With a clear eye on the coming Lok Sabha elections, the United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday showered a bonanza of projects and schemes that are impossible to be completed during its remaining life span of another 100 days, with many projects set to be achieved only by 2012 when the 11th Plan ends.
Will it be home or defence for Amit Shah?
"The prime minister asked the ministers to stay alert on the global financial situation," Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Dr T V Somanathan is the first finance secretary to be appointed Cabinet secretary since 1985. His appointment at this juncture seems to carry much meaning for the forthcoming trajectory of reforms and restructuring of India's steel frame.
With India joining the project, it would be called TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline.
The commerce ministry is preparing a note for the Cabinet proposing further relief for the rupee-hit exporters, especially those in the job-oriented textiles and leather sectors. The package is likely to be cleared by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday before it goes to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs later this week, he said.
The reconstituted Group of Ministers on the Bhopal gas tragedy will meet on Friday, Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the panel to submit its report to the Cabinet in 10 days.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday deferred a decision on the package on pricing and distribution of sensitive petroleum products.
The Union Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved a slew of social sector initiatives, including treating the backlog of reserved vacancies of other backward classes (OBCs) as a distinct group not subject to the limit of 50 per cent reservation in a year.
The government on Friday appointed noted economist Arvind Virmani as the new chief economic advisor in finance ministry.
CCI, sector regulators may consult each other if jurisdictions overlap
The government on Thursday formally allowed Swedish furniture major IKEA to invest Rs 10,500 crore for setting up single brand retail stores to sell mostly home furnishing items.
The proposal was mooted by the department of industrial policy and promotion in the ministry of commerce and industry.
About 10,000 km of state highways were declared national highways during the last 10 years.
Private companies coming up with mega projects may have to bring in minimum 51 per cent equity in order to avail the proposed 'viability gap funding' scheme for which government has earmarked Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) this fiscal.
India-born billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal's proposed Rs 3,365 crore investment in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's Bhatinda refinery in Punjab will have to wait for government approval as the Cabinet did not take up the issue on May 24.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs did not take up the issue of hike in petroleum prices on Thursday, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said.
A high-level meeting will be convened soon to decide on probing the India operations of Chinese Telecom companies -- 'Huawei' and 'ZTE' -- against the backdrop of the US calling the two firms a threat to American national security.
Mandatory pvt participation, annual tariff hikes, conforming to FRBM limits seen difficult.
The government on Thursday decided to sell 10 per cent shares in Nalco and Neyveli Lignite Corporation.
Dr Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, had to literally face a trial-by-fire to ensure widespread acceptance of his path-breaking Union Budget of 1991 that saw the nation rise from its darkest financial crises.
The decision to partially decontrol the sugar sector, the only industry left under the government control, was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Thursday.
With a spate of clearances, including relief to companies facing delays in development of coal mines, the government is getting its act together.
India's foreign investment panel has approved Swedish retailer IKEA's Rs 10,000 crore plan to set up shop in the country, the trade minister said.
The much-awaited special purpose vehicle for funding infrastructure projects is all set to take off by next month with the Prime Minister's Committee on Infrastructure giving it a green signal.
The government is likely to empower ONGC Videsh, the foreign arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, to make investments of up to Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in oil and gas properties abroad without going to the Cabinet for approval.
Foreign airlines can now pick up 49 per cent stake in India's domestic carriers, a step that is expected to give a boost to cash-strapped aviation industry.
This will enable security agencies to tap any call, real-time chat and data without help from the operators.
The scheme is expected to activate the measures announced for the housing construction sector under the economic stimulus packages. It will increase the stock of houses ranging from 300 sq ft to 1,200 sq ft plinth area built at affordable rates on land provided by state governments.
A meeting of the CCEA is likely to be held next week.
Around 27 Indian IT firms, including majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro Ltd, are understood to have submitted their expressions of interest (EoIs) to develop a technology platform for the Centre's Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) project.
Announcing the decision after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Finance Minister P Chiadambaram said this is an ad-hoc measure and the recommendation of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices has been referred to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The CACP had recommended the paddy MSP at Rs 1,000 per quintal for 2008-09 Kharif season.
It is more than certain that coal supply is a major constraint on power production; and power is a major constraint on industrial growth.
How the first FDI in aviation was achieved.
According to a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices will consider the above elements while recommending the MSP. The CACP, an advisory body under the agriculture ministry, recommends MSPs of over 20 crops, including wheat and rice.
The government on Friday approved the acquisition of drug company Ranbaxy Laboratories by Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo envisaging foreign investment of around Rs 21,500 crore (Rs 215 billion).
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