Prime Minister to Inaugurate State Ministers of Welfare and Social Justice Conference Tomorrow. Implementation of Welfare Schemes Targeted at Scheduled Castes, Tribes, Disabled Persons and Senior Citizens Will Come up for Discussion.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate a two day conference of the State Ministers of Welfare and Social Justice at Vigyan Bhavan, tomorrow.On the first day of the Conference issues relating to Development of Scheduled Castes and OBCs will be discussed. Progress in the Implementation of Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 and the Centrally sponsored Scheme will also be discussed. Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers, Implementation of revised Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, payment of scholarships to students on a regular basis, through Bank and Post Offices. The State Ministers will discuss progress of implementation and utilisation, status of release of funds receipts of proposals in 2011-12 and their sanction, Grievance Redress System for Scholarship Holders. The conference will debate on the Pending Utilization Certificates under Special Central Assistance and Data about beneficiaries who have been able to cross the poverty line. 

Prime Minister asks ministers to declare their assets including those of their spouses and dependents.

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has asked ministers to declare their assets including those of their spouses and dependents along with any business interests, as per the annual exercise. The ministers have been asked to furnish the details by August 31st. A letter written by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar to ministers on the 2nd of this month says that this has been desired by the Prime Minister as per the code of Conduct for Ministers.

Govt serious about fighting corruption; Police action at Ramlila Maidan was unfortunate

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Govt is very serious about fighting corruption but there is no magic wand and further reiterated that police action at Ramlila Maidan was very unfortunate and there was no alternative.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Mondy gave away KC Kulish International Award for excellence in Media and journalism instituted by the Hindi daily.Singh further said that the issue of paid news is a serious concern.

PM praises Tanzania's Indian community

The Indian community in Dar es Salaam came in for praise from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who said they have earned a reputation for entrepreneurial spirit, perseverance and hard work making remarkable contributions to the development of Tanzania.On a three-day visit to give a fresh impetus to bilateral ties, Dr. Singh met the Indian community in Dar es Salaam last night and said they symbolized the contemporary face of civilizational and historical linkages with Tanzania and with East Africa as a whole.

PM announces measures for development of Afghanistan

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today announced a slew of measures to assist in Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts. These include Small Development Projects across Afghan provinces to further facilitate development at the grassroots with the involvement of local communities in areas of Health, Education and Agriculture. Addressing a joint session of the Afghan Parliament in Kabul, Dr. Singh said India and Afghanistan face similar development challenges.

PM asks CBI to probe corruption cases without fear or favour

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate corruption cases without any fear or favour in a speedy manner.After inaugurating the CBI headquarters in the national capital, Dr. Singh asserted that the central agency should bring guilty to book irrespective of their positions. "CBI should act without fear or favour and bring all those to books who are guilty irrespective of their positions. Whoever transgresses the law of the land, however mighty, has to be brought to book," Dr Singh said.

PM announces several schemes & projects for Bundelkhand

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh says, funds allocated to the development of the backward Bundekhand region have not been actively used by both the UP and MP Governments. Addressing a rally at Banda in Bundelkhand region today he said the centre had announced several schemes and projects worth thousands of crore of rupees for the development the region. Expressing the Centre's commitment to the progress of the region, he said he has already released 1800 crore rupees to both UP and MP state governments during last two financial years for different schemes for this region. An economic package of more than 7200 crore rupees was announced in 2009 but these were not actively used.

Draft PAC report slams Raja for ‘dubious designs'

The draft report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum allocation scandal comes down heavily on the former Communications Minister, A. Raja, for not heeding the Prime Minister's advice, for ignoring the Law and Justice Ministry's suggestion that a group of Ministers be set up to examine issues related to grant of telecom licences and related matters, for not properly consulting the Telecom Commission and, above all, for arbitrarily changing cut-off dates for the first come, first served policy adopted for grant of licences and spectrum.

Anand Sharma Calls on Sheikh Hasina, Abandoned Rail Lines to be Restored

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Anand Sharma called on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Smt Sheikh Hasina at Dhaka today. The Bangladesh Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the visit of the Indian Minister and called the Indian decisions ‘timely’. She said that measures announced during the visit show India’s firm commitment towards fulfilling the provisions of India-Bangladesh Joint Statement, January 2010.

Divergent views on bringing Prime Minister under Lok Pal Bill

A consultation here on Sunday threw up differences on bringing the Prime Minister under the ambit of the Lokpal Bill, being formulated by a 10-member joint drafting committee that includes five members from civil society. The round table, dominated by eminent judges and lawyers, however, excused higher judiciary from the ambit of the proposed Bill and favoured a “separate mechanism” to make High Court and Supreme Court judges accountable for misconduct. 

Persistent inflation a cause of concern: PM

Admitting that persistent inflation, especially in the food sector, is a cause of concern, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday emphasised on increasing the country's agricultural production to enhance food security. 

"We have to make a concerted effort to enhance our food security... Our economy has been in reasonably good shape in the past seven years. We have achieved an impressive rate of growth, which we were able to sustain even in the midst of the worst global financial crisis of recent times," he said.

PM’s Concluding Remarks at The Full Planning Commission Meeting

Following are the excerpts of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s concluding remarks at the Full Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi today: “We have had a very thorough and stimulating discussion of some of the critical issues that the economy will face in the Twelfth Plan period.