Dubai: India on Monday started verification and issuance of Emergency Certificates allowing its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia following concerns over a new labour policy in the Gulf Kingdom.
The schedule currently announced is for the delivery of the first batch of 12,000 Emergency Certificate applications received at Indian Embassy in Riyadh and nearly 3,000 in Saudi's Eastern Province.
The schedule for verification and delivery of subsequent batches for all Indian nationals who have applied at other collection centres in Saudi Arabia will be announced soon, the Indian embassy in Riyadh said in a statement.
There has been a rush for the emergency travel documents with about 60,000 applicants looking for one, amid concerns about possible job losses after the new 'Nitaqat' labour law comes into effect....
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03:07 PM, May 20, 2013
Kolkata: With the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal coming up with a draft textile policy to attract investment to revive the sector, leading industry lobbies have expressed hope that the policy roadmap would help the industry to grow significantly. States like Maharashtra and Gujarat unveiled their new textile policies in 2012 to woo investors. "A policy was necessary. It will surely help Bengal's textile sector grow rapidly. The roadmap...
04:54 AM, May 20, 2013
From July, more than 300 essential medicines will cost 20 to 25 per cent less, as the new national pricing policy comes into effect. How will this affect us and why are some calling it an eyewash? ...
08:46 PM, May 17, 2013
Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken charge of drawing up ambitious reform plans to revitalise the economy, sources close to the government said, shunning policy stimulus for fear it could worsen local government debt and inflate property prices. A consensus had been reached among top leaders that reforms would be the only way to put the world's second-largest economy on a more sustainable footing, said the sources, who are...
06:30 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The government on Thursday deferred a proposal on giving domestic workers the right over minimum wages, paid leave and regulated working hours under a national policy. The national policy for domestic workers, which would benefit over 6.4 million domestic workers, was slated to be taken up by the Union Cabinet for consideration. The proposal, recommended by National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi in April 2009, aimed...
03:15 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi accused the UPA government of bonding with the enemies and attacked the Centre's foreign policy, while addressing the Indian diaspora in the US via video conferencing on Monday. "Our army personnel get decapitated and we send chicken biryani to the prime minister of the country responsible for it. I can't understand why the Indian government is asking its own troops to withdraw from...
10:51 AM, May 13, 2013
Hyderabad: The Central Government would soon come up with a new policy of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) to alleviate poverty in urban areas, Union Minister Ajay Maken said in Hyderabad on Friday. Maken, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, is on a two-day visit to the Andhra Pradesh capital to study and review the urban poverty alleviation programmes in urban areas implemented by the state government. He...
12:55 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: An association of chemist and drug retailers will go on a day-long strike and shut down medical shops on Friday against the "unjustified" policies of the government. The strike is a token one-day strike to protest the reduction in profit margin by 6 per cent according to the new drug policy. The chemists argue that they cannot bear the loss in the current economy. "We have decided to...
06:06 AM, May 10, 2013
Mumbai: Maharashtra government on Tuesday set up an 11-member committee headed by Women and Child Welfare Minister Varsha Gaikwad to finalise the women's policy draft which was unveiled on March 8, 2013, celebrated as International Women's Day. The two-month period for seeking objections and suggestions for the draft policy ends tomorrow. The committee will meet on May 10, 2013 to discuss the inputs received and give a final shape to...
03:50 AM, May 08, 2013
Mumbai: Sticking to its cautious stance, the Reserve Bank on Friday cut the key interest rate by just 0.25 per cent to 7.25 per cent and kept the liquidity enhancing cash reserve requirement unchanged, disappointing the industry and stock market. The RBI in its annual monetary policy statement said there would be modest improvement in the country's economic growth to 5.7 per cent in the current fiscal, as against the...
12:38 PM, May 03, 2013
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to cut its policy interest rate by a quarter point on Friday for the third time this year as it looks to bolster an economy growing at a decade low and takes comfort from easing inflation. While investors are hoping to hear a less-hawkish tone from RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, the RBI in its report on macroeconomic and monetary developments on...
08:37 AM, May 03, 2013
Mumbai: Inflation is likely to be range-bound and stay around the current levels in this financial year as supply-side issues, along with recent price adjustments in fuel prices, will offset the recent gains, the Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday. "Headline inflation in 2013-14 is expected to remain range-bound around the current levels," RBI said in its annual Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments report. "While sluggish global growth may dampen...
08:31 AM, May 03, 2013
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday warned of "very limited" space for further easing of monetary policy this fiscal year, striking a hawkish tone a day before it was expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points for the third time in 2013. The central bank's cautious language in its report on macroeconomic and monetary developments could dent rising market hopes for RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao...
08:25 AM, May 03, 2013
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut rates by 0.25 per cent in its monetary policy review on May 3, driven by falling inflation levels and recent declines in the prices of oil, gold, and the trade deficit, according to a Barclays report. "We expect the central bank to cut rates 50 bp (0.50 per cent) by mid- 2013," Barclays said, adding that RBI is likely...
11:45 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi launched a fresh attack on the Centre on Saturday by dubbing it "weak" and alleging that the government has suffered a "total blackout" in its foreign policy and failed on all fronts, including on the issue of death row convict Sarabjit Singh, who was attacked in a Lahore jail on Friday and is currently on ventilator support in a hospital. "We cannot look at...
03:17 PM, Apr 27, 2013
Patna: There is a need to make buildings earthquake-proof and these constructions should comply to green norms, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Friday. "Large parts of Bihar comes in earthquake zone four-five hence there is a need to make building earthquake-proof and follow green norms," the CM said addressing Indian Building Congress function in Patna. The CM said the devastating earthquake in Bhuj in Gujarat was an eye-opener...
01:54 AM, Apr 27, 2013
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday fixed the benchmark price for purchase of solar power at Rs 6.49 per unit. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Power fixed the benchmark price at its meeting on Tuesday. The state government has invited bids from interested parties for generating solar power in view of the unprecedented electricity crisis. "We hope to finalise the bids within a month now that the price has been fixed,"...
02:23 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Jammu: After asking his partymen to switch to election gear, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also working president of his National Conference (NC), reiterated on Wednesday his government's commitment to filling vacancies on a fast-track basis. Addressing a public meeting in the border town of Mendhar in mountainous Poonch district, 220 km north-west of Jammu, Abdullah said: "More than 70,000 vacancies in government departments will be...
07:05 AM, Apr 18, 2013
New Delhi: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has asked a committee, which is examining the conditions for allocation of spectrum to different entities, to submit its report soon. The Minister approved a note for expansion of the committee on April 1, 2013 and asked the panel to submit its report in one month from the date of its reconstitution, official sources said. "The issue (spectrum assignment) impacts other ministries such as...
02:15 AM, Apr 13, 2013
How has Andhra Pradesh responded to the bandh call over power tariff hike? Political analyst & independent member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council K Nageshwar joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. People put the politicians to power and have got to pay a high price for it? Is it maladministration or sheer rational pricing which makes the government compelled to hike the power tariff. Asked by:...
05:38 PM, Apr 09, 2013
