subsequently junked by the government on data quality concerns. It also comes amid a move by the Ministry…
(PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the Modi government on Sunday of being “cowardly” as it feared to hear the voice of people and was making its presence felt through “oppression” on students and journalists. In a tweet late on Sunday night, she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to listen to the voice of the youth sooner than later as his government was trying to suppress their voice and courage with its “hollow dictatorship”. “Students are being beaten by sneaking into universities of the country. At a time when the government should listen to the people, the BJP government that time is…
(FE) Polling began on Monday morning for the fourth phase of Jharkhand Assembly Elections in 15 constituencies amid tight security. A total of 47,85,009 electorate, including 22,44,134 women and 81 third gender voters, are eligible to cast their franchise. The voters will decide the fate of 221 candidates, including 22 women and a third gender. Of the 15 constituencies, five are affected by the Maoists. The Election Commission has made adequate security arrangements in every booth to ensure the peaceful conduct of the democratic exercise. The fifteen seats are Deoghar (SC), Jamua (SC), Chandankiyari (SC), Madhupur, Bagodar, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri,…
(ET) Coal India is hoping to increase fuel stocks at power plants to the prescribed level of 22 days, which requires 36 million tonnes to be stored at generating stations, a company executive said. Following successive months of slowdown, the company has managed to raise average daily production from 1.27 million tonnes in October to 1.8 million tonnes now. This increased stocks at power plants by 64% since October to 28 million tonnes—enough for 17 days. It is almost double last double last year’s stock position, which stood at 14 million tonnes, barely usable for nine days. “We hope to touch Central…
(TNIE) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cruise through the Ganga River in Kanpur on Saturday to review the ‘Namami Gange’ project and get a first hand experience of the impact of the programme on the holy river. Twelve union ministers, nine secretaries of Central departments and chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar are scheduled to reach Kanpur, late on Friday, to participate in the first meeting of the National Ganga Council on Saturday. Chief Ministers of two other Gangetic states, West Bengal and Jharkhand, may not attend the Saturday meet. While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is yet…
(LiveMint) Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union budget for fiscal year 2020-21 on 1 February with possible big-ticket announcements based on requirements voiced by industry as she looks to pull India out of its economic slowdown. Sitharaman told reporters here that budget consultation with the industry will start on Monday. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley had presented the Union budget on a Saturday in 2015, when the convention was to have the budget tabled on the last day of February. The date was advanced to 1 February in 2017-18. Two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the…