A group of young Muslim women and a man here has decided to break fresh ground by moving for social reform and gender equality from within the community rather than defying its traditions and confines. Five women -- a qazi and four witnesses -- will solemnise the union of Naesh Hasan and her fiance. Hasan is founder member of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a social organisation.
The right policy response to global price increases is not straightforward. The draft report is wide-ranging in its scope, and it attempts to provide a coherent, integrated view of financial sector reforms that would equip India's financial sector to support growth, widen financial access and maintain stability over the next decades. The report is being released for public discussion at a critical juncture in both the domestic and global economy.
The Planning Commission has recommended that the private company in 50:50 joint sector infrastructure projects should be selected through competitive bidding.
Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen on Wednesday said growth in the next fiscal may reach seven per cent due to the stimulus packages already introduced. On deflation he said, "I personally do not see any threat of generalised deflation, though it (might happen) in some sectors."
They are of the view that calling the new institutes "IITs" would dilute the brand image of the existing premier institutes, which figure among the world's 100 best technology universities and are compared with the likes of MIT, California University and Berkeley. The seven IITs are located in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee.
Was Manmohan Singh focused too much on getting policy right, while Narendra Modi is focused essentially on getting projects moving?
'Some of the policies NITI Aayog has taken, we feel lean towards the corporates.' 'In a democracy, when you are making a policy decision, you are expected to take the views of all the stakeholders.'
One consequence of this shift will be that other sectors will see a reduction in the amount of resources allocated over the 11th Plan period. On the whole, the non-priority sectors, which accounted for 44.8 per cent of the total allocation during the 10th Plan period (2002-07), will now only get 25.3 per cent.
The Indian economy is expected to grow at least 7 per cent in the next financial year on the back of the two stimulus packages given by the government, but in the immediate-term there would be some pain and a rise in unemployment levels, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.
The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said. The social sector agenda of the prime minister includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.
The robust GDP growth rate experienced by the country in the last few years is indeed commendable and was aided by investment in infrastructure. To sustain growth rates, it is imperative for India to make higher investments towards setting up world-class infrastructure.
Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil law at the University of Oxford.
Addressing the fourth India Investment Forum in New York, Montek Singh Ahluwalia highlighted the steps the government was taking to attract investments in the infrastructure sector, saying it is open to suggestions which they might have to offer.
In other welfare schemes, such as those for cooking gas, pension and scholarships, which are linked to DBT, cash is transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
