Budget 2018-19

  TS Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, said when West Pakistan unleashed genocide on East Pakistan, India hosted millions of refugees and saved them from the massacre. Underlining India’s commitment to the humanitarian protection of refugees, TS Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, on Tuesday said when West  Pakistan  unleashed genocide on East Pakistan, India hosted millions of refugees and saved them from the massacre. Speaking at the UNSC briefing by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Tirumurti said, “In contemporary history, India’s hospitality, and assistance for refugee communities from the neighbouring countries is well recorded and appreciated. Be it the Tibetans or our brothers and sisters from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,  Afghanistan  and Myanmar, India has always responded with compassion and understanding. When West Pakistan unleashed genocide on East Pakistan, India hosted milli...

India may be in a position where it would want to retaliate, a top Trump administration official said on Thursday, even as the US continues to be on the cusp of triggering a global trade war by unveiling high import tariffs on a number of items.The US Trade Representative (USTR), Robert Lighthizer, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing that India's system is not open and has a lot of  "vulnerabilities". "My guess is that India may be in a position where they want to retaliate. I think there's some vulnerability there. India has a substantial trade surplus with the US and they have a system which is not particularly open," Lighthizer said. "They have a system that has a number of vulnerabilities. So to the extent, there are individuals who have this problem, all I can say is we'll try to work with them. It's a serious problem and one that we have considered," the USTR said. He was responding to a question from Sen...

Attention, Delhiites! If you use an Ola or Uber cab for your daily travel to office or elsewhere in Delhi-NCR, you might have to look at alternative modes of transport today. Drivers of the two leading app-based cab aggregators are planning a complete shutdown in the city on Friday to press for their demands, according to a media report. The announcement of an indefinite nationwide strike in the key cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune had been made by the Ola and Uber drivers on March 19. However, a significant impact had so far been seen only in Mumbai; the other metros faced minimal impact. Here are the top 10 developments so far in the Ola-Uber strike and stir: Uber, Ola plan a complete shutdown in Delhi-NCR today: Drivers, with the support of the Sarvodaya Drivers Association, are likely to protest against their low earnings. They are currently paid Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 a month, according to media reports. 2.Fifth day of strike: The strike, w...

Union leaders said that drivers in other cities like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune among others would also be participating in the strike The transport wing of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has called for an indefinite strike of drivers of cab aggregators Uber and Ola starting Monday midnight. Scores of commuters could be inconvenienced due to the indefinite strike starting from Monday. The strike has been called by the Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtuk Sena which has claimed that several drivers are not being able to cover costs due to falling business. Union leaders said that drivers in other cities like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune among others would also be participating in the strike. "Ola and Uber had given big assurances to the drivers, but today they are unable to cover their costs. They have invested Rs 500,000 - 700,000 and were expecting to make Rs 150,000 a month. But drivers are unable to make even half of this because of t...

I-T wing identifies over 18,000 revised returns, claiming false refunds in Mumbai, Bengaluru With less than a month left for revising income-tax (I-T) returns for 2016-17, the I-T department has unearthed a giant fraud in multiple cities, where government employees allegedly claimed huge tax refunds forging documents, inflating expenses and not revealing complete information. In Mumbai alone, around 17,000 revised returns have been filed claiming refunds. Similarly, in Bengaluru, the I-T department has found over 1,000 returns filed with inflated claims on account of payments towards home loans. Since the I-T department is still investigating the matter, the loss to the department could not be ascertained, but it could go up to over Rs 10 billion, sources said. They added most of these refunds were being claimed by employees working for the government or in public sector undertakings (PSUs). “These assessees’ original returns were already processed by the cent...

Akash, 27, is Mukesh Ambani's elder son and twin of sister Isha, and older brother of Anant, 22 Wedding bells may soon be ringing in the country's premier business family. According to reliable sources, Mukesh Ambani's eldest son Akash may soon be betrothed to Shloka, the youngest daughter of Russell Mehta, Managing Director, Rosy Blue India, one of the country's leading diamond companies. Though both families are keeping the news under wraps for the present, sources in the know indicate a formal engagement ceremony soon, with the probability of a wedding come December. Akash, 27, is Mukesh Ambani's elder son and twin of sister Isha, and older brother of Anant, 22. Shloka is the daughter of Russell Mehta, head of Rosy Blue Diamonds, formerly known as B. Arunkumar & Co., which is now ranked among the top half dozen diamond companies of India. The family lives in south Mumbai. Russel is the son of Arunkumar Ramniklal M., one of th...

Known for her versatility as an actor, she had an illustrious career spanning over four decades Sridevi passed away Saturday night, reportedly due to heart attack, at the age 54. Her sudden demise has left many people in shock. From Bollywood celebrities to sports stars and politicians, fans of Sridevi took to Twitter to express condolences for the legendary actor. The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died in Dubai, where she had gone to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding. Confirming the news, a source close to the family said, "Yes it's true. She was in Dubai while some of the other family members came back to India. We hear it's cardiac arrest." While some of her family members returned from Dubai after the wedding, Sridevi, Boney and her younger daughter Khushi stayed back. Her elder daughter -- Janhvi -- had not travelled with the family because of the shooting schedule for her upcoming Bollywood film, her first in the industry...

State fire services personnel estimate at least 10 others to be still caught under the debris Bangaluru building collapsed : Three construction workers were killed and at least 10 others were feared trapped under the debris after a four-storeyed under-construction building collapsed here on Thursday, officials said. "Three men were killed and 11 others injured after the building in Kasavanahalli (suburb)crashed down at around 4 p.m. ," Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy told media here. "The number of those still trapped under the debris is unclear. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel will continue to carry out rescue operations," he said. State fire services personnel estimate at least 10 others to be still caught under the debris. Out of the 11 injured, four suffered minor injuries, while seven were hospitalised. "The building seems to have been constructed using poor quality material due to which we suspect the...

Of India's 280 cities/towns where air quality is monitored, none met the World Health Organization's (WHO) safe levels of PM 10-20 μg/m³-the report said People living in eight of every 10 Indian cities breathe toxic dust particles, PM 10, at levels exceeding national safety limits, according to a recent report. National capital Delhi has the worst air in the country, said the report, Airpocalypse, released by Greenpeace India, an advocacy. At a time when India is already slipping to meet the renewable targets the budget 2018 overall allocations to the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has declined by 3.26 billion or 6% from last year’s Rs 54.73 billion. Of India’s 280 cities/towns where air quality is monitored, none met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe levels of PM 10–20 μg/m³–the report said. The Indian annual safe level for PM 10–airborne particles seven times finer than a human hair that can sicken or kill people by entering the...