Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
An independent dam design review panel for the Subansiri Lower Project (SLP) was set up in December last year under two former chairmen of the Central Water Commission (CWC) as per the recommendation of a two-member Technical Experts Committee (TEC) set up by the Planning Commission. The panel has been …
Hike would end under-recoveries of OMCs on sale of transport fuel in next 18 months Dismissing the contention that diesel price hike will push inflation, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said it will have a benign impact on prices as consumers will be left with less money …
Dismissing the contention that diesel price hike will push inflation, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said it will have a benign impact on prices as consumers will be left with less money to buy other goods. "When you have a suppressed price and you raise that prices, …
In the absence of transport network and faster envt clearances, benefits will be limited After nearly 40 years of state ownership, the chorus of support for privatisation of coal mines is growing louder. With the economy ravenously short of coal to fire its power plants, and the state-owned Coal India …
The Planning Commission has suggested that the Railways should begin its high-speed rail (HSR) corridor project with the Delhi-Agra section rather than insisting on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor. In a recent note to a steering group, the Commission has asked the Railways to take up the Delhi-Agra section of the 991 …
Top planners of the country have asserted that pricing and rationing are the most important tools to make optimal use of the most precious natural resource - water - and achieve sustainable development even though states, bound by political compulsions and fiercely protective of control over water management, may never …
The world's largest coal-based power plant is struggling to survive at the back of pricing problems On Monday, a high-level inter-ministerial panel will take a call on fuel supply for Adani Power’s Rs 25,000-crore imported coal-based power plant at Mundra in Gujarat. The infrastructure and mining major had asked the …
Each of our schemes must incorporate ecological objectives, says Jairam; report, co-authored with UNDP, looks at what needs to be done To make important rural development programmes more environment-friendly, the ministry of rural development, along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Friday released a report defining ‘green’ outcomes …
Govt keen on ensuring fuel security doesn’t come in way of growth revival plans Concerned that fuel scarcity could hamper plans to revive economic growth, the government is planning to further relax green clearance norms for mining projects. Coal mining operations, which are stuck due to delays in forest clearance, …
Says CIL Doesn’t Have Capacity To Meet Demand Of 43,000 MW Power Plants New Delhi: Planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has made a strong pitch for privatization of the coal sector to meet the growing coal demand from the industry. Ahluwalia, who advocated private investment in the coal …
Reeling under drought conditions in 145 out of a total 353 talukas of Maharashtra, the state government is taking several measures including seeking central assistance and requesting neighbouring state Karnataka to release water, to tackle the crisis. The state has sought a central assistance of Rs 5,000 crore, including Rs …
Championing the cause of all coal bearing states, which have been demanding allocation of a portion of the power produced by the thermal projects coming up their respective states free of cost, the Odisha government has urged the Planning Commission to take a call on the issue at the earliest. …
Planning Commission remained in news this year for wrong reasons like fixing poverty line at Rs 28.65 per capita daily in urban areas, spending Rs 35 lakh on refurbishing toilets and slashing average economic growth rate for the 12th Plan to 8 per cent. It all began in March with …
The Union Territory of Lakshadweep, which has to its credit the youngest MP in the Lok Sabha, now has another feather in its cap — it has the largest number of households headed by women in the country. The Lakshadweep group of islands, off the western coast, has 43.7 per …
New Delhi: The Centre has set up an expert committee to determine the poverty mark to identify beneficiaries for the rural development ministry’s programmes. The committee, to be headed by Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen, will examine figures of the socio-economic caste survey to decide who is below the poverty …
Take less than 2 mt of the 30 mt offered by CIL Even as power companies have been complaining about a severe fuel shortage, they have failed to lift the extra coal offered to them by Coal India Ltd (CIL) from its stocks as emergency relief on the government’s instruction. …
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck a downbeat note on the challenges facing the Indian economy on Thursday, dubbing a five-year plan for average growth of 8 percent "ambitious". India's GDP growth has languished below 6 percent for three straight quarters, a far cry from the near-double-digit pace of expansion before …
Twenty-two organisations from across the country have written to members of the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) and chief ministers, demanding that village gram sabhas, wards in cities and civil society groups concerned should be involved in the formulation the national water policy. The organisations have urged the NWRC to …
Criticising the Planning Commission for taking “so lightly” its recommendation, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Forests has asked it to provide adequate funds for tiger conservation programme and the Environment Ministry to push the case “forcefully” with the plan panel. “The Committee is of the view that the …
During the year, govt also contemplated to open up sector for commercial mining Coal fired a minefield of controversies in 2012, fuelled by CAG estimates of a huge Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss for allocation of coal blocks to business houses without auction which served as fodder to the Opposition …
