"I believe the biggest issues in front of us are malnutrition and toilets, these are the two faces of one coin... I have MNREGA, PMGSY, drinking water etc under me but I spend maximum time on toilet only," said Ramesh, who holds the portfolios of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation, in what apparently was his take on the toilet controversy for which the plan panel has drawn flak.
Key point under deliberation remains the requisite number of people whose consent is required for acquisition of land by govt.
Days after he kicked up a row by stating that there are more temples than toilets in India, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday urged women not to get married into families that do not have toilets in their homes.
The induction of Shiv Pratap Shukla, a Brahmin face in the BJP, is being seen as a well-calculated move to keep the upper caste in good humour.
Union Minister for Rural Development and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Friday said the land for the controversial Adarsh Society belonged to the state and was never reserved for defence personnel or Kargil war heroes. In an affidavit filed before the two-member Adarsh Commission, set up to probe irregularities in the scam-tainted Adarsh Society, Deshmukh said, "The records clearly show that the land belonged to the state government."
Industry representatives have said from the second half of the year, they hope to see revival because the rural economy is looking up and the projects the government has announced.
The party also decided to field Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh after its earlier decision to deny the five-term MLA, who is the son-in-law of its stalwart leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, renomination from his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat. This triggered a backlash from a section of party workers.
In an apparent answer to crusader Anna Hazare's team mobilising the masses suffering corruption of the lower level bureaucracy, the government has quietly kicked of drafting of a Bill for creating a mechanism for the public services grievance redressal.
After targeting Union Minister Smriti Irani on her educational qualifications, the Congress has questioned Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde on the same count, alleging that he "graduated in 1976 from a college established in 1978".
The RBI Deputy Governor, V Leeladhar has joined the board of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
Eshwarappa, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Shivamogga and who had been a long time associate of Yediyurappa, met Governor Vajubhai Vala and submitted a five-page letter on "serious lapses and authoritarian way of running the administration" by the chief minister.
As Madhya Pradesh goes to polls, all eyes will be on 29 key assembly seats, out of the total 230, where the contest will be keenly watched.
The UP government is also planning to free up its own land from illegal encroachment to set up these new cow- shelters in "safe locations" and with full facility for fodder and water.
The number of poor people in India fell by about 415 million between 2005-06 and 2019-21, a "historic change" and a demonstration that the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty by 2030 is possible to achieve, even at a large scale, according to the UN.
The JD-U also accused the ruling BJP of having "authoritarian" tendencies and destabilising non-BJP governments in several states, including Delhi and Jharkhand besides Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra earlier.
'The Centre and state need to take a unified approach and take concerted action before this matter assumes menacing proportions because unemployment, the drug trade and the levels of frustration among the youth make them vulnerable to any maverick who promises something better.'
The government is undecided on the criteria to be used to identify families living below poverty line in India.
The Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme, 'Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan', to "empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens". Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch this scheme on June 20 through video conference in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Agatha Sangma, the youngest minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, said on Sunday that her father and Nationalist Congress Party leader Parno A Sangma no longer had any issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origins.
Taking potshots at senior Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, the Shiv Sena on Monday said it will be Narendra Modi who will have the final word on the issue of chief ministerial candidate in the assembly polls.
A meeting between Mann and several farmer leaders took place at Punjab Bhawan to discuss their demands, including a bonus on wheat and beginning paddy sowing from June 10, the sources said.
In 2007, India slashed the additional customs duty it charged on imported (which were up to 150 per cent of value of imports depending on the spirits), but simultaneously hiked the basic customs duties to 150 per cent from 100 per cent.
The BJP senior leadership believes the YSRCP is a more reliable potential ally post-2024 Lok Sabha election than the TDP.
In a bid to augment its revenue, the postal department would soon commence life insurance business, Union Minister for IT and Telecom A Raja has said.
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.
There are reports that payments of a fortnight's wages were made with one or two month delay in many panchayats.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma takes on Narendra Modi, says: Gujrat cannot be sold as a model state as it has many flaws.
'We want to make sustainability affordable.' 'We tell everyone, don't just recycle, Craste it!'
The Congress party on Tuesday vowed to oppose the present format of the land bill both inside the Parliament and outside.
The long-awaited high-speed 5G services are expected to be rolled out in about a month, Minister of State for Telecom Devusinh Chauhan said on Monday. Addressing the inaugural event of the International Telecommunication Union's Regional Standardisation Forum (RSF) for Asia and Oceania region, Chauhan said India is likely to deploy indigenously developed and manufactured 5G telecom gears by end of this year for 5G services. "In about a month, 5G mobile services will roll out in the country, which will have multiplier effects on the development of all sectors.
Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather's record run in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly ended on Tuesday when he lost from Charar-e-Sharief while his National Conference colleague Ali Mohammad Sagar equalled his feat of sixth consecutive victories by winning Khanyar seat.
Industry players believe the new DFI model will be initially risk capital, which will then be used to mobilise additional resources from development agencies such as World Bank.
Several loyal party old guards were unhappy and had expressed their displeasure openly about "migrants" scuttling the chances of them becoming ministers.
There has been a decline of four points in male U5MR and three points in female U5MR during the corresponding period.
India appears poised to sustain its growth in a more durable way than before with the economy carrying the momentum from FY23 into the current fiscal year, the Annual Economic Review for 2022-23 released by the finance ministry on Thursday said. However, the report cautioned that escalation of geopolitical stress, enhanced volatility in global financial systems, sharp price correction in global stock markets, a high magnitude of El-Nino impact, and modest trade activity and FDI inflows, are factors that could constrain the pace of growth. "Should these developments deepen and dampen growth in the subsequent quarters, the external sector may challenge India's growth outlook for FY24," the finance ministry said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to get reservation for women in legislatures promises to shape the political discourse ahead of key state polls and Lok Sabha elections, and a parliamentary approval to the long-contested proposal will be used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to burnish his credentials as a decisive leader.
The collision took place near Devdahan village under Dhanarua police station when the Minister of State for Rural Development was going to Patna and the youth was on his way home in Bir village under the same police station.
A sumptuous meal of Dal, Bati, Churma or Jodhpuri Kabuli pulao, followed by a lip-smacking dessert of Bikaneri ghevar or Jodhpuri mawa kachauri.
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