Absolute emission cuts not possible now: Jairam

India will have to depend mainly on coal, hydel and nuclear power for the next two-three decades to fulfil its growing energy demand, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said here on Wednesday.“We have to depend largely on coal, hydel and nuclear power for the next two-three decades,” he said.“We simply cannot afford absolute cuts in emission levels at this juncture of our development and given the huge unmet demand for electricity in particular,” Mr. Ramesh said in his address on the occasion of convocation function of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) here. 

Harikrishna, Harika win Gold at Asian Individual Chess Championships

Grandmaster P. Harikrishna and double GM norm holder D Harika have won the Gold in the Asian Individual Chess Championships in Mashhad in Iran. P Harikrishna won the coveted yellow metal in the open's section while D Harika claimed the honor in the women's section. With this feat, both Harika and Harikrishna have also made it to the next world championship cycle. Harikrishna defeated Zhao Jun of China in the last round to emerge as the champion. Harika too won her last round game against Chinese Tan Zhongyi to end as a winner. Apart from Harika, Eesha Karavade also came up with an inspired performance to win the bronze medal in the women's section. 

Courtesy : AIR

Approval for FDI in Limited Liability Partnership firms

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the proposal to amend the policy on allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) firms. The FDI in LLPs will be implemented in a calibrated manner, beginning with the ‘open’ sectors where monitoring is not required, subject to the following conditions:

Review of Utilization of 13th Finance Commission Grants

A meeting was held under the Chairpersonship of Secretary (Justice) to review the utilization of 13th Finance Commission grants, E-courts project, Gram Nyayalayas, infrastructure support for the subordinate judiciary, undertrial prisoners, family courts and others.The meeting was attended by the State Finance Secretaries, Home/Law Secretaries of States, Registrar Generals, E-Committee members of Supreme Court, NIC, Member Secretary National Legal Service Authority (NLSA) and concerned Government of India officials from Department of Expenditure and Ministry of Law & Justice.

Amendment to the Administrators-General Act, 1963

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal to amend the Administrators-General Act, 1963 to raise the monetary limit from Rs. two lakh to Rs. ten lakh by introducing the Administrators-General (Amendment) Bill, 2011 in the ensuing session of Parliament.

Workshop on Disaster Scenario of the North East gets Underway

The Workshop on “Disaster Scenario of the North East” began at Guwahati today. Shri M. Shashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) stressed upon the need for preparedness and mitigation activities in the region to face the challenges of natural disasters in the region in general, and flood and earthquake in particular. Unique geo-environmental setting of the North East Region vis-à-vis the Eastern Himalayas, weak geological formations, very high seismicity and heavy annual precipitation makes the region one of the most disaster prone regions in the country, he said.

To Achieve Sustained GDP Growth Rate of 9 to 10 Percent with Fiscal Prudence and Moderate Inflation is a Major Challenge : Pranab Mukherjee

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that there are three major challenges before us today. The Finance Minister said that the first major challenge is how to bring entire society especially the poor and vulnerable section of society in the ambit of development process so that everyone shares fruits of benefit of growth and development. Shri Mukherjee said that the second major challenge is to achieve sustained GDP growth at the rate of 9 to 10 percent with fiscal prudence and moderate inflation. Third major challenge is how to develop flexibility in our economic system so that we are not adversely affected or affected to minimum extent due to global economic developments and external shocks. Shri Mukherjee was addressing the probationers of the Indian Economic Service((IES), here today.