Government of India

The Senate convened today in an extraordinary plenary session to be informed about the Government's Emergency Ordinance approving Treasury loans for the local authorities. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Alliance for the Unity of Romanians parliamentary groups did not vote, the meeting secretary said. The Senate is the first Chamber to be notified about the regulatory act.

The promotion of bilateral relations between Greece and India and the prospects of establishing strategic cooperation in areas of mutual interest were discussed in a meeting on Saturday between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and visiting Indian Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

PSD MP Alexandru Rafila said on Friday that the emergency ordinance transferring a number of hospital beds from the public to the private system will have the effect of reducing funding for public hospitals, but also the establishment of a co-payment that many cannot afford.

India reported a new record of new Covid-19 cases with daily numbers surging for a twelfth day in a row to 300,000. Official data put total number of cases since the beginning of pandemic to over 20m. Death-toll also spiked to at least 3,417 new victims, Reuters reported.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a resounding defeat in a key state election on May 2, indicating his Hindu nationalist party's political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases.

Thousands of women joined protests by farmers on the outskirts of Delhi on Monday to mark International Women's Day, demanding the scrapping of new laws that open up agriculture produce markets to private buyers.

The Government approved the emergency ordinance on reducing structural expenditures, which provides, among other things, for maintaining the value of the pension point at 1,442 lei in 2021 and eliminating the 30 percent COVID bonus granted to Prefecture staff, Prime Minister Florin Citu announced, on Thursday.

India's government unveiled a new budget aimed at reviving its pandemic-battered economy, with a focus on vaccinations and doubling on health care spending.

India's economy shrank by the astonishing 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of last year and is projected to record its worst-ever annual recession - a contraction of 7.7 per cent - in the current financial year ending March 31.

 Prime Minister Florin Citu on Wednesday said that the salaries and bonuses of the central and local public administration staff, including of those holding public offices, will remain at the level of December 2020 next year. "Related to the ordinance initiated by the Ministry of Public Finance, this ordinance ensures a budget saving of almost 17.6 billion lei for 2021.

Twenty Indian soldiers were killed during "hand-to-hand' fighting with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region, India's military said, the first deadly clash between the nuclear powers in decades.

Both sides blamed the other for June 15's violence, which followed weeks of rising tensions over their competing territorial claims, with thousands of extra troops deployed.