`Sustain economic growth for human development`
Though India has made good strides in human development over the last 10 years, there is a huge challenge ahead and if there is a political will, the problems can be solved, given the enormous intellectual and management capacity and knowledge the country possesses, according to a senior official of …
Fresh initiatives for N-E on the anvil
The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Development of North Eastern Region (DONER), Mr P R Kyndiah, has said the UPA Government is working on a number of fresh initiatives to narrow the gap between the North-Eastern Region and rest of the country on the development front.
PM takes an audit of rural schemes
The government yesterday held a series of meetings to review its welfare schemes and programmes for rural areas. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewed rural employment, rural works, drinking water and other welfare programmes, finance ministry officials were closeted in meetings with Reserve Bank Governor YV Reddy, Nabard Chairperson Ranjana …
`Innovation in formulation of public policy vital`
India is on course to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) much before the agreed 2015 deadline, according to the Finance Secretary, Mr D.C. Gupta. The MDGs are a set of numerical and time-bound targets related to key achievements in human development. The international community had accepted the MDGs at …
Govt to restructure 196 RRBs
The spotlight of forthcoming Union Budget will be on regional rural banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks. Finance minister P Chidambaram is expected to announce a detailed restructuring package for 196 RRBs and 2,104 urban cooperative banks and reposition them to step up credit flow into the rural sector. The government …
PM to inaugurate meet on rural development
The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is expected to inaugurate a conference of the Chief Ministers and Rural Development Ministers on "Poverty Alleviation and Rural Prosperity" here on June 28. The two-day conference will review the various rural development schemes initiated by the previous National Democratic Alliance Government besides focussing on …
Centre watching Cauvery situation
The Centre is expected to watch the Cauvery situation for some time, hoping that rains would help tide over the crisis. It is also possible that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, may advise Karnataka to release a few tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water to Tamil Nadu as the …
Terracotta dying a slow death in the villages
There has been no real development in the field of terracotta in the rural areas. Even its popularity among the rural areas is declining day by day. The potter's craft of terracotta is practised by two communities
Making globalisation work better
The festivities marking the European Union's (EU) enlargement on May 1, 2004, were colourful and multicultural. But these were also accompanied by anti-globalisation protesters who made their feelings clear
Ruling parties get EU mauling
Europe's voters have turned their backs on most serving governments and EU institutions in European Parliament elections marked by mass abstentions and protest votes on domestic issues, results show. As counting in the biggest transnational election in history neared a finish yesterday, the scale of public alienation highlighted challenges facing …
Seeking the nod
In order to set up a mobile tower or base station, a cellular operator needs to take the permission of various agencies. The whole process roughly takes one to three months. It involves: • Site identification by the operator and negotiations with the community. • Approval of the Standing Advisory …
Caffeinism
Caffeine is a methylated xanthine, a mildly addictive and stimulant drug. A study conducted by the US-based Johns Hopkins Medicine Centre in 2000 shows that caffeine's use in soft drinks is more to do with inducing addiction than flavour. A medical term
SBI Bhopal unit unveils big plans
The State Bank of India (SBI) plans to inject Rs 100 crore in small scale industries and Rs 150 crore in small business enterprises in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh during 2004-05.Besides commercial advances of Rs 300 crore.
To save water, China lifts price
In the past 50 years, China has gone from an aspiring Communist utopira to the land of a billion different business plans. But one constant has remained through the country's economic transformation: cheap water. Now, facing acute shortages and a true threat to future growth, the Chinese government this year …
Rajkot citizens live with burning eyes, affected lungs
With the regional transport office (RTO) registering a 45%growth in vehicles between 2003-04 and the police still grappling to curb the menace of auto-rickshaws which use kerosene as fuel, pollution levels have shot up in the city. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) office has refused to divulge data about …
Sewa HW project may offer relief to power-starved Jammu
Jammu region, where power crisis has become a buzz word like other parts of the state, may have a bit of relief next year if Sewa Hydroelectric project stage II does not get entangled in any controversy bugging other power projects and gets completed by December, 2005 its stipulated target. …
Budget target: more Kisan credit
While agriculture has been described as priority number one, two and three for the coming Budget, Sonia Gandhi is understood to have asked for pointed initiatives on agriculture, employment, health and education. Apart from rural credit, the other fast-forward project would be the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Scheme which is grounded …
G-8 Nations consider opening the doors to India, China
The group of eight industrialised nations are considering opening doors of the elite club to include more states, including India and China, to reflect the growing importance of the two Asian economic giants. There is "certainly a case for including countries like China and India,' British Prime Minister Tony Blair …
Archaic rural land laws deter bankers
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government may be talking of doubling agricultural credit and rural financing in the next three years but the obsolete and redundant land revenue laws are severely affecting the bank credit for rural sector, especially for rural housing and small scale enterprises. The bankers have now …
