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 …
Doing its bit to force a successful and meaningful outcome at the Copenhagen climate change summit beginning next week, India today offered to effect at least a 20 per cent cut in its carbon intensity by 2020 over 2005 levels, hoping this would satisfy demands from developed countries for some …
Vidya Subrahmaniam Ministry plans to hold States responsible for loss in royalty revenue NEW DELHI: With the Bellary mining story hitting the headlines, Union Minister for Mines B.K. Handique on Wednesday turned the heat on Chief Ministers. In a letter to individual Chief Ministers, he lamented inaction on their part …
MUKESH RANJAN Congress general magic appears to have done the trick, as the Centre has worked out a special package of Rs 7,000 crores for Bundelkhand region comprising districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP). The Union Cabinet is likely to clear it in its meeting on Thursday. …
Even as the Union Water Resources Ministry is planning to introduce a tighter regulatory mechanism to check indiscriminate use of ground water resources, peasant associations are set to protest the move as they feel it would 'eliminate small and marginal farmers'. Sources said that to check the 'indiscriminate use of …
LUCKNOW: Accusing Maya government of not taking adequate steps to address the issues of farmers and poor, Union food processing minister Subodh Kant Sahay on Thursday said that funds given under the Central government schemes have not been utilised by the UP government. Sahay, who was in the city to …
There has been a growing concern on the official estimates of poverty released by the Planning commission. The official poverty estimates have been severely criticised on various counts. In view of this, Planning Commission set up an expert group under the chairmanship of Professor Suresh Tendulkar to examine the issue …
THE UPA government has refused to raise the number of job days that it provides under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) though it would allow an extra 50 days employment in drought-hit regions on a case-to-case basis from a separate fund. Last month, the Empowered Group of Ministers …
Ahmedabad: National agricultural policies and programmes were put under scanner on Monday. Members of the Committee on Agriculture and Allied Sectors, constituted under the Planning Commission, Government of India, for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12) under the chairmanship of professor Abhijit Sen, member, Planning Commission, met at Indian Institute of …
PALAKKAD: An all-party meeting called by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Tuesday for acquiring land for the proposed rail coach factory at Kanjikode reached a consensus to acquire land without delay. The meeting, attended by representatives of political parties, supported a government proposal to acquire 900 acres identified by …
A Planning Commission study has said prices of natural gas sold by the public sector companies Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) should be aligned to the price of $4.2 per million British thermal units (mBtu) decided by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) for …
Gandhinagar: The Planning Commission has decided to fund three new schemes to help Gujarat improve its health index, which is low compared to many other states. Planning Commission approved the state
People affected by Mangla Dam raising project have asked the federal government to fulfil its commitment by constructing a bridge in their area, threatening that if the pledge was not met, they would launch an agitation and hinder the storage of additional water in the reservoir. The warning came amid …
In a move that is bound to trigger angry reactions from the states, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) has decided that the estimation of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) numbers by the government would be considered final for the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA), thereby nipping in the …
THE blanket ban on foreign companies and individuals from certain countries to undertake hydel projects in sensitive border areas may soon be lifted. A Cabinet note under circulation has suggested the government should deny visa to only specific foreign individuals or employees of specific companies that need to be watched …
The sense of optimism in the wake of the release of the GDP data for the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June 2009) is rooted in the belief that the worst might be over. The rate of growth at 6.1 per cent might not be significantly higher than …
