State

The National Green Tribunal has sought a response from all states and Union Territories regarding the loss of trees, saying it is a "pan-India" issue. The green body was hearing the issue of the alleged loss of 2.33 million hectares of tree cover in the country since 2000. In an order dated November 18, a bench of judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member Afroz Ahmad noted the submissions of the counsel for the Survey of India about the information about forest cover being prepared and maintained by the Forest Survey of India. "We accordingly direct Forest Survey of India through Director General, Dehradun to submit a report showing the position of forest cover in India with specific reference to northeast from the year 2000 onwards with each five-year interval covering the period up to March 2024," the tribunal said. "Having also considered the issue that loss of trees is Pan India and therefore individual States and Union Territories should also submit their report

The Centre has urged southern states to expedite the execution of centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS), emphasising the need for timely fund allocation and proper management of single nodal accounts. Speaking at a two-day regional conference that concluded on November 19 at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi emphasized the operationalization of SNA-SPARSH, return of unutilized balances and interest, and prompt submission of Utilization Certificates (UCs). "The Centre is very much a partner to the states and will help them ameliorate the conditions of farmers," the Secretary said while stressing the importance of state-level conferences to address region-specific agricultural challenges. Senior officials from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Puducherry participated in the conference to evaluate the progress of various schemes. The states were advised to finalize the annual action plan for FY 2025-26 by December to enable .

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said allowing the State to appropriate private property through adverse possession would undermine the constitutional rights of citizens and erode public trust in the government. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale dismissed an appeal of the Haryana government challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order restoring the possession of land to a private party in which the state's Public Works Department (PWD) has staked its claim. "We find no merit in the appellants' contentions. The high court's judgement is based on sound legal principles and correct appreciation of evidence. The plaintiffs (private party) have established their ownership of the suit property, and the State cannot claim adverse possession against its own citizens," it said. The dispute pertains to land in Bahadurgarh at Haryana located on the National Highway, which connects Delhi and Bahadurgarh. The bench relied on the entries of the revenue records which established t

The exercise of legislative power by statutory regulatory authorities undermines federalism and needs to be corrected

People's Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday said Jammu and Kashmir government's first reported resolution demanding restoration of statehood and not Article 370, was a "huge setback" and nothing less than the ratification of the Centre's 2019 decisions. Another political party, the People's Conference, has also questioned the secrecy over the resolution. The reactions came after a Jammu-based newspaper 'Daily Excelsior' carried a report that the cabinet had passed a resolution urging the Centre to restore J-K's statehood. The report also said that the chief minister will travel to Delhi to handover the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, there was no official confirmation or denial of the report so far. "Omar Abdullah's first resolution on statehood is nothing less than ratification of the August 5, 2019 decision. No resolution on Article 370 and scaling down the demand to mere statehood is a huge setback, especially after seeking votes on the promise of

He stressed that the state government is making continuous efforts to make this decade the decade of Uttarakhand, adding that the state is being developed as per the public expectations

Leh to Delhi foot march explained: Who is Sonam Wangchuk and what is the aim of his month-long foot march to Delhi

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday launched the BJP's membership drive at the party state headquarters, with state unit president, Rajib Bhattacharjee, in attendance. This initiative follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's kick-off of the nationwide membership drive in Delhi on Monday, where BJP President JP Nadda was also present. The party has set an ambitious goal for this membership drive, aiming to enrol 12 lakh members in Tripura. Saha explained that he renewed his own membership using a mobile app and highlighted the party's broader goal of achieving 10 crore new members in the first phase of the drive across the country. Saha noted that during the 2019 membership drive when he was appointed as the chief of the drive in Tripura, the party enrolled 1.24 lakh members. The current membership has grown to 6.50 lakh, and he expressed confidence that the target of 12 lakh is achievable this time. He encouraged people to join the BJP as primary members to contribute to .

A long-pending demand, the plea for statehood to this union territory echoed once again in the state Assembly earlier this week, when the House passed a unanimous resolution expressing its sentiments with the Centre on the matter. The territorial Assembly had in the past adopted resolutions on 15 occasions seeking statehood. The election manifestos of all political parties released during the run up to either Assembly or Lok Sabha polls all along had been insisting they would strive hard for ensuring statehood to Puducherry, a coastal town located about 170 km from Chennai. Puducherry and its outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam located as enclaves either in Tamilnadu, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh had been together as a union territory since their merger with the Indian Union through a referendum in 1954. It has been the contention of the parties coming to power that the lack of full-fledged powers to the elected government at had been a major handicap. They state that even to .

The central government has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the construction of working women's hostels, and framed guidelines for financial support to states

The government is also working on revising the existing state data policy in line with the DPDP Act

India recorded extreme weather events on 318 of the 365 days in the year 2023, with all states and Union territories experiencing such events on at least one day, according to a new report released on Wednesday. These extreme weather events resulted in 3,287 human deaths, 1.24 lakh animal deaths, and damage to 2.21 million hectares of crop area, a report by independent think tank the Centre for Science and Environment's "State of Environment 2024" said. Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest number of days with extreme weather at 149, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 141, and Kerala and Uttar Pradesh with 119 each. Eight states recorded more than 100 days of extreme weather, the report said. Heavy rains, floods and landslides were recorded on 208 days in 2023. Lightning and storms occurred on 202 days, heatwaves on 49 days, cold waves on 29 days and cloudbursts on nine days. India experienced extreme weather events for 123 consecutive days between June and September 2023, the repor

Since 1987, Arunachal Pradesh has observed Foundation Day on February 20. This declaration was passed by the India following the 53rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in 1986

TMS Ep 630: Centre vs states, PLI scheme, small-caps, bullet train #TMS

Do states have a case against the Centre on fiscal transfers? How can India rejig the PLI scheme? Is there more room for downside in small-caps? What are the key features of the bullet train corridor?

The borrowing cost of states declined to an 18-month low at 7.48 percent at the latest auction held on Tuesday. Since the first auction of the fourth quarter held on January 2, the average cut off of state government bond auctions was sniffing at a shade less than 7.8 per cent, which was a two-year high. At the latest auction held on Tuesday, 14 states raised Rs 26,700 crore which was 22 per cent lower than the indicated Rs 34,400 crore for this week in the fourth quarter auction calendar, according to data shared by rating agency Icra. The lower supply was partly on account of the upward revision in tax devolution in the revised estimates for FY24 by the Centre in the interim Budget. This may reduce the borrowing requirements of some of the states in the remainder of the fourth quarter of this fiscal. Reflecting the lower-than-indicated borrowing on Tuesday, the spread between the cut-off of the 10-year state debt and the 10-year G-Sec yield eased to 41 basis points from 49 basis

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday attacked the BJP-led union government alleging that its intervention in state governance and attempts to weaken the political autonomy of states undermines the principles of federalism. The Modi government is not only harassing the state governments but is also crushing the poor people and women of the country, he alleged. Kharge was speaking at a mass rally organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in this central Kerala district. He also remarked that the leaders of the ruling dispensation lack the statesmanship of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. "The Centre's intervention in state governance and autonomous bodies, including interference by the governors and attempts to reduce the political autonomy of states, undermines the principles of federalism," the Congress chief said. Addressing hundreds of party workers gathered here, Kharge stressed the need to stand united to safeguard constitutional rights and preserve ...

A Reserve Bank working group has suggested that state governments should charge a minimum fee for guarantees extended by them on loans taken by their enterprises, local bodies, and cooperative institutions. Keeping in view the inherent risks associated with the guarantees extended by the state governments on their fiscal health and to the banking system, it was decided during the 32nd Conference of the State Finance Secretaries held in July 2022 to set up a Working Group, the RBI said in a statement on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank has released the 'Report of Working Group on State Government Guarantees' on its website. State governments are often required to sanction, and issue, on behalf of various state enterprises, cooperative institutions, urban local bodies, and other state-owned entities, guarantees in favour of their lenders which are generally commercial banks or other financial institutions. There is a specific ceiling of 0.5 per cent of GDP for additional guarantees to be ..

Lower supplies for the second consecutive week finally led to the coupons on state debt to fall from the two-year high at the latest auction held on Tuesday, and the weighted average cut-off eased by 7 bps to 7.65 per cent. For the past two weeks, despite poor supplies states were forced to offer very high returns, which had touched 7.72 per cent last week, the highest in the past two years. Nine states raised Rs 19,200 crore by selling state government securities on Tuesday, 32 per cent lower than the amount indicated for this week in the auction calendar. Following this and the dip in the core-CPI inflation, the weighted average cut-off dipped to 7.65 per cent from a high 7.72 per cent last week, despite the weighted average tenor increasing to 16 years from 11, Icra Ratings chief economist Aditi Nayar said in a note. Moreover, she said the spread between the cut-off of the 10-year state bonds and the 10-year benchmark G-sec yield declined to 50 bps from 54 bps last week. So far

The Congress appointed communication coordinators for states on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh has been appointed as the communication coordinator for Karnataka, Radhika Khera has been given the responsibility for Chhattisgarh, Mathew Antony will look after northeastern states and Mahima Singh will look after Assam. The other communication coordinators are B R Anil Kumar (Andhra Pradesh), Alok Sharma (Bihar), Harshad Sharma (Goa), Sachin Sawant (Gujarat), Ajay Upadhyay (Haryana), Amrit Gill (Himachal Pradesh), Jyoti Kumar Singh (Jharkhand), Arshpreet Khadial (Jammu), Parvez Alam (Kashmir and Ladakh), Lavanya Ballal Jain (Kerala), Charan Singh Sapra (Madhya Pradesh), Surendra Singh Rajput (Maharashtra), Bobbeeta Sharma (Odisha), Anshul Avijit (Punjab), Ritu Choudhary (Rajasthan), Bhavya Narasimhamurthy (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), Sujata Paul (Telangana), Chayanika Uniyal (Uttarakhand), Abhay Dubey (Uttar Pradesh) and Anshuman Sail

Several state governments announced a hike in DA by 3 to 4 per cent after the centre announced the decision for its employees last month. Here are the state-wise details about the DA hike