-The Telegraph New Delhi: Over half of India's urban residents can be called poor. The housing ministry has moved a CABinet note that has classified nearly 52 per cent of town and city dwellers as poor after a socio-economic caste census that is "99 per cent" complete. The ministry has also dropped a criterion from the list of parameters an expert committee had suggested to automatically count in and count out households from...
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Eco concerns delay river-bed mining -Manpreet Randhawa
-The Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Ecological issues have delayed the start of river-bed mining, an idea propagated by Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal with the aim of extracting enough sand not only to meet the growing demand but also to control its skyrocketing rates in the market. The plan may not be implemented immediately as the proposed quarries would require clearance from the state environment impact assessment authority. Also, environmentalists fear...
More »Department of Posts seeks Rs 1,900 crore from government for banking -Urmi A Goswami
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government's earnestness to change the lives of millions untouched by high-street banks is being tested with a proposal from its own department of posts. Armed with an amazing network of offices, the department has sought Rs 1,900 crore from the Centre to launch a bank that would connect with the aam aadmi in Indian villages and far-flung areas where few institutional lenders have a presence. Financial...
More »Minister wants special panel on terror cases against Muslims -Subodh Ghildiyal
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Union minority affairs minister Rahman Khan wants the government to form an all-powerful taskforce to monitor and review terror cases against Muslims, arguing that it is needed to ensure justice for "innocent Muslim youth" languishing in jails after being framed in terror cases. Khan cited the example of the UK which, he said, has formed a task force under Prime Minister David Cameron to ensure there...
More »Bihar government rolls back cut in MGNREGA minimum wage-Alok Gupta
-Down to Earth The decision to reinstate Rs. 162 minimum daily wage follows protests and litigation The Bihar government has rolled back its decision to curtail minimum wages for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) beneficiary labourers, even as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have approached the court on the same issue. The decision to reinstate a minimum daily wage of Rs 162 was taken at a CABinet meeting, officials said. The...
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