A welfare scheme for 500 mn Indians: Is this Modi's big plan for 2019?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to extend a welfare program to India’s 500 million workers as he bids for re-election 2019, but he has limited time and resources to implement the ambitious plan.

PM Modi aims to initially provide three programs — old age pension, life insurance and maternity benefits, while leaving out unemployment, child support and other benefits — to most working citizens, government officials said, asking not to be identified as discussions are private.

While it could translate into significant political gains to offset the challenges he faces in the lead up to the national poll, it is likely to add pressure on India’s fiscal deficit, already one of the widest in Asia.

The government has drafted a bill to extend benefits to all workers, including those in informal employment, by merging and simplifying 15 federal labour laws into one. It plans to present the bill in July in the upcoming session of Parliament, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar told Bloomberg News, while remaining non-committal on a full-fledged roll-out before the national poll.

Modi-Xi Wuhan summit: Why Chinese media thinks it's a good idea; 10 points

The Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping summit in China's Wuhan city on April 27-28 will see the Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President discussing US President Donald Trump's "protectionist" trade policy and the "unprecedented" changes in the world order in the past 100 years, along with the contentious bilateral issues like China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and the India-China border dispute, which came to a head during last year's Doklam standoff. Meanwhile, ahead of the meeting, official Chinese media commented that the Modi-Xi summit could be as significant as the one between former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1988.

Ahead of the Modi-Xi summit, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday attended the meetings of the defence and foreign ministers of the SCO in China. Swaraj on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for sheltering terrorists and urged the SCO to act against countries that promote terrorism.

Fake news: After uproar in media, PM Modi asks notice to be withdrawn

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that the press release regarding the crackdown on the menace of fake news issued by the Union Information & Broasting ministry be withdrawn. He stated that the matter should only be addressed in Press Council of India, as reported in ANI.

The Information & Broadcasting Ministry, led by Smriti Irani on Monday laid down the amended guidelines in a press release stating that the accreditation of a journalist could be permanently cancelled if the scribe is found generating or propagating fake news. The press release also cited an increase in “instances of fake across various mediums, including print and electronic media,” the new guidelines propose that the government would permanently cancel the accreditation of journalists found guilty or creating or disseminating fake news.

The withdrawal decision by PM Modi comes at a time when Union Minister Smriti Irani was asking for suggestions on Twitter to fight the menace of ‘fake news’ to uphold ethical journalism. "Interested journalists and/or organisations may feel free to meet me at @MIB_India", Smriti Irani had tweeted.

Win at all costs? PM Modi's reforms meet realpolitik in Uttar Pradesh polls

Elections 2017 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to clean up politics. The man running the ruling party's campaign in a crucial state election, who is facing 11 criminal cases, says it will take a while.

"At a time of elections, one has to forget every other aspect and just focus on victory," said Keshav Prasad Maurya, as his three-vehicle convoy carrying police with automatic rifles sped through the countryside.

Polls open on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh, with a population of some 220 million, and on the ground Modi's loftier aims for a new India seem far away.

Maurya, the state's president for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), says the charges against him are false and politically motivated; unless he is convicted, they do not prevent him from holding office.

His bosses are not concerned.

An official at the prime minister's office referred questions about Maurya and his criminal cases to the BJP, where an aide to party president and Modi confidant Amit Shah said there was no problem.(Read More)