From March 2009, the students in Gujarat will be seen entering examination halls with textbooks in hand so that they can copy answers from it if needed. This is because the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) has marched on and launched the open book format of ...

As part of an international effort on climate change, the Indian government has decided to conserve three wetlands of Northeast under a Rs 150 million project. Among the three wetlands selected is Tripura's Rudrasagar Lake. A large chunk of it has got encroached upon despite the fact that it houses ...

The Supreme Court has ruled that land acquisition for the public purpose is justified and sovereign power can acquire land for public purpose. A two-judge Bench of Justices C K Thakker and D K Jain held that the "public purpose" could include "industrial and other infrastructural ...

With the Union health ministry enforcing the 'workplace smoke-free policy', a total ban on indoor smoking is going to be put in place in India from October 2 onwards. This means that the private offices and other establishments cannot escape the ban by taking refuge in special rooms meant for ...

In an unprecedented decision Planning Commission has rejected President's proposal to open all-women IIT at Amravati. According to reports, President Patil's proposal was approved by both the HRD Ministry and the PMO, had gone to the Plan panel for its in-principle approval. In support of all-women ...

Faculty of Science of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) revamping its examination system and making it more transparent will allow its students to see checked copies. B.D. Singh, Dean of the Faculty of Science said that students would be given checked copies and in case any student objects to the ...

Cabinet has approved new Company Bill; the bill will replace existing Companies Act of 1956. The new bill will pave a path to form a company more easily than existing law provides. The Companies Bill 2008 will enable the formation of a one-person company (OPC); the enabling act will help boosting ...

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that one cannot force a female, who seems promiscuous in her sexual behavior, into a sexual relationship and nor has any person the 'licence' to rape her.  The apex court observed, 'even if the victim in a given case has been promiscuous in her sexual ...

Government is thinking of amending Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) of India bill presented in Parliament in the year 2007. The bill after amendment will empower Airport Regulator for fixing and reviewing charges in all domestic airports. Along with this, government is willing to allow ...

India's PM Manmohan Singh will sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in December this year. The agreement will ensure lowering down of duties and free flow of trade in goods. India's economic diplomats consider the ...

Conceding to the request of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has issued a Rs 1000 crore immediate assistance for rescue and relief operations in the flood-hit state. He has also granted 1.25 lakh tones of foodgrains for the affected people in the region. ...

All the wait is finally going to get over soon. The government is all geared up to release the notification of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendation on Friday, August 29, 2008. The 5.5 million strong employees of the central government, who had been awaiting this notification with ...

The mega development plan for Assam introduced by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being hailed as 'visionary'. The plan concentrates on giving the education sector of the region a major boost, which eventually will provide the state a cutting edge.
 
Two rallies were scheduled in ...

Inflation has become a major issue in front of government and looking into that and particularly towards essential ingredients like pulses, government is thinking of subsidizing the same. Under new scheme government is examining the viability of subsidizing four lakh tones of pulses ...

The Union Cabinet finally gave the green signal to the expansion of the foreign ministry on Thursday, August 21, after a long wait. The Indian government announced after a meeting of the cabinet that 139 more posts will be created at the officers level and another 110 posts will be created for the ...

In order to promote economic growth in the state Karnataka state has approved three SEZs in the capital city of Bangalore.  The decision in this regard was taken recently in the 15th State High Level Clearance Committee meeting. Accordingly, the government will fulfill needs of land and water ...

When judiciary itself wants to sow the seeds of transparency, the Ministry of Law says that judges are not open to public scrutiny through Right to Information (RTI). The Ministry of Law and Justice putting it more precisely has said that RTI does not cover Supreme Court and High Court judges. The ...

HRD Ministry has agreed upon the demand of IITs of de-reserving vacant faculty which does not get filled for a year. Also, the ministry admitted that it erred while asking IITs to reserve posts from the entry level of lecturer, as lecturer's job is now contractual, and how can those on contract be ...

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) introduced by the UPA Government will soon see the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) providing assistance in its implementation. The NREGS provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment ...

After successful bidding for Pilot Passport Project, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in public-private initiative will start the same in Bangalore, and Chandigarh. Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs accepted the bidding from TCS. The deal according to some reports is worth Rs.10-15 billion. ...

In pursuance of the Supreme Court of India judgment, Chief Commissioner for persons with disabilities, New Delhi, Manoj Kumar has asked IITs to treat disabled on par with SCs. The decision from Chief Commissioner has come when parents of two physically challenged candidates pointed out that the ...

In order to cope up AIDS in India, and particularly in females, Indian government will encourage the use of female condoms. Interestingly, female condoms are the only safeguard available to women against AIDS, and these have been quite popular among them too, as there has been 70% acceptability of ...

In the hope to see a modern nation with new prospects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India hopes to send a spacecraft to the moon in 2008. Further, it was declared as “an important milestone” in the country’s future plans in the development of space programme. The PM ...

Sixth Pay commission report may be good news for the government employees but not so fine when it comes into play for a bigger cause. The recent survey by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime minister revealed that the Sixth Central Pay Commission would have been an adverse affect in ...

The Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations finally found an approval from the Union Cabinet on Thursday, presenting an average pay hike of 21% for Central Government employees.
 
With some minor modifications, the Cabinet broadly accepted the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay ...

The Centre has announced a new employment generation scheme to create over 37 lakh jobs. The new scheme will be merged with existing Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and the Rural Employment Generation Program (REGP). Finance Minister P Chidambaram told media person that the total cost of the ...

The bill giving effect to sixth pay commission’s recommendation to increase salaries of govt employees is likely to pass in Lok Sabha in coming session. The legislation is coming in the time when government is wishing to tighten up its public finances and widen the federal fiscal deficit. The ...

An insurance plan has been launched to give insurance protection to HIV+ recently in Karnataka state. A group health insurance plan recently launched will cover 250 HIV-affected people in the state which is the first of its kind.  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ...

Kerala taking a progressive step to sensitize people about AIDS has decided to reserve government jobs for HIV+ candidates. The message in this regard came from the Kerala State Aids Control Society (KSACS) which sees that the presence of such a person will improve coordination and communication ...

Chaturvedi Panel which was established by Prime Minister to understand financial position of oil firms and give recommendations has suggested for sharp increase in petrol, and diesel products. In its recommendation the commission has asked for hike in petrol prices by Rs 2.50 a litre per month till ...