Some projects under the Smart Cities Mission would not be able to meet the June 30 deadline and the respective state governments would be responsible for completing them thereafter, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs. In its report on the …
National panel needed to save Ganga: Govt. The Government is working on a mechanism to monitor the discharge of domestic and industrial effluents into the Ganges and punish defaulters and will soon come to the Parliament to share the plan. This information was given to the Lok Sabha on Thursday …
Views of State governments will be accommodated, says Jairam Ramesh The Centre has decided to revise the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, incorporating suggestions made by State governments to protect the interests of tribals and the sanctity of gram sabhas. Reacting to the parliamentary committee report, Union Minister …
The coal ministry has said captive coal blocks could not be allocated to private companies at the market price of reserves. This is despite the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) recently blaming the government for extending “undue gains” worth a whopping Rs 10.6 lakh crore to companies by …
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday rejected the Parliamentary standing committee's suggestion to delete a clause in the Land Acquisition Bill allowing the government to acquire land for public-private-partnership (PPP) projects. He said the government would not compromise with the fundamental principles in the Bill, whose thrust is on …
Coal blocks given to private companies, estimated to be worth . 10.7 lakh crore in the national auditor’s draft report, were allocated impartially and in the interest of economic growth, the government said as it sought to limit the damage from a potentially adverse audit report. The draft report, leaked …
Wants pvt sector to fend for itself, measures to involve local bodies, generous compensation Parliament’s standing committee report on the government’s land acquisition Bill has sought a thorough tightening of the provisions to ensure involvement of local institutions and an “informed and transparent process”.Tabled in Parliament on Thursday, it comes …
New Delhi To ensure food security in the coming years, a parliamentary panel on Thursday recommended that the government refrain from acquiring agricultural land for industrial purpose. It also said the government should not acquire land for private businesses and stressed on a clearer definition of ‘public purpose’ in the …
NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre named several cement plants as eco offenders in Meghalaya, two leading companies – Amrit Cement Industries Ltd and Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd – have denied that have violated any environment laws in the State. A spokesman from the Amirt cement even submitted documents …
With the Union Cabinet not taking up the much-anticipated amendments in the Lokpal Bill on Thursday, the fate of the anti-corruption legislation is now in a limbo. UPA strategists had earlier decided to bring a couple of amendments in the legislation and place it for passage in the Rajya Sabha …
New Delhi The Parliament's standing committee on rural development has recommended a widening of the ambit of the Land Acquisition Bill, 2011, to include highways, nuclear plants, mines and special economic zones (SEZ). Since much of the land acquisition for public purpose under the proposed law expected in mining, power …
Govt will not be able to acquire land for PPP infrastructure projects and private businesses, if House panel recommendations are accepted in proposed bill Aparliamentary panel on Tuesday proposed tougher norms for acquiring land for industrial use, as it finalised the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. The Parliamentary …
Rejecting railway minister Mukul Roy's move to roll back hike in passenger fare, CAG said the way forward for the national transporter is to rationalize both passenger and freight tariffs to tide over the severe financial crunch. The government auditor observed that railways is in the red, and has not …
EU agriculture ministers meeting yesterday in Brussels roundly criticised proposals from the European Commission that would condition farm subsidies on new 'greening' measures from 2014 onwards, in a setback for environmental groups that have called for farm support to be refocused on delivering public goods.
After patting on the back by announcing that he would give one per cent of the annual budget of the ministry for rural development (`99,000 crores) to the ministry of panchayati raj, Union minister Jairam Ramesh is faced with reality check — that it is not he who can do …
the cultivable land in the country has come down to 182.5 million hectares during 2009-10 compared to 182.7 million tonnes during 2005-06 Agriculture experts expressed concerns over shrinking of farm land by nearly 0.2 million hectares and suggested enacting strong legislation to stop shifting of land for non-farming purposes. According …
An examination of the Lok Sabha elections from 1951 to 2011 reveals that there are large discrepancies between the seat and vote shares of political parties in each of the 15 elected Lok Sabhas in independent India, especially before liberalisation in 1991. In the post-liberalisation period, the extent of disproportional …
A parliamentary panel has pulled up the coal ministry for cancelling allocations to power companies without trying to address the issues that led to delays in developing coal blocks. The ministry had been acting like a big brother, trying to intimidate power companies for reasons beyond their control, the panel …
Under attack over the functioning of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today claimed to have “already taken several steps” to plug the loopholes in the system. Reacting to a standing committee report on the functioning of CDSCO, tabled in Parliament yesterday, …
The government on Wednesday managed to push through a Bill in the Rajya Sabha which will provide for a year’s extension for the board of governors of the Medical Council of India. The Bill was passed by voice vote and the Opposition decided against pushing for a division. The passage …
