Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Budget 2011-12 in Parliament on Monday promising to stimulate growth and bring down inflation. Admitting that food inflation remains a matter of concern, Pranab said that the economy could have performed better. He said that the development needs to be more inclusive while announcing increased outlay on social sector schemes. "Total food inflation is down from 20.2 per cent last year to 9.3 per cent...
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No commitments in Cancun Agreement, India's interests 'protected'
The UN climate summit reached the Cancun Agreement here early Saturday - but there was no mention of the extent to which industrialised countries would commit to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's commitment period ends.Nor was there any agreement on a second commitment period of the protocol, only a decision to keep talking about it. The Kyoto Protocol is currently the only legally binding...
More »Girls score on fellowships by Cithara Paul
Women from minority communities have outnumbered men by a long way — 417 to 338 — in winning the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad national fellowships for research, prompting the government to drop plans for reservation. Launched this year to help minority community students in higher education, this scheme offers integrated five-year fellowships in the form of financial assistance to pursue degrees such as MPhil and PhD. Girls from all communities except Buddhists...
More »Sonia concerned over dropout rate in village schools
National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi today voiced concern over the high dropout rate and the absence of teachers in village schools. She noted that "one fourth of the teachers" in village schools remain absent and said the dropout rate, particularly amongst the minority and poor, was high. Speaking at a function after inaugurating 31 Navodaya Vidyalayas in various parts of the country, Gandhi said, "Everyone has a right to education and...
More »“Muslim students in Bihar unable to open bank accounts” by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Complaints have reached the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MMA) that as in Andhra Pradesh, in Bihar too, banks have refused to allow tens of thousands of Muslim students to open scholarship accounts. On July 28, the MMA wrote to all State Chief Secretaries directing them to facilitate the opening of “no frills, nil balance” accounts by minority students. This followed feedback that in Andhra Pradesh banks had turned away as many...
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