Following a move by the Central Government to further amalgamate regional rural banks (RRBs) in the country, employee unions are demanding the formation of a National Rural Bank of India (NRBI), by amalgamating all RRBs and de-linking of RRBs from the sponsor banks. Ministry view In a letter dated November 28 to the chairmen of sponsor banks of RRBs, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, said that currently there are...

National Agricultural Bank for Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 615.33 crore to Government of Maharashtra, out of its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for development of roads and bridges, minor irrigation, kharland projects and construction of anganwadi centres projects in the state. With this sanction, the total amount of loan sanctioned to Government of Maharashtra during 2011-12 aggregates to Rs 615.33 crore. ...

-The Telegraph   RBI governor D. Subbarao has expressed concern over Bengal’s low credit-deposit ratio, which means that funds from the cash-starved state are actually meeting the borrowing needs elsewhere. The erstwhile Left government used to blame banks for the skewed ratio. But bankers have blamed it on the poor credit absorption capacity of rural Bengal because of fragmented land holdings — a fallout of the land reforms. After a meeting with chief minister...

Farmers are joining India Inc in mind, body and spirit. In a quiet revolution underway across the countryside, growers are setting up companies, replete with balance sheets, professional CEOs, board of directors, and income tax returns.  By pooling together the land and produce of their shareholders, these companies are signing lucrative deals with large retail chains, food companies and exporters keen to establish reliable supply chains. As many as 200 companies...

What kept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh busy after securing minister A Raja’s resignation on the night of November 14 last year?   He was writing a reply to National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s letter on the practice of manual scavenging. On November 15, he wrote to her that he was asking the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment to “examine how to strengthen” implementation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and...