The current cost of the food subsidy is Rs 1 trillion.
'Sri Anna' means the best among all the food grains," Modi said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government is close to reaching saturation in implementing social sector schemes designed to provide basic necessities to the poor. Addressing the students of Hindu College on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, she said the time has come for India to become economically 'aatmanirbhar' (self-reliant) and march forward to becoming a developed nation by 2047. Regretting that 60 years since Independence passed without any sense of urgency, Sitharaman said, "We have laid the material foundation for a Viksit Bharat" and empowering people by providing basic necessities to all.
The programme was cleared at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, official sources said.
When KV Thomas took over as minister of state for food and consumer affairs (independent charge) on January 19, 2011, he was tasked with taking forward one single, important objective: expedite the implementation of the National Food Security Bill.
According to the Cabinet note, 75 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population are to be brought under the food security umbrella.
With lakhs of these workers stranded on highways and inter-state bus terminus, the government stepped in and asked states and union territories to immediately set up relief camps for migrant workers and others who are returning to their home states or trying to do so during the nationwide lockdown period.
The move by the BSF has not been seen kindly by Yadav's family which alleged that the trooper was being "threatened and tortured mentally".
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also took note of the affidavit of the Manipur chief secretary that there was no short supply of basic commodities like food and medicines for people facing economic blockade.
The central government on Friday stopped the doorstep delivery of ration scheme MMGGRY (Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana) of the Delhi government, scheduled to be launched on March 25.
It would also be the fifth month of consecutive drops in the index.
Inflation dipped to a five-month low of 5.19 per cent in July mainly on account of decline in prices of some food articles, vegetables and protein rich items.
The price stabilisation fund will call for processing capacity for perishables.
As Manipur grapples with protracted ethnic strife, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and the state government to ensure uninterrupted supply of basic commodities like food and medicines to people facing economic blockade in certain areas of the border state.
European Commission has claimed that its agriculture proposal submitted to the World Trade Organisation is fair and a win-win with sufficient safeguards to protect food security of developing countries including India.
The government has decided to hold off introducing the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for additional sectors until it verifies the efficacy of existing initiatives. Top government officials have received mixed feedback on the scheme, including insights from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, people aware of the matter said. "There are no new PLI schemes in the offing.
'Somebody was using somebody to make statements that will stir the stock market and lead to a surge.' 'A sudden surge and a sudden crash is always an ideal situation for people to make illicit gains and then siphoning off the money.'
Rescue workers pulled out all 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in a multi-agency rescue operation that hovered between hope and despair for 16 days.
'Had they agreed to our demands that we raised two years ago, we would have never started our agitation again.'
The bill, considered by many in the Congress as a gamechanger which could boost its prospects in the Lok Sabha election, was tabled in the Budget Session but could not be taken up for discussion as Opposition stalled Parliament over a rash of scams under United Progressive Alliance.
As rescuers in India on Tuesday successfully pulled out all 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in Uttarakhand after 16 days, the global media hailed the rescue operation and provided live coverage of the dramatic development.
The Congress on Saturday resolved to make the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) an 'ideological and electoral success' to free the country from 'divisive politics' and ensure that people get a government that is sensitive and accountable.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday said that the government has decided to go for open market tender to procure rice, whose process will start from Thursday.
The 77th Independence Day on Tuesday was a low-key affair in Himachal Pradesh with the traditional cultural programmes missing from official and district-level functions as the state mourns the deaths and destruction caused by incessant rains.
The government had earlier announced the country's highest civilian honour for L K Advani and Karpoori Thakur.
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss has sent a communication to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh to take appropriate measures to check this increasing trend in all nniversities and educational institutions.
In a joint memorandum of central trade unions in the pre-Budget consultation with the finance minister, the unions have also sought that big corporates and multi-nationals should not be allowed to enter retail trade and banking operations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday appealed to farmers and other stakeholders associated with the cooperative sector to make GCMMF, which owns the 'Amul' brand, the world's number one dairy company from its current eighth position. He was addressing nearly one lakh people, mostly cattle rearers and farmers, gathered at the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera area of Ahmedabad for the golden jubilee celebration of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).
This visit by the prime minister comes weeks ahead of the 'pran pratishtha' or consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.
In the chair was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader of the old school with friends across parties unlike the duo who currently run the BJP.
Nazim confirmed the meeting and said the agenda for the meeting was the request to withdraw troops by March 15.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
The government plans to convene a special session of Parliament for passage of the Food Security Bill as a divided Cabinet Thursday shunned the idea of promulgating an ordinance to implement the watershed legislation.
Officials said in the evening that a six-metre section of a steel pipe had been inserted into the bored passage. Another section was being welded into it. The plan is to insert 800 mm and 900 mm diameter pipes -- one after the other -- with the help of the giant drill till an escape passage is created for the workers stranded beyond the collapsed portion of the under-construction tunnel.
'If one looks at it closely, this reflects the BJP's frustration and its fear of defeat'
He said in the last five years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the role of zonal councils has changed from advisory nature to action platforms.
As per Delhi Government's report on 'Household Consumer Expenditure' released today, the monthly per capita expenditure of urban population has increased from Rs 1,972 in 2007 to Rs 2,078 in the year 2008 -- topping all the States and Union Territories.
The government is being pushed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to put the food bill on fast track as the Congress had promised a 'right to food' in its 2009 election manifesto, reports Anita Katyal
As a divided Union Cabinet shunned the ordinance route on the food bill issue, Congress said no option is ruled out over the legislation, though it would "prefer" its passage by Parliament.
