Dehradun, Jun 9: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today inaugurated a newly built cowshed at his official residence here, describing cow as a symbol of Indian culture.
Accompanied by his wife Sunita, Rawat worshipped a cow and its calf kept in the cowshed to mark its opening.
The couple caressed them and offered them a mix of jaggery and gram.
"The cow is a symbol of our culture. Keeping a cow at home gives us great happiness and spiritual peace," he said.
Mumbai, May 14: The Shiv Sena on Thursday raised questions over the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced to revive the COVID-hit economy, and asked if India is not a "self-reliant" country at present.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' wondered how Rs 20 lakh crore will be raised, and opined that an environment needs to be created where industrialists, trade and business sectors are encouraged to invest.
On the path of new self-reliance, India cannot afford industrialists running away, and for that "political institutions like the ED and CBI need to be put in lockdown for some time," it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced new financial incentives on top of the previously announced packages for a combined stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore, saying the COVID-19 crisis has provided India an opportunity to become self-reliant and emerge as the best in the world.
The Sena said the country is being told that the package will be beneficial for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), poor labourers, farmers and the tax-paying middle class.
"The package (as per the Centre) will reach 130 crore Indians and the country will become self-reliant. Does this mean India is not a self-reliant country at present?" the Marathi daily asked.
It is good that PPE kits and N95 masks are now being manufactured in India, it said.
"Any country progresses ahead while learning from crisis and through struggle. Before Independence, not even a needle was manufactured in India but in 60 years, India became self-reliant in science, technology, agro business, defence, manufacturing and atomic science," it said.
An institution like the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which is helping in the manufacturing of PPE kits, is part of the self-reliant India, it noted.
Wondering how Rs 20 lakh crore, as announced in the central package, will be raised, the Sena said an "environment needs to be created where industrialists, trade and business sectors will be encouraged to invest".
"India, on path of new self-reliance, cannot afford industrialists running away, and for that political institutions like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) need to be put in lockdown for some time," the paper said.
Despite announcing the 'lockdown-4' and the economic package, why its impact has not been reflected in the share market? it asked.
"Investors are in a dilemma. The prime minister and chief ministers must show them trust and support," it said.
"Earlier it was Pandit Nehru and now it is Modi. If (former prime minister) Rajiv Gandhi had not laid the foundation of a digital India, there wouldn't be video conference of PM, CMs and bureaucracy in times of coronavirus," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
It agreed with Modi that coronavirus will stay for long, and lives need not revolve around it.
"We need to get back on our feet again," the Sena said.
New Delhi, Jan 16: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that he supported a negotiated peace deal between the US and Taliban in Afghanistan.
Gen. Rawat was speaking along with other world leaders at Raisina dialogue organised by India's influential think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Arguing that terrorism was going to stay in the world as long as states were going to use it against other states, he said it was important to prevent states from using terrorism as a "proxy war".
"The only way to deal with it was what the US did post 9/11," he said, adding that the war against terror was necessary.
However, now a peace deal with Taliban is required, Gen. Rawat said.
"It must be a negotiated peace deal so that the Taliban stops using terrorism," he added. Hinting that the US should maintain its presence in Afghanistan, the CDS said that though Afghan security forces are now equipped to fight back terror groups in Afghanistan but they still need support.
The newly appointed CDS officially confirmed that India has shifted its stance on Taliban. India has traditionally been opposed to the Pakistan-backed Taliban in Afghanistan. Thousands of Afghans were given refuge in India when they fled the country due to oppression and terrorism of the Taliban regime. India is in alignment with the democratically elected government in Kabul that the Taliban remains supported by Pakistan.
Jan 7: India’s monetary authority allowed banks to offer foreign-currency transactions outside of local market hours, a move aimed at boosting trading volumes at home.
Interbank deals, as well as those with customers in and outside India, can be undertaken by banks or their overseas branches and units at all times, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement late Monday. It stopped short of saying whether the timing of the onshore over-the-counter market has been extended from the current 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The move is in line with recent recommendations to reverse the trend of the partially convertible rupee being traded more abroad than in India. London has overtaken Mumbai to become the top center for trading the rupee, adding to a sense of urgency among local authorities to deepen the onshore market.
Average daily volumes for rupee in the U.K. soared to $46.8 billion in April, a more than fivefold jump from $8.8 billion in 2016, according to a survey from the Bank for International Settlements published in September. That exceeded the $34.5 billion recorded in India.
Analysts say more trading abroad could amplify volatility in the domestic market and reduce the effectiveness of policy actions.
India’s decision comes as the London Stock Exchange Group Plc has started asking market participants if they want the bourse to function fewer hours, signaling it’s open to an argument driven by changing trading patterns and calls for a better work-life balance.
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