Page 3 - Centre

Clear all 'One Rank One Pension' dues by Feb 28 next year: SC tells Centre

The bench further added in three equal instalments by February 28, 2024, the dues should be paid to the remaining 10-11 lakh pensioners

Agriculture Min ropes in Nafed for promotion of govt's millets initiative

The Agriculture Ministry on Monday said it has roped in cooperative Nafed for promotion of the government's millets initiative at global scale, including installation of millet vending machines and setting up of an experience centre in Delhi-NCR. Nafed, which has entered into a MoU with the ministry in this regard, will set up a millet corner in Nafed Bazaar Retail Stores, install millet vending machines across Delhi-NCR, an official statement said. It will also establish a millets' experience centre at Delhi Haat, to promote nutritious millets and create awareness on the rich history of India through millet-based dishes. Nafed will extend marketing linkage to millets-centric startups, it added. "Nafed has entered into an MoU with the Ministry of Agriculture to extend its support to millets initiatives," an official statement said. India, the world's major millets producing country, is promoting millets as part of the International Year of Millets (IYoM) celebration this year. Tha

Yet to receive report from states on crop damages by untimely rains: Govt

The Centre on Monday said there has been some damage to the standing wheat crop in key growing states due to untimely rains and hailstorm, but it is yet to receive a ground report from the state governments. There is no concern about mustard and chickpea (chana) crops as most of it has been harvested. In the case of horticultural crops, localised hailstorms might have affected some crops like banana and potato, it said. For the last two days, many parts of the country have been receiving unseasonal rains, hail and heavy winds due to western disturbances. Wheat is the main rabi crop, harvesting of which has started in some parts of the country. Mustard and chickpeas are other major rabi crops. The government has projected a record wheat output of 112.2 million tonnes for the 2022-23 crop year (July-June). "There has been some damage. We have not received an assessment report on the extent of damage from the state governments," Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary told

SC refuses to accept Centre's sealed cover note on payment of OROP dues

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept the Centre's sealed cover note about its views on the payment of One Rank One Pension (OROP) arrears to ex-service personnel. We need to put an end to this sealed cover practice in the Supreme Court... This is fundamentally contrary to basic process of fair justice, said a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala. I am personally averse to sealed covers. There has to be transparency in court... This is about implementing orders. What can be secret here, the CJI said. The bench is currently hearing the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement's (IESM) plea over payment of OROP dues. The top court, on March 13, came down heavily on the government for "unilaterally" deciding to pay OROP dues in four instalments. The defence ministry has recently filed an affidavit and a compliance note in the top court, giving the time schedule for payment of the arrears of Rs 28,000 crore to ex-servicemen for years 2019-2

Centre, civil society continue to spar over manual attendance for MGNREGS

Civil society says getting manual attendance approved by district officers is tedious

Centre has sanctioned Rs 2,000 cr for Tripura under Jal Jeevan Mission: CM

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday said the Centre has approved Rs 2,000 crore for the state under the Jal Jeevan Mission to supply piped drinking water to households. Saha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for approving Rs 2,000 crore to implement piped water scheme. At present, 56 per cent households of the northeastern state have piped water facility and the state has a plan for water supply to all households. "I am glad to share that the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has approved Rs 2000 crore for Tripura under Jal Jeevan Mission 2023-24 and the fund is more than total of Rs 1,930 crore Tripura received in the last 3 years", he told reporters after attending a party programme at Rabindra Bhavan. "I wholeheartedly thanked PM Narendra Modi ji and Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ji for sanctioning the fund. This will ensure piped drinking water to more households", Saha said. Earlier, the

156 critical infra-gaps identified for intervention under PM Gati Shakti

As many as 156 critical infrastructure gaps to ports and for movement of bulk commodities such as coal, cement, fertilizers and foodgrains, have been identified for intervention under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, an official statement said on Saturday. The PM Gati Shakti programme was launched by the government on 13th October 2021. So far, 44 Network Planning Group meetings held at the central level, wherein 66 major infrastructure projects worth Rs Rs 5 lakh crore, have been evaluated, the commerce and industry ministry said. The Network Planning Group (NPG) is constituted under the initiative. "156 critical infrastructure gaps to ports and for movement of bulk commodities such as coal, cement, fertilizers and foodgrains, have been identified for intervention," it said. To facilitate wider adoption of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, a series of regional workshops are being organized across all states/UTs. These workshops aim to bring more vigour and build synergy amo

Centre allows NTPC to invest over 30% of its networth in NTPC Green Energy

The central government on Friday allowed state-owned power giant NTPC to invest more than the ceiling of 30 per cent of its networth in its subsidiary NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL). NTPC's net worth stood at Rs 1.28 lakh crore, as per its annual report for the financial year 2021-22. This assumes significance given the NTPC's ambitious target of 60 GW of renewable energy by 2032. Presently, the maharatna central public sector undertakings require approval of the Union Cabinet to invest an amount more than 30 per cent of its net worth. "Cabinet approves exemption to NTPC Ltd from the extant guidelines of delegation of power to Maharatna CPSEs for making an investment beyond the prescribed limit in NTPC Green Energy Ltd," an official statement said. It has also exempted NGEL's investment in NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL) and its other JVs/subsidiaries (joint ventures), subject to a ceiling of 15 per cent of its net worth beyond the monetary ceiling of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,500 cror

HC seeks RBI response on PIL to probe Yes Bank transfer of assets portfolio

The Delhi High Court Friday sought response of the Centre, RBI and SEBI on a PIL seeking to form a committee of experts to investigate the transfer of a stress asset portfolio of Rs 48,000 crore from Yes Bank to JC Flowers Asset Reconstruction Company. In his PIL, former Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy sought to direct the Union Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to formulate comprehensive guidelines in accordance with recommendations of the committee to check any such future agreements/ transactions and to regulate the arrangements entered into between banks/ NBFS or other financial institutions and Assets Reconstructions Companies (ARC). A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, which did not issue formal notice on the plea, asked the authorities to file their responses within four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on July 14. It also asked Yes Bank Ltd and J C Flowers

Centre, Delhi govt to help pay DMRC award money it owes to DAMEPL: HC

The Delhi High Court Friday directed the Centre and the city government to attend to the request of DMRC for extension of sovereign guarantees or subordinate debt to enable it to make payment of dues of an arbitral award passed in favour of Reliance Infrastructure-owned Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited. The high court said the decision has to be taken by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Delhi government within two weeks and if the permission is accorded to the DMRC, it will deposit the entire amount payable under the award along with up-to-date interest within a period of one month. "If the Union ministry or Delhi government decline the request for providing sovereign guarantees or subordinate debt, the Union ministry shall forthwith or at the end of two weeks revert and repatriate all monies received by it from DMRC post March 10, 2022 so as to ensure that the credit balance of the DMRC, total project and total other funds reflects the balance as it

Twitter a foreign entity, can't seek protection under Art 19: Centre to HC

The Centre has submitted to the Karnataka High Court that microblogging platform Twitter cannot take protection under Article 19 of the Constitution which ensures freedom of speech and expression

Joshimath crisis handled well with Centre's cooperation: Uttarakhand CM

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said land subsidence in Joshimath was a challenge for the government but it was efficiently tackled with active cooperation from the Centre. He also said the state government's budget 2023-24 is based on the BJP's vision document for 2022 assembly polls and will pave the way for building a strong and prosperous Uttarakhand. Joshimath was a challenge but we got active cooperation from the Centre. The prime minister personally monitored the situation taking regular updates. We have made a provision of Rs 1,000 crore for Joshimath in the budget," Dhami said addressing the assembly during the budget session. He said a study of the carrying capacity of Joshimath and similar other places, which are not founded on solid rocks, will be conducted. Taking a dig at the opposition for calling the budget "hopeless" he said, "You have to have hope in your heart to see hope in anything." "We have recorded an increase of 10 per cent in p

As Covid cases spike, Centre asks six states to keep a strict vigil

Among the states, Maharashtra has reported a rise in weekly cases from 355 to 668

Govt has no central data on heart attack, cancer, HIV: MoHFW to Rajya Sabha

Heart diseases contributed 28.1% of the total deaths in India, in 2016 compared to 15.2% in 1990

97% licences granted to MSMEs among toy-making units, says Centre

As many as 97 per cent licences have been granted to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) among toy manufacturing units by the government

Centre to cut imports of non-essential items to raise domestic production

The government is undertaking an exercise to cut imports of non-essential goods with a view to enhancing domestic production of those items, an official said on Wednesday. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the commerce ministry has provided product-wise import figures to all the ministries. "We are asking the different ministries that they should analyse that data and they should look at data from the angle that which imports are essential and which are non-essential," he told reporters here. The ministries would look at issues like if those goods are being manufactured in India and if there is sufficient capacity for those products. "If there is a sufficient capacity within the country and still it is being imported, then we are trying to educate that it can be substituted by the domestic manufactured product," he said. "What we are saying is that if our domestic maker is capable of producing the same kind of quality with the same price then obviously that should be ...

Rules to regulate e-pharmacies need some more time: Centre to Delhi HC

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare draft rules were challenged in the plea to further amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules

Govt to form high-level committee to fast-track infra along China border

The government on Tuesday decided to set up a committee of secretaries to fast-track implementation of infrastructure projects along the border with China. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Singh called for expediting all pending projects on top priority, stating that a "whole of nation" approach should be adopted in matters of national security, the defence ministry said. The meeting was attended by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Railways, Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Power Minister RK Singh, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami and Ladakh Lt Governor Brig BD Mishra (Retd), Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Army Chief Gene Manoj Pande and Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane were among those who attended the ...

Not in favour of setting up Fiscal Council, Centre tells Rajya Sabha

The central government on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha said that it is not in favour of setting up a Fiscal Council as was suggested by the different Finance Commissions. The 15th Finance Commission had suggested to the centre to set up an independent Fiscal Council with powers to access records as required from the Union as well as the States. Similar suggestions were made by the 13th and the 14th Finance Commissions. Disagreeing with the suggestion, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply in the Upper House said the "institutions such as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the National Statistical Commission, the Finance Commission, etc. perform some or all of the roles proposed for the Fiscal Council by different Finance Commissions on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM)." The finance commissions wanted the centre to set up the Fiscal Council to assess and monitor fiscal policy, effective implementation of fiscal rules and ..

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