Page 13 - Government Of India

Best of BS Opinion: Third world country, CM Thackeray in trouble, and more

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for the weekend

States must share the blame

Many state govts were taken to the cleaners by high courts for doing next to nothing to prepare for the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic

Unanswered questions

Govt should remove uncertainty about next phase of vaccination

Shaken by the storm

After the admission, govt must change course on policy

The politics of vaccines

Direct criticism for scarce or expensive vaccines at the government, not the private sector

Ajay Seth takes over as new economic affairs secy, replaces Tarun Bajaj

Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, on Friday assumed charge as Secretary Economic Affairs at a time when the economy is being threatened by the second wave of Covid-19

Govt to slap recovery notice on Vedanta's Cairn after Delhi HC judgment

The oil ministry will seeks tens of millions of dollars from Vedanta's Cairn Oil & Gas after the Delhi High Court held that the firm was liable to pay higher profit share to the government in lieu of its Rajasthan oil and gas block license being extended beyond initial term, a top official said. In the interim, the firm's Barmer basin block licence, whose initial 25-year term ended on May 15, 2020, has been given an eighth interim extension, the official, who wished not to be identified, said. "Now that the Delhi High Court has upheld the government policy, we will issue recovery notices seeking higher profit petroleum since May 15, 2020," he said. "The exact amount is being calculated but it will be in tens of millions of dollars." When contacted, a company spokesperson said, "We are in the process of reviewing the court's order, will assess any next course of action" after that. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendrea Modi had in March 2017 approved a policy for ...

ByteDance says India's freeze on bank accounts is harassment: Court filing

Beijing has repeatedly criticised India over that ban and those of other Chinese apps

Centre tightens rules of grant allocation for transparency, efficiency

The Department of Expenditure order vouches for more effective cash management and bring more efficiency in public expenditure management

Govt infuses Rs 5,500-crore equity capital into Punjab and Sind Bank

The government has infused Rs 5,500 crore equity capital into Punjab & Sind Bank in lieu of allotment of over 335 crore preference shares to it. The lender on Thursday allotted 3,35,16,14,868 equity shares of the bank at an issue price of Rs 16.41 per equity share to the government aggregating to Rs 5,500 crore. The shareholders approved the allotment of shares to the government with requisite majority of 99.018 per cent, cast in favour of the resolution, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Friday. With the allotment, Government of India holding has increased from 83.06 per cent to 97.07 per cent, it said. Punjab & Sind Bank stock was trading at Rs 16.10 on BSE, down 1.83 per cent from the previous closes.

Nervous government explores ways to 'manage' media

The efforts betray the nervousness of a government unable to sell its 'positive' governance narrative at home and abroad

Protesting farmer unions ready for talks only if farm laws are repealed

Protesting farmer unions asked govt to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them

Explained: How govt-Twitter fracas put IT laws, content policies in focus

Business Standard explains who can request the takedown of posts on Twitter, how they can do so, and what process the microblogging site follows before deciding to accede to the request or not

Budget 2021: FM Sitharaman proposes doubling of healthcare spending

India, which has the world's second highest coronavirus caseload after the United States, and currently spends about 1 per cent of gross domestic product on health

Budget 2021: Nirmala Sitharaman replaces Swadeshi 'bahi khata' with tablet

With the Union Budget 2021 set to be delivered in paperless form for the first time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the Swadeshi 'bahi khata' and switched to a tablet

Budget will be in accordance with people's expectations, says Anurag Thakur

The Union Cabinet will hold a meeting at 10:15 am before the presentation

Republic Day 2021: India puts its military might, cultural heritage on show

The contingents only marched a distance of 3.5 km instead of the usual 8.5 km, and for the first time in 55 years, no foreign dignitary attended the January 26 parade

'Arnabgate' undermines the Modi govt's national security narrative

Goswami's source can be prosecuted under Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act for communicating and disclosing secret information, and Goswami for receiving such information and purveying it further

We need a new Farm Act that looks at the issues afresh: Punjab FM Badal

Badal said that it remains unclear who is leading the talks from the Centre's side, and the move comes after much dilly-dallying

NDA govt committed to welfare of differently abled: Thawarchand Gehlot

The NDA governmentis committed to empower people with disabilities and bring them in mainstream of the society by providing aids and assistive devices, Thawarchand Gehlot said