The protesting farmers celebrated Holi at the borders and maintained that their agitation will continue till the farm laws are repealed and a separate law on minimum support price is enacted, it said in a statement.
State links PDS to UID to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain.
The special investigation cell of the Arunachal Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested former state chief minister and senior Congress leader Gegong Apang from Itanagar in connection with Rs 1,000 crore Public Distribution System scam.
The finance minister, in her Budget speech, should focus more on what she is directly responsible for, rather than on programmes where her role is largely supportive, notes Nitin Desai.
'It has changed the political character of India by ejecting socialism as an ideology from the Constitution of India.'
The answer depends on your financial goals and risk appetite, says Certified Financial Planner Ramalingam Kalirajan, and explains why.
Given the possibilities that next year's assembly elections could throw up, Stalin told the state assembly that an interim report had to be submitted by January 2026. The outcomes may well find its way into the DMK's poll manifesto, thus seeking to keep the electoral focus still on the BJP-ruled Centre and Prime Minister Modi, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Maharashtra government has embarked on an ambitious plan to issue computerised, barcode-based ration cards within the next eight months in a bid to overhaul the operations of the Public Distribution System. Spanco Telesystems and Solutions Ltd, a leading systems integration and business process outsourcing companies has bagged from the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection department to execute this plan.
Earlier this week, the Empowered Group of Ministers approved the draft of the Food Security Bill, which will entitle 75 per cent of rural households and 50 per cent of urban households to subsidised foodgrain.
The leaders later submitted to the government, what they said, were over 5 crore signatures collected during a two-month long nationwide campaign on these demands. The signatures on the charter of demands were delivered on a truck.
The government data released on May 17 showed a minor dip in headline inflation to 8.66 per cent in April, driven by a moderation in food and manufactured items prices.
India's monstrous public distribution system ensured that the government, and not private players, became a huge hoarder of food grains.
A much stronger focus was required on irrigation and water management. The FM merely acknowledged that it was a problem.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday refuted the claim made by the Communist Party of India-Marxist that the government had 'substantially cut' the quota of rice meant to be given to the people through the Public Distribution System. However, despite the minister's denial, the Left parties continued to insist that there has been substantial cut in the quota in West Bengal and Kerala, in particular.
Some UTs to start from April 1 and other transfers to be launched from January.
The Unique Identifiaction Authority of India is expediting creation of platforms for implementing the model, likely to include coverage of the Public Distribution System and other areas of subsidy, and also government's social sector schemes.
The demand for cash transfers was highest in Bihar at 54 per cent, followed by 34 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 22 per cent in Jharkhand, where the access to PDS foodgrain was found limited.
Expanding its commitment to provide subsidised foodgrain to the poor, the Manmohan Singh government is looking at a host of social sector initiatives along with its soon-to-be-unveiled Food Security Bill.
In order check irregularities, Bihar has decided to introduce biometric cards in the Public Distribution System, officials said on Monday.
Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang was arrested by the Special Investigation Cell on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore public distribution system scam.
The 12-digit unique number that the UIDAI will generate will be combined with the the smart card project of the Oil Ministry for distribution of PDS kerosene and domestic LPG through biometric identification of beneficiaries.
Nilekani proposes centralised PDS network, model PDS software for transparency.
To tighten the noose around unscrupulous transporters indulging in diverting public distribution system (PDS) food to the open market, the Delhi government has decided to install global positioning system (GPS) in vehicles ferrying ration items such as wheat and rice.
About 110 tonnes had been loaded additionally in the 55 goods wagons.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday urged the states to strengthen PDS to enable the government insulate the poor from the adverse impact of inflation.
Trade union leaders in the pre-Budget consultation with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded reigning in prices of essential items and increasing exemption limit on income tax to Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000).
AI-driven and deepfake-enabled cyberattacks are anticipated to become increasingly prevalent in 2025 with sectors like healthcare and finance most prone targets, according to a recent report. The India Cyber Threat Report 2025 by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Seqrite, spotlighted the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and the rise of AI-driven attacks as a major concern. "Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to develop highly sophisticated phishing campaigns utilising deepfake technology and personalised attack vectors, making them harder to detect.
The agitation against ration dealers broke out in Bankura district on September 16 and spread to Birbhum, Burdwan and Mushidabad districts claiming five lives, including two in police firing. The FCI CMD said the offtake (lifting the foodgrain) of the state was lower against the Central allocation during August and September. He said the attack on ration dealers may be because of some other reasons.
Six Communist Party of India leaders, including a legislator, were beaten up, five ration shops were ransacked and two houses set ablaze as the violence against corruption in the public distribution system went on unabated in Bardhaman, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal.
To check price rise, the government is importing some of the commodities to bridge the supply-demand gap and strengthening mechanism for providing subsidised items to poor, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.
Concerned over rising food prices, planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday pitched for increasing supplies through imports and better use of the public distribution system.
The state of Bihar will now monitor the public distribution system (PDS) through laptops to check corruption and to provide help to those living below poverty line (BPL), to get their monthly quota of essential commodities including food grain and kerosene oil, officials said.
With inflation emerging as a major concern of public policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked states to check against hoarding of essential items and streamline Public Distribution System to help the poor.
It will also end the below and above poverty line (BPL and APL) demarcation, prevailing in the current public distribution system.
Eleven people, including three senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, were arrested in two separate cases this year for allegedly harassing and threatening those who sought details under the Right to Information Act.
The government on Tuesday approved the revised Food Security Bill to provide for uniform 5 kg of foodgrains per month per person at a highly subsidised price of Rs 1 to 3 per kg to two-thirds of the country's population.
Officials said the Centre would have to bear an additional subsidy burden of Rs 4,161 crore this financial year, if this proposal was implemented.
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 fiscal deficit, estimated at 4.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, is expected to be around 5.6 per cent, mainly on account of factors like subdued revenue collection, poor disinvestment receipts, high global commodity prices and increasing subsidy bill.
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