The controversial 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra will be implemented despite all hurdles, union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said here Friday. He said that whatever be the opposition, the government would go ahead with the JNPP, taking into consideration all aspects of environment and security norms. Ramesh was speaking at a press conference here Friday afternoon where he addressed several issues concerning his...

The government on Monday told the Supreme Court that it had given its consent for a CBI probe into alleged corruption in the utilisation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) funds in Orissa. “The consent to have an investigation into the alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds for the scheme has been given by the minister concerned (Ministry of Rural Development),” Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising told a bench headed...

The scheme has reduced rural migration and promoted financial inclusion, but needs to create more durable assets. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) – the only government social welfare scheme named after the other Gandhi, not belonging to Nehru-Gandhi family – has recently completed five years. The performance of the scheme, considered a major pillar of UPA government's strategy of inclusive growth, has been a matter of debate. The...

Misleading data cited in a seminar paper on the situation of the minority community in the State tend to detract from the Left Front government's exceptional record on this count. Abusaleh Shariff, the Chief Economist of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, who was the Member-Secretary of the Sachar Committee, presented a paper on the socio-economic development of Muslims in West Bengal, at a seminar organised by the Institute of...

Ignoring the separatists' call for boycott, residents of this south Kashmir block today turned out in numbers to cast votes in the first phase of Panchayat elections, which are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 10 years. Men and women turned up in dozens at polling stations earlier than the scheduled 8.00 am start. Polling is being held in eight blocks including Bishnah, Samba and Udhampur in Jammu...