-Outlook Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, the UPA government has finalised a draft Bill for providing homes to the homeless in rural areas. The draft of the National Right to Homestead Bill, 2013, prepared by the Rural Development ministry, is almost ready for inter-ministerial consultation, official sources said today According to the eleventh plan document, an estimated 13 to 18 million families in rural India are landless, of which...

-PTI An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday approved Rs 1,207 crore relief package to Maharashtra. “Rs 1,207 crore drought relief package has been approved for Maharashtra,” Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is also a member of the EGoM, said after the meeting of the Ministers. Out of the total amount, Rs 807 crore will be released under the National Disaster Relief Fund to...

-Outlook The Centre today decided to release a relief package of more than Rs 2,892 crore for seven states, including Maharashtra, to help them tackle the impact of droughts, floods and landslides faced last year. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Briefing the media, Pawar said: "There were number of proposals from various states demanding central assistance...

-The Economic Times The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti and sarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with Horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green-revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture...

-The New Indian Express Bhubaneshwar: The State Government has decided to implement the Focused Area Development (FAD) scheme for the welfare of tribal people for the next 10 years with an expenditure of `15.9 crore per year. The scheme was launched in 2012-13 for providing alternative sources of livelihood to the tribal people. The decision to continue the FAD scheme for the next 10 years was taken at a high level meeting...