Press Trust of India Refuting allegations that Odisha would lose revenue following the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday that it would get about Rs.8,000 crore more funds per annum compared to the 13th commission allocations.
Though the share of Odisha in tax devolution has decreased, the quantum of fund allocation has been increased and the state would receive more funds, Pradhan said.
After a gap of over ten years, seasoned cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya seems set to make a comeback as full-time president of the Indian cricket board (BCCI) uncontested, being the sole nominee for the top post which will be formally filled at the board’s AGM here on Monday.
The former International Cricket Council (ICC) president, whose previous tenure as full-time Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief ended in 2004, emerged as a consensus candidate of the two rival factions — as the deadline for filing nomination ended on Sunday afternoon.
The railways can contribute up to two percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Sunday adding that he has asked the railway board to identify key issues and focus areas towards this end.
Speaking at an event here organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Prabhu, who presented the railway budget for 2015-16 on Thursday, said public sector banks and the ministry will work together on expanding the rail network.
The ministry is also expected to sign agreements with financial institutions to fund project and issue tax free bonds soon.
A relieved Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq credited his pacers for their 20-run victory over Zimbabwe in a World Cup Pool B ncounter at the Gabba here Sunday. With this win, the 1992 edition champions registered their first win in the tournament.
Pakistan chose to bat and put on 235 runs on the scoreboard. But it was the bowlers who came out with bounce and swing to bundle out Zimbabwe for 215. Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz — later adjudged the man-of-the-match for his knock of 54 — were the pick of the bowlers claiming figures of 4/30 and 4/45, respectively.
As many as 16 fresh cases of swine flu were detected in West Bengal in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases to 131, an official said Sunday. There were no fresh deaths.
The toll due to swine flu in Bengal rose to eight Saturday with the death of a two and-a-half-year-old at a city hospital.
“No deaths were reported since Saturday evening. 16 fresh cases have been detected. The total number of cases has reached 131,” said Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Malay Kumar De.
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met the Bhutanese leadership, including King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, on Sunday on the first stop of his SAARC yatra here as both sides discussed bilateral ties as well as connectivity projects of a sub-regional grouping.
Jaishankar also met Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and the officiating foreign secretary of Bhutan during the talks.
Earlier, Jaishankar was received at the airport by Indian envoy Gautam Bambawle and Bhutanese officials.
Welcoming the budget announcement of Rs.14,000 crore investment in the road sector, completing 100,000 km of roads and sanctioning construction of another 100,000 km, a leading tyre manufacturer also called for correction of the duty structure for the industry.
In a statement issued here, Raghupati Singhania, chairman and managing director, JK Tyre and Industries Ltd said an outlay of Rs.14,000 crore in road sector and completing one lakh km of roads currently under construction and sanctioning another one lakh Kms will help boost the demand in tyre sector.
Is the CPI-M boycotting veteran leader and former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan?
Ever since Achuthanandan staged a ‘boycott’ of his party’s state conference, none of his colleagues in the Communist Party of India-Marxist seem to be keen to get in touch with him.
This was clearly evident when the 91-year-old spent half a day at the Kottayam government guest house on Saturday but not a single party leader came to greet him.
Achuthanandan was in Kottayam to inaugurate a seminar of the CPI.
Asking India and Pakistan to revisit the fundamentals of their Kashmir policies, a Pakistani newspaper said Sunday that militancy had caused huge damage to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Dawn said in an editorial that Pakistan had to recognise that its core policy – right to self-determination for Kashmiris – had been distorted for too long and in too many ways.
This happened because of the “armed jihad that was unleashed in the region with – no matter what the officially stated position is – the active collaboration and sponsorship of the Pakistani state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced a one-day fast — and asked people across the state to join him — in protest against the land acquisition amendment bill.
Nitish Kumar asked people to put pressure on the Narendra Modi government to withdraw the relevant bill. He, however, did not announce the date of the fast.
“I appeal to the people to join a one-day fast to protest against the land acquisition amendment bill,” the Janata Dal-United leader said while addressing thousands of party workers at the Gandhi Maidan here.
A Dhaka court on Sunday issued a warrant to search the office of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia after police said there could be explosives and fugitives harboured there.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate S.M. Masud Zaman issued the search warrant. Police asked for the warrant after the bombing in Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan’s procession in Gulshan on February 16, bdnews24.com reported.
The issuance of the warrant was kept under wraps. Dhaka police’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Anisur Rahman confirmed the matter.
Karthik Tharani Singh achieved a fine double by winning both the races in the MRF Formula 1600 class in the second round of the MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship which concluded here on Sunday.
Karthik was fastest in all the practice sessions before qualifying on pole position with a lap of 1:41.886 and became the only driver to dip into the 41s all weekend.
South African city Durban is set to be the host city of the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) as the lone contender for the quadrennial, 71-member multisport event.
The 600-page bid book will be handed to Commonwealth Games Federation officials during a brief mid-day ceremony on Monday at the official residence of the London Lord Mayor, reports Xinhua.
South Africa has proposed a 12-day Games starting from July 18, birthday of late president Nelson Mandela.
Canadian city Edmonton also wanted to play host to the 2022 Games, but withdrew due to financial constraints.
The increase in prices of petrol and diesel is unacceptable, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said Sunday, as it called for protests against the hike.
It said in a statement that the prices were hiked by over Rs.3 a litre, “hours after the union budget imposing greater burdens on the people was presented” in parliament Saturday.
“This is the second hike in the prices of petrol and diesel this month. The government, instead of reducing the excise duty, is passing the burdens on to the people.
“This increase in prices of petrol and diesel is unacceptable.”
(IANS)
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu Sunday appealed to all political parties to help pass the bill amending the Land Acquisition Act 2013 in the larger national interest.
He told reporters that the government was ready to consider and discuss any meaningful and constructive suggestions and if necessary, incorporate them.
He said he held talks with leaders of various parties to seek their suggestions. “I hope that all political parties will think in the interest of the country, development and welfare of farmers,” he said.
Afghanistan’s new government should commit to including women on the negotiating team for any future peace talks with the Taliban, Human Rights Watch said Sunday.
On February 24, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that peace talks would begin “within weeks” but declined to provide any additional details.
These would be the first negotiations since the government of President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah assumed office in September 2014.
A day after being sacked as the general secretary of the West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, Mukul Roy Sunday said he was “enjoying everything” while noting it was the party’s prerogative to decide about his expulsion.
Once the right hand man of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Roy was Saturday replaced by Subrata Bakshi, as the national general secretary.
“I am enjoying it. I am enjoying everything. Every man has a different style of taking things…I am enjoying,” said Roy here to media queries about his reaction to his sacking.
Rain accompanied by cold winds on Sunday brought back the winter chill to the national capital and its adjoining areas which had turned unusually warm in recent days. The Met department has forecast similar weather for at least two more days.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the sudden change in weather was caused by western disturbances — a weather system originating in the Mediterranean-Caspian Sea region and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, which brings rain or snow in the sub-Himalayan regions.
PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed called for peace Sunday after taking oath as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, heading a coalition that brought the BJP to power for the first time in India’s only Muslim-majority state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leaders Amit Shah and L.K. Advani were among the 1,400 guests who witnessed the ceremony, over two months after the PDP and the BJP won 28 and 25 seats respectively in a hung verdict that exposed deep divisions between the Muslim and Hindu areas.
Manish Gupta, whose latest directorial “Rahasya” was appreciated by the audience, says he is yet to sign any actor for his next film titled “Sinhasan”.
“My next film, ‘Sinhasan’ is based on emperor Aurangzeb’s conflict with his father Shah Jahan for the throne. I have adapted the story in a modern-day context and I have set it against the backdrop of politics in the corporate world.
“A film like ‘Sinhasan’ has never been made in India before,” Gupta, who has proved his worth as a writer with 2005 film “Sarkar”, told IANS.
Two more people died of swine flu in Telangana, taking the toll to 56 during last two months.
The health department Friday reported two deaths and 27 positive cases during last 24 hours.
According to a bulletin by the department, 102 samples were tested Thursday and out of them 27 were found positive.
Despite the increase in day temperature, the state is witnessing large number of cases every day.
A fierce gunfight began Friday evening between two militants, holed-up in a house, and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.
A joint team of army’s counter-insurgency force, the Rashtriya Rifles, and state police’s special operations group (SOG) surrounded a house in Rathsuna village near Tral town of Pulwama, 45 km from here, on specific information about presence of two militants inside it, a senior police officer said.
A team of police officers from 21 countries Friday visited the office of Telangana’s police chief.
Director General of Police Anurag Sharma and other senior police officers briefed them about the functioning of state crime record bureau, fingerprint bureau and also explained them about the functioning of anti-Maoist force Grey Hounds.
The police chief also explained the IT initiatives of Telangana state police such as e-cops, Global Positioning System, crime mapping, Hawk-eye for women safety, said an official statement.
The US and Liberian governments Friday launched a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an experimental Ebola drug on humans, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) said.
“Although ZMapp has been used to treat several Ebola-infected patients in recent months, we cannot determine if the drug actually benefited those patients because it was not administered within the context of a clinical trial,” Xinhua quoted Anthony Fauci, director of the NIAID, as saying.
A most-wanted leader of an infamous drug cartel was arrested here Friday, a media report said.
Kingpin of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, Servando “La Tuta” Gomez Martinez, was arrested in Morelia, the capital of the southwestern Mexican state of Michoacan, where the gang is based.
The Mexican government had offered a 30-million-peso ($2 million) reward for information leading to the arrest of Martinez, who had become Mexico’s most-wanted drug kingpin.
The arrest came after federal forces killed or captured family members or associates of the infamous drug lord.