News Moving beyond its earlier emphasis on Jammu & Kashmir being a “disputed” area, China has agreed to host India’s Northern Army Commander this year, a visit that went on hold five years ago after Beijing insisted on issuing stapled visa to the officer because J&K came under his command. ...
Read More »Investment via P-Notes surges to $43 billion
News Investments into Indian markets through participatory notes (P-Notes) has surged to the highest level in over seven years at Rs 2.72 lakh crore (over USD 43 billion) at the end of March 2015. P-Notes, mostly used by overseas HNIs (High Networth Individuals), hedge funds and other foreign institutions, allow ...
Read More »Government to auction marginal fields owned by ONGC, Oil India
News The government will soon auction 69 small and marginal oil fields of state-owned ONGC and Oil India to private firms as a precursor to a full fledged licensing round. The Oil Ministry has floated a note for Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for auctioning of the fields that ...
Read More »IRFC may raise Rs 6,300 crore via rupee-denominate bonds abroad
News Indian Railways Finance Corp may become the first domestic entity to sell offshore rupee-denominated bonds after RBI allowed this in its April 7 monetary policy. The finance wing of the Indian Railways could raise as much as Rs 6,300 crore through such an offer as it seeks to generate ...
Read More »Railway launches mobile app for paperless unreserved tickets
News Moving ahead in line with digital India, railways today launched mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu introduced from here the mobile app for paperless unreserved ticketing for commuters in Egmore and Tambram suburban sections in Chennai under Southern Railway zone. It was a budget proposal ...
Read More »Pro road safety projects eligible for income tax exemption
News The Finance Ministry has said that projects which promote road safety and aim at curbing accidents are eligible for deduction under the Income Tax Act. The project will, however, need to be notified as an eligible project, for which an application has to be made to Secretary, National Committee ...
Read More »Darjeeling, Siliguri to get a Rs 200-crore tourism makeover
News Tourism in the hills of Darjeeling and Siliguri is expected to get a leg up with the newly-formed Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) planning to spend more than Rs 200 crore to build tourism-related infrastructure in the area. The GTA administers the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision, Kalimpong subdivision, Kurseong subdivision and ...
Read More »Work Life Balance for Bureaucrats
News One of the early actions of Modi government was to crack the whip on the bureaucracy. Coming late to work was frowned upon, long lunches were out and afternoons on the golf course were well, disapproved. In their place came timeliness, late hours and in many cases, even working ...
Read More »Infiltration bids: Along International Border
News The latest intelligence estimates on infiltration bids on the LoC suggest that in the first quarter of this year, only one attempt was made by militant groups to breach the border. In contrast, troops along the disputed border had their hands full last year when militants attempted to infiltrate ...
Read More »‘Swachhata Doots’ in every village: Maharashtra
News Maharashtra government has decided to appoint ‘swacchata doots’ or cleanliness ambassadors in every village to help achieve the target of building 56 lakh toilets across the state over the next five years. Half of them will be women and each cleanliness ambassador will be given an annual renumeration of ...
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