With the Left parties' withdrawal of support from the Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance creating a political uncertainty at the Centre, some leaders have started efforts to woo Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao, to secure his support for the beleaguered coalition."I told him clearly that we will extend support to the UPA only if the government announces the formation of Telangana state," Rao told reporters in Hyderabad.
With the opposition set to rake up the telephone tapping issue in Parliament, Government on Saturday said the issue was being 'examined.'
No one from Pravin's family was present at the wedding.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation on Wednesday said global commodity prices were far from easing in the short term owing to tight supply-demand situation and warned of flare ups over food shortage.The UN FAO director general said the world has 4-5 million tonnes (MT) of cereals stocks that can feed the global population for only 8-12 weeks.
On the complaint of shortage of foodgrain, the minister said lifting of foodgrain by states/Union Territories under TPDS and other welfare schemes has been less than the allocation made to them.
The Congress has also asked the prime minister's office to co-ordinate better with various ministries over the issue of inflation.
According to sources, the GoM has accepted the rural development ministry's demand to stick to the 70:30 formula for land acquisition for industry, after rejecting suggestions of a parliamentary panel, Left parties and some state governments. This means that a state can acquire only up to 30 per cent of the total land required for a project with the remaining being acquired by the private party concerned.
Roadblocks in the way of ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement appear to have been removed following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention on the crucial issue of sensitive farm products like pepper, rubber, palm oil, coffee and tea.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said that a liberalised package for farmers, including rescheduling of farm loans and greater employment, would be unveiled this week.\n\n
The NCP's flag was handed over by Praful Patel to K Muraleedharan, DIC-K president, signifying the merger.
The government estimates the food subsidy bill to be Rs 490-500 billion this year from Rs 190 billion earlier, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told Rajya Sabha during Question Hour. The Centre issues rice at Rs 5.65 a kg and wheat at Rs 4.15 per kg to the states for supply through ration shops to families covered under the BPL category. Pawar, however, was non-committal on increasing the coverage of subsidised foodgrains to include more people.
The GoM has proposed to cap prices of these medicines at the weighted average price of drugs with a minimum of one per cent market share, officials aware of the development said.
Foodgrain production stood at an all-time high of 257.44 million tonnes in 2011-12 crop year (July-June) on the back of record output of wheat and rice.
The rift between the Congress Party and Nationalist Congress Party seems to have found a new battleground Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank.
The Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank have also expressed their worries over high inflation.
The central government is considering an expansion of the list of fertilisers that are eligible for subsidy.
Drug banks, cancer fund now health ministry's babies.
Social activist Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death entered the third day on Thursday even as a large number of people from various walks of life continued to extend support to the crusader for a stronger anti-corruption law.
Sonia made the announcement while addressing a press conference at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence at 7, Race Course Road.
To offer some relief to farmers in drought-affected states, a ministerial panel has decided to increase the number of guaranteed work days under MGNREGA to 150 days and cut interest rates on crop loans to 7 per cent for one year, according to sources.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government would follow an inclusive policy wherein both APL and below poverty line families will get foodgrains at cheaper rates. He added that the annual subsidy burden on the government would come around to Rs 50,000 crore.
The Supreme Court made it clear on Tuesday that it had ordered free distribution of foodgrains to the poor instead of allowing it to rot and rejected Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's contention that it was a suggestion which cannot be implemented.
The Maharashtra government can do little beyond using its good offices to pursue the Bajaj Auto management to revive production at its mother plant in Akurdi, near Pune.
A Cabinet reshuffle is likely by July 10, a fortnight before the monsoon session of Parliament begins. The Congress wants its allies like the Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to hand over some of their high-profile and 'profitable' portfolios. The ruling party reportedly wants Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to part with the food portfolio, so that it can be allotted to Congress's new found ally Ajit Singh.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule sprang to her family's defence, saying none of her relatives has anything to do with any of the Indian Premier League franchises.
The meeting was earlier planned to discuss price rise and formulate an action plan to combat it. But as Union agriculture, food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar is in Maharashtra and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is camping in Kolkata, the meeting has been rescheduled for October 19.
The octogenarian leader said he agreed with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that these tactics to gain free publicity should be ignored. Without naming Raj, Thackeray said 'chicken in state politics are suffering from bird flu of depression', and hence they have no value.
"The first incident was reported to the local government on January 4. They communicated it to us on January 11," agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said.
The National Democratic Alliance and the Left Front have agreed to discuss the Nandigram issue in Parliament. The discussion will be held under rule 193 that does not entail voting.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting on Wednesday on bailing out the textile industry following the surge in input costs due to a sharp hike in the minimum support price of cotton in September.
The credit disbursement in 2009-10 fiscal was nearly Rs 3.84 lakh crore (Rs 3.84 trillion) against the target of Rs 3.25 lakh crore (Rs 3.25 trillion).
The policy, among other things, aims to improve the economic viability of farming by substantially improving the net income of farmers in addition to improving productivity, profitability, land, water and support services and provide appropriate price policy, risk management measures.
Observing that the policy was primarily based on the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers headed by M S Swaminathan, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the draft policy suggested by the panel as well as suggestions received from various central ministries and state governments were taken into account while finalising it.
Stressing the role of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act during drought, the chief minister said Bihar might require Rs 23,000 crore -- Rs 10,000 crore under GR, more than Rs 10,000 crore under NREGA and over Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) for subsidy on diesel and other farm inputs.
BCCI president-elect Ranbir Singh Mahendra the recent elections were held 'in accordance with the rules of the BCCI constitution'.
Though no decision was taken by the EGOM as it was the first meeting of the EGOM, environmental groups and those in possession of the land have raised their ante against such a plan.
A group of ministers will meet in New Delhi on November 14 to deliberate on the issue on job reservation in the wake of a Supreme Court verdict directing exclusion of the 'creamy layer' from the benefit of quotas.\n
The senator is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday.
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