Central grants for Nilgiris
The central government has sanctioned Rs 220 million for the Hill Area Development Programme in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu this year. An allocations blueprint for the year 2005-06 was released by authorities in the hill resort of Udhagamandalam, 600 km south-west of Chennai. The sum is for managing …
Haryana, Maryland sign pact for economic development
Haryana and Maryland state of the United states of America on Tuesday signed a declaration of cooperation to kickstart a process of rapid economic development . The declaration of cooperation was signed in the presence of Haryana Governor A. R. Kidwai and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Raj Bhawan …
Attempt to break developing nations unity decried
India has warned that divisive attempts by developed members to break the unity among developing countries by proposing to introduce a new classification of advanced developing countries could derail the Doha round. Addressing a seminar on
Implement `PURA` in mission mode: Kalam
The President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, has stressed the need to implement Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) in 'mission mode' to drive growth in far-flung areas and said at least 100 PURA complexes need to be launched by the end of 2006. Now is the time to work …
India should be wary of creeping debt to GDP ratio, says UNDP
The country is not in immediate danger of running into a debt crisis despite India's total public sector debt as a percentage of the GDP is very high (81%), says Kemal Dervis, administrator, United Nations Development Programme. Speaking at a seminar organised by thinktanks National Council of Applied Economic Research …
Plan panel to probe Delhi 24x7 water controversy
The Planning Commission has decided to sort out problems arising out of the 24x7 water supply controversy concerning the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), over which the Left parties and NGOs had created a furore. The Planning Commission, in alliance with the Delhi government, has decided to form an expert committee …
"India fails to achieve millennium goals``
Member-countries of the United Nations, including India have failed to take action to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in the year 2000, according to an assessment report by Action Aid International, an international development organisation. Having interviewed people in 5,000 villages across 18 Asian and Africa countries, the report …
Reforms needed in Maharashtra: report
Maharashtra's first State Development Report, released on Tuesday by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, says that its success in achieving a high growth rate had been tarnished by its inability to reduce poverty, ignorance and disease. The report, prepared by four academic research institutions, takes …
Development scheme for Mewat approved
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Monday that a Rs. 8-crore scheme had been approved for overall development of Mewat during the current financial year and the Central Government had been urged to forward a Rs. 25-crore scheme for approval of the International Fund for Agriculture Development, Rome …
Regulators for oil, mining, transport sectors in offing
The Government will be setting up regulators for the transport , mining and petroleum sectors soon. This was stated by the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Mr Prithviraj Chavan. Speaking at the 8th International Stainless Steel Conference, Mr Chavan said, "Good governance is one of the …
`Promote initiatives for development`
The Chief Minister, Babulal Gaur was given a civic reception by the Sindhi Panchayat at Saint Hirdaram Nagar in recognition of his development initiatives for rural and urban development and quick industrialisation. Gaur said that new initiatives would be launched in Saint Hirdaram Nagar considering the voluntary cooperation. Gaur said …
Montek, NGO meet on water issues
As part of its move to provide inputs to the Delhi government on the proposed privatisation of water supply in the capital, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today met members of Parivartan, a non-governmental organization, which has been opposing the move.
PM asks Nabard to aid rural plans
Prime minister Manmohan Singh has asked the Union finance ministry to direct the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to create a separate financing window to "bridge the funding gap" in the rural roads and irrigation works components of Bharat Nirman. Bharat Nirman is a time-bound business plan …
Realising Gandhis village ideal
This is the Age of Electricity. Yet 55-60% of rural India has no electricity; drinking water supply is poor and a majority of rural population uses 180 million tons of biomass every year as fuel for cooking using primitive, inefficient and smoky chulhas. Rural India hasn't really changed much since …
Assam ranks lowest among NE states
Assam has been given a raw deal by the Centre and all economic and social indicators show that the state is falling behind six other states, with the State's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking it lowest among the north eastern states (NES). This was the finding of a latest study …
Aid chief hits at dysfunctional US fund regime
The US system for financing aid is "dysfunctional", the head of the US Agency for International Development has said. In an interview in London, Andrew Natsios, the USAID administrator, said the way Congress allocated funding to discrete initiatives made it very difficult to integrate aid in a coherent development effort. …
G-20 backs IMF quota review, changes likely to take time
Rich and emerging nations this weekend agreed that the division of national influence over the International Monetary Fund needed changing but they remained deeply divided on how to do it. Debate over national quotas, which determine IMF voting rights, has been mounting, with fast-growing Asian nations. IMF chief Rodrigo Rato, …
