Page 4 - Centre

Govt has no proposal under consideration for creating new states: MoS Home

Centre has no proposal under its consideration for bifurcation of any state even though demands are received from various individuals, organisations, Union Minister Nityanand Rai said.

Govt does not agree with World Press Freedom Index: Anurag Thakur

The government does not subscribe to the views and country rankings of the World Press Freedom Index, published by foreign NGO Reporters Without Borders', Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Thakur said the government also does not agree with the conclusions drawn by this organization for various reasons including very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy and adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent. "In pursuance of its policy to uphold the freedom of press, the government does not interfere in the functioning of the press," the minister said in response to a question by YSRCP member Adala Prabhakar Reddy. He said the Press Council of India (PCI), a statutory autonomous body, has been set up to preserve the freedom of the press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country. PCI considers complaints filed 'by the .

425 court cases registered in last 3 years under PCPNDT Act: Govt

A total of 425 court cases have been registered in the last three years under the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said a total of 90 appeals have been filed against the acquittals by the authorities and 3521 ultrasound machines have been sealed and seized so far for offences committed under PCPNDT Act. Besides, a total of 125 ultrasound machines have been released during trials in the country, Pawar said in a written reply.

9.55L TB patients adopted under Centre's Ni-Kshay Mitra initiative: Govt

Around 9.55 lakh out of the 9.69 lakh consented tuberculosis patients have been adopted till March 9 under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. With the goal of achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global targets, the National TB Elimination programme implements key activities, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply. The activities include state and district specific strategic plan for targeted interventions in high-burden areas, provision of free drugs and diagnostics to TB patients, including for drug-resistant TB, and active tuberculosis case-finding campaign in key vulnerable and co-morbid populations, the minister said. It also include integration with Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres to decentralize screening and treatment services closer to the community, private sector engagement, scale-up of molecular diagnosti

Bhopal gas tragedy: SC dismisses Centre's plea for additional funds

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Centre's curative plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the Union Carbide Corporation's (UCC) successor firms to extend higher compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 3,000 people and caused environmental damage. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said there was no rationale by the Centre to rake up the issue two decades after the settlement. The top court said that a sum of Rs 50 crore lying with the RBI for the victims shall be utilised by the Union of India to satisfy pending claims of victims. "We are unsatisfied with the Union of India for not furnishing any rationale for raking up this issue after two decades...We are of the view that curative petitions cannot be entertained," the bench said. The bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and J K Maheshwar had on January 12 reserved its verdict on the Centre's curative plea. Th

Goa govt to hold meeting on H3N2 influenza as directed by the Centre

The Goa government will hold a high-level meeting on Tuesday to discuss monitoring of seasonal influenza subtype H3N2 as directed by the Centre, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said. He said the government will ensure that the directives of the Union Health Ministry are strictly implemented. Goa has not reported any confirmed H3N2 cases so far this year. I will be addressing a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) in the presence of the Health Secretary, officials from the Health Department and Goa Medical College and Hospital to discuss monitoring of the Influenza A virus subtype H3N2, Rane tweeted on Monday night. He said directives of the Union Health Ministry will be strictly implemented and a review meeting will be held once a week on the same. The Union Health Ministry had issued directives to various states regarding the H3N2 virus.

Centre to seek Parl's nod for 2nd batch of supplementary demands for grants

The Centre on Tuesday will seek Parliament's approval for the second batch of supplementary demands for grants (2022-23).

Bhopal gas tragedy: SC verdict on Centre's plea for more funds on Mar 14

The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Tuesday on the Centre's curative plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from Union Carbide Corporation's successor firms to extend higher compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 3,000 people and caused environmental damage. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul will pronounce the verdict. The bench, also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J K Maheshwar, had on January 12 reserved its verdict on the Centre's curative plea. On January 12, the successor firms of UCC told the top court that the depreciation of the rupee since 1989, when a settlement was arrived at between the company and the Centre, cannot be a ground to now seek a "top-up" of compensation for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The firms had told the top court that the Government of India never suggested at the time of the settlement that

Ownership rights of 123 Waqf Board properties rest with Centre: Puri

Days after it decided to "absolve" the Delhi Waqf Board from all matters pertaining to 123 properties, including mosques, dargahs, and graveyards in the city, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry on Monday said that the ownership of these establishments already vests with the Central government. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that progress of allotment of these properties for other purposes has not been initiated. "The ownership of the 123 properties already vests with the Government of India (61 with Land and Development Office and 62 with Delhi Development Authority), therefore the question of seizure of these properties does not arise," Puri said. The minister said that no representation or objections were made by the Delhi Waqf Board before the two-member Committee on the subject of de-notified waqf assets. "The Government intends to inspect all 123 properties in question. However, the ..

Shifting detainees from J&K issues of genuine national security: Centre

Issues of "genuine national security" are involved in cases of shifting of over 20 people, detained under the Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir, to jails outside the Union Territory, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala was hearing a plea filed by Srinagar resident Raja Begum and three others through lawyer Satya Mitra challenging the transfer of detainees to jails outside the UT in alleged violation of the provisions of the law under which they had been detained. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court, We will take instructions but these are issues of genuine national security. It may not be as simple as just communication between two people. Arif Ahmad Sheikh, son of Raja Begum, a resident of Parimpora in Srinagar, was shifted to the central Jail in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He was detained under the PSA on April 7 last year. The plea alleged that over 20 people, detained under

ED investigating several cases related to crypto-currencies: Centre

Enforcement Directorate is investigating several cases under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 related to crypto-currencies.

Continuous rise in forest, tree cover in Delhi welcome sign: Centre to HC

The Centre on Monday told the Delhi High Court that there has been a continuous increase in the green cover in the national capital and this shift towards increase in denser forest areas is a welcome sign. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in an affidavit filed before the court, submitted that the rising denser forest areas signifies an increase in the capacity of forests to sequester carbon and mitigate environmental pollution. The affidavit was filed before a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, which listed the matter for further hearing on July 13 while granting time to the amicus curiae to file his response to the affidavit. The high court was hearing a batch of PILs on the problem of poor ambient air quality in Delhi, an issue which it has also taken up suo motu and in which it has also appointed an amicus curiae. The affidavit was filed in pursuance to the court's earlier direction asking the Centre, Delhi ...

Govt seeks Parliament nod to spend additional Rs 1.48 trillion in 2022-23

The government on Monday sought Lok Sabha approval for net additional spending of over Rs 1.48 lakh crore in the current fiscal. The second batch of supplementary demands for grants for the 2022-23 fiscal was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. "Approval of the Parliament is sought to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore. Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 1,48,133.23 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries /Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to Rs 1,22,374.37 crore," said the supplementary demands. This additional spending includes over Rs 36,000 crore towards fertiliser subsidy and Rs 25,000 crore to the Department of Telecom. Another Rs 33,718 crore is towards meeting defence pension expenditure.

Govt sets target of achieving defence manufacturing worth Rs 1.75 trillion

The government on Monday said it has set a target of achieving defence manufacturing worth Rs 1,75,000 crore, including defence exports of Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25. Minister of state for Defence Ajay Bhatt, replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, said the value of production undertaken by private companies and state-run defence manufacturers in 2021-22 was Rs 86,078 crore while the amount was Rs 88,631 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 63,722 crore in 2019-20. The value of production was Rs 50,499 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 54,951 crore in 2017-18. "The government has set the target of achieving defence manufacturing worth Rs 1,75,000 crore including defence exports of Rs 35,000 crore by the year 2024-25," Bhatt said. The minister also said the value of defence exports in 2021-22 was Rs 12,815 crore while it was Rs 13,398 crore till March 6 in the current fiscal. To a separate question, he said the modernisation of armed forces to meet future challenges is a continuous process based on the ..

Govt likely to miss divestment target as Hindustan Zinc sale delayed

With the government's offer for sale plans in HZL in limbo, it is unlikely that the disinvestment would happen by March

Centre seeks action-taken report from Punjab over PM Modi's security breach

The Prime Minister was stuck on the flyover for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the security of the Prime Minister

Centre raises alarm over increase in Covid positivity rate in some states

Amid a rise in cases of the seasonal influenza subtype H3N2, the Centre on Saturday expressed concern over a gradual increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate in some states and said it needed to be promptly addressed. The Centre requested all states and Union territories to follow operational guidelines for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infection (SARI). The states were also requested to take a stock of hospital preparedness such as availability of drugs and medical oxygen, vaccination coverage against COVID-19 and influenza. "While the COVID-19 trajectory has decreased substantially in last few months, the gradual rise in COVID-19 test positivity rates in some states is a concerning issue that needs to be promptly addressed," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs on Saturday. Despite low number of new cases, equally low number of hospitalisations an

Mandatory for banks to record transactions of politically exposed people

Centre has amended the Prevention of Money-laundering Rules, 2005, making it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to record financial transactions of politically exposed persons

Govt releases Rs 1.4 trn monthly instalment tax devolution to states

The monthly instalment for March is much more than the normal monthly devolution of Rs 70,159 crore made for states

Centre concerned about rising T-bill yields, may take remedial measures

The Indian government is concerned about rising yields on Treasury-bills and will take appropriate remedial measures