With the recent strain with ally Trinamool Congress fresh in mind, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said the Congress would respect "coalition dharma" in West Bengal, but would continue its 'legitimate' political activities without hurting any party.
Ramesh opposes Pawar's plan to provide cheap labour to farmers under NREGS.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday made a strong pitch for roping in organisations like those run by Catholic Church to bring development in Maoist-hit areas but asked them to respect the 'Lakshman Rekha' and not engage in "religious mobilisation".
Naidu was an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist during the Emergency and was arrested and jailed.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday attacked the media for reporting that he had offered to quit the government and work for the party, calling it "juvenile" and refusing to answer any political questions.
Somaiya had on Sunday claimed he was barred from entering Kolhapur with the district authorities citing law and order as well as security concerns following his allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif.
A senior Congress leader on Thursday alleged that a minister of the Left Front government in Tripura allegedly offered money to two gangrape rape victims to withdraw cases with the police, a charge that was denied.
Key point under deliberation remains the requisite number of people whose consent is required for acquisition of land by govt.
In a move to apparently woo All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Congress leader and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has offered an additional grant of over Rs 93 crore to her government, under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. In a letter written to the CM, Ramesh mentions that the state government had utilised 60 per cent of the over Rs 273 crore allocated under the NRDWP.
Buckling under B S Yeddyurappa's pressure, Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday decided to replace Sadananda Gowda with Jagdish Shettar as the chief minister of Karnataka marking the third change in the state in four years. The decision was taken at the BJP core group meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, sources said.
New members of the Union Council of Ministers, including Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo, were introduced to both Houses of Parliament by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. Dr Singh also introduced Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who were recently inducted as Cabinet ministers, to members of both Houses.
Amid a raging controversy over land acquisition, the government on Friday unveiled a new draft Bill putting in place a transparent, legal framework aimed at giving adequate compensation to land owners and ensuring rehabilitation of those displaced.
The key architect of the Land Acquisition Act has made notes on his opposition to the amendments suggested by the government
In a 14-page letter to Mayawati, Ramesh cited the instances of alleged irregularities and corruption in implementation of the scheme in Balrampur, Gonda, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Kushinagar, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar.
In a show of strength, Bharatiya Janata Party strongman of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday mobilised a sizeable number of legislators at a meeting convened by him apparently to exert pressure on the party central leadership to reinstate him as chief minister.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh lays out the roadmap for rural growth --- without mincing words.
Holding s strong brief for her Rural Development Minister Daddu Prasad, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday dismissed the accusation of rape against him as "false and baseless."
Amid the controversy raging over the definition of poverty, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday claimed that they have resolved the issue.
In his letter to Kumar, the veteran leader has made a series of suggestions including an amendment in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act, bringing Lord Buddha's begging bowl from Kabul and hoisting tricolor at Vaishali, the land of world's first Republic.
Speaking to Business Standard about the Land Acquisition Bill recently cleared by the Cabinet, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said though the farmers' protests in Uttar Pradesh provided the impetus, the Bill was as much a political response to a poll problem as a legal response to a social issue.
Observing that the United Progressive Alliance government's Land Acquisition Bill is "a political response to a political problem", Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said his party leader Rahul Gandhi was the force behind the speedy introduction of the bill in Lok Sabha.
The much-talked about Land Acquisition Bill, which provides for enhanced compensation to land owners and other benefits, was Monday approved by the Union Cabinet notwithstanding reservations from some senior ministers on some aspects.
"Let us both mobilise ourselves, each one in his respective country, in order to try and ease as much as possible on our businessmen, in opening barriers, easing regulations,...preventing double taxation," said Noked during the interactive session with business delegation, in New Delhi.
'Parrikar died twice...once on March 17 physically while today it is the death of his political legacy'
New Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has, however, taken up the challenge on how to synchronise the employment guarantee programme with the ground realities.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has sent a missive to the Comptroller and Auditor General, expressing concern over delayed audit reports adversely affecting the flagship National Rural Drinking Water Programme. In a personal letter to CAG Vinod Rai, he has drawn attention to the ministry not being able to release funds to the states as they are not submitting audits of accounts of grants-in-aid along with the utilisation certificates.
Union Rural development Minister Jairam Ramesh is burning the midnight oil to bring the Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 before the Cabinet on Monday so that it can be cleared and then introduced in Parliament before the Monsoon Session ends on September 8.
Withdraws petition from green tribunal, makes fresh plea for Lanjigarh project.
In the continuing war of words between Congress and Trinamool Congress, the two ruling allies in West Bengal, Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday defended his comment that Congress had not taken a VRS from the state and said it would continue to speak its mind on the state's affairs.
The dissidence-hit Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit presented a picture of unity on Monday, with rebel leaders joining Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa at a meeting to ask partymen to work for the victory of party candidates in the April 9 bypolls to three assembly constituencies.
Bihar boy Sushil Kumar, who hit the Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) Kaun Banega Crorepati jackpot, was on Monday named by the Centre as the brand ambassador for its flagship rural job guarantee scheme MNREGA.
The scheme guarantees 100 days work per household in a year and had been providing a major chunk by June each year.
The government has revised the wages for unskilled manual workers under the national rural employment guarantee scheme by indexing it to inflation, Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said.
With India accounting for 58 per cent of all open defecations in the world, the government has sought active involvement of all parties concerned, including women panchayat representatives to sensitise the people in creating awareness about public hygiene.
China has sought information on India's poverty reduction programmes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, to beef up its own strategy.
The caste and Below Poverty Line census has been suspended in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, though it goes on nonstop in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur also have simultaneous elections.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry and UIDAI in the presence of Rural Development Minister C P Joshi and UIDAI chairperson Nandan Nilekani for this.
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.
As part of efforts to mollify the dissatisfied ministers, the chief minister has despatched ministers Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy and Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy for talks with the rebellious ministers.
While one headache for the Bharatiya Janata Party is over on Wednesday with the appointment of a new chief minister in Sadananda Gowda, the other one that remains is to keep the rival faction happy.
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