The government is likely to provide subsidised wheat and rice to 1.5 crore additional BPL families from October 2, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha.

The ministry of environment and forests has set up a Tiger Conservation Fund to benefit local communities living in the forest reserves. A fund of Rs 900 crores will be transferred yearly to states in which the 39 tiger reserves are located to be used for livelihood activities.

The human resources development minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said that there is a shortage of 1.2 million teachers in India and states must speed up the recruitment process to bridge the gap.

The government on Friday said it was willing to ask the CBI to look into charges of irregularities by state agencies involved in Commonwealth Games projects and accused the Opposition of projecting incorrect figures on the expenditure incurred for the mega event.

Even as the DDA has promised nearly 4,000 rooms at Vasant Kunj flats project for the Commonwealth Games-2010 by September 10, it is going to be a tough ask before one can say that the place will be “battle ready” in time.

The issue of large-scale corruption in the organisation of the Commonwealth Games 2010 rocked the Lok Sabha forcing Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the House amidst heated exchanges between the treasury and the Opposition benches.

A day after the MPs drew the government’s attention to the deteriorating quality of material being supplied to the Parliament House catering, the chief commercial manager (catering) took a serious note of it and asked the concerned to pick up the samples on date.

Will the controversial chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi be able to face the Lok Sabha when it will discuss the alleged corruption in the Commonwealth Games projects next week, is a question being discussed in political circles.

Former Union minister and the sitting Congress MP from Nagpur, Vilas Muttemwar has come out openly against the moves to set up a thermal power plant in the heart of Nagpur. He urged Prime Minister to intervene and direct the Maharashtra government and ministry of environment to shift proposed thermal power plant outside the city.

The Congress attacked BJP in Chhattisgarh for portraying its chief Sonia Gandhi as a “witch” in a cartoon on price rise, saying it has crossed the “limits of decency”.
“We always say that sometimes BJP and its associated groups cross the limits of decency. If you want to criticise the government on price rise, you are welcome but m