Page 2 - Modi Govt

PM Modi, Amir of Qatar condemn terrorism, agree to cooperate in fighting it

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani on Tuesday unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, as the two leaders agreed to cooperate in combatting the menace through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. In a joint statement issued hours after the two leaders held talks here, India and Qatar emphasised the "importance of dialogue, diplomacy for a peaceful resolution of international disputes". The Amir's two-day state visit "reaffirmed the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation between India and Qatar. The leaders expressed optimism that this renewed partnership would continue to grow, benefitting the people of both countries and contributing to regional and global stability". "The two leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism and agreed to cooperate in combatting this menace through bilateral and multilateral

India, US complement each other, can offer mutual trade concessions: Goyal

India and the US are committed to increasing bilateral trade to USD 500 billion and negotiating a "strong" trade agreement within the next 6-8 months, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. During the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, India and the US announced to more than double the two-way commerce to USD 500 billion by 2030 and negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025. Goyal said once his US counterpart takes charge, both countries will discuss the contours of the pact. "...In the next 6-8 months, by establishing a strong trade agreement, we are committed to increasing trade to USD 500 billion," Goyal told reporters here on the sidelines of CII's India-Qatar Business Forum meet. He added businesses of both the countries are excited about the agreement. When asked if the pact would have chapters related to goods, services and investments, he said, "My ...

Haste decision taken to avoid SC's scrutiny: Cong on CEC's appointment

Soon after the Centre notified the appointment of Gyanesh Kumar as the chief election commissioner on Monday, the Congress said the hastily-taken decision shows that the government is keen on circumventing the Supreme Court's scrutiny and getting the appointment done before a clear order kicks in. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said in a hasty midnight move, the government has notified the appointment of the new CEC. "This goes against the spirit of our Constitution, and what has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in many cases -- for the electoral process to have sanctity, the CEC must be an impartial stakeholder," Venugopal said in a post on X. The amended law dealing with the appointment of election commissioners has removed the chief justice of India (CJI) from the CEC selection panel and the government ought to have waited until the apex court's hearing in the matter on Wednesday (February 19) before selecting the officer, he said. "Their decision to hastily hold t

EAM should clarify if India raised deportation issue with US: TMC MP

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar must clarify if the issue of deportation of Indians, who had migrated illegally to the US, was raised with President Donald Trump during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit, Trinamool Congress (TMC0 MP Saket Gokhale said on Monday. In a post on X, Gokhale said the continuing deportations show that either Prime Minister Modi did not express concern over the "inhuman treatment" given to the deportees when he met the US President or that he was "rebuffed by Trump". "Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar must clarify. Since Friday, two more US Military flights have landed in India carrying deported Indians. On both flights, Indians were put in handcuffs and leg shackles. Some reports claim that Sikhs were not even allowed to wear their turbans," Gokhale said. "This happened after PM Modi returned to India from his meeting with US President Trump," the TMC Rajya Sabha said. "It is clear that PM Modi did note raise our concerns over inhuman ...

Stop insisting on trilingual policy to allocate funds: Ex-TN CM to Centre

Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam on Monday urged the Centre to rescind its decision to allocate funds only when the three language policy was implemented in the state. From the time a resolution was passed in the state legislative Assembly, piloted by former Chief Minister C N Annadurai on January 23, 1968, Tamil Nadu has been following two language policy of Tamil and English. AIADMK leaders and former Chief Ministers: M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa too endorsed this policy and strictly adhered to it, Panneerselvam said. Since then, there has been no change in the status and Annadurai's decision of removing Hindi from the education curriculum of schools in Tamil Nadu was still valid, the former Chief Minister said in a statement here. "Against this background, the insistence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan that only if a trilingual policy was followed as per the new National Education Policy (NEP), funds can be allocated to Tamil Nadu was ...

A test for Indian diplomacy: Chidambaram on 2nd round of deportees from US

Earlier, Chidambaram had alleged that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) 'crumbled badly' in handling the deportation of Indian nationals from the United States.

Govt's move to prosecute Satyendar Jain a conspiracy: Sanjay Singh

AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the government's request for the president's approval to prosecute party leader Satyendar Jain was a "political conspiracy" aimed at "crippling" the Aam Aadmi Party. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the BJP-led central government was using investigative agencies to target the AAP, according to a party statement. The Union Home Ministry has requested the president for a grant of sanction to prosecute former Delhi minister Jain in a money-laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sources said on Friday. Reacting to the development, AAP leader Singh said, "This proves that Satyendar Jain's arrest was illegal, malicious, and orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. After keeping him in jail for 23 months without justification, they are now seeking prosecution sanction only after our lawyers objected in court." "Nothing was recovered from Jain's home. He was granted bail, yet he was jailed for nearly two .

Sonia Gandhi demands Centre to conduct population census at earliest

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Monday asked the government to complete a population census at the earliest, claiming that around 14 crore people in the country are being deprived of the benefits under the food security law. In her maiden Zero Hour intervention in the Rajya Sabha, Gandhi said beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are being identified as per the 2011 Census, and not the latest population numbers. The senior Congress leader called the NFSA introduced by the UPA government in September 2013 a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security for the country's 140 crore population. The legislation, Gandhi said, played a crucial role in protecting millions of vulnerable households from starvation, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis. She also said that the quota for the beneficiaries is still determined based on the 2011 Census, which is now well over a decade old. The National Food Security Act, 2013, provides for cover

Centre doing everything to weaken Constitution, democracy: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday claimed that the country was going through a period where the government at the Centre was doing everything "to weaken the Constitution and democracy in India". Priyanka, the Wayanad MP, was speaking at a booth level leaders meeting at Mananthavady assembly constituency here where she said that till date victims of the landslides that hit the high range district are facing housing troubles and have not received adequate compensation. The Congress leader said that the central government "atleast" declared the Wayanad landslides as "a disaster of severe nature due to our efforts in the Lok Sabha" and expressed hope that as a result more funds will be received for the rehabilitation of the victims. She also referred to the various instances of loss of lives due to wild animal attacks in the district and said that the human-animal conflict was also leading to loss of livelihoods. Priayanka said the last time she was here in .

DMK flays Centre, UP govt for 'hiding' Mahakumbh stampede casualties

The BJP government at the Centre is "protecting" the Uttar Pradesh government by hiding Mahakumbh stampede deaths and showing a flawed death toll, Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK alleged on Wednesday. Appropriate arrangements must have been made for the devotees taking part in that event if the BJP had 'real bhakthi.' However, it was not done. "The BJP and its associates show their bhakthi only outside the temple and only in politics. That is why the kumbh fest was conducted in a negligent manner," DMK mouthpiece 'Murasoli' alleged in an editorial on February 5 adding the BJP government was responsibile for the tragic deaths. Pointing to participation of crores of devotees in the festival, the "unmanageable crowd" and deaths rising gradually, the Dravidian party newspaper alleged "restriction was imposed on news outlets" to not report the increase in the number of deaths and accordingly, the news was withheld. "Only after 17 hours, the Yogi government confirmed the number of deaths as 30,"

Different standards applied to our neighbours in East and West: Jaishankar

While delivering the keynote address at the IIC-Bruegel Annual Seminar in Delhi, the Minister emphasised that the agenda can no longer be set by some only to be observed by the rest

Govt won't tolerate irregularities in agriculture sector: Shivraj

The government does not tolerate irregularities and will take action if anyone is found guilty of indulging in corruption, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday amid allegations of corruption in Maharastra's agriculture department. Chouhan was responding to an allegation levelled by NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule, who quoted a minister and an MLA of Maharashtra of talking about alleged corruption to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore in the state's agriculture department. "This is for the first time I am hearing. I don't know what is the real position. But if there is any irregularity anywhere, we will conduct an inquiry and action will be taken against the guilty," he said in the Lok Sabha. Replying to another question, the minister said that so far 23 states and union territories have implemented the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) while the rest are yet to accept it. "It is the largest crop insurance scheme in the world. Some states

Substantial increase in budget allocation to several states: Vaishnaw

There is a substantial increase in budgetary allocations to all the states for 2025-26 as compared to that of between 2009-14 for the development of rail infrastructure, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday. Presenting a state-wise break up of the budgetary allocation for railways and the pace of development of rail infrastructure, Vaishnaw said that while railways was moving at a snail's pace before 2014, it has made historic progress in the past ten years during the NDA rule. Holding separate interaction with media persons and senior officials of respective divisions and zones via video conferencing, Vaishnaw provided a detailed update of various significant aspects and progress status of projects. According to Vaishnaw, when a comparison is drawn with 2009-2014, the average budgetary allocation for the next financial year 2025-26 is 27 times higher for Delhi, 23 times for MP and 22 times for Chhattisgarh. While the annual average budget for Bihar was Rs 1,132 crore .

Modi govt keeps prioritising island communities: Lakshadweep Yuva Morcha

Yuva Morcha strongly believes that this is the beginning of a brighter future for Lakshadweep, and we stand united in supporting the government's push for reforms that promise lasting benefits for us

Not only for Bihar but for India: Union Minister Manjhi defends Budget

'We are thankful that the Makhana Board has been formed, this is a very good budget as it provides benefits to all the sections of the society,' Manjhi added

Here's why after slashing taxes, India must now cut stifling red tape

Sitharaman has heeded the counsel of her advisers and announced a high-level committee for a review of all non-financial sector regulations, certifications, licenses, and permissions

Zakia Jafri, widow of Cong MP killed in Gujarat riots, dies in Ahmedabad

Her husband, Ehsan Jafri, was among 69 people killed during the violence at the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002

Modi turns to India's middle class to revive growth in rough global year

The government said people earning up to Rs 12.8 lakh ($14,800) per year will not have to pay any taxes, raising its threshold from Rs 700,000

Budget for Viksit Bharat shows PM's resolve to fulfill dreams: Scindia

Additionally, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia added that it is a composite budget that will take India forward

Amit Shah lauds Budget, says middle class always in PM Modi's heart

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the 2025-26 Union Budget 2025 is a blueprint of the Modi government's vision for building a developed country and that the middle class is always in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heart. Shah said the Budget covers every section from farmers to the middle class and every sector from nutrition and health, startups to innovation and investment. It is the roadmap for Modi's self-reliant India, he said. "Zero Income Tax till Rs 12 Lakh Income. The proposed tax exemption will go a long way in enhancing the financial well-being of the middle class. Congratulations to all the beneficiaries on this occasion," the Union minister wrote on X with the hashtag 'ViksitBharatBudget2025'. Congratulating Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the "comprehensive and visionary budget", Shah said, "Budget 2025 is the blueprint of the Modi government's vision towards building a developed and best India in every field." In a relief to the middle .