Central Government

The Union Home Ministry on Thursday notified changes to the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing a digital shift across various processes for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and citizenship applications. In a gazette notification published on Thursday, the government has added a specific proviso for citizenship applicants involving children that "the minor child cannot at any time hold the passport of any other country while also holding the Indian passport". The Citizenship Rules, 2009, allowed a person to submit an application for the registration of the birth of his minor child born outside India to the Indian consulate in the country where the child was born, together with a declaration that the child does not hold a passport of any other country. The changes, known as the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026, introduce a slew of online initiatives for OCI cardholders, including a digital application and renunciation process. All applications for card registration an

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the draft includes provisions for E85 fuel, a blend of ‌85% ethanol with petrol, and E100, which would allow vehicles to run on nearly pure ethanol

Sitharaman says IBA committee will look into issues of distribution tieups of banks for third-party products

India has urea stocks of around 6.73 million tonnes, against last year's 6.80 million tonnes

As per the new parameters, FCI will now accept wheat with 70 per cent lustre loss and 15 per cent shrivelled grains in Punjab, as against the existing quality standard of 6 per cent shrivelled grains

The government should cap testing charges for routine industrial products as high costs to comply with the quality control orders (QCOs) may impact the country's manufacturing and small importers, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. While the QCO policy aims to improve product quality and consumer safety, the pace of expansion is putting pressure on testing infrastructure and has created significant compliance bottlenecks for MSMEs, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. "India's expanding quality control regime is imposing such high testing and certification costs that many MSME importers may be pushed out of business, leaving the market increasingly dominated by large importers," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said. The charges arise under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under which foreign manufacturers of products covered by India's Quality Control Orders have to obtain BIS certification before exporting to ...

The government on Tuesday announced the amendment of rules to revise the pricing norms for low-grade iron ore, a move aimed at curbing wastage and enhancing utilisation of such reserves to ensure a steady supply to the steel industry. The move is expected to bring low-grade resources into viable use, addressing depletion of high-grade deposits and promoting mineral conservation through scientific mining practices. "The Ministry of Mines has notified the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026 on 10th April, 2026, providing the methodology for publication of average sale price (ASP) of Haematite Iron Ore below the threshold value, including for Banded Haematite Quartzite (BHQ) and Banded Haematite Jasper (BHJ)," an official statement said. The amendment provides a framework for pricing iron ore with iron (Fe) content below the threshold level of 45 per cent, including Banded Haematite Quartzite (BHQ) and Banded Haematite

The government on Thursday notified the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026, after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the "umbrella law" that will regulate recruitment, deputation, promotion and other conditions of service for the officers of the CAPFs. All CAPFs -- the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) -- are governed by their respective Acts. The rules under these Acts govern the recruitment and conditions of service for 'Group-A' general duty officers and other officers and members of the CAPFs. The new Act provides that 50 per cent of the posts will be filled through deputation from the Indian Police Service (IPS) in the rank of an inspector general and a minimum of 67 per cent of the posts through deputation in the rank of an additional director general. The posts in the ranks of special ..

Takedown and blocking powers are already provided for under the existing provisions, and the proposed amendments to the IT rules are not linked to content takedown actions, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday. He said the proposed amendments do not give the government wider powers nor expand those, and are "merely clarificatory in nature". Fielding a question on the significant rise in blocking action seen over the last three-four months, Krishnan attributed the increase to synthetically-generated content. "There has been a sudden explosion across the board.... This is not to do with any one political party.... So, a sudden explosion of so-called 'deepfakes' has meant that further action has been taken," he said at a media briefing. To a question on whether there will be a provision for giving specific reasons behind recent takedowns of certain posts, Krishnan asserted that "these changes (IT rule amendments) have nothing to do with what are the takedowns...." Takedowns hap

Extension may allow industry, civil society and individuals more time to respond to proposed changes bringing independent news and current affairs creators under regulatory oversight

Solar equipment manufacturers have not received any funds under the Rs 24,000-crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for them till February-end, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, is implementing the PLI Scheme for High Efficiency solar PV modules with an outlay of Rs 24,000 crore. Under the scheme, letters of award have been issued for setting up 48,337 MW of fully/partially integrated solar PV module manufacturing capacity, Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The minister said as on February 28, 2026, no funds have been released under the scheme, as it provides for the release of PLI to successful bidders a year after commissioning of the manufacturing projects awarded under the scheme. Until now, this one-year post-commissioning period has not been completed in respect of the projects awarded under the scheme, he stated. Under the

Government may amend Section 69(A) of the IT Act to empower key ministries to issue emergency content takedown orders, expanding powers beyond MeitY

Centre tells Supreme Court that an expansive definition of "industry" could impose disproportionate obligations on employers and discourage private sector participation

The government has moved the appellate tribunal NCLAT, against the order passed by the NCLT, in which it approved a Rs 900 crore resolution plan by Ashdan Properties for the debt-ridden Rolta India. Challenging the approved resolution plan, the centre said only Rs 10 lakh of a token amount has been allocated for the government and the statutory authorities, whereas the Corporate Debtor (Rolta) owed a total sum of Rs 5,949.95 crore. Against admitted government/statutory claims of Rs 179.19 crore, this allocation constitutes an illusory recovery of only 0.06 per cent, said the petition filed by Union of India through Department of Telecommunications (DoT), according to the petition filed by Shashank Bajpai, Central Government standing Counsel. A claim of Rs 469.09 crore has been made by DoT against Rolta India, on account of the unpaid license fee for FY 2005-06 and 2006-07. The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on December 15, 2025, approved a Rs 900 crore ...

The Commission appreciates the Union government's fiscal restraint during the pandemic and the subsequent reduction in deficits and debt following the sharp spike seen in the pandemic year

Amid escalating tensions in West Asia threatening global energy supplies, the government on Wednesday said it is fully prepared to meet any unprecedented surge in coal demand, with overall coal stocks at about 210 million tonne -- adequate for around 88 days. This year, coal production and supply have outpaced consumption, leading to record-high stocks at thermal power plants and coal mines. Supplies to the non-regulated sector are up nearly 14 per cent over the previous year. Pithead coal stocks at mines of Coal India Ltd (CIL) stood at 106.78 million tonne (MT) on April 1, 2025, rising to 121.39 MT as of March 9 this year. Further, there is around 6.07 MT of coal at the mines of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), another 15.12 MT at captive, commercial mines, and about 14 MT in transit, totalling 156.58 MT, the highest ever. This stock is in addition to the coal which is already available at power plants, which is around 54.05 MT as on March 9, 2026, adequate for near

Despite a push to fill vacancies through Rozgar Melas and recruitment drives, India's Union government workforce has barely grown in a decade, highlighting limits in hiring capacity

Centrally funded infrastructure projects reported a 16.4% cost jump in January, with revised estimates climbing to ₹39.2 trillion across 1,702 projects, even as overruns eased sequentially

CDSCO will permit drugmakers to begin testing samples as soon as applications are filed, shifting detailed scrutiny to later stages to shorten approval timelines and ease compliance

Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the construction of 5,000 houses for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Manipur, officials said. The approval was given by the minister following a meeting with Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh in the national capital on Monday evening. The state's two deputy chief ministers, Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho, accompanied Khemchand in the meeting. According to the officials, the houses will be constructed under PMAY-G in the Financial Year 2025-26 to rehabilitate the internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the law and order crisis (ethnic violence). Chouhan assured all help to bring peace and normalcy to the state. The proposal for the houses was submitted by the Manipur government earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Union Rural Development Ministry approved a special window of Awass+ 2024 household survey for capturing the details of the eligible affected