New Delhi, Aug 29 : The Government today approved amendments to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) Bill, 2007.

The AERA Bill seeks to establish an independent regulatory authority comprising a chairperson and two members to be appointed by the Central Government.

The Bill also lays down the powers and functions of the regulatory authority, which will include determining the tariff structure for aeronautical services, amount of development fees in respect of major airports and amount of passenger service fee, and to monitor the performance standards relating to quality, continuity and reliability of service.

New Delhi, Aug 29 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that New Delhi is working with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) countries to secure a clean waiver on the India-US civilian nuclear deal.

New Delhi, Aug 29 : The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will present the national awards to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) here tomorrow.

Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Mahabir Prasad will preside over the function.

The national awardees include successful entrepreneurs in the MSME sector, khadi and village industries and coir sector under different categories.

New Delhi, Aug 29: The Union Ministry of Information Technology said on Friday that the UPA Government’s next E-Governance project - NextGen MCA21 – would possess the capability of meeting the challenges of the country’s growing economy.

Inaugurating a Thinkshop on the project here, Union Information Technology Secretary Jainder Singh said, “Our rapid pace of growth is putting immense work pressure on current institutional structures, current ways of functioning, and current ways of managing information and current regulatory practices. This coupled with heightened expectations of the stakeholders on account of the success of MCA21 has created an urgent need to evolve further to meet the pressure and expectations.”

New Delhi - Indian economic growth slipped to 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, its slowest pace in over three years as rising borrowing costs affected manufacturing and other sectors, news reports said Friday.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) was 7.9 per cent in the three months to June 30, compared to 9.2 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, data released by the government's Central Statistical Organization showed.

The moderation in GDP growth was in line with expectations of the economists as the federal Reserve Bank of India had hardened interest rates to control double-digit inflation, the PTI news agency reported.

New Delhi, Aug 29 : As tension remains high in the communally sensitive Kandhmal District of Orissa with reports of sporadic incidents of violence, around 30,000 Christian missionary run schools and colleges across the country have decided to remain closed on Friday to protest the violence against their community.

The call for a total shutdown came after Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh described the violence in Orissa as a “national shame”.

A delegation of the Catholic Bishops'''' Conference of India (CBCI) on Thursday called on the Prime Minster and appealed to him to conduct an independent inquiry into the killing of VHP leader Laxamananda Saraswati.