"I believe the biggest issues in front of us are malnutrition and toilets, these are the two faces of one coin... I have MNREGA, PMGSY, drinking water etc under me but I spend maximum time on toilet only," said Ramesh, who holds the portfolios of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, in what apparently was his take on the toilet controversy for which the plan panel has drawn flak.
The government's decision to release the reports comes two days after over 200 scholars from across the globe issued a statement demanding release of all withheld reports produced by the NSO, including the household consumer expenditure survey that was junked.
India's booming telecommunications industry is set to see investment in excess of $20 billion over the next five years, a senior government official said on Friday.
Facing flak over expenditure of Rs 35 lakh on toilets, the Planning Commission on Wednesday termed it as routine maintenance and upgradation work and said it was "unfortunate" to call it a wasteful expenditure.
Planning Commission, on Thursday, expressed reservations on Kelkar Committee proposal to bring processed foods under excise duty net saying it will badly affect growth in the sector.
Inter-ministerial group to meet on Thursday to finalise model concession pact.
Key Planning Commission official says push from small-scale industries will help reach the figure, but others disagree.
State-run public sector undertakings live in a mysterious world, without scrutiny from analysts or the public. Here's an overview of Maharashtra's PSUs.
India's fiscal deficit is expected to be 5.6 per cent of gross domestic product this fiscal as against the budget estimates of 4.6 per cent of GDP.
Hectic preparations are on at the newly-formed Niti Aayog to welcome the first Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya and other members whose appointments were approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Good intentions are best left to political parties, governments and religious establishments, suggests T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The two-day conference, which saw participation of ministers and senior officials from all the states, was marked by brainstorming in the run up to the expected enactment of the government's ambitious Food Security Bill.
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Indian-American economist Arvind Panagariya has said that he is "honoured" to be appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the first Vice Chairman of the newly created NITI Aayog, which replaces the 65-year-old Planning Commission.
Last year, the Planning Commission got the approval for the 9 per cent annual average economic growth target under the Approach document for the 12th Plan from the country's apex decision making body, the National Development Council, headed by the Prime Minister with all the chief ministers and Cabinet ministers on board.
Reliance Industries is facing penalty for falling gas output from its KG-D6 fields.
Shortly before the commencement of the Sixth G20 Summit in Cannes, France, leaders of the emerging, but powerful, economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- met with the intention of designing a joint strategy on how to tackle the Eurozone debt tsunami that could overrun the developing nations causing havoc.
The government hopes of registering GDP growth rate ranging between 6.1-6.7 per cent in 2013-14.
Document to talk about social unrest, energy shortages, global factors.
Developers say an increase in the FSI was long due, given the scarcity of land, but stress the need for stronger infrastructure to support such high-rise buildings.
The authority is set to cross the target by the end of this month, with a million enrolments every day. It has already allotted 116.3 million Aadhar numbers.
The Planning Commission may find those earning more than Rs 32 a day ineligible to qualify as poor but for Mumbai's tiny but affluent Parsi community a "poor Parsi" is one who makes up to Rs 90,000 per month.
It is time to shrug off the ideological shackles about the way we work, play and live, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Others may be gung-ho about food inflation falling into the negative territory, but not former chief statistician Pronab Sen.
Soon after the Rajya Sabha met for the day, members from Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal-United, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and the Left parties were on their feet seeking a discussion on the issue.
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and Planning Commission member Arun Maira are sticking to their guns on foreign direct investment in the pharmaceutical sector.
The Centre also referred to various international economic reports and surveys to emphasise on the need for Aadhaar.
You cannot have a corporate tax and then say spend another two per cent.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
Amid the controversy raging over the definition of poverty, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday claimed that they have resolved the issue.
The duo face a tough challenge to their ministerial aspirations.
Addressing a high level debate on 'State of the World Economy and Finance in 2012' at the United Nations General Assembly in United Nations on Thursday, Ahluwalia said the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 9 per cent in the five years prior to the financial crisis of 2008.
The PPP model for CIL was first mooted by the Planning Commission.
Amid India slipping to 134th spot in the ease of doing business ranking of 189 nations, Planning Commission member Arun Maira on Tuesday said "merely making comparisons" is not enough to improve business conditions.
"The theme of tomorrow's meeting is 'Economic Policy Reform, Road Ahead'. The prime minister will make opening remarks. There are 15 invitees who will make their presentations before the prime minister," a senior government official said.
The move was being made considering the poor flight services in the region comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi said.
Slamming the Planning Commission over its controversial definition of poverty, the BJP on Friday dubbed it a "conspiracy" hatched by the body and the Centre to deprive a large number of poor people of benefits under various welfare programmes.
