Page 10 - Central Government

Centre should resolve farmers' issues in Feb 14 meeting: Pandher

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Thursday said that the Centre should resolve the farmers' issues in the upcoming meeting that comes after a year-long protest over legal guarantee to MSP for crops, among other things. The Centre will hold a meeting with Punjab's protesting farmers on February 14 in Chandigarh to discuss their demands, thus ending a stalemate over the resumption of a dialogue with the agitators, who have been demanding a legal guarantee on the MSP for crops. Pandher spoke to the reporters at the Shambhu border point, where a Kisan Mahapanchayat was held to mark the completion of one year of the ongoing agitation. He said that they will make efforts to move the Centre towards resolving the farmers' issues in the meeting. Farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said that Jagjit Singh Dallewal, who is on an indefinite fast, will make his best efforts to participate in the meeting to put forth farmers' demands. He said that Dallewal will try to participate in the meeting bu

Debt-to-GDP over fiscal deficit: Will FM Sitharaman's strategy pay off?

Since the finance minister announced a glide path based on debt-to-GDP ratio to measure fiscal deficit, opinion has been divided on the move since it would also reflect on government borrowings

Centre to reimburse tomato storage, transport costs for MP farmers

In view of falling tomato prices, the Centre on Wednesday said it will reimburse the storage and transportation cost of tomato in Madhya Pradesh under the market intervention scheme through cooperative NCCF. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the implementation of transportation component of market intervention scheme (MIS) for tomato in the state through NCCF. "NCCF is preparing to start transportation operations from Madhya Pradesh soon," an official statement said. Under this scheme, where there is a price difference of TOP crops (tomato, onion and potato) between producing and consuming states, the operational cost incurred in storage and transportation of crops from producing state to other consuming states will be reimbursed to the central nodal agencies like NAFED and NCCF. This has been done in the interest of farmers of producing states, the statement added.

Legalising land leasing across states continues to face multiple hurdles

While the Economic Survey last month hailed a Kerala model of land leasing, there exist multiple blocks to a comprehensive policy, in part due to differing state laws

Lottery distributors not liable to pay service tax to Centre, says SC

Lottery distributors are not liable to pay service tax to the Union government, the Supreme Court held on Tuesday while dismissing an appeal of the Centre on the issue. A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and NK Singh did not agree to the appeal of the Centre against the Sikkim High Court judgement. Since there is no agency in the relationship, the respondents (lottery distributors) were not liable to pay service tax. However, the respondents will continue to pay the gambling tax levied by the state under Entry 62, List II of the Constitution, Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the verdict. "Service tax is not leviable on the transactions between the purchaser of the lottery tickets and firmIn view of the aforesaid discussions, we find no merit in the appeals filed by the Union of India and others. Hence, these appeals are dismissed," the bench said. Upholding the Sikkim High Court verdict, the top court said it is only the state government that can impose taxes on ..

Govt likely to use reserve oil funds to finance fertiliser subsidy gap

The Oil Industry Development Act allows for the OIDF money to be utilised for fertilisers

Centre extends soyabean procurement in Maharashtra, Telangana for farmers

The Centre has extended procurement of soyabean in Maharashtra by 24 days and Telangana by 15 days, beyond normal purchase period of 90 days, to protect farmers' interest. Groundnut procurement in Gujarat has been extended by six days, and in Karnataka by 25 days. According to an official statement, the government approved the procurement of soyabean under the price support scheme (PSS) in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana for Kharif 2024-25. A quantity of 19.99 lakh tonnes of soyabean has been procured till February 9, 2025 benefitting 8,46,251 farmers. "Minister of agriculture and farmers' welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the proposal to extend the period of procurement in Maharashtra by 24 days and in Telangana by 15 days beyond the normal procurement period of 90 days keeping the interest of farmers of the state," the statement said. Similarly, the government approved the procurement of groundnut under the PS

Centre releases Rs 1.11 trillion interest-free loans to states in Apr-Jan

The Centre has released about Rs 1.11 lakh crore loan to states during April-January under the scheme for special assistance to states for capital expenditure, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on Monday. In the 2024-25 Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked the allocations for interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure, enabling states to spend more on infrastructure and specified reforms. The allocation was hiked to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, up from disbursal of Rs 1.10 lakh crore made in 2023-24. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said under the scheme for special assistance to states for capital expenditure, the Centre has approved loans worth Rs 1.22 lakh crore till January 31. Of this, about Rs 1.11 lakh crore has been released Chaudhary said out of the total allocation of Rs 1.50 lakh crore, an amount of Rs 55,000 crore under Part-I of the scheme is untied. This amount has been allocated to the states in proportion to their share o

Centre reviews PM-AJAY scheme, focuses on inclusive growth for SCs

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar on Saturday chaired a meeting of the central advisory committee for PM-AJAY scheme, reviewing its progress and discussing strategies for the socio-economic upliftment of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities across India. The Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PMJAY) is aimed at reducing poverty among the SC communities through various initiatives like the generation of additional employment and improving socio-economic indicators in SC dominated villages. The meeting saw the participation of state cabinet ministers, senior officers from states and Union Territories, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and representatives from key Union Ministries, including Finance, Agriculture, Rural Development, and Women and Child Development, along with NITI Aayog members, according to an official statement. Kumar emphasised the scheme's focus on the holistic development of SC-populated village

Probe agencies line up measures to crack down on illegal travel agents

According to the data that the government provided in Parliament last year, the Centre and states had notified 3,094 'illegal agents' on the eMigrate Portal until October 2024

Centre charting 5-year road map to boost ethanol blending in petrol

Panel to submit report on taking blending beyond 20%

India Inc investments set to rebound as Economic Survey signals recovery

The RBI's report on private investments highlighted that investment intentions increased to Rs 2.45 lakh crore for FY25, compared to Rs 1.6 lakh crore for FY24

Govt likely to stay with flexible PPP contracts on inland waterways

Nascent sector requires ability to be flexible with contracts, according to officials

India's port cargo rises 3.2% in December on higher container volumes

FY25 cargo sailing slow at 2.7 per cent growth

Union Budget 2025-26: Here are the key challenges in the MSME sector

MSMEs face informational asymmetries, limited consumer visibility, and weak branding and marketing capabilities

Around 10,000 special guests attend R-Day parade including ASHA workers

Village sarpanches, disaster relief workers, ASHA workers and Paralympic athletes were among around 10,000 special guests who attended the Republic Day parade here at Kartavya Path on Sunday. The invitation was sent to the special guests from diverse fields in line with the government's objective to increase 'Jan Bhagidari' in events of national importance. These included people who made the best use of government schemes. Sarpanches whose villages achieved targets in selected government initiatives were invited. A national-level competition was announced by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances among panchayats. Sarpanches, under whom targets in at least six flagship schemes were achieved, were selected as special guests. Over 500 of them from top-performing villages were among the special guests. Around 300 disaster relief workers, 300 guests from vibrant villages, 400 water warriors, 200 representatives from Primary Agriculture Credit (PAC) Societies, 400

Railways likely to receive Rs 3 trillion Budget boost on February 1

The government is likely to continue with a zero or minimal borrowing plan for the national transporter

Centre to meet with farmers on Feb 14; Dallewal agrees to take medical aid

The Centre will hold a meeting with Punjab's protesting farmers on February 14 in Chandigarh to discuss their demands, thus ending a stalemate over the resumption of a dialogue with the agitators, who have been demanding a legal guarantee on the MSP for crops. Following the announcement of the proposed meeting, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, whose fast-unto-death entered the 54th day on Saturday, agreed to take medical aid. However, he will not end his indefinite fast till a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops is given, said farmer leader Sukhjit Singh Hardojhande. The breakthrough came after a delegation of officials from the Union agriculture ministry, led by Joint Secretary Priya Ranjan, met Dallewal and held a meeting with the representatives of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, which are spearheading the agitation for the last 11 months. Following the announcement of the meeting on February 14, farmer leaders ...

Centre closely monitoring food prices to ensure stability, affordability

The central government on Friday said it is closely monitoring the prices and availability of essential food commodities to ensure affordability to consumers and maintain a stable price regime. Measures like incentivising domestic production and import and export policies to ensure the overall availability and affordability of essential food commodities are being taken up. "The Centre is taking pre-emptive and timely decisions to maintain price stability in the interest of consumers and farmers," according to a statement issued by the Food Ministry. The production of pulses and onion in the 2024-25 crop year (July- June) is estimated to increase over the last year due to good monsoon rains and favourable weather conditions. The tur production is estimated to be 35.02 lakh tonnne in 2024-25, 2.5 per cent higher than the previous year's production of 34.17 lakh tonne. The agriculture ministry has issued sanctions for the procurement of tur. Kharif and late Kharif onion production h

Cabinet clears setting up of 8th Pay Commission for central govt employees

In a major decision, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to set up the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries of central government employees and allowances of pensioners. The decision to set up the 8th Pay Commission was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The 7th Pay Commission was set up in 2016, and its term will end in 2026. Vaishnaw further said the chairman and two members of the Commission will be appointed soon.