The Indian Electricity Act, 2003, initially envisaged that the appropriate governments shall endeavour to supply electricity to all areas including villages and hamlets (Section 6), thus placing the responsibility for ensuring rural electricity supply on state governments. The UPA-I government amended this section to read as follows after detailed deliberations internally and with opposition parties: the concerned state government and the central government shall jointly endeavour to provide access to...

The world needs to act quickly to counter the erosion of species. The task is particularly important for India, one of the 12 mega-biodiversity centres.  May 22 marked the International Day for Biological Diversity. It commemorates the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that day in 1992. As of December 2009, exactly 192 countries and the European Commission were signatories to it. This year has been declared the...

Even as the Indian economy remains one of the bright spots in the world showing an upward growth trajectory, around 49,000 slums continue to blight the urban landscape forcing lakhs of people to live in pathetic conditions. To make things worse, of these 49,000 slums, 24% was located along nallahs and drains and around 12% along railway tracks, according to a report released by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Not...

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on the occasion of completion of one year of the UPA Government in its second term said on Monday that the flagship programmes launched by his government are progressing well. "I will briefly highlight some of the important steps we have taken over the past year and also the pressing challenges that confront the nation,' Dr. Singh said during his opening remarks at the national...

The state’s wheat purchase exercise is mid-way, but the state government officers have already started mulling over amending the current procurement policy. The wheat purchase started on April 1 and the government has purchased merely 14.84 lakh metric tonnes. The state government agencies have to purchase 39 lakh metric tonne for 2010-11. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is to purchase 1 lakh metric tonne. Each month the state government...