Getting 55 weddings done in 90 minutes flat won't rank as a record. Getting them done at no cost to the very poor families involved might qualify as one. That these are actually part of a successful Maharashtra government programme surely sets this up for a Guinness Book entry. The 55 couples in Nandura tehsil of Buldhana district are all Muslims. And there's a dual minority angle to it —...

The Union Ministry of Rural Development has released grant-in-aid worth  Rs.93,91,000  as first installment of central share of funds for the implementation of centrally sponsored Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY)  to be spread over 8 districts of  Mizoram during the current financial year 2010-11. The objective of the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) is to bring the assisted poor families (Swarozgaries) above the poverty line by ensuring appreciable sustained level of...

Thanks to predictions of a good monsoon, Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen has projected a robust growth rate of five per cent from 0.2 per cent in agriculture and allied sectors in 2010-11. From the earlier estimate of -0.2 per cent last year, the growth rate has been revised to 0.2 per cent. Dr. Sen, who is in charge of the farm and food sector in the Commission, said food inflation was...

All ration card holders in the state will receive one litre of palm oil along with their monthly quota of other food commodities from July onwards. Officials from the department of civil supplies told TOI that the oil will be priced much lower than the market rate. "The price is yet to be fixed. However, it should be within the range of Rs 30-35," civil supplies sources said. "Every ration...

Suresh Tendulkar created a flutter among policymaking circles when a committee led by him raised the estimate for poor households in the country to 74 million from the Planning Commission estimate of 65.2 million. The former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council explained why his numbers are more credible in an interview with ET’s Pooja Suri and Amiti Sen. Excerpts: Why did your committee decide to accept the...