PM renames NREGA after Mahatma Gandhi

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI - "The America of today has its roots in the India of Mahatma Gandhi," US President Barack Obama said Friday while expressing appreciation for the life and lessons of the global peace icon on his 140th birth anniversary. This is an important moment to reflect on his message of non-violence, which continues to inspire people and political movements across the globe, Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

October 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were amongst the many ministers and parliamentarians who paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Parliament House on the occasion of their birth anniversaries Friday. Amongst the other dignitaries present on the occasion to pay floral tributes to the two leaders were Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, ex-MPs and family members of Lal Bahadur Shastri, said a release issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat here.

October 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer today commemorated the 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by joining the inter-faith prayer meeting and memorial ceremony at Raj Ghat.

September 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama has said that if he could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, it would be Mahatma Gandhi, adding he is "a real hero of mine". Obama had gone to Wakefield High School in Arlington to give a speech welcoming students back to school, when he took a few questions from ninth-graders.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rural Development Minister C P Joshi on Friday said that 100 rupees wages per day under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) will be provided as soon as the budgetary allocation process in the Parliament is over. Informing members of Lok Sabha of this, Joshi requested state governments to be more transparent in the implementation of NREGA scheme.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Wednesday demanded an apology from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for making "derogratory" remarks that Mahatma was a "natakbaaz" (a fake). The remarks made by Mayawati about the Father of Nation are highly condemnable.

June 15th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Maywati has come under severe criticism from opposition leaders for having made derogatory remarks about Mahatma Gandhi. While addressing a meeting of MPs and legislators of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) here Saturday, Mayawati called the Father of the Nation a "natakbaaz" (fake).

June 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Meira Kumar, the country's first woman and Dalit speaker, Saturday paid homage to national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi at their memorials here. She along with her family members visited all the 14 memorials of national leaders including Raj Ghat, Samata Sthal, Vijay Ghat, Shanti Van, Shakti Sthal, and Veer Bhumi, said Lok Sabha secretariat officials.

June 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar paid floral tribute at the memorials of various prominent leaders here on Saturday. Starting with Rajghat, the memorial to the Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, she also paid a visit to the memorials of her father, Jagjivan Ram and Indira Gandhi.

April 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - Asserting that the Left has failed to deliver the benefits of development to the poor in West Bengal, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said here Saturday that the Communist parties do not have the right ideas for growth. 'It is nice for the Left to comment on Mamataji, but the fact is the Left does not have right ideas for growth,' Gandhi said at a press conference, referring to the Left's remarks that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was 'anti-development'.

April 14th, 2009 PICHWADA - Coming out in support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday called him a 'strong and determined' leader and said even Mahatma Gandhi looked gentle. 'You cannot judge a person's strength from his external personality.

April 14th, 2009 PICHWADA - Days after the Congress was taunted with 'budhiya' (old woman) comments by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Priyanka Gandhi Tuesday said it is her dream to be remembered by people once she turns old. 'It is my dream that people remember me when I turn 'budhiya',' Priyanka Gandhi, the daughter of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, said while campaigning in the state.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi Monday said the development of the country was dependent on the prosperity of the common man and the government was keen on fulfilling expectations of the people. 'When the common man (aam aadmi) becomes prosperous, the country will automatically progress,' Sonia Gandhi said in her speech at the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) conference here.

January 29th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Friday took on Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of spreading fear to earn votes. This is what divides the politics of the BJP and that of Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi told a mammoth rally at the Gujarat College ground here.

January 5th, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Congress Tuesday demanded the sacking of an Uttar Pradesh minister who allegedly said Mahatma Gandhi was a criminal. Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav of the Mayawati-led government Monday said if the number of cases being lodged against somebody were the yardstick to term him a criminal, then Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were criminals too.