New Delhi: Union govt has ranked the sikkim state as best state in the country in the category of smaller states for its outstanding performance in strengthening and developing the panchayati raj institutions in the state Union Rural Development Minister Sh Jai Ram Ramesh and Union Minister of Panchayati Raj and Tribal Development Sh V.Kishore Chandra Deo on Tuesday presented ( Panchayat empowernment and incentivising schemen award) PEAIS 2011-12 award to Sh C.B.Karki Sikkim Rural Management and Development Department Minister during national conference to celebrate the national panchayat raj day function in vigyan bhawan new delhi on Tuesday .

NEW DELHI: Sikkim has won the 'best state' award for strengthening its panchayati raj institutions.

Gangtok: A consensus was arrived on promotion of green energy and specific action plan chalked at the Forum of Regulators (FOR) meet which began here on Thursday.

The forum worked on a strategy to harness the potential through installation of solar photo voltic (Solar PV) system on the rooftop of commercial, industrial, household premises, Pramod Deo, Chairperson, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and FOR said.

The first ‘wool bank’ in the North East is likely to be set up here in the capital city of Meghalaya with the Central Wool Development Board (CWDB) and Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) working towa

With the financial year starting on April 1, villagers working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) will get Rs 191 per day as wages.

Having achieved full sanitation coverage, Himachal Pradesh is on the verge of acquiring the status of a “Nirmal Pradesh”- the second state after Sikkim to get the distinction.

Gangtok: The poverty level in Sikkim has gone down with 80,000 people now living below poverty line, according to the new official estimates for 2009-2010 released by the Planning Commission.

While in 2004-2005, poverty level in Sikkim stood at 30.9 per cent with 1,70,000 people living under BPL, in the wake of the intense poverty alleviation programme initiated by the government, it has been significantly reduced in both urban and rural areas, official sources said.

Almost two years after it was passed by Parliament, the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, has now been notified by the Union Government.

Notified on February 28, it has come into force in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and all Union Territories from March 1.

The Planning Commission today said poverty in India declined 7.3 percentage points to 29.8% of the population over five years to 2009-10.

Poverty in rural areas declined at a faster pace than in urban cities between 2004-05 and 2009-10, according to the Planning Commission estimates released today. The total number of poor in the country has been estimated at 34.47 crore in 2009-10, as against 40.72 crore in 2004-05.