Questioning the idea of market-determined prices for natural gas favoured by the petroleum ministry, the Planning Commission said on Tuesday that given the shortage of the fuel, the government had a role to play.
'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'
After books by a former media adviser to the Prime Minister and a top bureaucrat, a member of the outgoing Planning Commission has added grist to the mill saying it was Sonia Gandhi who called the shots on all appointments and policies of UPA governments.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday made a case for increasing prices of petrol and diesel arguing that it was not a good idea to check inflation by keeping prices of petroleum products low.
Even the United Progressive Alliance constituent Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday rubbished the Planning Panel's claim that the number of poor people had declined to 21.9 per cent.
Arvind Subramanian, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, was informally recommended to the post by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Batting for the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry, the Planning Commission on Friday said concessions to special economic zones should be at par with those provided to infrastructure projects.\n\n
The Planning Commission may suggest an increase in education fees for higher education to Finance Minister P Chidambaram this year. Do you think this hike is justified?
The government will also set up an IIM at Shillong.
As part of the initiative, Planning Commission is organising a one-day conference on 'Building Infrastructure: Opportunities and Challenges' on October 7.
Economist Arvind Panagariya is the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, while economist Bibek Debroy and scientist V K Saraswat are the two full-time members of the Aayog.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday warned that sector-specific regulators could become 'tension points' between them and the ministries and said there should be a common regulator for transport and energy sectors.
During Vajpayee's tenure, he was there as an indispensable insider, witness to every action that had an impact on history: Pokhran-II (nuclear tests in 1998), the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indo-Pak Agra Summit in 2001, intense engagement with the United States on nuclear issues besides the Kandahar hijack.
Both sides have already agreed on restructuring of the schemes and curtailing the subsidy bill, Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting.
India may be trying to become a crude oil refining hub but the country's apex planning body has raised doubts on the feasibility of adding more refining capacity.
Officials said as part of the reorganisation in the Commission, a move is afoot to strengthen the PEO with new roles, powers and jurisdiction.
Ahluwalia said that emerging markets would need to focus more on FDI and bonds among other measures to make up for the fall in bank credit.
Though there is a demand from the states for continuance of the 75:25 funding pattern under the SSA, at present, the Plan panel is not considering the pattern change.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia says investors are aware the government is addressing various problems in the economy.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the country would need to spend eight per cent of its GDP on the sector during the 11th Plan to ensure a 10 per cent economic growth.
After Raj Babbar's comment -- that a hearty meal in Mumbai can be bought for Rs 12 -- another Congress leader on Thursday claimed that just Rs 5 was sufficient for a meal in Delhi.
Six activists belonging to Communist Party of India-Marxist and its youth wing Students Federation of India, including two women, were arrested in New Delhi on Monday for allegedly assaulting West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission office two weeks back.
The Planning Commission on Tuesday said investment in infrastructure will have to be about $350 billion in the next five years to propel overall growth of economy to over 8 per cent.
It is likely to take at least six months for the proposed new state of Telangana to see the light of the day as the move involves a number of steps, including adoption of state re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority.
The Planning Commission in its draft approach paper to the 11th five year plan would stress on doubling agricultural growth and bridging regional imablances among other things.
It is time to shrug off the ideological shackles about the way we work, play and live, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Ahead of the general elections, a slew of states and also the Centre had doled out sops to the marginalised sections, including the farmers and the poor.
Major economic policy reforms in India that require legislative changes is most likely to slip away until the next general elections, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday.
The tug of war between the finance ministry and the Planning Commission over more resources for plan projects worsened, with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia saying he was keen on getting more money for the 11th Plan.
The pipeline for well-qualified and experienced policy economists at senior levels of government has broken, leading to a growing dearth of suitable candidates for top economist positions.
Ahluwalia also said that markets in India has withstood the pressures of the time very well and has come a long way over the years.
The government's decision to release the reports comes two days after over 200 scholars from across the globe issued a statement demanding release of all withheld reports produced by the NSO, including the household consumer expenditure survey that was junked.
This is more than double the money that the state got during the Xth plan.
Communist Party of India-Marxist's student wing Students Federation of India on Thursday claimed that none of its activists were involved in the heckling of West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra in New Delhi and described the incident as "unfortunate".
The government has plans for the third round of spectrum auction and may put on block 2G GSM airwaves in Delhi and Mumbai circles, and CDMA spectrum in 13 circles that remained unsold in the previous sale held in March, according to sources.
According to reports, the Trinamool Congress workers are staging rallies, holding protests in Kolkata and other parts of the state to protest against the SFI attack on their leaders.
An upset West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday cancelled her scheduled meeting with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and left for Kolkata, a day after she was gheraoed and her minister Amit Mitra manhandled by Left protesters in New Delhi.
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