The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) will be implemented in the state soon. This was decided at a highlevel meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here today. The NRLM aims at addressing poverty and alleviating rural poverty by 2015. The scheme also targets to cover 50 percent of the rural households by self help groups (SHGs) during the next three years. The newly launched central programme will be executed in...

Normal life has been disrupted in many parts of India after the country's main opposition parties began a 12-hour strike to protest against the increase in prices of fuel. West Bengal, Kerala and Bihar states along with Mumbai were worst affected. Businesses were shut, schools and colleges closed and public transport thin in the affected states. The government has raised fuel prices - a move that will add nearly one percentage point to...

In April, India’s Planning Commission accepted recommendations put forth by the so-called Tendulkar Committee on a new poverty headcount for the country. Constituted by the Planning Commission under economist Suresh D Tendulkar, the committee, after four years and a new methodology, arrived at a new figure for the number of Indians living below the poverty line: 37.2 percent, ten points higher than the previous official figure. With the government’s subsequent...

A law empowering Indians to seek information from government to promote accountability and transparency has brought change to urban India, but has largely left out the country's rural poor, social activists say. The Right to Information (RTI) Act - similar to the Freedom of Information Act in the United States - was enacted almost five years ago and is aimed at providing a practical way for all citizens to access...

India's food price index rose 12.92 per cent in the year to June 19, while the fuel price index climbed 12.90 percent, government data released on Thursday showed. The pace of increase in food prices slowed from the previous week's annual rise of 16.90 percent, while fuel price inflation eased from last week's annual rise of 13.18 per cent. The primary articles index was up at 14.75 per cent. Wholesale price...