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: The government’s ambitious national urban development plan will ease up on the reform agenda for state and municipal governments. This is a major departure from the take-it-or-leave-it set of reforms that stymied them from dipping into the R60,000-crore corpus of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). …
The Planning Commission on Thursday cleared the investment proposal for modernisation of Haryana’s irrigation network. The project, estimated to cost Rs 115.94 crore (2011 price level), will undertake rehabilitation, renovation and modernisation of critically damaged channels of the State’s irrigation network, a Plan panel release said. According to the project …
New Delhi Officials of the food, agriculture and finance ministries will meet the state and central ministers concerned in a bid to thrash out objections raised by the states over the proposed Food Security Bill. The two-day conference that begins on Wednesday will also take up the creation of additional …
State-owned NTPC Ltd’s capacity addition target of 66,000 mega watt for the Twelfth Plan period could take a knocking as legal hurdles hold up the placement of equipment orders for key projects slated to come up over the next five years. The company has been unable to go ahead with …
NEW DELHI, Feb 6 – After clearing two remaining phases of the Majuli Island Protection Project, the Planning Commission has accorded investment clearance to ‘Restoration of Dibang and Lohit rivers to their original courses at Dholla-Hatighuli’ project. The project, estimated to cost Rs 54.43 crore, is to be completion in …
Girish Sant, founder of NGO Prayas, a policy advocacy group in the power sector, died of a heart attack in a hotel in New Delhi on Thursday. He was 46. Sant completed his BTech in chemical engineering from IIT-Bombay in 1986, followed by a Master’s degree in energy systems engineering …
Ramesh for granting states discretion over 50% of funds for central schemes. The upcoming budget is likely to give state governments discretionary powers over about 50% of funds under central government schemes, a move that will allow better utilisation of resources. “The current way of functioning is not ideal...State governments …
The Planning Commission has given investment clearance for the Rs 54.43-crore project for the restoration of Dibang and Lohit rivers to their original courses at Dholla Hatiguli in Assam. The project is expected to be completed within the current fiscal year ending March 31, an official release said. The Ministry …
AGARTALA:The proposed up-gradation of Agartala airport to an international airstrip has run into rough weather with the dispute over land acquisition for expansion of the runway and other mandatory infrastructure. Officials here on Saturday said that the state government had been demanding an international airport for the past two years …
In order to plug the pilferage of food items meant for distribution to people below the poverty line, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Union food secretary to hasten the process of computerisation of entire PDS system. A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra set a deadline …
The sixth anniversary of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) saw the government promising reforms in the scheme, which has been criticised for delays in wage payments and depleting farm labour. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the scheme could usher in a second green revolution through land development and …
The Planning Commission has given its investment clearance for a Rs 115.9 crore project titled ‘Protection of Majuli Island, Assam from flood and erosion, Phase II and III.’ According to an official statement here on Wednesday, the project will be completed by the current fiscal and Plan accounts would be …
NEW DELHI, Feb 1 – Decks have been cleared for execution of the crucial phase of the Majuli Island Protection Project aimed at ensuring protection of sattras, with the Planning Commission on Wednesday sanctioning investment clearance for implementation of the Phase II and III of the anti-eorsion project at an …
Days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described malnutrition as national shame, the Centre’s move to pump in massive resources into hunger-related schemes are pending the Planning Commission’s approval. The project appraisal and management division (PAMD) of the Planning Commission has objected to women and child development (WCD) ministry’s demand of …
Projects of over two dozen corporates, including NTPC, Coal India, Hindalco, Essar and Adani, to be fast-tracked Taking note of a formal end to the controversial ‘no-go’ classification of coal mining projects, the coal ministry has asked states to give revised proposals to the environment ministry for projects stuck in …
In what may leave the Planning Commission red-faced, the Working Group set up by the Commission has shot down the planning body’s suggestion for a tariff regulatory authority in the inter-modal mix of transport. Expressing doubts on efficacy of the proposed regulator, the panel said there is “no rationale” in …
In sun-drenched India, the fledgling solar energy market is poised for a vertical take-off aided by falling solar panel prices, mirroring the now famous Indian telecom revolution, a senior Welspun Group official said in an interview. The Welspun Group is lining up ambitious plans to be among the top three …
Pricing of water alone will not solve the problems the planners have to grapple with to ensure its equitable distribution in the country. According to Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, clarity on property rights to this precious natural resource is a more crucial issue warranting urgent attention. …
The latest data put together by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) trashes the automobile industry contention that personal cars account for only 0.6 per cent of India’s diesel consumption. Estimates recently released by the Society for Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) and the 12th Planning Working Group on Petroleum …
A Planning Commission expert committee may soon recommend a revised price for ethanol, currently pegged at an ad hoc price of Rs 27 a litre. Official sources said the commission will forward this to all ministries. It will then be finalised by a group of ministers (GoM). The revised price …
