Think India Foundation

States to get half of Central scheme funds

Patna : States will now have greater flexibility with Centrally-sponsored schemes. The Union government has given its nod to a new plan that will facilitate transfer of 50 per cent of the scheme amount to the states.

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh says the Centre plans to spend more than Rs 88,000 crore this financial year on rural development. “This ought to boost development, but the inflexibility of Central government sponsored schemes are a major hurdle. We want to remove this,” he told reporters here. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

Reform villages, Kalam urges youth on Facebook

New Delhi : Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India’s missile man, on Friday urged the nation’s youth to target reforming villages in the country as “vibrant engines of growth”. Dr Kalam interacted with an enthusiastic group of young men and women on the social networking website Facebook.

Organised by Penguin Books India to promote Dr Kalam’s latest book, Target 3 Billion, the Facebook chat attracted a large number of users hooking onto their screen in wait of his response to their questions. Read more

Source : asianage.com

Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio calls for development of Kohima suburbs

KOHIMA: Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday stressed on the need to expand the state capital Kohima and establish satellite townships and sub-urban areas on the outskirts of the city. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the 11-km road from Viirie to Kohima constructed under MGNREGS, Rio urged the state's real estate owners to have a positive mindset and handover their lands to government for developmental works as it would ensure better and proper planning in the expansion of the state capital.

The CM also greeted the people on the occasion of Sekrenyi festival and congratulated the Kohima Village Council and Village Development Board (VDB), Kohima, for successfully completing the road, which was constructed at a cost of around Rs 1.5 crore. Lauding the land owners of Kohima Village for donating the land for developmental works, Rio hoped that the establishment of the road will ease the flow of vehicular traffic in Kohima and improve transport and communication in the area. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

TERI lighting up millions of lives in a greener, eco-sustainable way

In 2007, The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) undertook a bold, first-of-its-kind initiative-the organisation pledged to illuminate a million lives in an eco-friendly and sustainable manner, thereby ushering in an era of green energy in rural India. And if that was not ambitious enough, the organisation soon expanded its target to a billion from the earlier million, spawning the 'Lighting a Billion Lives' programme. 

TERI's initiative could hardly come at a better time. Today, even as urban India is embracing greener technologies with enthusiasm, as many as 61 million families in the rural countryside still rely on kerosene and wick lamps for illumination. In addition to being a highly restrictive means of lighting, these traditional lamps spew close to 5.5 million tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. And as the world wakes up to the need to monitor and control these polluting emissions, cutting down on the use of these lamps is undoubtedly a good way to ingrain sustainability into the rural framework. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com 

Mobile phones to aid infrastructure development

Villagers in India suffering daily due to lack of good infrastructure can now initiate action by clicking a picture of the concerned area on their mobile phone, and forwarding the same to the Union ministry of programme implementation, reports ET.

Srikant Jena, minister for programme implementation, has said that they are working on a proposal so that a complaint can be filed through mobile phones. Anyone can take a picture of a substandard road constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, or a poor quality house built under the Indira Awas Yojana, and send it to them. The ministry will inquire and act. Read more

Source : wirelessfederation.com 

Sales of SUVs zoom in smaller towns, villages

Improved law and order, better incomes, higher farm output in states such as Bihar and UP lead to surge in demand

Mumbai/New Delhi: Increased disposable incomes through the sale of land, higher farm output, smoother roads and an improved law and order situation in states such as Bihar helped drive the sales of utility and multi-utility vehicles in villages and smaller towns in the first 10 months of the current fiscal, according to dealers and executives of auto firms.

Sales of utility vehicles in India rose 13% to 291,333 units from a year ago, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), even as sales of passenger cars contracted 1.19%. Read more

Source : livemint.com

Up Close: Little feet shelter under The Banyan

Quarry workers are more than eager to send their children to her school

Striking a chord: Jeny says that once the children get an idea of what a school is, they never want to look back. Photo: Satish Badiger

What strikes you about Jeny Verma, the co-founder of Lovedale Foundation, is the clarity of her intentions and precision in communication. Cradling the dreams of the people of Anagalapura, three kilometres from Horamavu, Jeny and her not-for-profit organisation work towards building a sustainable life for the children of quarry workers that live in and around the area.

Her foundation nurtures ‘The Cherish Home', a home for the elders, ‘The Littlewoods', a children's home, and a school called ‘The Banyan'. Read more

Source : thehindu.com

New Cities summit from May 14 in Paris

The New Cities Foundation (NCF), a Swiss non-profit organisation working on the field of urban innovation in 21st century cities, will hold the inaugural New Cities Summit from May 14-16, 2012 in Paris.

The annual summit is the centrepiece of the Foundation’s work. It aims to be the leading annual global event on 21st century urbanization, with a unique focus on urbanisation in fast-growing economies in Asia, the Middle-East and Latin America. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

'Indian feminists should talk to village counterparts'

Notions of womanhood have changed in urban India with power moms at the workplace and women storming into male bastions, but these women must open communication doors with their counterparts in villages, suggests veteran journalist-writer Mrinal Pande.

"Why don't feminists talk to girls from deprived sections? How can you talk of equality when you cannot break the communication lock in your own cadre so that women of all classes are taken seriously? I have seen women from villages who attend big conclaves participating like dolls...their voices are rarely heard," Pande said in an interview. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Bundelkhand in dilemma over split proposal

JHANSI/BANDA/CHITRAKOOT: "Bundelkhand nahin, vikas chahiye". The slogan scribbled on a pillar near Dhasan river on UP-Madhya Pradesh border in Jhansi conveys the aspiration of people of this region where development is yet to be seen. 

On November 15 last, chief minister Mayawati gave the proposal to split UP into four parts (Bundelkhand, Paschim Pradesh, Avadh Pradesh and Purvanchal) on the pretext that smaller states can be managed better as compared to bigger ones. The CM had said that UP was backward mainly because of its huge size. The resolution to divide the state was passed within 20 minutes in the state assembly. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Elections give a respite to illegal riverbed mining in Uttarakhand

Dehradun (ANI) : Corruption-free rule if voted to power again topped the agendas of leading political parties during the campaigning last month for the assembly elections on January 30th. Other promises included, predictably, uninterrupted power supply and employment for the local youth. 

The effect of the Uttarakhand elections 2012 will only be known in March. In the meantime, an unlikely set of beneficiaries have been the residents of Tailihat village in Garur Mandal of Bageshwar District in Uttarakhand, located on the banks of a local river - Gomti. They were given the gift of peaceful nights; for, as even an amateur politician knows, campaigning and elections are no time to get one's hands dirty with illegal river bed mining. Read more

Source : newstrackindia.com

SMC to begin water supply to 8 Dumas villages

SURAT: Nearly 25,000 households of eight villages in Dumas areas will get potable water from Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) from Thursday. They were included within the city limits during the last expansion of 2007, following which water supply and distribution network of SMC was getting ready. From now onwards, nearly 13 MLD of water will be supplied to 13 villages.

Five villages of Rundh, Magdalla, Bharthana, Bhimrad and Sarsana are already getting water supply of nearly 2 MLD from Vesu 1 network since last year. In the second phase, eight villages of Dumas, Bhimpore, Sultanabad, Gaviyar, Vata, Abahva, Khajod and Vesu were taken up 18 months ago under Golden Jubilee urban development scheme of the state. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Samsung Launches The HOPE Project

New Delhi : Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the launch of it Samsung HOPE Project, which aims to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children by providing them quality education. Samsung aims to reach out to children across 100 villages in Tamil Nadu through Aid India, its selected partner and in Delhi /Uttar Pradesh through SMILE Foundation. Consumers too will get an opportunity to participate in this educational initiative and support this movement. For every Galaxy Note sold in the period between February and June 2012, Samsung will contribute Rs.100 towards supporting the selected projects.

“The Samsung HOPE Project that we are launching today is aligned with our Global Hope for Children program that seeks to bring attention to the worldwide need for childhood education and healthcare. Through the Samsung Hope Project, not only do we aim to provide good quality education to under privileged children, but also create an environment which is conducive to their overall growth and development. Read more

Source : lightreading.in

India woman leaves home for lack of toilet

A newlywed woman in a village in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has won her struggle to have a toilet at her husband's home.

Anita Narre refused to go to her husband's home until he built a toilet

Anita Narre left husband Shivram's home two days after her marriage in May last year because the house had no toilet.

She returned eight days later after Shivram, a daily wage worker, built one with savings and aid from villagers. Read more

Source : bbc.co.uk

Enjoy 'real India' in the heart of Delhi: Government to bring the countryside to the big city

The Delhi government plans to bring the Indian countryside to the Capital itself. To present the 'real India' to foreign tourists, the government has selected 14 villages, each with a water body, across the Capital. 

Green living: Chhawla tourism complex at Kanganheri

These spots will be redeveloped, restored and offered as a 'rural tourism destination' to the foreigners. The project, worth crores of rupees, has already received the necessary clearances. Read more

Source : dailymail.co.uk

Munda worried over tardy pace of development

Ranchi : Expressing concern over lower expenditure by the Departments, Chief Minister Arjun Munda said that the Government was worried about the pace of development and willing to expedite the efforts in this direction. A mere Rs 4,023 crore out of total plan outlay of Rs 15,300 crore, had been utilised by all the departments till December last year.

Talking to reporters after the review meeting, the CM said that apart from keeping an eye on expenditure, his Government was also committed to come down hard on corrupt officials, siphoning the money meant for development works. “We are worried about the lesser expenses. We have formulated some other ways that would be reflected in the days to come. Instructions have been passed to all the departments in this regard.” Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Rural development should be priority: Tarun Gogoi

GUWAHATI: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi is of the opinion that development of rural areas needs to be given more priority than urbanization, both at the state and national level.

Gogoi, who was attending the second meeting of the Sub-Committee of the National Development Council (NDC) on urbanization held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday said that development of small and medium areas needs to be prioritized to stop migration of people from such places to big towns and cities in search of jobs and green pastures. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Debt, logistics slow growth of rural mobile networks

New Delhi : The rural mobile user is increasingly left out. Service providers, laden with debt and eager for revenue, are growing more slowly into the countryside, where networks are more expensive to build and customers willing to pay less.

Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India shows that subscriptions outside cities rose 1.5 per cent to 307.59 million in the three months to December 31, 2011, having grown 9.98 per cent to 259.78 million a year earlier. The slowdown has come about despite only 36.6 per cent of the rural population having a mobile subscription.Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

Focus on providing urban amenities in rural India: APJ Kalam

NEW DELHI: To become an economically developed nation by 2020, India needs to focus on sustainable development of villages by providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA), former President A P J Abdul Kalam said today.

"The development of 6,00,000 villages is vital for developed India. The foundation of sustainable development of rural areas is PURA which means providing urban amenities in rural areas," Kalam said after inaugurating the second Global Agri-business Incubation Conference here. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Ministry initiative to give rural youth jobs

New Delhi : With an aim to provide jobs to rural youth, the Rural Development Ministry is kicking off a Public Private Partnership initiative for value addition in non-timber forest produce in 60 Naxal-affected districts of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

“The projects in lac, gum, medicinal plants, tasar, bamboo and non-edible oil seeds like neem and mahua will maximise the return for the tribal engaged in collection of these forest products,” said Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh at an event on Friday. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

West Bengal government may fail to use RIDF allocation fully this fiscal

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government may fall short of utilising the centre's Rural Infrastructure Development Fund fully as the state has failed to chalk out as many rural projects as one would have liked it to do. With barely two months left before the end of the fiscal, the state has utilised less than 42% of the allocated Rs 900 crore.

If the state fails to utilise the allocation to the maximum, it would face stricter terms next year and may see a reduction in funding. RIDF is an instrument for routing bank funds for financing rural infrastructure. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

MWH donates USD 50,000 for solar lighting program in rural India

On January 31st, 2012, MWH Global (Broomfield, Colorado, U.S.) announced that it donated USD 50,000 to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to help bring solar lighting to rural areas in India. TERI is a non-profit research organization that focuses on finding solutions for critical energy, environmental and sustainable development issues.

TERI brings solar lighting to rural areas in India

The funding, which was made through the MWH Caring Foundation Inc., will directly support TERI’s Lighting a Billion Lives program that aims to bring light into the lives of rural communities through solar lighting. Read more

Source : solarserver.com

Rajasthan sets target to bring down infant deaths to 30

JAIPUR: The target of bringing the infant mortality rate (IMR) down to 30 till 2017 is a daunting task for the state government. IMR is the number of deaths of babies under one year of age per 1,000 live births.

A lot has to be done in rural Rajasthan, where the IMR is still above 60, which is fourth highest in the entire country. In rural Rajasthan, 61 infant deaths happened per 1,000 births in 2010. But, in urban areas it is 31 per 1,000 live births, the latest Union health ministry data showed. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

We are now looking at NREGA 2.0

As minister for rural development, Jairam Ramesh oversees the largest spending in the social sector by the government. This includes the marquee Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that was pioneered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in 2006. The minister, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is known for his forthrightness. In a typically candid interview to Mint on the eve of the sixth anniversary of MGNREGS, Ramesh conceded that there were legitimate concerns about the programme. Ruling out any chance of a rollback of the entitlement programme, he said the ministry was ironing out the faults and that a revamped version would be launched before the presentation of the next Union budget in March. Edited excerpts:

It is the sixth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). How do you rate the success of the programme? What are the metrics you would use to rate it? Read more

Source : livemint.com

Odisha CM stresses on need over development of villages

Jharsuguda: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik criticizes opposition Congress over nasty political game. He said this while addressing a meeting at Laikara Block of Jharsuguda District. He accuses Congress of blocking the development of the state. He said that Congress does not have any sense of inconvenience of  the people & their problems. Congress leaders do politics only for their selfishness.

Read more

Source : orissadiary.com

Bharat craves for innovation

Attempts for rural technology incubations have been small and somewhat sporadic so far 

As the Indian economy grew rapidly over the past 20 years, it generated wealth for its citizens. However, the rapid economic rise has been accompanied by high differential growth in prosperity of the people — as incomes of certain sections have grown much faster compared with others. Read more

Source : mydigitalfc.com

World Bank, AP hold talks for more projects

HYDERABAD : The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N.Kiran Kumar Reddy, today held parleys with officials of the World Bank and made a case for more engagement in irrigation, roads, rural schemes and other social sectors.

A delegation of the World Bank headed by Mr. Hubert Nove Josserand, Operations Adviser, World Bank, New Delhi, and Mr Venu Rajamani, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), met the Chief Minister at the secretariat on Monday. The delegation included several sector specialists and economists. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Educating rural Gujarat

Ahmedabad : Sample this: In rural Gujarat schools in 2011, 26.6% children could only recognise numbers 1-9 in class III while 16.3% of kids in that class could read letters but not words. These startling facts are brought out by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011 released recently.

Yet, there are positive aspects to the state scenario. While reading levels showed a decline in many states, in Gujarat the numbers for 2011 were better than for 2010. Arithmetic levels also showed a decline across most states, but there was no change in Gujarat. Read more

Source : dnaindia.com

NRHM is receiving more than a dozen complaints daily

JAIPUR: The 104 service, a medical advice toll free number, has bridged the gap between patients and the medical department.

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is receiving more than a dozen complaints daily about the problems the patients are facing in the primary health centres and sub-centres. Also, the patients have started sending complaints regarding absence of doctors at the health centres in rural areas. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Buses to rural areas: Road Transport Ministry wants Rs 15,000-cr push

NEW DELHI : To help improve public transportation in rural areas, the Road Transport Ministry wants to help procure almost 86,000 buses over the next five years. If this proposal gets a final nod of Finance Ministry and Planning Commission, business worth about Rs 15,000 crore for bus manufacturers such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland would be generated during the five year period.

The Ministry’s working group for the next five year plan has proposed to part-finance procurement of almost 51,000 buses to serve rural areas that are not connected by State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs). It also proposes to help fund procurement of another 35,000 buses to replace the over-aged fleet of SRTUs that operate in rural areas. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Nitish asks officials to review MNREGA work

Patna (PTI) : Under attack from various quarters for tardy implementation of MNREGA in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today asked district officials to observe a particular day every week as 'MNREGA Diwas' to review the guaranteed employment scheme for rural people in the state. Kumar, who chaired a high-level review meeting of development projects in Patna district, directed the district magistrates to depute an official to different panchayats every week to review the implementation of MNREGA.

He asked district magistrates to ensure that the officials to be sent to review MNREGA projects should be intimated only an hour before departing for a particular panchayat. The visiting official would minutely inspect implementation of MNREGA projects at the panchayats, record present status of works and payment to the labourers and match the same with the master role before submitting a report to the district magistrate. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Spoken web service for farmers soon

New Delhi : Soon farmers across the country can get their agriculture and weather-related queries answered quickly. The government is planning to launch a spoken web service that will provide an interactive medium for the farming community.

In a country where close to 60% of the 1.21bn population still depends on agriculture for a living, the spoken web service can be a boon to farmers in distant areas. Read more

Source : gulf-times.com

Lack of access impeding eco activity in remote areas: A P J Abdul Kalam

NEW DELHI: Lack of physical access is impeding economic activity in a number of remote and tribal places in India, says former president A P J Abdul Kalam.

This observation is made in his latest book "Target 3 Billion: PURA: Innovative Solutions Towards Sustainable Development", co-authored by Srijan Pal Singh. Read more

Source : articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Farmers ready to pay market rates for power, demand reliable supply

Agrarian distress and growing awareness among farmers, tired of poll-time rhetoric and freebies, may make it tougher for political parties to woo this large electorate with worn-out promises in the upcoming assembly polls. 

Ahead of elections in five states, including in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous and politically-critical state, many farmers say they are ready to pay market rates for power and other inputs provided there is reliable supply. Read more

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com

British politician works for upgrade of rural India

JAIPUR: Paying back to his motherland, British politician and member of the House of Lords, Lord Daljit Singh Rana MBE, is funding projects with an aim to transform rural India by developing infrastructure and means for quality education.

Born in Sangol in Punjab, Rana is developing a cluster of 26 villages around his native place on the pattern of PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas), a concept conceived by former President APJ Abdul Kalam. "I have already started working in coordination with the locals around the 26 selected villages and the entire fund management is being done by me in my personal capacity," said Lord Rana, while talking to TOI on the sidelines of the PBD celebrations at the Birla Auditorium here. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Satellite Urban Villages: an idea whose time has come

The Indian economy has been among the fastest growing economies in the world, expanding from US$ 450 billion in 2000 to US$ 1.7 trillion now, and will grow to an estimated US$ 5.1 trillion by 2020. This growth has resulted in rapid urbanisation, as experienced by Western economies in the first-half of the 20th century. Urban population in India is expected to grow from 28 per cent now to 34 per cent of the total population by 2015, though the ratio of urban to rural population will remain significantly lower in India compared to Western countries. 

However, India faces unique challenges as its economy industrialises and its urban population grows. The infrastructure in general, and especially urban infrastructure, has proven to be woefully inadequate in keeping pace with this growth. Read more

Source : indianexpress.com

Eye on polls, MP govt mulls 24-hr power

BHOPAL: In a bid to brighten his BJP's poll prospects and to score a hat trick in 2013 assembly polls, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday asked power sector top honchos to supply 24 hours energy to the rural households by completing the ongoing work of bifurcation electricity distribution supply lines to urban and rural areas by December this year.

Taking a cue from Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's Jyotigram Yojana under which that state is providing 24-hour power to more than 18,000 villages, BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is implementing a multi-crore project akin to it. The BJP government in Gujarat completed Rs 1,500 crore power project in a record time of 30-month period in 2006 and Modi became CM for third term in Gujarat a year later, state BJP sources pointed out. Read more

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Indian villages can now be mapped too!

Until a few months back, Puduvayal village in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, was just another quaint village in the country that was invisible in the virtual world.

Today, the click of a mouse can reveal even its tiniest of details — population data,  number and kinds of factories here, the raw material available in this area and the kind of industries it can support, tourist spots (the location of the 15th century Veerasegara temple can be found here). All thanks to students D Karthikk, R Meenakshi and P K Madhumathi, from A C College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi, who created this website. Read more

Source : deccanherald.com

Nabard sanctions Rs 10k-cr loan to Gujarat under RIDF

AHMEDABAD : The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on Wednesday said it had sanctioned Rs 10,297 crore worth of loans until this financial year under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for various projects in Gujarat, which is now among the top three States in terms of utilisation of RIDF loans.

RIDF was instituted by the Centre in 1995-96 with the objective of providing loans to State governments to get ongoing rural infrastructure projects completed. Over the last 16 years, the corpus of the fund has grown up to Rs 1.60 lakh crore and disbursements have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, Mr H.R. Dave, Chief General Manager, Nabard, said in a statement here. Read more

Source : thehindubusinessline.com

Targeting the mobile-friendly rural consumer

The rural consumer is more exposed and aware now than he has ever been in the history of India. He also has more choices and more brands trying to fit into his mind space. Becoming increasingly important for brands looking for fresh growth beyond urban India’s market penetration, especially in the larger towns and cities, rural consumers are no longer a simple target to woo, as their exposures and growing awareness have made them more discerning than earlier. At the same time, their aspirations for consuming branded and more sophisticated products make them very attractive for brands. 

The two paradigm shifts that have affected rural consumer behaviour are rooted in urbanisation and the advent of the mobile phone. Urbanisation has changed the credentials of the influencer. Earlier, influence was a function of designation or social status; in the last few years, villagers who have either studied or worked in larger cities are seen as the trendsetters. Living and studying with their urban counterparts translates into increased exposure across all facets ranging from everyday product choices to financial instruments. Read more

Source : hindustantimes.com

Gurgaon most urbanized zone in Haryana after Faridabad

GURGAON: Being the immediate neighbour of the national capital, Haryana has witnessed large-scale urbanization in the plast decade and this, in turn, has benefited the two neighbouring districts of Faridabad and Gurgaon the most. According to government figures, Haryana has grown at a rate of 44.25% in the past decade and the urban-rural share in the population of the state stands at 34.79% and 65.21% in 2001-2011. Neerja Shekhar, director of Census, said that the urban area with the largest population is the Faridabad Municipal Corporation which constitutes 15.92% of the state's population (14.04 lakh), followed by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon with a share of 9.94% of the total population (8.76 lakh). The significant increase in people living in urban areas in Gurgaon and Faridabad is attributed to the accelerated residential and commercial development along the two national highways - NH-2 and NH-8. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Kalam’s three-point recipe for graft-free India

New Delhi: Even as the ongoing debate about the Lokpal Bill reaches a crescendo, one man believes he has the answer to the malady of corruption that India suffers from. A three-point movement stressing on education, values and the parent-child equation should provide the magic formula, believes former president APJ Abdul Kalam.

"The Lokpal Bill is definitely going to shape a new law to punish or take action against people who indulge in corruption. But the issue is how fast can you take action?" asked India's "missile man". Read more

Source : zeenews.india.com 

After schools, block grant colleges too need regular grant

Bhubaneswar : It’s a welcome move by the BJD Government that after much dilly-dallying, it has declared to provide a regular grant to the block grant high schools in State.

The teachers and employees of nearly 2,000 high schools in the rural areas, who had been demanding abolition of block grant and release of grant-in-aid (GIA) in their favour, are now heaving a sigh of relief. The teachers were given less than Rs 5,000 per month which was 20 per cent of the salary of a regular teacher and again the salary had been quite irregular. Read more

Source : dailypioneer.com

Village in Chennai suffers without permanent bridge

CHENNAI: The main junctions and traffic congested areas of the city might have gotten a breather through the construction of concrete flyovers and bridges but a village, not quite far away from the heart of the city, has been suffering for close to half-a-century without a permanent bridge to connect it to the city.

Now that the village has been brought under the Chennai City Corporation limits, residents hope that their misery will come to an end. Read more

Source : ibnlive.in.com

Consumerism blurs urban-rural divide

Believe it or not, Bharat is gradually becoming India, at least in the matter of consumption of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). Increasingly, the rural market is demanding — and getting served too — the kind of goods that the urban consumer takes for granted.

To put it in perspective, the urban market always ate biscuits; so did the rural market. The difference was only in the kind of biscuits and is blurring. It’s good news for FMCG companies. After all, 72 per cent of all Indian households live in the countryside and together consume 55 per cent of all FMCG products. Read more

Source : mydigitalfc.com

GoI unhappy with PMGSY progress

Srinagar : While expressing displeasure over slow implementation of centrally sponsored scheme, Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana, in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh Saturday asked state government to speed up work on the program aimed at connecting the rural habitations.

“Money is not the problem for implementing the central schemes particularly PMGSY. Funds are available but state government needs to accelerate pace of work on the program,” Ramesh told Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of launching ceremony of central job plan scheme “Himayat” at Kashmir University here. Read more

Source : greaterkashmir.com

Crimes take sheen out of Ahmedabad

Movers and shakers like Sachin Tendulakar and Amitabh Bachchan are building their dream houses in Ahmedabad. But now it turns out that this biggest city of Gujarat is the best place for even have-nots, never mind its spiraling crime rate. 

Earlier this week, Ahmedabad, India’s seventh largest city, bagged the national award in the category of ‘Best City in the Implementation of Basic Services to Urban Poor ‘ under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. Read more 

Source : khaleejtimes.com

 

Voter apathy a cause for concern in Pune village

PUNE: Measures like ban on digging borewells, changing crop pattern to save water, using solar energy and extensive watershed development have been implemented by the residents of Sarole Pathar, one of the 25 villages under the climate change adaptation (CCA) project in Ahmednagar district to become an eco-friendly and sustainable village.

The village, about 130 km from PUNE, has been sanctioned Rs 31 crore by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), which is the implementing agency. Read more

Source : articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Car companies drive into rural India

New Delhi : Use non-posh outlets to serve non-metro and rural customers who reflect rising income levels and unmet demand.

Car makers are reaching out to consumers in rural centres as high lending rates slow urban demand.

Though overall passenger vehicle sales are down over the first eight months of the current financial year, sales from rural markets are up 10 per cent, encouraging automobile companies to strengthen their distribution in non-metro areas. Read more

Source : business-standard.com

MNREGA: Ramesh criticises employment generation in Bengal

NEW DELHI : Criticising the West Bengal government for not generating employment under MNREGA, rural development minister Mr Jairam Ramesh has shot off a letter to chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee asking her to empower panchayats which play a key role in ensuring jobs at villages.

Mr Ramesh said the state government was not able to generate employment under the rural job scheme “despite availability of sufficient funds”. Read more

Source : thestatesman.net