After Doklam, Modi confirms attendance at BRICS summit, to visit Myanmar

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China to attend the upcoming conference of the BRICS forum on September 3-5, the Prime Minister’s Office said today. On the way back, he will also conduct a three-day visit to Myanmar, it added. “At the invitation of the President of People’s Republic of China, Prime Minister Shri […]

Modi’s reforms drag, power plants to face low loads, study

India’s energy sector is facing low capacity utilisation in power generation as plant load factor is estimated to remain low at around 62 per cent until 2018-19, noted a recent ASSOCHAM-Crisil joint study. The study also expressed concern over the slow pace of reform implementation in certain areas. The study noted that India had made […]

DOKLAM STAND-OFF: India, China agree to ‘disengage’

The External Affairs ministry of Government of India has said that India and China have agreed to an ‘expeditious disengagement’ of border personnel at the Doklam plateau in Bhutan. In a statement, the external affairs ministry said: “In recent weeks, India and China have maintained diplomatic communication in respect of the incident at Doklam. During […]

More OBCs to get reservation: Creamy layer limit relaxed to 8 lakh

More families belonging to the Other Backward Classes or OBCs will now be eligible to get benefits of reservation in government jobs and educational institutions after the government raised the income limit for such benefits. Under the new rules, candidates from households with annual income of up to Rs 8 lakhs — or Rs 66,666 […]

Govt seeks sports memorabilia from citizens for first ever Sports Museum

India will establish its first National Sports Museum at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, and has appealed to citizens to contribute any memorabilia held by them for permanent display in the National Sports Museum. The contributors will be recognized and acknowledged, the ministry of youth affairs and sports said in a statement. “The aim […]

Glenmark Pharma gets USFDA approval for generic version of Mylan’s anti-inflammation ointment

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said it has got the US FDA approval to sell the generic version of corticosteroid ointment Kenalog from Mylan Pharmaceuticals. The primary ingredient is triamcinolone, a corticosteroid that reduces the actions of chemicals in the body that cause inflammation. Kenalog Ointment has annual sales of approximately $26.3 million in the US. Glenmark said […]

Aurobindo Pharma HIV drug gets USFDA approval under PEPFAR

Aurobindo Pharma said it received tentative approval for its for anti-HIV drug Dolutegravir, Lamivudine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate under the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR. The approved product is used for the treatment of HIV-1 infection along as a complete regimen in adults and pediatric patients weighing 40 kg and greater. […]

FULL TEXT: Vishal Sikka’s resignation letter to Infosys board

Vishal Sikka, the SAP-veteran who took over as the CEO of Infosys four years ago, has put in his papers after continuing differences of opinion with some of the key shareholders. He will, however, continue as the vice chairman of the company. He also wrote a long letter to the employees of explaining his reasons […]

Now you can also fly to Pondicherry, thanks to SpiceJet

SpiceJet has become the first airline to conduct flight services to Pondicherry, the former French colony that is a prominent tourist attraction in South India. The flights will be from Hyderabad. With this new flight, Puducherry will be connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Vijaywada and Varanasi with convenient onward connections […]

10.6% of Indians have mental disorders; country faces severe shortage

About 10.6% of adults in India suffer from some sort of mental disorder, including substance abuse problems, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences or NIMHANS found. The study was conducted in 12 states of India by the Bangalore-based institution. Those with mental disorders were classified as those with ‘common mental […]

SBI, IOB and Corp Bank only PSBs to charge for mobile NEFT

Only three public sector banks — State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Corporation Bank — levy charges on even the smallest money transfer done via mobile phones using the National Electronic Fund Transfer or NEFT facility, data compiled from public sector banks show. None of the remaining 18 public sector banks have a […]

India achieves only 14% of rooftop solar power target

Even as India more or less sticks to the target on adding large solar farms under its ambitious Solar Mission project, the other leg of the plan — rooftop solar — remains woefully behind target. Under the solar mission, India is supposed to have put in 5,000 megawatt of solar plants on the roofs of […]

Nawaz Sharif Proves Unlucky For The Third Time

Nawaz Sharif is third time unlucky to have to abandon his term as the democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. With the Supreme Court disqualifying him over the corruption cases for ten years, sixty-seven-year-old Sharif’s premiership comes to end one year before his term expires. It also potentially means the termination of an eventful political […]

Nitish, Lalu and the ‘Post Truth’ Politics of Bihar

In the so-called ‘post truth’ politics, facts and ideology do not have a place – it is emotion and rhetoric that counts. When Nitish Kumar decided to part ways with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in late 2013 opposing the elevation of Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of its alliance partner BJP, the reason […]

Reliance Defence Engg launches patrol ships for Indian Navy

Reliance Defence and Engineering, controlled by Reliance Infrastructure, said it ‘launched’ the first two of its five patrol vessels being built for the Indian Navy at its shipyard in Pipavav, Gujarat. The ships are being constructed under the “P-21” project. The Company is also engaged in construction of one Training ship and fourteen Fast Petrol […]