Government to electrify over 1.18 lakh villages by 2012: Shinde

October 12th, 2009 BANGALORE - Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has said that all villages that were marooned in the recent floods in Karnataka would be relocated to safer places. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Yediyurappa said: "We are going to acquire about 5,000 acres of land for relocating the villages.

September 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Solar energy-powered electrical lighting systems came online Friday in about 3,900 households in 27 remote villages of Gurez tehsil in Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the government's Remote Village Electrification (RVE) Programme. Dedicating the project to about 30,000 people living in these villages, New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said projects have been sanctioned for extending basic lighting facility to 145 of the 284 un-electrified villages and 28 hamlets in the state.

September 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Liqvid, an English language skill provider and the new entrepreneurial venture of eGurucool founder Vivek Agarwal, has drawn up plans to equip 30 lakh Indian students with English speaking skills every year by 2012. "English is an essential communication tool now more than ever before.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two-wheeler manufacturer Yamaha India Wednesday rolled out a super bike, VMax, priced at Rs.20 lakh. The company also launched a limited edition of the Fazer and SZ Series models, priced between Rs.66,500 and Rs.73,500 ahead of the upcoming festive season.

August 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Tuesday said it had already placed orders for 80,000 MW of fresh electricity generation capacity, against the target of 78,700 MW during the entire eleventh five-year plan period of 2007-12. "A capacity of about 16,395 MW has already been commissioned and the remaining capacity of 64,215 MW is under various stages of construction," Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said during his inaugural address at a two-day international conclave here.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rural Development Minister Dr C P Joshi on Friday said that two lakh thirty thousand kilometers of roads will be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Replying to a question in Lok Sabha, Joshi said, "The Government's target is to connect one lakh thirty five thousand villages by the end of next fiscal." He added that around 36 thousand villages have already been connected during the 10th plan period.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Monday said that a three-tier committee has been constituted to monitor the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Viddyuti Karan Yojana to provide electricity to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Replying to supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha, Shinde said that more than 62,000 villages have already been electrified under this scheme.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a bid to improve governance at the grass roots level, the government has decide to extend broadband connectivity to all villages by 2012, Minister of State for Communications and IT Gurudas Kamat said Friday. "Out of about 2.5 lakh gram (village) panchayats across the country, 30,000 have been provided with broadband connectivity, Kamat said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The power shortage in the capital will stay for at least another seven months and the situation will only improve after power projects planned for the 2010 Commonwealth Games start, union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Thursday. The power demand in Delhi has increased to 4,400 MW against the usual 3,500 MW per day.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday proposed an increase in the personal income tax exemption limits by Rs. 15,000 for senior citizens from Rs.

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde Tuesday asked the coal and environment ministries for coal linkages and quick environmental clearance for upcoming power projects. Shinde made the request at a state power ministers' conference here, which was also attended by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Coal Shriprakash Jaiswal, and New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah.

June 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde Tuesday set a target of generating an additional 5,653 MW of electricity in the first 100 days of the new United Progressive (UPA) government, and said he will himself monitor the progress. The country is looking up to the sector for delivering the promise of 'power for all' and there is a need to accelerate the efforts, Shinde told a review meeting attended by senior ministry officials and representatives of state-run power generation units.

May 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission has declared that people in 6,000 villages and hamlets in seven states and two Union Territories, going to polls in the final phase of Lok Sabha Elections, are vulnerable to threats and intimidation. Deputy Election Commissioner R Balakrishnan said that nearly 19,000 trouble-makers have been identified against whom preventive measures have been initiated to ensure free and fair polls.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Deciding to go it alone in Bihar, the Congress Saturday said it would contest 37 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The decision comes days after a jolt from its allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) which unilaterally decided to stitch up a pre-poll tie-up in Bihar and contest 37 seats between themselves.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An upset Congress Tuesday termed as 'unacceptable' the seat sharing agreement worked out for Bihar between two of its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners, which gave it just three seats in the state, but was quick to dispel any talk of the coalition being in trouble. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJSP) announced their seat sharing arrangement for Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats, according to which 25 will go to the RJD, 12 to the LJSP and three to the Congress.