Government

The government on Thursday said there was no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene or aviation turbine fuel in India after the Opposition criticised it over the handling of the fallout of the West Asia crisis by citing instances of scarcity and panic buying across the country. Responding to concerns raised by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri said it was the foremost priority of the government that the kitchens of over 33 crore families, especially the poor and the underprivileged, did not face any shortage of gas. Domestic supply was fully protected and the delivery cycle unchanged, he said. "There is no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel or fuel oil. The availability of petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, kerosene, and fuel oil is fully assured," Puri said. He said retail outlets across the country were well stocked, supply chains were functioning normally, and additional allocation of PDS (pub

IndiGo has the lowest pilots-to-aircraft ratio at 7.6 compared to other domestic airlines, the Civil Aviation Ministry informed Parliament on Thursday. SpiceJet has the highest at 9.4 pilots per aircraft followed by Akasa Air having 9.33 pilots per aircraft, according to data presented by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha. Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have 9.1 pilots per aircraft and 8.8 pilots per aircraft, respectively, the data showed. In response to another question, the minister said that Air India Express had employed the highest number of expat pilots at 48, while IndiGo hired 29 foreign pilots. The minister said that IndiGo has a total of 5,200 pilots, including 970 female pilots in the company, while Air India has 3,123 pilots with 508 female pilots. The number of total pilots with Air India Express is 1,820, and 234 of them are females, the minister said. Akasa Air has 761 pilots, including

Government's 4% IRFC stake sale drew muted interest from institutional investors, with only 85% subscription at the base level and bids clustering near the ₹104 floor price

The Union government will soon launch a nationwide HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination programme targeting girls aged 14 and above, official sources said. The Gardasil injection will be administered free of cost, they said. The quadrivalent HPV vaccine protects against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer, as well as types 6 and 11, they said. "Strong global and Indian scientific evidence confirms that a single dose provides robust and durable protection when administered to girls in the recommended age group," an official source said. "Vaccination under the national programme will be voluntary and free of cost, ensuring equitable access across socio-economic groups," the source added.

EPFO is also expanding data integration with state governments to widen compliance checks. Its payroll data is regularly shared with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan

Panel seeks report in three months amid push on labour codes, eshram and social security coverage

Allocation for women and girls under various schemes has increased by 11.55 per cent to Rs 5.01 lakh crore in 2026-27, up from Rs 4.49 lakh crore in the previous financial year as per the Gender Budget Statement (GBS) released by the government. Gender budget statement includes allocations for schemes exclusively for women and girls, as well as proportion of spending in broader schemes that benefit them, bringing together total allocations across ministries aimed at promoting gender equality. The share of allocation of gender budget in the Union Budget has also risen to 9.37 per cent 2026-27 from 8.86 per cent, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said in a statement on Wednesday. The allocations were announced as part of the Union Budget 2026-27, which was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. A total of 53 ministries/departments and five Union territories have reported allocations in the gender budget this year -- compared to 49 ...

The government's stake sale in BHEL was over-subscribed two times on the first day on Wednesday, with institutional investors placing bids worth over Rs 5,650 crore. Institutional investors put in bids for over 22.07 crore shares at an indicative price of Rs 256.07 a share, as against over 9.40 crore shares on offer. The base issue size was over-subscribed 2 times, with bids worth Rs 5,650 crore coming in. The government is disinvesting 3 per cent equity in BHEL with an additional 2 per cent as a green-shoe option at a floor price of Rs 254 in the two-day offer for sale. Retail investors will be able to place a price bid on Thursday. The base issue size comprises over 10.44 crore shares, or 3 per cent stake, in BHEL, plus a greenshoe option to sell over 6.96 crore shares or 2 per cent. The sale of total 17.41 crore shares, or 5 per cent stake, would fetch the government Rs 4,422 crore. The government holds 63.17 per cent in BHEL. Shares of BHEL touched a low of Rs 258.60 in ...

In this episode of Budget Basics, we break down one of the most important, but least understood, budget terms: Primary Deficit. What does it really say about a government’s finances?

In Budget 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman faces an uphill task as interest payments now take up nearly one-fourth of the Union Budget and more than one-third of government revenue.

It is encouraging that the government's dependence on disinvestment receipts in managing its finances has reduced, but the instrument should not be discarded

In Episode 4 of Budget Basics, we decode FRBM, the law that tells the government how much it can spend, borrow, and save. Why it exists, how it shapes the Budget, and why it matters to you.

The B100 and B200 are the latest technology GPUs offered by Nvidia and are built on the cutting edge Blackwell architecture offered by the company

The government will ask departments to demonstrate AI use cases and IndiaAI Mission LLM progress at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi, scheduled for February 16-20, sources said

CBIC has floated an EoI to shortlist up to eight bidders for building a Customs Integrated System that unifies ICEGATE, RMS and ICES to cut cargo clearance time

Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi says firms are innovating on dark patterns, prompting daily complaints; he cites NCH refunds and CCPA actions in 2025

The Lok Sabha has passed an insurance reform bill, raising foreign direct investment in the sector to 100%. The government says this will bring capital, competition, and better coverage.

The CCI guidelines said that it would calculate the penalty amount up to 30 per cent of the average relevant turnover based on the nature and gravity of the contravention

An average 50 days of employment per household was provided to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the last five years, Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The flagship rural employment scheme guarantees up to 100 days of wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In a written reply in the Upper House, Paswan said in 2024-25, average days of employment provided per household under MGNREGS was 50.24. The figures for previous years were similar. In 2023-24, the average number of workdays per household was 52.07, in 2022-23 it was 47.84, in 2021-22 it was 50.07, and in 2020-21 it was 51.54. Altogether, the average number of days of employment per household during the last five years comes to 50.35. In his reply, Paswan also said the responsibility for implementation of the MGNREGS at ground level lies with th

DPIIT released these guidelines as part of a working paper late Monday night, giving stakeholders 30 days to submit their views