IndiaUpdates

State Elections Announced The Election Commission of India has announced elections in five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. The elections will begin on January 28, 2012 and end on March 3, 2012. While elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases- which will be the longest in the country so far, the other states will have a single phase of polling. ...

Panel Rejects FDI Hike in Insurance The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by Mr Yashwant Sinha, former Finance Minister and senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party has rejected the government proposal to hike FDI in the insurance sector to 49 per cent stating this may make the sector and economy vulnerable to the current global uncertainty. The committee tabled its repo...

Social Media to Build Brand India The Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs is tapping talent across the world to build India’s brand image globally. The department has sought entries from people across the globe for preparing views based on three themes - ‘India is colourful,' ‘India is creative' and ‘India is wherever you are'. This initiative has received more ...

Financial Sector Bills in Winter Session The Government is planning to introduce a slew of bills in the winter session which will help in heralding financial sector reforms, reports said. These include raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance firms from 26% to 49%, passing the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill to pave the way for social sec...

Panel For Farmer-Industry Ties President of India, Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil has mooted the idea of setting up a Committee of Governors to evolve mutually beneficial models for a farmer-industry partnership with a special focus on rain fed farming. Speaking at the Governors Conference in New Delhi, Mrs Patil said that this committee would focus on realising the full potential of the agri...

India-US Partnership in Education The United States of America and India will soon set up a “higher education platform” to enhance collaboration in research, skill development and student faculty exchange. In a joint statement on higher education, Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Ms Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State agreed to make higher education dial...

PM Seeks Early Reform of UNSC Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that there is a need for revitalising and reforming the UN General Assembly and Security Council and underlined the need for early reform of the UN Security Council. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Prime Minister said that development should be back to the centre stage of the United Nations’ priorit...

Cabinet Nod for Land Acquisition The Union Cabinet has cleared the Land Acquisition Bill. It will now have to be cleared by Parliament. Once the Bill becomes an Act, proposals in the Bill will be implemented with retrospective effect in case award of land has not been made under the previous law or possession has not been taken. If the law comes into force, then as per the proposed Bill the...

Health Care Focus in Plan The Twelfth five year plan – 2012-2017 – is expected to provide a boost to the health care sector by finding a solution to the acute shortage of qualified medical practitioners and professionals in allied health services. The government and other stakeholders have been keen on addressing this critical issue which has been an area of concern for the country. The App...

PM Focuses on Development Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh focussed on the issues of development on the social and economic front in his address to the nation on the 64th Independence Day of India. He said that the government after providing right to education, employment and information was now enacting a legislation to provide food security to the people of India. Stating that...