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 …
New Delhi A 17% cut in the budgetary allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for FY13 is a fallout of successive years of poor expenditure by states and allegations of diversion and misappropriation of funds. “Considering that states have not been able to spend the …
Binayak Sen, leading human rights activist and vice-president of the People's Union of Civil Liberties, has said social and economic inequities are the major causes of ill-health and death in India. While state action ought to reduce the inequities, the neoliberal economic policies of the Central government have only created …
The latest poverty estimates for the country released by Planning Commission shows a decline in poverty by 7.3 per cent over the past five years & says that anyone with a daily consumption expenditure of Rs. 28.35 & Rs. 22.42 in urban and rural areas respectively is above the poverty …
To look into grant of work permits for foreign nationals Seeking to remove the unreasonable roadblocks and to win the confidence of international investors in the oil and gas exploration operations, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has stepped in and set up a high-powered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to examine …
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has termed the Railway Budget as anti-people and anti-poor stating that the increase in railway fares will hit every section. He said the Railway Minister had also hinted at an increase in freight charges, which would have a cascading effect on prices, leading to a …
The Railway Budget has yet again failed to provide any budgetary provision for new rail lines despite a feasibility survey having been completed by the Railways. Though some new rail lines have now been placed for evaluation before the Planning Commission, there was nothing encouraging for the state’s industry. The …
J&K; gets bridge factory, Institute for Tunnel & Bridge Engineering, Train to reach Katra, Banihal in upcoming financial year Udhampur-Rohila Express converted into tri-weekly Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi said today that prestigious rail project to Kashmir valley was likely to be delayed for want of adequate funding as he pointed …
The Planning Commission cited shortage of funds as it punctured the Union Urban Development Ministry’s ambitious plans to popularise bicycle usage in metro cities. The Plan panel has refused to dole out Rs 150 crore to the Ministry for the Public Bicycle Scheme, which was proposed to be rolled out …
Mumbai: Adani Power synchronized the fifth unit of the Mundra power plant this week, taking its total generating capacity to 4,620MW, making it the world’s largest single-location coal-fired plant in the private sector. China, Poland and Taiwan have three thermal power plants exceeding 5,000 MW but they are all state-owned, …
New Delhi The coal-rich Jharkhand state is set to get a second ultra mega power project (UMPP) soon, with the power ministry clearing a project in Deogarh district, sources said. This will be the seventh UMPP to be launched in the country. Major industry players like Tata Power, Lanco, Adani, …
This paper examines the changes in poverty incidence and monthly per capita expenditure in India using the National Sample Survey’s unit record data of three rounds, 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2009-10. The changes in poverty and growth in MPCE have been measured for major socio-religious and economic groups in both rural …
Tata Power, Reliance Power, ArcelorMittal, Jindal Steel & Power and Monnet Ispat & Energy are among 60 companies that face the risk of cancellation of mining licences for being slow in exploration of coal blocks. A review committee, headed by coal ministry’s additional secretary Zohra Chatterjee, has recommended issuing ‘show-cause …
Transparency is essential in holy grails like nuke energy and agri research. The resignation of Roddam Narasimha from the Space Commission is a matter of concern and the prime minister has done well not to accept it. It is of some importance to mend that fissure as soon as possible. …
BHUBANESWAR: The Government is all set to explore energy efficient and renewable energy mechanisms for its public transport system in the Capital and other cities included under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) phase II of which is scheduled to go underway from 2014. Electricity and solar powered buses …
The All Kerala Water Authority Employees Union has come out against the recommendation of the National Planning Commission to privatise water-delivery services in the country. Addressing a press conference here on Friday to announce the 12th State conference of the union, beginning at Nalanda Auditorium on Saturday, its office-bearers said …
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture led by its chairman Prof Ram Gopal Yadav is visiting Vidarbha on Friday to understand the impact of the genetically modified (GM) cotton on the peasantry. While welcoming the visit in an open letter to Yadav, the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), which works …
A meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday decided to increase the total expenditure on health to 2.5 per cent of the GDP from the current 1.4 per cent by the end of the coming 12th Plan period. Chaired by Pulok Chatterji, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the …
Actual irrigation has been done in 87,000 hectare area from Narmada Valley projects till December 2011 during the current fiscal. During the period, 601.59 crore units of power have also been generated by Narmada Valley hydel power plants. This information was given at a meeting of departmental advisory committee chaired …
Signalling increasing emphasis on healthcare, the government has decided to boost public spending in the sector to 2.5 per cent of GDP from the current 1.4 per cent over five years. The Prime Minister’s Office has directed the Planning Commission to allocate funds during the 12th Five-Year Plan. The increase …
The long-pending drainage basin project involving the Kaliaghai, Kapaleswari and Baghai rivers in the flood-prone East and West Midnapore districts in West Bengal has got the green signal. The Rs 650.38-crore project for the two districts, which are struck by calamity almost every monsoon, was recently inaugurated by the Chief …
