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 …
A high-level government committee, headed by Planning Commission member, Saumitra Chaudhari, on Monday ruled out pooling of natural gas prices, stating that domestic natural gas users could not be asked to subsidise costlier imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The report of the committee is a complete U-turn from its previous …
New Delhi: Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said states should invoke the penalty clause against government officials for not doing their work under the job scheme. Ramesh said rules should be framed to activate section 25 of MGNREGA, which seeks to impose penalty of up to Rs 1,000 on lax …
New Delhi: Faced with a growing gap between demand and supply, Delhi government is now working on an ambitious proposal of placing parallel pipelines for providing potable and treated waste water for flushing of toilets, washing of cars and other purposes. The city government has identified several urban areas where …
Campaigners to join hands, rally at N-plant sites Even before the nuclear industry gets its act together to build new plants, activists opposing India’s atomic energy programme have joined hands for co-ordinated protests at various sites where nuclear projects are planned. An organised agitation is expected to mount pressure on …
New Delhi: The differences of opinion in the higher echelons of the government about India’s international climate change stance has now come out in the open with a Wiki-Leaks cable showing senior leaders Jairam Ramesh, in his role as environment minister, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, …
New Delhi The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to create a bank of ready-to-award projects of 10,000 km of national highways. It has told the NHAI to identify stretches and prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for them by the year-end. This will …
ITANAGAR: The Jarbom Gamlin government today approved a Rs 3,200 crore State Plan outlay for 2011-2012, which as per official records is 28 per cent higher than the last outlay of Rs 2,500 crore. The outlay that includes Rs 507.95 crore of State Own Resource (SOR), Rs 2421.05 crore of …
The Planning Commission of India has set up a working group to look into the drug regulatory mechanism in the country. One of the tasks the panel has been entrusted is to devise a strategy to weed out irrational drugs from the market. Most of these drugs are fixed dose …
Panel recommendations: Ashok Chawla Panel on Scarce Water Resources has said there was an urgent need to bring a comprehensive national legislation on water, which could be either done through bringing water under the Concurrent List and then framing the appropriate legislation or by obtaining consensus from a majority of …
Kolkata, 28 Aug: The World Bank has taken up a mega-project, touted to be the first-of-its-kind, for conserving the rich biodiversity and boosting socio-economic development of the Sunderbans in West Bengal. “This has been done according to the recommendation of the Planning Commission of India and (the project) is expected …
Green is now the new buzz at the shipping ministry. In an endeavour to cut down on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and limit damage to coastal life, the ministry is planning to introduce a discount for ‘green ships’ that enter Indian ports. This is a prevalent practice at some major …
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hopes to exceed its annual target of 7,300 km road projects by 13 per cent to 9,000 km for the current financial year — almost double of what it had awarded last year. “In the first four months, we have already awarded over …
The Planning Commission has raised concerns over people migrating from the countryside to cities in search of jobs. The Plan panel says that this ‘distress migration’ is mainly due to delayed disbursement of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA. It has asked the rural …
E. Sreedharan spoke to BW on urban transportation and the way forward for a country that is urbanising at a frenetic pace Most people take life easy after retirement. But Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, 79, has been on the job since he retired from the Indian Railways in 1990. The managing director …
NEW DELHI, 21 AUG: At a time when the country is embarking on an ambitious power generation programme, the shortage of coal is expected to impact new capacity addition plans to the tune of 15,000 MW in the current financial year. A Parliamentary panel has said that coal availability for …
Ranchi, Aug. 21: Arjun Munda has set his eyes on adopting a scientific approach involving experts for optimal use of natural resources, remodelling of the Jharkhand cadre and according a proactive role to the state planning board, as his government gets ready to submit proposal for the Twelfth Five Year …
E. Sreedharan spoke to BW on urban transportation and the way forward for a country that is urbanising at a frenetic pace Most people take life easy after retirement. But Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, 79, has been on the job since he retired from the Indian Railways in 1990. The managing director …
Soon consumers may have to shell out more money for water and electricity apart from cooking gas, kerosene and diesel, if the Planning Commission has its way. The panel’s deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that since import dependence would continue in the coming years, there was a need …
The government plans to focus its flagship rural jobs guarantee plan on the poorest districts of the country as there is a growing recognition within the administration that the scheme’s nation-wide rollout has adversely impacted its performance. Launched in 2006, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme promises at …
