Page 2 - Central Government

Centre steps back from Chandigarh plan amid cross-party backlash in Punjab

Facing cross-party backlash in Punjab, the Centre steps back from proposal to alter Chandigarh's administrative structure. Archis Mohan reports

CAG urges Centre, states to follow uniform system for recording expenses

The CAG has asked the Centre and all the states to start using standard categories for recording government spending, to make accounting and auditing uniform across the country, latest by fiscal year 2027-28. The CAG advisory seeks to do away with the wide variation among states in the operation of expenditure heads at the disaggregated level. The matter had been engaging the attention of multiple stakeholders and was impacting inter-temporal and inter-state comparison as well as those with the Union Government, Jayant Sinha, Deputy CAG (Government Accounts) and Chairperson (GASAB) has said. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has notified a common list of heads of expenditure at the disaggregate level, commonly referred to as 'Object Heads' of expenditure. This is being done as part of recent initiatives to strengthen public financial management in the country, Sinha said. Wide variation in the depiction of expenditure of economic nature at the disaggregate level .

Govt to launch first retail investments in NHs under Invit in February

Plans to add 1,500 kilometres of national highways to Public InvIT over next 3-5 years

Courts cannot fix deadlines for Guv, Prez on assent to Bills, says SC

Experts say ruling 'reaffirms federal balance'

Govt to clear ₹800 crore pending exporters' dues under revamped IES

The move aims to ease pressure on MSME exporters as the revamped Interest Equalisation Scheme is folded into the new Export Promotion Mission

India's DPDP rules: Govt in talks with industry to slash compliance time

Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Centre is consulting industry to cut the 18-month window for implementing new data protection requirements

Centre approves 17 more projects worth ₹7,172 crore under ECMS

With 17 fresh projects under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, India expands capacity across camera modules, multilayer PCBs and optical transceivers

Congress accuses Centre of mass deletions in MGNREGA worker database

The Congress on Monday attacked the government over the reported deletion of nearly 27 lakh workers' names from the MGNREGA database between October 10 and November 14 this year, saying this is not an isolated act but a "systematic attempt to end" the rural jobs scheme. The opposition party also reiterated its demands, including a minimum MGNREGA wage of Rs 400 per day and an immediate halt to the mandatory adoption of exclusionary technology like Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS), and e-KYC. Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared on X a media report which claimed that nearly 27 lakh workers' names were deleted from the database of MGNREGA between October 10 and November 14 this year, far exceeding the 10.5 lakh additions during the same period. "Another day, another attempt to deny India's rural poor their legislative right to employment. In the last one month -- between October 10th and November 14t

Centre raises print media ad rates by 26% in a move to support publishers

The government on Monday said it has decided to increase print media advertisement rates by 26 per cent. This will yield several significant benefits, both for the government and the media landscape, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement. "The media rates for print media per sq cm for 1 lakh copies of dailies in the black and white advertisement have been enhanced from Rs 47.40 to Rs 59.68, an increase of 26 per cent," it said. The government has also agreed to the recommendations of the Rate Structure Committee (RSC) relating to premium rates to be offered for colour advertisements and preferential positioning. The rates for release of the print media advertisements by the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) were last revised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the basis of the recommendations of the eighth RSC on January 9, 2019, which were valid for a period of three years. The ninth RSC was constituted on November 11, 2021, for makin

The shift: QCO rollbacks gather steam, suspended for 55 steel products

Departments begin rolling back quality orders as India finalises a trade deal with the US and weighs industry concerns on compliance burdens

Finance ministry to vet ongoing schemes for 16th Finance Commission

Ministries asked for five-year outlays and outcome assessments

Govt releases draft Seeds Bill 2025, draws flak over farmers' compensation

Critics say it's silent on farmers' compensation, but welcome emphasis on traceability and price regulation

Govt approves rationalisation of royalty rates for four critical minerals

The Union Cabinet approved rationalised royalty rates for graphite, caesium, rubidium and zirconium to encourage domestic mining and promote auctions of critical mineral blocks

Govt opens portal for private labs to seek recognition as test centres

The Department of Consumer Affairs has launched an online portal enabling private industries, laboratories and testing facilities to apply for recognition as Government Approved Test Centres (GATCs), marking a shift towards public-private partnership in India's legal metrology framework. Applications can be submitted through https://doca.gov.in/gatc until November 30, 2025, the department said in a statement. The initiative follows amendments to the Legal Metrology Government Approved Test Centre Rules, 2013, notified on October 23, 2025, which, for the first time, allow private sector participation in verifying weighing and measuring instruments used in trade and commerce. Recognised GATCs will be authorised to verify 18 types of instruments, including water meters, sphygmomanometers, clinical thermometers, automatic rail weighbridges, tape measures, load cells, beam scales and counter machines. Organisations must have proper testing and calibration facilities linked to national .

Centre may frame five-year integrated transport plans under new body

The new authority will shift India's transport strategy from individual project planning to long-term integrated corridor development aligned with economic goals

Centre to allow 1.5 mn tonnes sugar exports, scrap 50% molasses duty

Sources in the sugar industry said the food ministry has decided to allow exports of 1.5 million tonnes of sugar in 2025-26, but a final nod from a high-powered group of ministers is still awaited

Govt to focus on innovation in AI space, regulate when required: IT Secy

The government's priority currently is to focus on innovation in AI space and it will introduce regulation or legislation when required, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Wednesday. The secretary said the government wants to leverage AI to make sure that it delivers the maximum benefit for the people of the country. "If we believe that the priority needs to be for innovation, regulation is not the priority today. There is a lot of play for innovation in the AI space. Having said that, let me again assert that if the need arises for legislation or regulation, the government will not be found wanting," Krishnan said. He was speaking on the occasion of releasing IndiaAI governance guidelines report submitted to the government by a sub-committee under the IndiaAI Mission. The report recommends principles and strategy that the government should adopt for governing artificial intelligence related matters. Krishnan said the report supports the position taken by the government and there is

Centre to notify Labour Code rules before winter session of Parliament

The four Codes that are part of the Centres's attempts to enact labour reforms have remained stuck, with neither the Centre nor the states moving to notify them yet

Supreme Court allows govt to offer relief on all Vodafone Idea dues

A detailed order copy, which will clarify whether the order allowing Centre to re-examine AGR dues till 2016-17 will extend to other telecom companies as well, is expected to be uploaded by Tuesday

Centre earns ₹551 cr from scrap, e-waste disposal in cleanliness drive

The Centre has earned over Rs 550 crore from disposal of scrap during a month-long special cleanliness campaign, an official statement issued on Friday said. The Union government's "special campaign 5.0" for cleanliness and disposal of pending matters has witnessed record participation and measurable outcomes across ministries, departments and their field offices during October, this year, it said. During its implementation phase beginning from Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 to October 31, the ministries and departments conducted about 7 lakh cleanliness campaigns, achieving 97 per cent of the target, the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said. During the campaign, 202.97 lakh square feet of office space was freed for productive use and about Rs 551 crore revenue earned through scrap and e-waste disposal, it said. A total of 6.69 lakh public grievances and 14,524 appeals were redressed, it said. About 13 lakh physical files were weeded out and 15.70 lakh e-files were reviewe