-PTI The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) will now scrutinise all the schemes of Rural Development Ministry and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today. Announcing the decision, Ramesh said the two Ministries annually spend Rs 88,000 crore which is the single largest amount of public expenditure other than Defence and it is very important to have CAG audit in the Ministry schemes for ensuring accountability and...

-PTI   Rice procurement stood at 9.04 million tonnes in the current kharif marketing season (October-September) so far. According to the official data, 90,46,356 tonnes of rice has been procured by various government agencies by November 4, 2011. Punjab has procured 69,56,290 tonnes, while Haryana and Tamil Nadu have procured 18,09,194 tonnes and 1,76,486 tonnes, respectively in the 2011-12 kharif season so far. Food Corporation of India (FCI), government's nodal procurement agency, along with other...

-Express News Service   Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has rejected the charge of being politically motivated in seeking Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government’s consent for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the implementation of the rural job guarantee scheme (NREGS). He reiterated that a CBI inquiry is the only option to send a strong message against instances of irregularities in the state. Ramesh made this point in his letter to Uttar...

The tribal people of Chhattisgarh are in an extremely dangerous situation, caught as they are between the state forces and the Maoists. THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Soni Sori, an Adivasi schoolteacher from Chhattisgarh, was arrested in Delhi on October 4 on charges of acting as a conduit between the Essar group and the Maoists, the former accused of giving “protection money” to the latter. On October 7, she moved the Delhi High Court to...

At least seven persons have lost vision in one eye with infection “almost incurably damaging the other” after they underwent cataract operation in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, on July 12, according to their relatives. Recently, 50 people lost their vision and three died after a cataract operation in neighbouring Durg district. While the Durg operation was conducted in a government camp, this was undertaken by a charity institute, Udayachal Dharmarth Netra Chikitsalaya, in...