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 …
Punjab continues to paint a grim picture so far as the growth rate of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is concerned. Among the big non-special category states, Punjab is a laggard. Though against the growth rate target of 5.9 per cent, fixed for the state in the 11th Five-year …
Project marks CIL's foray into power sector, will take proposal to board in few months Barely a week after Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed a public-private partnership (PPP) model in coal, Australian mining major NRW has evinced interest in the same, according to sources. NRW is one of the leading …
As the Congress-led Centre braces itself for its ambitious National Food Security Bill whose revised version is slated to be placed during this Parliament session between March 19 and 21, activists of the Right to Food Campaign have announced a fresh round of demonstrations to push for universal comprehensive food …
About 30% of people in India were below the poverty line in 2009-10 that was based on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of R673 for rural areas and R860 for urban areas, Parliament was informed today. “As per the latest available information, the poverty line at all India …
Private mining giants like Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and others likely to partner with Coal India under a new public-private partnership (PPP) model in the works won’t have any ownership rights in these ventures but will do mining on a contractual basis for the PSU. Yet these mining companies, equipped …
The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab’s iconic “makki ki roti and sarson ka saag” -- maize and mustard --along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh …
To get around the shortage of domestic coal, Budget 2013-14 is expected to announce a far reaching change to make private sector produce more of the mineral. Companies with coal blocks will be allowed to sell their surplus coal under a public-private-partnership model in the markets instead of selling only …
Faced with environmental hurdles in pushing vertical growth in the state, the Kerala government last month amended its municipal building rules to change the very definition of 'high-rise' buildings to get around the stringent new requirements for a green nod. Kerala and some other states have strongly opposed the union …
New Delhi: The environment ministry is likely to ease green norms for the real estate sector, giving a boost to developers wanting to construct high-rise buildings. The relaxation is expected to allow builders to put up higher buildings on smaller roads and lanes in cities. In February 2012, the environment …
BHUBANESWAR: Countering the allegation of food supplies and consumer welfare minister Pratap Keshari Deb that a recent central government survey on hunger was 'politically motivated', Union statistics and programme implementation minister Srikant Jena on Sunday said although the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) was under his administrative control he had …
GUWAHATI: The Group of Ministers (GoM) on hydropower projects in the Brahmaputra basin, in its recommendations, has stressed the need for special financial assistance packages for the areas to be affected by the impact of hydro–electric or multi–purpose projects. The GoM has also recommended free electricity connections to the affected …
The Cabinet will take up the proposal for a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) on Thursday. It will cater to the 37.7 crore urban population and will be a sub-mission of an overarching National Health Mission (NHM) for urban and rural areas. In a potentially contentious proposal and a shift …
Old Proposal Of 2 Corridors Scrapped Lucknow: The much-awaited report of the department of urban planning on the proposed Metro project in the city has made radical changes in the original plan. While it has totally done away with the ‘two corridor’ concept and instead recommended a dense network of …
The Nobel laureate says neglecting children is not only unjust but also an economic blunder Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said the National Food Security Bill needs to be strengthened to include children’s entitlements. According to him, the Bill, in the current form, neglects children. He pointed out that there are …
Emphasising that the money involved in giving food subsidy should be treated as high priority, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said the subsidy should not be linked with fiscal deficit. “The money involved in food subsidy can be treated as high priority and should not be …
Until five years ago, Abdul Razzak and his band of sand miners had it easy. After morning prayers, the men armed with spades would excavate sand from the Jhelum river in north Kashmir’s picturesque Shilwat village. Then, special boats known as bahach would lug the entire cache to the riverbank. …
Current grains allocation, AAY entitlement will be protected under the Bill, he assures States Responding to concerns expressed by several States on a possible cut in food grains allocation under the National Food Security Bill, the Centre on Thursday gave an assurance that the current allocation will be protected and …
The government’s plan to increase and improve the quality of India’s forests has run into a wall due to shortage of funds. The Green India Mission, which is part of the government’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, has set a goal of increasing forest cover by 5 million hectares …
New Delhi: It will take at least another 28 months before the under-recoveries on account of sale of diesel can be eliminated. Addressing the India Energy Congress on Thursday, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: “Diesel is on a progressive elimination of subsidies and by mid-2015, present under …
Kolkata: The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) once again seems to be putting the brakes on exploration activity for identifying new, mineable coal reserves, which are crucial to the country’s rising coal demand. AK Debnath, chairman and managing director, Central Mine & Planning Design Institute (CMPDI), told FE that …
