Can the newly-minted Jal Shakti ministry bring water to some 19 crore Indian households that have never had taps or heard the sound of flowing water, wonders Vinayak Chatterjee.
Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, Chhagan Bhujbal, has retaining the home ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at previous governments, saying they seemed to hate development and "looted" public money to win elections.
Just 4.6 per cent of all rural households in the country pay income tax while such households with salaried income are close to 10 per cent, the first socio economic and caste census released in eight decades said.
'Steven MacQueen, who was working for the [Afghan] Ministry of Rural Development and Rehabilitation, was killed last night,' British embassy press officer Colin Ball said.
The rally will have night stops at Modinagar, Muradnagar and Ghaziabad before entering the capital. One thousand young students from the north-east and Jammu and Kashmir are also taking part in the rally.
Singh said it is the principle of BJP not to promote nepotism and fight against dynasty rule and his decision to resign is in line with the party's principles.
Portfolios were distributed 2 weeks after the MVA govt was sworn-in. Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde will be home minister while NCP's Jayant Patil will be finance minister.
Several houses in Edavanakkad and Puthu Vype, in Ernakulam district, were destroyed and five persons killed when tsunamis hit the Kerala coast on December 26.
A 14-member council of ministers was sworn in Patna by Governor Phagu Chauhan on Monday and the BJP bagged seven berths.
The major initiatives of the Modi government have been launched to ensure cleanliness across the country
Many farmers in drought hit states are seeking MGNREGA work but the state government's coffers do not have enough fund to pay the salaries of these workers.
The government is planning to launch a scheme to improve healthcare in villages by involving private doctors and NGOs.
The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.
The finance ministry is working on a second relief package for the Indian economy hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the contagion, sources said. Last month, the government announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package in the form of foodgrains and cash transfers for the poor and vulnerable section of the society to help them deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown. Now, the government is working on a stimulus to be given to hard-hit sectors of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, sources said, adding that an announcement is expected in the next few days depending on the severity of the pandemic.
Several loyal party old guards were unhappy and had expressed their displeasure openly about "migrants" scuttling the chances of them becoming ministers.
Responding to a query about corruption in the scheme's implementation, Minister of State for Rural Development Upendra Kushwaha said almost all members know about it and added that steps are being taken for improving the scheme.
The government has budgeted for total expenditure of Rs 34.83 lakh crore or 6.8 per cent of GDP. While the net tax revenue rose from Rs 5,75,697 crore in October 2020 to Rs 10,53,135 crore till October 2021, a growth of 82.93 per cent annualized, total expenditure rose only by 9.95 per cent, led by infra spending to Rs 18,26,725 crore from Rs 16,61,454 crore during the same period, the RBI said in the financial stability report.
Credit to priority sectors as well as small and medium industries will be discussed to find ways to accelerate economic growth.
Major focus will be on adequately funding existing schemes to ensure their timely completion before the next General Elections.
Sanitation is always clubbed with other departments, which lead to its neglect, says Devanik Saha.
CM Stalin has a procedural problem. Nominating new ministers would entail his having to seek formal permission from governor R N Ravi. Stalin does not want to interact with the person of this governor, as far as possible, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Three days before the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, April 8, released its manifesto with a focus on development and national security.
Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is unhappy over being given only one ministerial berth and that too heavy industries portfolio in the Narendra Modi government and has complained to the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha who joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday said his tipping point to join the party was when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee got attacked in Nandigram.
Spurring the economy, currently in the throes of a slowdown, remains the prime focus for most ministries, but the government is also looking to make women's welfare and environmental protection key to policymaking in this term.
But the measures, particularly in agriculture, may not be enough to revive the sector and double the farm income, says S Mahendra Dev.
A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
The list has been sent to Governor Ram Naik for approval.
Timely onset of south-west monsoon is crucial for kharif (summer) crops.
The appointment of new expenditure secretary comes a month-and-a-half ahead of the Budget for 2020-21 to be presented on February 1.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate the new building to house the Environment Ministry.
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
As spending on infrastructure has three times the desired impact, the government's Rs 111 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline should be accelerated: Assocham president, Vineet Aggarwal
The chief minister, who had on Wednesday expanded his new cabinet by inducting 29 ministers, had played it safe by and large retaining old faces, as 23 of them were Ministers in the previous Yediyurappa cabinet, while six were new.
The move to resume work in ministries comes nearly a month after the government issued work from home protocols in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Most farmers depend on rainwater for farming.
Drought hit Bihar plans to increase the number of days of work from 100 to 150 under the rural job scheme to check migration of the poorest of poor in search of livelihood by providing employment opportunity locally.
