Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday released Rs.400 crore for the Andhra Pradesh government as advance from the National Calamity Contingency Fund to take up immediate relief and rehabilitation measures in the State that were affected by unprecedented rains and cyclonic storms in the last few months. Dr. Singh told a delegation of over 20 Congress MPs that the Centre would take speedy action on the reports of the Central team...

The income and asset details furnished by ministers to Prime Minister’s Office for 2009-10 have some surprising claims. textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, whose family owns a media empire, is worth just Rs 6.87 crore. His assets include a Mercedes E class valued at Rs 8.10 lakh and a Toyota Innova at Rs 12.24 lakh. He is not the only who has modest assets. Minister of new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah...

The government will use satellite technology to assess cotton prospects for the current season and review the export policy in the wake of rising prices of the natural fibre, a senior official said today. "When the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) meets, it will have an assessment based on the satellite imagery and the inputs of the Ministry of Agriculture," textiles Secretary Rita Menon said on the sidelines of a Ficci function...

The famous carpet belt of Bhadohi-Mirzapur had been freed from child labour, claimed minister of state for textiles Panabaka Lakshmi and textile secretary Rita Menon. They were in the city on Friday to take part in the inaugural function of the four-day India Carpet Expo, being organised in the premises of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. In a chat with reporters, the minister said no child labour was engaged in the carpet...

India has been ranked 67, way below neighbouring countries like China and Pakistan, in a new global hunger index by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The index, released on Monday, rated 84 countries on the basis of three leading indicators -- prevalence of child malnutrition, rate of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. China is rated much ahead of India at the ninth place. The 2010 Global...