'We have created massive infrastructure in the past six years.'
Almost a year after he was forced to resign in the aftermath of the terror attack on Mumbai, senior Nationalist Congress Party leader R R Patil is back in the saddle as Maharashtra home minister. NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar will handle the prestigious Power portfolio, in addition to the Water Resources Ministry he handled earlier. NCP leader Jayant Patil, who was home minister in the outgoing government, will now handle the Rural Development Ministry.
After the recent squabble between India and Bangladesh over the Tipaimukh dam, a new row seems to be brewing between the two otherwise friendly neighbours. Last week, Bangladesh sent a letter to authorities in India to express its objection to the construction of two hydroelectric dams on two rivers in Meghalaya.
The Group of Ministers, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, met on Monday for discussion with Union ministry secretary-level officers.
India to exploit to the maximum the capacity of Pak-controlled rivers -- Indus, Chenab, Jhelum as per the Indus Treat, source said.
A high-level inter-ministerial team conducted a six-hour investigation in Badhaal village, Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir, to ascertain the causes of death of 17 members of three families under mysterious circumstances. The team, led by a director-rank officer in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, collected samples and briefed by senior district, health and police officers. The team's visit follows the deaths of 16 people between December 7 and January 19. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities focusing on potential neurotoxins and a spring that tested positive for pesticides.
Central officials said despite many enquiries by the ministry about the condition of the embankments, the state government kept silent. It did not bother to inform the ministry even when the embankments gave way, they said. In fact, the Bihar water resources department's daily newsletter said a day before the breach that the embankments were standing strong, officials said.
The government on Monday said that it had ascertained that construction activity on Brahmaputra River inside Chinese territory would not adversely impact the downstream areas of India.
Seeking to calm passions over Mullaperiyar Dam issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa saying nothing should be said or done to create "undue alarm" and hoped the issue would be sorted out amicably through dialogue.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Thursday found himself at the centre of yet another controversy over a letter he wrote to the Union water resources ministry seeking release of funds for an irrigation project in Maharashtra, in which an associate of his is said to be a contractor.
Modi's irrigation push in the Budget is aimed at scoring on the political front along with achieving growth targets
With the summer approaching sooner than scheduled, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha, and West Bengal have already started experiencing heat waves with temperatures soaring above 40°C.
'If you don't fulfil whatever they ask, you are in trouble.'
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday retained 46 ministries as she allotted portfolios of Rural Development and Panchayti Raj, Health and Mines among her Cabinet ministers.
The Tamil Nadu government welcomed the decision, hailing it as a 'grand victory for the 'Amma (Jayalalithaa) government' and the state's farmers'.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
A plea seeking ban on 2018 Indian Premier League cricket matches on the ground that it leads to wastage of lakhs of litres of water, on Wednesday, prompted the National Green Tribunal to seek responses from the Centre, Board of Control for Cricket in India and others.
India's Republic Day parade featured a tri-services tableau showcasing the country's increasing focus on enhancing synergy among its armed forces. The tableau, themed "Shashakt aur Surakshit Bharat" (strong and secure India), displayed a battlefield scenario with indigenous military equipment, including the Arjun main battle tank, Tejas MKII fighter aircraft, and the destroyer INS Visakhapatnam. The display highlighted the Ministry of Defence's commitment to boosting tri-services synergy and jointness in preparation for future conflicts.
The Group of Ministers constituted for the creation of a separate state of Telangana on Wednesday discussed the sharing of river water and irrigation resources in Andhra Pradesh after the state's bifurcation, but failed to arrive at a resolution.
As per norms, sanction for prosecution of government employees accused of corruption has to be given within four months' stipulated time.
Gadkari is credited with the construction of more than 90,000 km of national highways and 30,000 km of new roads in the country in the last 10 years.
India's water future remains very bleak. The monsoon season, which once extended to 4 months, is now down to less than 30 days of heavy rain.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
The National Democratic Alliance government has asked states to emulate the Gujarat water management model to address the problem of water scarcity.The Centre has forwarded a compact disc received from Gujarat government's Water and Sanitation Management Organisation on the subject "The state-wide water supply grid" to the states to study how the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state managed the problem of water scarcity.
The aim of the programme is to increase the water table in the stressed areas through dams, ponds, and afforestation. According to a NITI Aayog study, by 2030, the country's water demand is projected to be twice the available supply, implying severe water scarcity for hundreds of millions of people and an eventual 6 per cent loss in the country's GDP.
Maharashtra government on Saturday gave a clean chit to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam as it tabled in the Legislative Assembly the report of Madhav Chitale committee on the issue alongwith the Action Taken Report.
It has noted that melting glaciers due to any impact of climate change will not only severely affect the flow in Himalayan river system but will also give rise to natural disasters.
MNREGS labourers are usually engaged in irrigation projects.
The statement of the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office comes on the heels of India issuing a notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the IWT in view of Islamabad's "intransigence" in complying with the dispute redressal mechanism of the pact that was inked over six decades ago for sharing of waters of cross-border rivers.
The ministry said it has launched an inquiry to ascertain as to how this "factual information" was not included in the ministry's response to an RTI query.
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According to the latest data, until May, 48.3 per cent of the total 207 projects worth Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) or above, also termed as mega projects, faced delays and witnessed a cost overrun of 19.2 per cent from the originally-sanctioned Rs 656,000 to Rs 781,000.
The counsel for Punjab told a bench headed by Justice SK Kaul that the state government is very keen to resolve the issue amicably.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on Monday sparred at the meeting of Cauvery supervisory committee in New Delhi over the latter's share of the Cauvery water.
A senior official of the Union water resources ministry said it was an unprecedented situation on the Chinese side where Tsangpo broke a 150-year record with swollen waters and hence China has shared the information with India.
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Siddaramaiah added that all efforts would be made to provide drinking water to Bengaluru and other places as also for crops.
With this decision, Malik will be left with no portfolio in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
At the review meeting, chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba in New Delhi, the IMD said above normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of northeast, east and central India and some parts of northwest India.
After her elevation as defence minister, Sitharaman has become a member of the cabinet committee on security headed by the prime minister.
