THE HEADLINES:-
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, India has embarked on path of self reliance for its energy needs, reducing dependence on foreign fuels.
- GST rates on 99 per cent of goods brought down from 12 to 5 per cent since introduction of Next-Gen reforms, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
- Qatar to host emergency Arab-Islamic Summit to discuss situation following Israeli attack on Doha targetting Hamas.
- IMD forecasts heavy to very heavy rainfall in North eastern states and Maharashtra in next three days.
- In World Boxing Championships, Minakshi Hooda clinches second gold for India after Jaismine Lamboriya; Prime Minister congratulates the two pugilists.
- And in Asia Cup Cricket, Pakistan loses early wickets against India in a Group A match underway in Dubai.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India is on the mission of becoming Atmanirbhar in energy sector and is reducing dependence on foreign fuels. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Assam Bioethanol Plant and laid the foundation stone for polypropylene plant at Numaligarh Refinery Limited at Golaghat in Assam today.
Prime Minister Modi said, India will harness its deepwater energy resources and strengthen energy self reliance and this bio-ethanol plant is one step towards that goal. He said, India is amongst the top five nation in solar energy.
During his two-day long Assam visit, the Prime Minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones of several development projects worth 18,000 crore rupees. On the second day today he laid foundation stones of Darrang Medical College, Nursing College, and GNM School in Darrang district.
The Prime Minister also virtually launched the construction of a new bridge over the Brahmaputra River, connecting Guwahati’s Narengi and Darrang’s Kuruwa and the Guwahati Ring Road project from the same venue.
The Prime Minister has since arrived in Kolkata, where tomorrow, he will inaugurate the 16th Combined Commanders’ Conference at the Eastern Command headquarters of the Indian Army.
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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, GST has been reduced from 12 to 5 percent for a majority of 99 percent of goods since the introduction of next generation reforms. Speaking at a joint conclave of Trade and Industries Association at Chennai today, Ms Sitharaman said, 28 per cent GST has been reduced to 18 percent. The Finance Minister said, eight years ago, when the tax was introduced a total of 65 lakh companies had paid GST. Today it has increased to one and a half crore. She said that the tax system had led to one nation and one tax. The Finance Minister said, Prime Minister Modi had encouraged her ministry to come up with a special package on GST and the next gen GST was introduced after much consultation with different stake holders.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision on the next generation of GST reforms was materialised in the begining of this month, when the GST Council reduced tax rates in many sectors to ease the lives of citizens. Every day we bring to you information on different sectors which have benefitted from the next gen GST reforms. Today we look at the reforms for the health sector.
“Under the Next Generation GST reforms, the government has eased the burden on the common man by announcing major tax cuts in the healthcare sector. Spectacles and Lenses, which were earlier taxed at 12 per cent, are now slashed to 5 per cent. This step is set to reduce expenses for the population dependent on lenses and spectacles. Lower GST makes vision correction affordable for many people, especially students, the elderly, and low-income households. Talking to Akashvani resident of Lucknow, Pankaj Jaria says these reforms will ease the burden of people across the country as a large number of people require to wear spectacles for proper vision.
The landmark GST reforms are expected to strengthen the nation’s healthcare system by making medical services more affordable for the people. With Rohan and Samarth Singh ‘s report, Prashant Kumar Sinha, Akashvani News, Delhi.”
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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said, India will become a nation of thirty trillion dollar economy by 2047. Mr Goyal said this during an interactive session at the annual conclave of a private media organization in New Delhi today. Stressing on inflation being under control under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the Minister said, cost controlling was the Government’s priority when it came to power in 2014. Mr Goyal said that the RBI was mandated to continuously monitor India’s fiscal and monetary policy. The Minister also highlighted government’s effort to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2025 to expedite revenue procurement for the Services, enable the domestic industry through simplified processes, promote innovation, and support enterprise. The Defence Ministry said, the revised document will cater to the emerging requirements of the Armed Forces in the era of modern warfare. It will foster jointness among the three Services and help in maintaining the highest level of military preparedness through expeditious decision making.
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Leaders of Arab-Islamic countries are meeting in Doha tomorrow to rally support for Qatar in the wake of last week’s Israeli attack targeting the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gulf state. The emergency summit, bringing together members of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, began with a meeting of foreign ministers today to discuss a draft resolution for tomorrow’s summit. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansar said Monday’s summit meeting would consider a resolution on the Israeli attack on Qatar. The attack, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, has prompted U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states to close ranks, adding to strains in ties between the UAE and Israel. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani will be attending the summit. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also be in Doha, but his presence at the meeting is yet to be confirmed.
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An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit Assam and parts of northeast India today. According to the Assam State Disaster Management authority, the tremor was recorded at 4:41 pm with its epicenter in Udalguri district at a shallow depth of 5 km. In Guwahati, many residents rushed out of their homes in panic. No immediate loss of lives or damage to property has been reported till the time of filing this report.
The tremors were also felt in neighbouring countries of Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
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The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rain for the next three days over North eastern states and Maharashtra. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is also likely at isolated pockets of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Uttarakhand tomorrow. In Chhattisgarh, East Uttar Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, North Interior Karnataka, Telangana and Vidarbha, heavy rainfall is predicted for tomorrow. Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon has withdrawn from some parts of Rajasthan today and conditions are favourable for some parts of Punjab and Gujarat during the next two to three days.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated India’s largest and most modern sports complex at Naranpura, Ahmedabad today. Addressing a gathering, Mr. Shah reaffirmed the Modi government’s commitment to making India a top sporting nation by 2047. He stated that the new complex is the country’s largest and the world’s most advanced, expressing confidence that Ahmedabad will soon become Asia’s sports capital and a prime venue for the Commonwealth Games.
Union Minister Mansukh Mandviya and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also attended the event.
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In the world boxing championship, Meenakshi Hooda defeated Nazym Kyzaibay to claim the gold medal in the women’s 48 KG category. In Liverpool in England, Meenakshi won India’s second gold after Jaismine Lamboria, who won gold in 57 kg category yesterday. With their victories, Jaismine and Minakshi joined an illustrious list of Indian world champions featuring six-time winner Mary Kom, two-time champion Nikhat Zareen, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL, Lekha KC, Nitu Ghanghas, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora. In the championship held at Liverpool in England, India ended with four medals, the best-ever in an overseas edition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Jaismine Lamboriya and Minakshi Hooda for clinching gold medals at the World Boxing Championships. The Prime Minister said, their performances will inspire countless athletes in the times to come and their success and determination are truly motivating for Indian athletes.
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In the Asia Cup cricket in Dubai, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah struck early for India to leave Pakistan stunned in their group match. It was a perfect start for India as Hardik dismissed Saim Ayub for a duck in the very first over. Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Mohammad Haris in the second over. Pakistan were 65 for 6 in 13 overs when reports last came in. Earlier Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and opted to bat.
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Sarvesh Kushare has become the first Indian high jumper to reach the finals at the World Athletics Championships. In Tokyo today, he cleared the mark of 2.25m to finish in the top 12 of the men’s high jump qualification round. This is his maiden entry in the final. Meanwhile, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the US and Oblique Seville of Jamaica claimed gold in record-breaking fashion in two unforgettable 100m finals. Melissa stormed to victory in the women’s race, clocking 10.61 seconds, the fastest time ever recorded at a world championship and the fourth-fastest in history.
In Men’s 100m final, Seville delivered a stunning performance winning gold in a personal best 9.77 seconds. Its Jamaica’s first world title in the event since Usain Bolt’s triumph at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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In the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup championship, India finished as runners-up after a 1-4 defeat to China, in the final at Hangzhou. With this win, China gets a direct qualification for the 2026 FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup, to be held in Belgium and the Netherlands. India, however, will have to go through the qualifiers.
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In badminton, Indian ace Lakshya Sen went down to Chinese shuttler Li Shi Feng in the final of the men’s singles event in the Hong Kong Open today as China completed a clean sweep of all the events in the tournament. Earlier in the day, the Indian badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to the Chinese pair Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the men’s doubles event.
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In our bilingual live phone-in programme “Public Speak” tomorrow at 09.30 PM, we will bring an insightful discussion on Risks and Remedies of Mosquito-Borne Diseases with Dr. Tanu Jain, Director, National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control & Dr Suprakash Mandal, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida.
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, India has embarked on path of self reliance for its energy needs, reducing dependence on foreign fuels.
- GST rates on 99 per cent of goods brought down from 12 to 5 per cent since introduction of Next-Gen reforms, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
- Qatar to host emergency Arab-Islamic Summit to discuss situation following Israeli attack on Doha targetting Hamas.
- IMD forecasts heavy to very heavy rainfall in North eastern states and Maharashtra in next three days.
- In World Boxing Championships, Minakshi Hooda clinches second gold for India after Jaismine Lamboriya; Prime Minister congratulates the two pugilists.
- And in Asia Cup Cricket, Pakistan loses early wickets against India in a Group A match underway in Dubai.
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