(PTI) The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out the use of ballot papers in next month’s Maharashtra Assembly elections, terming them “history” and defended EVMs, saying these machines cannot be tampered with. Addressing reporters after reviewing poll preparedness in the state, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora also said the Assembly poll expenditure limit of candidates cannot be changed for now. His comments come in the wake of parties like the Shiv Sena and the NCP demanding that ceiling be raised from the present Rs 28 lakh per candidate. More central armed forces would be deployed in Left wing extremism-affected areas…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(FE) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the BJP’s campaign for Maharashtra assembly elections from Nashik on Thursday. He will be on a day-long visit to Nashik where he will address a mega rally. The rally will also mark the conclusion of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s ‘Mahajanadesh Yatra’. During the yatra, Fadnavis covered all 288 assembly seats in the state to highlight his government’s performance in the last five years. It is likely that PM will make some announcement related to the Metro Neo project for Nashik. The BJP’s local unit said that all preparations are in place for today’s event, adding that…
(FE) BJP president Amit Shah has said that everyone will have to accept the Supreme Court’s judgment in the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case. Speaking at a conclave organised by a leading Hindi daily in Ranchi on Wednesday, Shah said that verdict in the case would have come a long time back but the Congress and its leader Kapil Sibal delayed the hearing. He noted that when the verdict will be delivered, some may like it and some may not. “But in the end, everyone has to accept it,” he said at a conclave of Hindi daily Hindustan. “The verdict would have…
IBM aims to train 10,000 faculty members from ITIs across India Program will involve 14 trainers across 7 locations with over 200 workshops during a one-year period. The Directorate General of Training (DGT) division of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, has signed an agreement with Global IT major IBM where the latter will carry out a nationwide Train-the-Trainer in Basic Artificial Intelligence Skills. As part of the program, ITI trainers will be trained on basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills towards using the technology in their day-to-day training activities. This program aims at enabling the trainers with basic approach,…
(BS) Ministry of Mines has allowed SAIL to offload in a year up to a quantity equivalent to maximum 25% of total iron ore production in the previous year. It will be subject to clearance from the respective State Governments, where the mines are located, after following due procedure. It is valid for a period of 2 years. This implies that around 7 Million tonnes of iron ore, produced at its different mines in the States of Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh, can be offloaded by SAIL to the domestic market after getting necessary clearance from the respective State Governments. This…
(PTI) Trains will go “silent” by December, with the railways deciding to run them on power drawn from an overhead electric supply system, instead of the noisy power cars at either end, officials said. One of the two power cars will be replaced with an LSLRD (LHB Second Luggage, Guard & Divyaang Compartment), which will have a specially-designed cabin with six seats reserved for differently-abled people, an additional 31 seats for chair car travellers and extra luggage space, the officials said. There will be one standby “silent” generator car to be used for emergency. Presently, the power cars generate a 105-decibel…
(ET) President Ram Nath Kovind held talks with his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in Ljubljana and discussed possible collaboration between the two nations on a wide range of issues. India and Slovenia also signed and exchanged seven MoUs and Programmes of Cooperation in the fields of Investment, Sports, Culture, River Rejuvenation, Science and Technology and Standards in the presence of the two Presidents, an official statement said. During the one-to-one discussions with President Pahor, the two leaders discussed possible collaboration between the two nations on a wide range of issues followed by delegation-level talks between the two sides. “India-Slovenia bilateral trade is picking up…
(PTI) The government’s aim is to take the Indian economy to USD 10 trillion by 2030, and defence is one of the sectors that will help contribute towards it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.Speaking at the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) Annual General Meeting, held with the theme ‘Make in India: Marching Towards USD 26 billion Defence Industry by 2025’, Singh said due to several reasons, the Indian defence industry in the past had not performed to its fullfull potential. “This has led to the country’s dependence on imported arms,” he said. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, several important…
(ET) Workmen at Coal India (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) are likely to go on a one-day strike on September 24 after the Centre and staff unions failed to reach common ground during talks held over the weekend. Staff members want industrial action against the government’s move late August allowing total foreign ownership of coal mines. Five unions working together have refused to hold further discussions with the government before October. It is estimated that Coal India, the near-monopoly miner of the solid fuel, may lose up to Rs 130 crore a day due to industrial action. “As the centre invited only three out of the…
(FE) The government is considering the closure or merger of three state-owned trading agencies — State Trading Corporation (STC), MMTC and PEC — as the purpose of their existence has eroded gradually, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The news of potential closure spooked investors and shares of STC and MMTC tanked by close to 20% on the BSE on Tuesday, when the Sensex dropped 1.7%. “Slowly the original purpose of these PSUs has come to an end. They are no longer the canalising agencies. It’s not the business of the government to remain in such businesses.…