Use technology to connect others with thoughts of Hinduism, says PM Modi

Various aspects of Hindu philosophy can help find the solution to several problems that plague the world today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday and called for using technology to connect more people with the thoughts of Hinduism. In his message to the second World Hindu Congress here, Modi said that digitising various treatises and ancient epics can deepen their connect with the younger generation. "This would be a great service for the coming generations," he said. "Living in the era of technology, I particularly call upon the esteemed delegates of this conference to think about ways in which technology can connect more and more people with the thoughts of Hinduism," Modi said.

Cabinet approves 2% hike in DA for central govt employees and pensioners

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved additional 2 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR), a move that will benefit about 11 million central government employees and pensioners, an official release said.

The impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and DR would be Rs 61.12 bn per annum and Rs 40.74 bn in the financial year 2018-19 (8 months from July 2018 to February 2019).

The hike will be effected from July 1, 2018, the release said.

The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

"The Union Cabinet...has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners wef July 01, 2018 representing an increase of 2 per cent over the existing rate of 7 per cent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise," it said.

Facebook and Google chase a new trillion-dollar payments market in India

Surendrasingh Sucharia always has a few thousand rupees in his pocket, but can’t recall the last time he used cash. The 29-year-old product manager in Bangalore uses a string of smartphone apps including ones from Google and India’s Paytm to pay for everything from $40 bags of groceries to street food that costs pennies.

A bewildering array of digital payment businesses from global names like Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp to Google are in a slugfest to win Indian users. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is acquiring a stake in the company behind payments leader Paytm.

Meanwhile, a string of other big-name players are also expanding in the country’s digital payments market including its banks, its postal service, and its richest man, Mukesh Ambani.

India saw a brief spurt in digital payments two years ago when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government banned most of the nation’s existing bank notes, although the spike petered out as new bills were printed. But over the past year, a string of new apps have made payments increasingly easy, and the discounts and cash bonuses they offer are proving irresistible to young, urban users like Sucharia.

National Statistical Commission seeks comments on GDP back series report

The National Statistical Commission (NSC) has sought public comments on a panel report which showed that the economy grew at fastest pace under the Congress rule, amid a political row over the growth numbers.

The report of the panel, constituted by the NSC, was made public last week.

The government has maintained that the GDP Back Series Report 2011 was an unofficial document that has not been accepted by it. The Centre had also said the report was only at discussion stage and its acceptance will be based on wider consultations.

Ayushman Bharat scheme credit positive for insurance companies: Moody's

The government's flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, is credit positive for insurance companies as it will aide in higher premium growth, a report said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his August 15 speech, has said that the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHBM) will be launched on September 25.

The scheme will cover over 100 million poor families and would provide a health insurance coverage of up to Rs 500,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

"The launch of universal health coverage is credit positive for the country's insurers because it will help grow health premiums and provide insurers with cross-selling and servicing opportunities," international rating agency Moody's said in its report on Thursday.

Arun Jaitley takes charge as FM after a three-month break due to surgery

A little more than three months after Arun Jaitley underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery, he took back charge of Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministry at 11 am on Thursday. Piyush Goyal, who was the caretaker Finance Minister in Jaitley’s absence, will continue as Railways and Coal Minister.

“The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs to Arun Jaitley,” an official statement said.

Jaitley underwent surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on May 14. He had been keeping unwell since early April due to kidney-related problems and chest infection. The initial assessment by the doctors post-surgery was that he would take at least eight weeks to recover.

The Finance Minister was discharged on June 4 and underwent post-operative recovery at his official residence under the most strict of conditions imposed by the doctors. He wasn’t meeting anyone but close family members and doctors.

I dream of every Indian family having a house by 2022: PM Modi in Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he dreams of every family having a home of its own by 2022, when the nation will celebrate 75 years of independence.

The homes built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are of high quality and nobody had to pay a single rupee bribe, he said addressing a gathering at Jujwa village in Gujarat's Valsad town after interacting with the beneficiaries of the scheme.

"Gujarat has taught me a lot. This lesson has taught me to fulfil dreams within a specific time. My dream is that when the country celebrates 75 years of independence in 2022, there should be no family which does not have a house of its own," Modi said.

Speaking about his interaction with beneficiaries of the housing scheme through video conferencing, he said, "Mothers and sisters could say with satisfaction that they got homes according to rules and they did not have to pay a single rupee bribe".

"Seeing the quality of homes built under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana, even you must have thought that the government homes can be like this. The government has given money, but along with it these homes have been built with the sweat of the family," he said.

Want to play 'constructive' role to improve India-Pakistan ties: China

China on Wednesday said it was willing to play a "constructive" role in improving ties between India and Pakistan and hailed the outreach by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his new Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan to improve bilateral relations.

However, Beijing did not specify what it meant by "constructive" role.

"We welcome the positive remarks made by the Indian and Pakistani leaders on improving the bilateral relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.

"As a common neighbour to Pakistan and India, China firmly supports the two sides to enhance dialogue and increase mutual trust and properly handle and solve their difference. And we hope that they can jointly stay committed to the regional peace and development. China is willing to play a constructive role in this aspect," Lu added.

Kerala flood toll at 79, Rahul urges PM to deploy more Army, Navy personnel

Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and requested him to increase the deployment of Army and Navy in flood-hit Kerala and give special financial assistance to the state.

Gandhi spoke to the prime minister over phone and announced it on Twitter. He noted that the tragedy is unparalleled in Kerala's history and the state is in "great pain".

Expressing concern over the flood situation in Kerala, he took to Twitter to make a fervent appeal to people for help by contributing to the chief minister's relief fund.

ALSO READ: Kerala floods: Rahul Gandhi asks people to contribute to CM's relief fund
He tagged the link of the chief minister's relief fund to his tweet asking people to contribute, and said "it is time to step up and help".

"Kerala is in great pain. I spoke to PM and requested him to massively increase deployment of the Army and Navy. I also said that it is critical that he gives the state special financial assistance as this is a tragedy without parallel in Kerala's history," he said on Twitter

Modi govt not populist even in election year: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has refuted charges that it is resorting to populist measures by going for supplementary demand for grants that will hit the exchequer by Rs 59.5 billion.

Replying to a debate, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Lok Sabha the supplementary showed “this (demand for grants) is the lowest ever in the past 15 years. It is just 0.2 per cent of the total Budget, compared to 14 per cent in 2008-09 (the election year in the UPA’s tenure).” The House later passed the first batch of supplementary demand for FY19.

He said it was rather the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government which has widened the Centre’s fiscal deficit by a huge margin, compared to the Budget Estimates (BE) in election years.

“The UPA handed down the fiscal deficit at 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to us. We brought it down to an estimated 3.3 per cent in the current financial year,” Goyal said.

Imran Khan's PTI mulls inviting Modi, other SAARC leaders for oath ceremony

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is considering inviting the leaders of the SAARC countries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his oath taking ceremony as the premier next month, a party official said today.

The PTI, led by 65-year-old Khan, has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections, but it is still short of numbers to form the government on its own. Khan yesterday said that he would take oath as prime minister on August 11.

"The core committee of Tehreek-i-Insaf is considering inviting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) heads including Mr Modi and a decision on this is expected shortly," a leader of Khan's party told PTI.

Good he doesn't take real questions: Rahul Gandhi calls Modi's Q&A scripted

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of giving pre-scripted interviews, claiming his response to real questions would have been an "embarrassment for all".

Gandhi was referring to an interview Modi gave at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore during his recent visit to the city-state.

After Modi answered a question in Hindi, the interpreter started reading from a piece of paper, prompting speculation that the script may be "pre-planned".

"The first Indian PM who takes 'spontaneous' questions that the translator has pre-scripted answers to!

"Good that he doesn't take real questions. Would have been a real embarrassment to us all if he did," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy facing challenges from friends and foes alike

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy seems to be facing challenges from friends and foes alike as on one hand, the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress tussle over portfolio allocation in the state Cabinet even as uncertainty continues over Kumaraswamy serving a full five-year term as CM. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharpened its attack on the newly-formed government over the issue of a farm loan waiver.

As the bigger partner in the coalition, the grand old party is eyeing key portfolios of finance, industries, and home, which together cover mining, power, irrigation, excise, among other things. However, JD(S) also wants to have a piece of cake and is looking to get hold of at least finance as Kumaraswamy would want to fulfil his promise of a farm loan waiver of Rs 530 billion.

Amid the current stalemate over portfolio allocation, doubts over the JD(S) and Congress partnership might gain ground considering Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara's remarks ahead of last week's floor test. Parameshwara had said that no decision had been taken yet on whether Kumaraswamy would be the chief minister for a full five-year term.

Modi is a campaign PM, BJP govt in 2019 a distant dream: Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a "campaign PM...who has failed to deliver on promises" and the BJP would "definitely" not remain in power after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Naidu said the Congress too won't be able to form the next government on its own and stressed that regional parties have "able and capable leaders" who will play important roles after the polls.

His remarks came a few days after he shared stage with the leaders of several regional parties at the swearing-in of H D Kumaraswamy as chief minister of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka after a bitterly-fought election that threw up a hung verdict.

Inaugurating Mahanadu, the TDP's annual conclave in Vijayawada, the Telugu Desam Party chief said his party has played important roles in forming governments in the past and had the power to change the narrative in the country, hinting that it could tie-up with like-minded parties to stop the BJP.

Modi wants to enforce supremacy; not an advocate of peace talks: Musharraf

Pakistan and India were on the path of peace and reconciliation under his regime, former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf has said while claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not an "advocate of peace talks".

The former president and chief of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in an interview with Voice of America claimed that when he was in power, India and Pakistan were on the "path of reconciliation", but that is not the case anymore, the Express Tribune reported.

"At the time, I spoke to both the prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, they were both from different political parties but we wanted to move forward from the disputes, he said.

The 74-year-old retired general, who is facing high treason charges, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan for medical treatment.

Musharraf claimed that a four-point initiation of peace was strategised by the former president and was put in implementation by the leadership of both countries.

The four points of contention included Siachen and Kashmir as well, he said.

PM to inaugurate Eastern Peripheral Expressway; 10 things you should know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal expressway or the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) today. The inauguration ceremony is scheduled to be held at the District Sports stadium, Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.

Before the inauguration of the EPE, prime minister will also inaugurate and take part in a roadshow on the first-leg of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway which will start from the NIzamuddin Bridge.

Here is all that you need to know about the Eastern Peripheral Expressway:

1. The 135-km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway has been built at a cost of Rs 110 billion and another Rs 60 billion have been spent on land acquisition. The expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between Kundli and Palwal in Haryana from over 4 hours to just 72 minutes. The 6-lane access control highway will have four major bridges, 46 minor bridges, eight railways over-bridge, seven interchanges, 70 underpass, 151 pedestrian underpass, and three flyovers. 

4 years of Modi: BJP to take achievements to 100,000 influencers, experts

The BJP will launch a fortnight-long programme to mark the fourth anniversary of the Modi government, with its president Amit Shah leading an exercise to reach out to 100,000 personalities from different walks of life to highlight its achievements.

The programme will start on May 27, in which all ministers -- both from the Centre and BJP-ruled states -- MPs, MLAs, mayors and all other office-bearers of the party will reach out to personalities or experts or influential people across the country, BJP general secretary Arun Singh said in a letter. 

It will also include a special contact drive in SC and ST localities and also with senior citizens, he said

"As part of the programme, each BJP leader will interact with at least 25 renowned people from various fields such as retired judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, retired bureaucrats, retired army personnel, sports stars, and writers, among others, and will inform them about the achievements of the Modi government in the past four years," Singh said. 

Singh further said all party leaders have also been instructed to organise various events such as a conference of beneficiaries of various welfare schemes, get-togethers of intellectuals, press conferences, and gram sabhas. 

This is the one big problem in Congress' plan to topple Modi in 2019

India’s main opposition Congress party is facing a financial crisis that could undermine its ability to wrest power from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wealthy Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.

For the past five months, Congress leadership has stopped sending the funds required to run its offices in various states, party officials with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media. To overcome the crisis, Congress has urged members to step up contributions and asked officials to cut expenses, they said.

Led by Rahul Gandhi, the party’s steady flow of money from industrialists has all but dried up, leaving a cash crunch so serious that it’s been forced to crowd-fund for a candidate.

“We don’t have money," said Divya Spandana, who leads the Congress Party’s social media department. Compared with the BJP, she said her party is not getting much funding via electoral bonds -- a new method for cash donation to political parties -- which may force Congress to opt for more online crowd sourcing to raise money.

Modi-Putin summit: Energy cooperation, terrorism, geopolitics discussed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday returned from his one-day informal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi.

The prime minister termed the talks as "extremely productive". He said that the complete range of India-Russia relations, along with other global subjects, were part of the discussions between the two leaders during the summit, PTI reported.

The two leaders held discussions on a range of issues from joint effort against terrorism to defence cooperation, International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and BRICS.

President Putin and Prime Minister Modi also talked about expanding cooperation in the energy sector and, in this regard, welcomed the arrival of the first consignment of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) under a long-term agreement between Russian gas giant Gazprom and India's state-run gas utility GAIL next month.

Modi also thanked Russia for playing a crucial role in helping India get a permanent membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an eight-nation bloc that aims at military and economic cooperation among member states. India and Pakistan were admitted last year to the organisation.

Pak alleges India violating Indus Waters Treaty; protests to World Bank

A Pakistani delegation raised the issue of India's alleged violation of the Indus Waters Treaty with the World Bank which discussed opportunities within the treaty to seek an amicable resolution, officials said on Tuesday.

Yesterday's meeting took place days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir, amid protests from Pakistan which claims that the project on a river flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies.

Pakistan's Foreign Office had, on Friday, voiced concern over the inauguration of the hydroelectric project, saying inauguration without resolution of dispute between the two countries will tantamount to violation of the Indus Waters 1960 that regulates the use of waters in the shared rivers.