India

New Delhi, Dec 9: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressing "deep pain" over her allegations against the army for its recent exercise at toll gates in the state and said they can "adversely" impact the morale of the armed forces. In a strongly worded letter, Parrikar said that while political parties and politicians may have the luxury

New Delhi, Dec 9: A month after Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were demonetised, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a slew of measures to promote the use of digital payments. The Finance Ministry announced a total of eleven measures, which it described in detail in a statement released today. Petrol, diesel purchases At a press conference held here, Arun Jaitley announced a 0.75

New Delhi, Dec 8: In a stinging attack on the opposition over Parliamentary paralysis, President Pranab Mukherjee today said the House is not a place for dharna and disruption which amounts to "gagging of majority" by the minority. He told Parliamentarians that they are meant to discuss and transact business and not to disrupt. "Disruption is totally unacceptable in Parliamentary system. People

New Delhi, Dec 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today likened demonetisation to a Hindu 'yagna' or sacrifice. In a series of tweets, the PM again defended his decision to scrap high value currency, but this time focussed on its benefit for rural India and wage labourers, the people who have been the most affected by the cash crunch . The PM also made a mention of "a degree of inconvenience" due to

Mumbai, Dec 8: Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel's second media meet on Wednesday created a controversy with a section of the Mumbai media corps complaining they were either not invited or deliberately kept out of the briefing. Some even took to the social media networks to vent their grouse over being ignored for the much-anticipated event here on Wednesday afternoon. Among those media

Mysuru, Dec 8: The University of Mysore will confer honor-ary doctorates on Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama and descendant of the Wadiyar kings, the founders of the university, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar at its 97th convocation to be held on December 13. Vice-chancellor K?S?Rangappa said The Dalai Lama, who could not make it to the 96th convocation, will also deliver the convocation address at

New Delhi, Dec 7: Asserting that the people have supported demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government has brought 'Janshakti' (people's power) into prominence with the decision and flayed the opposition, saying it got "exposed" in Rajya Sabha by not agreeing to a debate despite his presence there twice. Hitting out at opposition parties, he told BJP MPs at a

Mumbai, Dec 7: Taking markets by surprise, RBI Governor Urjit Patel today kept short term lending rate unchanged even as the central bank lowered GDP growth rate to 7.1 per cent and short term disruption in economic activities due to demonetisation. Patel-led 6-member Monetary Policy Committee, which had in its first policy review cut interest rate by 0.25 per cent in October, belied expectations

New Delhi, Dec 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday flayed the opposition for its “undemocratic” act of not allowing a debate on the demonetisation issue even as he asserted that the “major reform” exercise had the support of the people. In his remarks made at the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, he said Parliament in the past decades has debated a number of government decisions, which had

New Delhi, Dec 7: Stepping up action to check financial crimes post demonetisation, the ED today launched an 'enquiry of records' operation at over 50 bank branches across the country to detect money laundering and hawala dealing instances through these channels. Officials said multiple teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) swooped early morning at over 50 branches of at least ten banks, both