The Centre will come up with a new National Water Policy next year that will address the issues of water scarcity, management and conservation, Union Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid said here on Monday. The Ministry has already undertaken an exercise to review the National Water Policy of 2002, and is holding consultations with various stakeholders on the new policy, which would take on board issues relating to climate change. Addressing the...

Giving in to demands from anti-corruption activists, the government today issued a gazette notification on formation of a joint committee headed by senior minister Pranab Mukherjee to draft an effective Lokpal Bill. The notification, one of the key demands of the anti-corruption campaign launched by Gandhian Anna Hazare, has been signed by V K Bhasin, Secretary, Legislative Department of the Law Ministry. The notification was proudly displayed at the site of Hazare's...

Anna Hazare told his supporters to prepare for a bigger battle against the government, if the Parliament fails to pass the Lokpal Bill, a law that the country has been waiting for more than 40 years. Setting August 15 as the deadline, Hazare said that certain corrupt politicians might not let the bill pass easily and if need be a stronger fight against corruption would be required. "This is the battle,...

In order to get a deeper understanding of the problems in the rain-fed areas, the NAC on natural resources management would soon hold consultations with the rural development ministry, states and NGOs Concerned over asset creation under the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) will explore ways and means to maximise the rural job plan in developing the rain-fed areas in...

His ministry had earlier put a stop on the project citing ecological damage Delhi Govt. insisted that only the dam can solve Capital's water woes Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said he will undertake an inspection of the Nahan Valley in Himachal Pradesh, the site of the proposed Renuka Dam, which has been turned down by his office on the grounds that it involves the axing of 1.77...