New Delhi: A meeting of Congress leaders from Union Territories convened by Rahul Gandhi on Friday saw strong pleas to make the Union Home Ministry pro-active to resolve the problems faced by the areas ahead of Lok Sabha polls. The leaders from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshdweep, Daman and Diu as also Chandigarh impressed upon the Congress Vice President that since the Home Ministry is administering the areas, it needed to take special interest to address the problems of the people there.
Leaders from Andaman and Nicobar sought a subsidy in airfares to the islands on the lines available to the Northeastern region to ensure greater connectivity while those from Daman and Diu sought help for fishermen in the area. As regards Chandigarh, the issue of conversion of industrial plots from leasehold to freehold, which has been pending for a long time.
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01:18 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday cleared direct benefit transfer on LPG subsidy. The scheme was to be introduced on January 1, but was postponed two times, most recently because only 13 per cent of Aadhaar numbers among the beneficiaries chosen for the launch areas had bank accounts. Under a pilot project for LPG subsidy transfer, 20 districts in the country will be covered by May 15. While about 32...
09:49 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: The Food Ministry has notified the the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decision to partially decontrol the sugar sector. The Food Ministry has issued a gazette notification withdrawing the control over sugar industry through Essential Commodities Act and Sugar Control Order, sources said. On April 4, 2013, the CCEA had decided to decontrol the sugar sector by giving freedom to mills to sell sugar in the open...
02:08 AM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: A war of words broke out between the Congress and the opposition over the National Food Security Bill that the government tried its best to debate in the Lok Sabha and get passed on Monday. The opposition continued to disrupt the house over the coal blocks allocation issue as Food Minister KV Thomas moved the bill, saying it was a key UPA legislation that would give the right...
04:05 AM, May 07, 2013
Mumbai: Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, who will step into the shoes of Rekha to play a chirpy carefree young girl in the 'Khubsoorat' remake, says she is completely in awe of the 'Umrao Jaan' actress. "I am completely obsessed with Rekha. I love her dramatic eyes and red lips," she told reporters here Monday. She unveiled the L'Or Sunset Collection and Bollywood inspired looks for Cannes film festival at event....
05:25 PM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: In the wake of increasing rapes and other crime against women across the country, Andhra Pradesh has reportedly barred women from clubs, pubs and bars after 10 pm. The State government has also banned those under 21 from these places at any hour, despite the legal age for drinking in the country being 18. The state government on May 3 issued a notification telling clubs, pubs and bars...
04:59 PM, May 04, 2013
New Delhi: India said it expects to cut the subsidies on phosphate and potash-based fertilisers by about 15 per cent in the fiscal year that began in April in an effort to rein in the fiscal deficit. In the last fiscal year, the government earmarked Rs 305.76 billion to subsidise phosphate and potash-based fertilisers. Fertilisers are the third-biggest item in the government's total subsidy bill, amounting to over two per...
07:58 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: The price of non-subsidised LPG cylinders was cut by Rs 54 per bottle on Tuesday. The move came just hours after petrol price was slashed by Rs 3 per litre, effective from midnight. On April 1, the price of non-subsidised cooking gas was reduced by Rs 3 per cylinder in line with fall in international rates. The government had in September 2012 fixed a quota of six subsidised...
11:35 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Mumbai: The camera will start rolling for 'Khubsoorat' during monsoon and its lead actress Sonam Kapoor says the story has been completely changed while retaining the spirit of the characters. "I will start shooting this August," she told IANS. The Hrishikesh Mukerjee-directed 1980 family drama, which won the Filmfare award for the best film, was about a young fun loving girl who falls in love with a doctor, played by...
04:54 PM, Apr 28, 2013
New Delhi: The government plans to provide subsidy to 14 crore LPG subscribers directly in their bank accounts from October 1, using the Aadhaar payment platform. The government, official sources said, has decided to launch "Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for LPG throughout the country tentatively from October 1". "This (transfer of LPG subsidy) would require a much larger number of beneficiaries to be covered for opening of bank accounts and...
12:41 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Chennai: Raising strong objections to certain aspects of Centre's Direct Benefits Transfer, Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday said the scheme in its present form should "not be operationalised" in the state as it is an "infringement" on the authority of state governments. In a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalithaa wondered if the state governments were expected to look on as mere "bystanders", far removed...
02:31 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Washington: You may be spared from typing pesky passwords in the future! Instead of typing your password, you may only have to think about it, thanks to a new wireless headset device developed by researchers. Remembering passwords for all your sites can get annoying. There are only so many punctuation, number substitutes and uppercase variations you can recall, and writing them down for all to find is hardly an option....
04:11 PM, Apr 10, 2013
New Delhi: The government is planning to start transferring the subsidy for cooking gas in cash under the direct benefit transfer scheme, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Saturday. Addressing a media conference in Delhi, Chidambaram said he would soon meet Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily and sort out the issues related to the direct cash transfer for liquified petroleum gas (LPG). "We want to quickly move the LPG subsidy to...
03:52 AM, Apr 07, 2013
Beijing: Chinese scientists have developed the world's lightest substance - carbon aerogel - with a density only one sixth of that of the air. Scientists at Zhejiang University produced the solid material which has a density of only 0.16 mg/cubic centimetre, breaking the previous record of the world's lightest material held by graphite aerogel. The graphite aerogel was developed by German scientists last year with a density of 0.18 mg/cubic...
10:32 AM, Apr 04, 2013
The governing body reminded referees that they had been authorisied 4 years ago to stop matches in case of racism incidents. ...
05:54 PM, Mar 28, 2013
Videocon Mobile Services, which has permits to operate in seven circles out of the country's total 22 circles, has plans to expand services pan-India in a phased manner. ...
11:59 AM, Mar 24, 2013
'Khubsoorat' is being remade by Sonam's father Anil Kapoor, while Shashanka Ghosh is the director of the film. ...
01:56 PM, Mar 20, 2013
Airline passengers in the US will be allowed to carry small pocket knives and an array of sports equipment, banned in aircraft cabins after the 9/11 terror attacks, from April 25, authorities have announced. While razor blades and box cutters will still not permitted, passengers will be able to carry knives with folding blades 2.36 inches (6 centimetres) or shorter, as well as sporting goods such as golf clubs, hockey...
07:28 PM, Mar 06, 2013
"To me it is not equipment, it is all technique and a little bit of belief inside his own head. He [McIlroy] will be okay," McDowell added. ...
09:49 PM, Mar 02, 2013
The price of the non-subsidised LPG cylinders were on Saturday slashed by Rs 37.5 per barrel, even as the price of diesel for bulk consumers was hiked by almost Re one per litre. The bulk consumers of diesel include the railways, transport undertakings, defence and industries like cement, mines and others. ...
06:09 PM, Mar 02, 2013
