Smart cities mission: an evaluation - Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs (2023 24)

Some projects under the Smart Cities Mission would not be able to meet the June 30 deadline and the respective state governments would be responsible for completing them thereafter, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs. In its report on the …

Patel: closure of old airports to be reviewed

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Tuesday said the decision to close existing airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore, after the opening of the new airports, would be reviewed. "As per the contractual agreement, existing airports in the two cities are to be closed, but we will review it,' said the …

Lok Sabha passes Bill clearing decks for Food Authority

Paving the way for setting up of an authority to regulate food items across the country, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill to amend the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill will replace the

Right to Education Bill stuck again

THE Right to Education bill seems to have run into rough weather yet again. Instructions from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh notwithstanding, the government , it seems won't be able to introduce the Right to Education bill, 2008, in Parliament, before it goes into recess on March 20. The delay is …

BJP wants 10-year plan for farmers

THE BJP has demanded that the Centre demonstrate that it was serious about ameliorating the condition of farmers by preparing a ten-year action plan for the revival of the sector. The BJP has promised that it would reduce the interest rate for loans to the farm sector to 4%, given …

Will HIV bill reach House?

civil society groups have asked the union government to table the long pending hiv-aids bill at the next session of parliament. The ngo, Indian Network of People Living with hiv - aids says that the failure to pass the bill will derail efforts to check the spread of the disease …

Parliamentary committee demands validation of AIDS prevalance figures

Underestimates can result in the problem being ignored, says PAC report Inflated figures may take resources away from other health programmes Hopes ICTCs will act as a single window service to cater to all clients NEW DELHI: Raising doubts over the reliability of the new data on HIV/AIDS prevalence in …

A law for forestry

The Cabinet decision last week to bring the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2008, before Parliament is a step that should have been taken at least six years ago. For, it was in 2002 that the Supreme Court directed the government to set up a Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) and a …

Noisy scenes over SEZ issue

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday witnessed noisy scenes with MPs, cutting across party lines, targeting the Government on the issue of Special Economic Zones (SEZs). They accused it of allowing corporate and industrial houses to grab land from farmers and ignoring violation of the SEZ Act by developers. Though the …

Budget cant be challenged in court: SC

Even before the applause for a Budget

Concern over rising prices: Modernise agriculture (Editorial)

The economic growth rate is likely to be 8.7 per cent in the review year 2007-08 as per the Economic Survey report presented in the Parliament. Finance Minister, P Chidambaram expressed concern over continuous rise in inflation. The expected growth rate of 8.7 per cent is as per the trend …

A regulator for fertilisers

Moves are afoot to ring in reforms in the fertiliser sector. A Group of Ministers (GoM) on fertilisers headed by the agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, has given its in-principle nod to the Department of Fertilisers' proposal to have an independent regulator for the sector. J. Sreedhara Sarma, Secretary, Ministry of …

Govt likely to use 1897 Act to denotify Goa SEZs

A 111-year-old law is one of the key options the government could invoke to handle the challenges arising out of the possible denotification of three Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Goa. Last week, the inter-ministerial Board of Approvals had recommended starting talks with the Goa government on denotifying the three …

Job guarantee scheme for all rural districts soon

Economy on the move: The President, Ms Pratibha Patil, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr P.R. Dasmunshi, arriving to attend the first day of the Budget Session at Parliament House in the Capital on Monday.

In Short

>> In a non-binding report, the European Parliament has given more time to car manufacturers for reducing CO2 emissions from tailpipes. Manufacturers should reduce the emissions to 125 grammes per km by 2015, rather than to 120 grammes by 2012 as proposed by the commission in December, 2007. >> Two …

News snippets

>> Chinese scientists have warned that climate change is hurting the most famous draw in the northern city of Harbin

Budget session to begin on February 25

The budget session of Parliament will begin on February 25 with President Pratibha Patil addressing the joint session of both Houses at 11 am, it was officially announced here on Monday. While railway minister Lalu Prasad will present the rail budget for 2008-09 on February 26, finance minister P Chidambaram …

Aviation emissions to be traded

Starting 2012, greenhouse gases from civil aviation will be included in the eu emissions trading scheme, according to a recent agreement by the European Environment Council. The agreement includes all flights between eu countries and those departing or landing in an eu country. The council proposed a cap at the …

Romania deliberates anti cyanide bill

The Romanian parliament is deliberating an anti-cyanide bill, which, if passed, will block a project to build Europe's biggest open cast gold mine. According to its sponsor, Senator Peter Eckstein-Kovacs, the bill is very likely to get through. The Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources has already invested us $300 million …

European Commission proposes stringent auto emission caps

The European Commission has proposed tighter emission caps on cars, to be enforced with steep fines. The plan will fine manufacturers for every gramme of co2 emitted beyond the limit, with penalties that will begin at

Landless poor march to Delhi. Then what?

Faced with 25,000 landless people from across the country marching up to parliament on October 29 to register their protest, the United Progressive Alliance (upa) government announced the creation of a committee on "State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms'. The union minister of rural development, Raghuvansh …

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