The Planning Commission today gave a go-ahead to Uttar Pradesh for its annual Plan outlay of Rs 35,000 crore for 2008-09, representing an increase of about 40 per cent over the allocation during the previous fiscal The Planning Commission has also meeting between the Planning Commission member, Mr B.K. Chaturvedi, and the State Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Gupta. The Planning Commission has also agreed to consider the State's demand for additional Central assistanceof Rs 5,000 crore, Mr Guptsfsaid, adding no final decision has yet been taken.

Sustaining Growth and Sharing Prosperity: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Poverty and Development Division, United Nations Building, Rajadam-nern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Monday, that the government was trying to industrialise as quickly as possible while trying to consolidate on agriculture. Making his first appearance at a business meet here, since the panchayat elections, Mr. Bhattacharjee said : "We have an investment-friendly government

The PHD Chamber has said it would "welcome' the Delhi Government's new industrial policy when it is announced and enumerated several proposals that it wants to be a part of the finalised policy. Representatives of the Chamber said the new industrial policy would be formulated taking into account the norms of planned development included in the Master Plan for Delhi-2021. It had been revealed by the State Government that the Special Economic Zone policy for Delhi had been approved and would soon be notified.

Sivaganga: Union finance minister P Chidamabaram on Sunday said that inflation was a global phenomenon, resulting from rising crude oil prices. Speaking to reporters, he said India was a major importer of crude oil and 75% of the nation's demand of crude oil was met from imports.

With a view to promoting small industries in the state, Commerce, Industry and Employment Department has instituted state level awards for small/micro industries. Under the scheme, awards would be given away to the small and micro units which adopt effective system for controlling pollution and conserving environment and pay taxes regularly. In all, three awards would be given away under the scheme. The three prizes entail cash prizes worth Rs 51 thousand, Rs 31 thousand and Rs 21 thousand respectively.

The Department of Economic Affairs has asked State Governments to go ahead with infrastructure projects to improve the growth rate of the country. DEA Additional Secretary Sindhushree Khullar described the public-private partnership (PPP) route as an unavoidable option to reduce the glaring infrastructure deficit that is visible across states. She explained that the DEA had worked with the rating agencies to develop a framework for grading infrastructure projects that would help investors identify the risks involved in the projects.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today claimed that Assam has made immense progress in the two years since the Congress-BPF combine came to power. In a function organised to mark the completion of two years of governance, Gogoi went to town showcasing what he called marked achievements, and took pot shots at his detractors. Gogoi asserted that Assam was clearly on the right track towards development, with a host of schemes for the uplift of the poor and the unempowered. Noticeable differences were being felt in different sectors with more funds being made available for development purposes.

Orissa has lifted around 3 million people out of poverty and has made the strongest fiscal turnaround among all states six years between 2000 and 2006. Over 45 per cent of Orissa's population is, however, still living below poverty line. Stating this, a forthcoming World Bank study on Orissa whose main findings were released today, lauded the efforts of the state government to achieve its goal to bring down the poverty level to below 10 per cent by 2020. The study "Orissa in Transition: From Fiscal Turnaround to Rapid and Inclusive Growth" was conducted by the World Bank in 2007.

India and Egypt are on course to rebuild their ties by adding solid economic content to their relationship. The visiting Minister of state for commerce and power Jairam Ramesh held talks with Prime Minister of Egypt Ahmed Mahmoud Mohamed Nazif. He also met the Ministers of investment, communications and information technology, finance, transport as well as trade and industry. These meetings took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (Middle East) where Mr. Ramesh is representing India as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy.