Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is exploring the possibility of land reforms even as he has been slammed by activists for not having convened a single meeting of the National Council for Land Reforms (NCLR) headed by him since its formation in 2008. Dr Singh has directed the Planning Commission to set up a meeting with one of the key National Council for Land Reforms members P.V. Rajagopal, who has been on a countrywide tour to identify land issues in the rural India.

The Environment Performance Index (EPI), prepared by the Planning Commission, has placed Odisha at sixth rank among the 28 States and seven Union Territories.

The Planning Commission today approved Delhi's size of Annual Plan for the year 2012-2013 at a meeting held between the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Delhi C

Learn from Delhi’s experience, says Montek to other States

The Annual Plan for Delhi for 2012-13 was on Thursday finalised at Rs. 15,862 crore at a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and State Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. In his initial remarks, Mr Ahluwalia lauded Delhi’s performance in all sectors and highlighted a number of initiatives it has taken which have helped in expediting the pace of development. The Commission, he said, would suggest to other States to learn from the Delhi experience.

Pilot project in command areas of Malviya Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Nangloi

The Planning Commission on Thursday gave thumbs up to Delhi Government’s move to involve private entities in supply of water in several areas of the city on the lines of power sector. The reform initiative in the water distribution sector has been complimented by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia when Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit briefed him about the move.

Activists are up in arms against the Planning Commission for its proposal in the 12Th Five Year Plan document that seeks to restructure the health care system in a way that it would be handing it over to the corporate sector.

“It is particularly problematic that the Plan document to be adopted by the end of this month, invokes the concept of Universal Health Care, while it actually proposes a strategy that is far removed from the basic tenets of universal health care,” Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, a conglomerate of rights-based health activists, said here on Wednesday.

At a time when crores are being spent on tiger conservation, forests would be cut down at Mahan in Central India following provisional clearance for coal mining by the Government.

Health Ministry Strongly Opposes Corporatization Of Sector.

The Planning Commission approved Rs 16,300 crore for Jharkhand for 2012-13 against the last financial year’s allocation of Rs 12,232 crors. The state had demanded for Rs 15,323 crore for last year which the Planning Commission had curtailed due to non-utilization of approved funds made by Planning Commission.

Chief minister Arjun Munda told the Planning Commission that Jharkhand needed a central package like Uttar Pradesh and special concessions like Bihar as the state’s various development projects were being seriously affected.

The Union government on Tuesday approved the extension of the Metro connection from Mundka in Delhi to Bahadurgarh in Haryana.