'Wages under MGNREGA per day have almost doubled' New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office on Friday tweeted that growth must be inclusive and must benefit the poor, especially in rural areas. It further tweeted that wages given under MGNREGA per day have almost doubled since the launch of the scheme.

"Every fifth rural household in India benefits from Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme," another tweet said.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Earlier, CNN-IBN had accessed Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report which said only 30 per cent of 129 lakh works worth over Rs 1.26 lakh crore approved in 14 states were completed. Barely 30 per cent of NREGA works completed, while Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh used only 20 per cent of funds. Rural households' work is down from to 43 per cent from 54 per cent, according to the report....more    
09:16 AM, May 24, 2013

Prime Minister to attend SEBI's silver jubilee today New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will on Friday attend the silver jubilee celebrations of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in Mumbai. A commemorative postage stamp and a book on the history of the Indian securities market will be released on the occasion. Singapore Deputy Prime Minister T Shanmugaratnam, who also holds the finance portfolio, will be the guest of honour. He is scheduled to deliver...  
06:23 AM, May 24, 2013

Government seeking highest probity in defence deals: PM
by IANS
Gurgaon: With the CBI probing alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday asserted that his government will continue to seek the highest standards of probity in defence deals. The Prime Minister, who laid foundation of the Indian National Defence University in Gurgaon, said the government has paid close attention to sound defence acquisition policies and reformed them to ensure that the armed forces have...  
04:45 AM, May 24, 2013

The Last Word: Can Dr Manmohan Singh recover his political strength?

Karan Thapar discusses the question with a panel of experts. ...
10:11 PM, May 23, 2013

GOM on CBI autonomy decides on 'comprehensive changes' New Delhi: Faced with the Supreme Court rap on the independent functioning of CBI, the Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday discussed ways to give greater autonomy and more financial powers to the agency. The GoM, at its first meeting, was given a power-point presentation by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in which it opposed scrapping of the provision which requires CBI to...  
09:24 PM, May 23, 2013

BJP has the problem of limited political footprint: Sumit Pande Opinion polls conducted across the country have shown that the UPA is losing ground but is the BJP gaining? CNN-IBN's deputy bureau chief Sumit Pande joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. Going by the recent assembly elections, it seems that people are preferring voting to elect a majority government. Do you think if this phenomena can also be replicated at the national level and if so...  
05:43 PM, May 23, 2013

IBN Newsroom Buzz: Surya Gangadhran on take aways from Chinese Premier's India visit Surya Gangadharan, International Affairs Editor, CNN-IBN says, India figures even below the ASEAN countries in China's Foreign Policy priority list. ...  
03:26 PM, May 23, 2013

PM to lay the foundation stone for India's first defence university New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for India's first National Defence University in Gurgaon on Thursday. The move comes more than a decade after the Kargil Review Committee recommended such a university. Existing institutions such as the National Defence College will be affiliated to the university. The Indian National Defence University is a dedicated first-of-its-kind institution for training and research in military studies. The proposed...  
11:38 AM, May 23, 2013

4 years of UPA II: Celebration remains a low-key affair New Delhi: The UPA II is attempting to dispel the perception of gloom amid scams and controversies as it completes four years in office. In his report to the people, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured that those involved in corruption will be punished and there will be 8 per cent growth if the UPA returns to power. The photo op was there, but the spirit seemed to be missing....  
09:05 AM, May 23, 2013

Nine years of UPA saw average 8 per cent growth: PM
by IANS
New Delhi: Detailing economic growth during the UPA regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday the slowdown in 2012 was "temporary" and a longer term view would show that India has notched up an average "8 per cent growth" in the past nine years. The prime minister, presenting the ruling United Progressive Alliance-II's report card, said the economic situation was "turning around" and economic growth rate in 2013-14 could...  
02:44 AM, May 23, 2013

Pass food, land bills, Sonia appeals to opposition
by IANS
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appealed to the opposition to cooperate with the government in passing the key food security and land acquisition bills in the interests of the people, while expressing her disappointment that parliament was not allowed to run to enable the passage of the bills. "I make a plea to the NDA and other opposition parties...let us come together to ensure passage of the...  
02:23 AM, May 23, 2013

Road construction saw ten-fold jump under UPA: Report New Delhi: In a bid to bolster infrastructure growth, investment in road construction in rural areas saw a ten-fold jump under the UPA regime, according to the report card unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the fourth anniversary of UPA-II. The government rolled out more than 20,100 all-weather roads across the nation in 2012, the report said projecting a rosy picture of sector, battling...  
01:45 AM, May 23, 2013

Govt will punish wrongdoers in spectrum, coal scam: PM New Delhi: Amidst allegations of corruption in allocation of telecom spectrum and coal mines, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday promised to punish wrongdoers and said future allotment of scarce natural resources will happen only through auction. UPA II government has faced plethora of corruption charges in allocation of 2G spectrum when A Raja was the Telecom Minister and in allocation of coal blocks when Singh himself held the charge...  
01:23 AM, May 23, 2013

Digitisation one of leading achievements in UPA report card New Delhi: The UPA government listed ushering the process of digitisation of the cable sector as one of its leading achievements in its report card that was presented to the people on Wednesday. The government said it had implemented digitisation in the Phase I cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata along with 38 cities which come under the second phase. It said that by choosing digital cable, the country would...  
01:04 AM, May 23, 2013

UPA government highlights Railways' billion ton loadings New Delhi: The record loading of 1010 million tonnes freight and slight improvement of punctuality and safety have been listed as major achievements of the Railway Ministry during the year by the UPA government. Besides ongoing rail expansion, execution of Dedicated Freight Corridor work and introduction of bio-toilets have also found mention in the UPA's Report to the People for the year 2012-13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the UPA...  
12:45 AM, May 23, 2013

'Pressure from press, civil society leads to hasty judgements' New Delhi: Free press and active civil society put pressure on the government for early and decisive action in addressing weaknesses in governance and sometimes it leads to "hasty judgement", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday night. "We are the world's largest democracy with a very free Press and an increasingly active civil society movement. These are our strengths," Singh said. "But they do put pressure for early and...  
11:24 PM, May 22, 2013

UPA's report card is a 'non report card', says BJP New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the UPA's report card as a "non-report card" that hid all the scams and revealed only what was convenient to the ruling dispensation. The Opposition party also lashed out at the UPA for "blaming it for its own failures". "The UPA's report card is a non report card. It hides all the scams and reveals only the convenient. More importantly, Congress is...  
11:17 PM, May 22, 2013

SP chief Mulayam gives a miss to UPA anniversary function New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the UPA anniversary function in 2012, was conspicuous by his absence on Wednesday. Instead, the pride of place was taken by Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra and Brajesh Pathak who did not attend the presentation of the 'Report to the People' but came in time for dinner. No leader or MP from Samajwadi...  
10:32 PM, May 22, 2013

BJP shouldn't talk about misgovernance when they don't know what governance is: Kamal Nath

The Opposition launched a scathing attack on the government which completed its nine years in power on Wednesday. ...
10:29 PM, May 22, 2013

What is the road ahead for UPA-II?

As UPA-II presents its 'Report to the People', Bhupendra Chaubey asks a team of experts what is the road ahead for the government. ...
09:41 PM, May 22, 2013