Bhubaneswar: Finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai on Thursday urged the Centre to waive all taxes levied on petrol and roll back the hike to avoid a major economic disaster. Reacting to the Rs 7.50-paise hike per litre of petrol, he said the common people would be hit hard and it would affect the transport sector the maximum.

The government on Thursday set up an expert technical group headed by Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C. Rangarajan to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty and overhaul the norms in keeping with the present-day prices.

The move follows all-round criticism of the Planning Commission's estimates on poverty released in this March and the controversy it generated in and outside Parliament on capping the poverty line at a daily consumption of Rs 28.65 per capita in cities and at Rs 22.42 in rural areas.

New Delhi Noted agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan on Thursday urged the government to invest in building infrastructure for post-harvest technology before it implements the food security Bill.

Pointing out a huge mismatch between grain production and storage facilities, Swaminathan said for ensuring adequate supply of grain under the food security law, a modern procurement system needs to be in place.

The Narendra Modi government's bid to generate funds to promote clean energy by introducing a Green Cess on every unit of conventional electricity generated in the state has not gone well with major industrial players of the state, who have now challenged the constitutional validity of the government's move in the Gujarat High Court.

Acting on the individual petitions by the companies the High Court has restrained the state government from initiating any proceedings or recover any amounts by way of cess on generation of electricity from the petitioners till June 15, when the next hearing in the matters was scheduled.

National panel needed to save Ganga: Govt. The Government is working on a mechanism to monitor the discharge of domestic and industrial effluents into the Ganges and punish defaulters and will soon come to the Parliament to share the plan. This information was given to the Lok Sabha on Thursday when, while replying to an emotive debate on the fate of the sacred river, Environment Minister Jayanti Natarajan said India needed a "National Commission to Prevent Atrocities against the Ganges".

New Delhi The government is set to consider a proposal for a complete ban on private-public joint ventures (JVs) for developing mineral blocks allocated to state-run corporations and public sector undertakings under a special dispensation. The move would hit the plans of Adani Mining, Moser Baer, Vedanta, Monnet Ispat and the Jaypee Group, among others, in the minerals and metals business.

Coal blocks given to private companies, estimated to be worth . 10.7 lakh crore in the national auditor’s draft report, were allocated impartially and in the interest of economic growth, the government said as it sought to limit the damage from a potentially adverse audit report.
The draft report, leaked in March, caused an uproar in Parliament as it said the allocation of 155 blocks between 2004 and 2009 give companies “undue benefits” of . 10.7 lakh crore.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday rejected the Parliamentary standing committee's suggestion to delete a clause in the Land Acquisition Bill allowing the government to acquire land for public-private-partnership (PPP) projects.

He said the government would not compromise with the fundamental principles in the Bill, whose thrust is on urbanisation and industrialisation. A similar assurance came from Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, who said his ministry would not allow any compromise on manufacturing and industrial activities as they were a national priority.

The coal ministry has said captive coal blocks could not be allocated to private companies at the market price of reserves. This is despite the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) recently blaming the government for extending “undue gains” worth a whopping Rs 10.6 lakh crore to companies by not allocating the blocks at market prices.

Views of State governments will be accommodated, says Jairam Ramesh

The Centre has decided to revise the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, incorporating suggestions made by State governments to protect the interests of tribals and the sanctity of gram sabhas. Reacting to the parliamentary committee report, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said most of the recommendations pertaining to preserving the federal structure would be accepted but asserted the government would have to necessarily play a role in land acquisition.