State

Pb govt introduces millets in menu of State Institute of Sports centres

The Punjab government has introduced millets in the menu for players at all centres of Punjab State Institute of Sports to provide them with a balanced and nutritious diet. "Millets will be provided thrice a week in the form of Ragi porridge (Dalia), mixed millet chapatis and Bajra-Dal Khichdi. Trainees will be made aware of the benefits of the consumption of millet through online and offline classes periodically," Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said on Wednesday. He said this initiative is part of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's motto of a healthy and prosperous Punjab. Principal Secretary, Sports Department, Rakhee Gupta Bhandari said the department has made full preparations to implement this new initiative. The year 2023 has been declared as International Year of Millets by the United Nations. Trainees are being made aware of the benefits of coarse grains, including millets, in their diet, she said.

Eight states form committees to supervise direct selling activities

Eight states have constituted committees so far to monitor direct selling as efforts continue to boost the regulatory framework to weed out entities floating fraudulent schemes and protect the interest of direct sellers and their companies. It will help protect the direct selling industry in the respective states and provide policy clarity for the industry, said Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) Chairman Rajat Banerji. The Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules as notified by the central government in December 2021, have a provision to set up a monitoring committee by state governments to supervise the activities of direct sellers and direct selling companies. The country's direct selling industry, estimated to be worth Rs 19,000 crore, has been facing headwinds amid instances of entities floating schemes to defraud people in the guise of direct selling activities. Governments from Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, West Bengal, Goa a

MoS V.Muraleedharan's house in Thiruvananthapuram 'vandalised': Sources

Union MoS for External Affairs V.Muraleedharan's residence in the state capital was found vandalised on Thursday morning with broken window panes and suspected blood stains on the staircase: sources

PM Modi to chair second National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi

The three-day Conference, from 5-7 January, will focus on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States

Centre releases Rs 17k cr GST compensation to states, says FinMin

The central government has released Rs 17,000 crore to states towards balance GST compensation, taking the total amount released so far this fiscal to over Rs 1.15 lakh crore, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. "With this release, the Centre has released, in advance, the entire amount of Cess estimated to be collected this year till March-end available for payment of compensation to States," the ministry said in a statement. Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in the country with effect from July 1, 2017, and states were assured of compensation for the loss of any revenue arising on account of the implementation of GST for a period of five years. For providing compensation to states, a cess is levied on certain goods and the amount of cess collected is credited to the compensation fund. The central government released an amount of Rs 17,000 crore to states/UTs on November 24, 2022, towards the balance GST compensation for the period April to June 2022. The total amount of

Delhi, Bengal consume most sweets in India; Rajasthan top consumer of papad

In 2021, the sweet market in India stood at Rs 58,900 crore

Govt to soon rope in private players for foodgrains procurement: Food secy

The Centre will soon invite private players along with Food Corporation of India and other state agencies to procure foodgrains for buffer stock, food secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Monday. He informed that the Union food ministry has already written to all the state governments regarding this. Addressing 82nd annual general meeting of Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, Pandey said that the Centre has given two clear messages to the state governments regarding procurement of foodgrains. One is that the Centre would provide up to 2 per cent incidental expenses on the procurement undertaken by the state governments. Second, it wants to rope in private sector to buy foodgrains for the central buffer stock with an aim to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of procurement, he said. "We also want to involve private sector in the procurement process. Why only FCI and state agencies should be procuring?" he asked. The secretary said in his recent visit to the International .

HC asks Centre to file reply on plea to declare PM CARES Fund a 'State'

Observing that the issue concerning the PM CARES Fund is "not so simple" the high court asked the Centre to file a detailed and exhaustive response in the matter.

Rajasthan front-ranker in delivering online services: NeSDA report

Rajasthan ranks first in state/UT service portals in Group B across all sectors (55 services provided online)

ABVP demands offline classes, passes resolution in MP convention

Governments have also been asked to rein in inflation as per one resolution passed at the convention

States bearing the brunt of GST slowdown as revenue declines by 3.9%

The assumption of 14 per cent assured growth rate aggravates the revenue stress

States' spending on salaries, pensions and interest payments going down

Capex on social sector rises; differences in GST accounting make trends on the revenue front unclear