NEWS

BJP has worked out a seat-sharing deal with its Punjab allies, keeping the lion’s share of the seats for itself. It will contest from 65 constituencies, while its allies — former CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and S S Dhindsa’s faction of Akali Dal, SAD (Sanyukt), will contest from 37 and 17 respectively, BJP chief J P Nadda said on Monday.

It is the first time in over two decades BJP is playing the role of senior partner in an alliance in Punjab. It had earlier played second fiddle to the Akalis, leading to considerable heartburn among its cadres who used to argue subservience to Badals fettered the growth of the saffron outfit in the state.

Days after facing heat for its move to rank State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs) based on the speed at which they clear proposals and provide environmental clearance for projects, the Environment Ministry on Monday said the move has aimed at “encouraging the efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of SEIAAs’’ without diluting any regulatory safeguards. It also said no SEIAA will be penalised for taking more time in granting permission.

The SEIAAs are responsible for providing permissions and environmental clearance for more than 90 per cent infrastructure, developmental and industrial projects in the country, once they assess that these projects have little environmental impact.

Maharashtra on Monday (January 24) recorded 28,286 coronavirus cases, 12,519 less than the previous day, and 36 fresh deaths, including 17 in the Mumbai region, linked to the infection, the state health department said.

On Sunday, the state had recorded 40,805 new cases and 44 fatalities.

With the latest additions, the overall tally of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra surged to 75,35,511 and the death toll jumped to 1,42,151, a department bulletin said.

Of the 36 fatalities, the Mumbai region reported 17 deaths followed by eight in Pune, five in Kolhapur, four in Latur, and two in Nashik region. Nagpur region, Akola region and Aurangabad region did not report any fresh death due to COVID-19.

The Indian Railways may get a 15-20 per cent higher allocation for the next fiscal, over last year's outlay of Rs 2.15 lakh crore, according to sources. The higher allocation would go into spending on new trains, ramped up infrastructure and passenger facilities.

The last Budget had allocated Rs 2.15 lakh crore to the Railways. Of this, Rs 1.07 lakh crore came from gross budgetary support (GBS), Rs 1 lakh crore from extra-budgetary resources and another Rs 7,500 crore came from internal resources. The GBS is the amount allocated by the government in the general Budget for the Indian Railways. It is expected to rise by Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 crore in the coming year.