BackPolitical updates: Narendra Modi promises new focus on rural welfare schemes
Welfare schemes will be designed keeping the poor, rather than the ballot box, in mind, said Narendra Modi
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New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi, while launching the Ujjwala Yojana on Sunday, said that government schemes will be designed keeping the poor in mind. This comes as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre is set to complete two years in power later this month. Fight against corruption, greater accountability and transparency are set to be the focus of the government’s celebration. Separately, the Central government has deployed over 6,000 personnel to control the raging fire in Uttarakhand.
Narendra Modi promises new focus on rural welfare schemes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said welfare schemes will be designed keeping the poor, rather than the ballot box, in mind. His government will ensure that all schemes, including free cooking gas connections for poor households and village electrification, are implemented within set time frames. Launching the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana on Sunday from Ballia district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, where only eight households in 100 have access to cooking gas, Modi said 50 million poor women will be given liquified petroleum gas (LPG) connections without upfront security deposits over the next three years. Read more
NDA government to showcase its achievements
The fight against corruption, greater accountability and transparency will be the focus of government celebrations as the NDA completes two years in office later this month. Senior NDA leaders said the celebrations will also focus on participative governance and making people stakeholders in the decision-making process. Read more
Cornered over corruption allegations, Congress to hit the streets
Cornered in the ongoing second half of the budget session over allegations of corruption, the Congress will organize a protest march to symbolically “gherao" Parliament on 6 May. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi will lead the protest, which will highlight the issue of “toppling elected governments" of Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Read more
AgustaWestland: Manohar Parrikar to place facts in Parliament on 4 May
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said he will place all facts along with the detailed chronology about the controversial AgustaWestland chopper deal before Parliament on 4 May.
Over 6,000 personnel deployed to douse Uttarakhand forest fire
The Union government said on Sunday over 6,000 personnel from various state and central agencies are working to put out the raging forest fire in Uttarakhand. The government also said it is working on a new system of issuing pre-fire alerts to prevent such incidents. Read more
Rural jobs scheme fails in Marathwada
Shovel-ready projects under the national rural jobs scheme continue to rot on the shelf in Maharashtra’s parched Marathwada even as the region’s desperate residents migrate to faraway towns in search of water and work. Data compiled by the state relief and rehabilitation department shows that in eight districts of Marathwada, only 6,744 projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are underway, while more than 110,000 are “on the shelf". Read more
Isro: A world-class Make in India example
The launch of a satellite for India’s own GPS shows Isro’s innovations are clearly the best Make in India products and, at the same, the most cost-effective space programme in the world. Read more
Uber brings back surge pricing, Arvind Kejriwal warns of strong action
The day the ban on diesel-run cabs came into effect, taxi aggregator Uber on Sunday brought back surge pricing in Delhi, prompting chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to warn the operators of “strong action". Uber had introduced the provision during the odd-even scheme, which was objected to by commuters and Kejriwal had asserted that such demand-linked hikes would be banned permanently. Read more
Narendra Modi scored first class in MA: Gujarat university
Amid the raging row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualification, the Gujarat University on Sunday shared details of his MA degree saying he scored 62.3% as an external student of the university. The details were shared by the Gujarat University after the Central Information Commission directed it to provide the same to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had recently criticized the functioning of the transparency panel. Read more
Without dissent, parliamentary system is dysfunctional: Pranab Mukherjee
Without dissent, a parliamentary system is dysfunctional, President Pranab Mukherjee said in Auckland on Sunday, underling that “fierce debates and discussions" in the House contribute to taking decisions on important matters like the economy. Read more
Gujarat issues ordinance to provide 10% quota for economically backward
The Gujarat government on Sunday issued the ordinance, providing 10% reservation for the economically backward among upper castes, two days after it announced the politically-sensitive measure. Read more
Harish Rawat dares Modi-Shah to put him in jail if found guilty
Ousted Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Sunday virtually admitted his presence in the controversial sting CD, but said it was not a crime to meet a journalist or an MLA and dismissed the conversation shown in the video as “meaningless". Alleging that the sting operation and the CBI probe into it were part of a “criminal conspiracy" to topple an elected government, he dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah to put him in jail if he is found in the wrong. Read more
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