Page 21 - Central Government

Govt bans imports of cheap screws to support domestic manufacturing

The government on Wednesday imposed a ban on imports of certain kinds of screws priced lower than Rs 129 per kg, a move which would help promote domestic manufacturing. "The import policy of screws...is revised from free to prohibited. However, import shall be free if CIF (cost, insurance, freight) value is Rs 129 or above per kg," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Products included in the ban are coach crews, machine screws, wood screws, hook screws, and self-tapping screws. India imported screws, bolts, nuts, washers and similar articles worth USD 827 million in 2022-23 and USD 468.15 million during April-October this fiscal. These are imported from countries like France, China, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, and Belgium.

11 firms expressed interest in port project in Great Nicobar Island: Govt

The government has received expressions of interest (EOIs) from 11 players for the Rs 41,000-crore international transhipment port project at Great Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Wednesday. Last year, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in a statement said the project is expected to be completed with an investment of Rs 41,000 crore (USD 5 billion), including investment from both government and public-private partnership (PPP) concessionaires. "11 players have submitted expressions of interest for the international transhipment port project at Great Nicobar Island," the ports, shipping and waterways minister said. The EOI was sought on January 28, 2022. The proposed port in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will have the ultimate capacity to handle 16 million containers per year, and in the first phase, to be commissioned by 2028 at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore, it will handle more than 4 million containers. Other projects plann

Union Budget 2024: 10 terms to boost the know-how of key financial exercise

The Union Budget, laid out on February 1 annually, is the financial roadmap that shapes the country's economy. Here are 10 key Budget terms for better insights into the key financial exercise

India logs 602 fresh Covid-19 infections, five deaths; active cases dip

Five deaths were reported due to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. The uptick in the cases has been attributed to the emergence of the new 'JN. 1 variant' and cold weather conditions

SC notice to govts on PIL alleging caste-based discrimination in jails

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and 11 states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, on a PIL alleging that the prison manuals of these states encourage caste-based discrimination in jails. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of senior advocate S Muralidhar's submissions that the jail manuals of these 11 states discriminate in allocation of work inside their prisons and caste determines the places where inmates are lodged. Certain de-notified tribes and habitual offenders are treated differently and discriminated against, the senior lawyer said. The court asked Muralidhar to compile jail manuals from the states and listed the plea for hearing after four weeks. Issuing notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and others, the bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist the court in dealing with the issues raised in the PIL filed by Sukanya Shantha, a native of Kalyan in

Here's why truck drivers demand roll-back of new 'hit and run' law

Protests erupted in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat. Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where the agitators blocked roads over the hit-and-run provision under the new law that attracts stringent punishment

Union Budget 2024: Why India's' budget presentation was moved to February 1

India's Union Budget is presented on February 1 annually. This tradition began in the year 2017, until which the budget presentation took place on the last day of February every year

Sidhu Moosewala murder 'mastermind' Goldy Brar declared terrorist by Centre

Goldy Brar is an active member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which had claimed responsibility for the murder of Moosewala, killed on May 29, 2022

Centre stands with those affected in Tamil Nadu: PM Modi after Michaung

Significantly, during his address at the event, Chief Minister MK Stalin urged PM Modi to declare the Tamil Nadu floods as a national calamity and commit more central funds

Safety measures to prevent train accidents: SC seeks details from Centre

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know from the Centre about the protective measures implemented or proposed to be implemented, including the automatic train protection system 'Kavach', to prevent train accidents in the country. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan was hearing a petition which raised the issue of safety measures to prevent train accidents. The bench asked petitioner Vishal Tiwari to hand over a copy of his plea to the office of the Attorney General. It said the Attorney General shall apprise the court about the protective measures which are implemented or proposed to be implemented by the government, including the 'Kavach' scheme. The bench posted the matter for hearing after four weeks. Tiwari told the apex court that his plea raises issue of public safety measures. Referring to the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district in June last year that had left 288 people dead, the petitioner said a protection system was launched by the governmen

Govt project announcements, capex at new low, completion rates slow

It was at Rs 26,987 crore in the three months ended December, according to data from project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

Focus on workforce boost in health sector considering global demand: Govt

The Indian health sector has a good image globally and the government is working to increase the workforce in view of growing demand, Union minister Bharati Pawar said here on Saturday. The Minister of State (MOS) for Health reiterated that there is no need to fear the JN.1 subvariant of coronavirus but states have been asked to be alert about its spread. Dr Pawar was speaking to reporters after reviewing OPD and IPD services, and government schemes like AB-PMJAY, and Jan Aushadhi Kendra at the AIIMS Nagpur. "India is progressing in all sectors globally. There is a lot of demand for Indian healthcare professionals across the globe. The Indian health sector has a good image. It is trusted and the demand for healthcare personnel is growing in many countries," the Union minister said. She said Indian nurses are in good demand in many countries including Japan. "Considering the demand for nurses, the Central government has started Japanese language courses in some Northeastern states,

Three Naga groups approach Centre over decades-old political issue

Three Naga groups came together on Saturday and decided to pursue negotiations for a solution to the decades-old Naga Political Issue with the Centre jointly. The decision was taken during a meeting attended by leaders of the three groups -- National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Akato Chophy, NSCN led by Khango and Naga National Council (NNC) led by Z Royim. All three are splinter groups. "The three groups have come together to have a joint political venture in 2024," said Akato, while addressing journalists after the meeting here in the presence of leaders of the other two groups. Asked if they have already approached the Centre with their decision to hold a dialogue, he said, "We have made separate approaches in the past but now we will make a joint effort on the Naga issue." Akato also affirmed that they would be holding a dialogue separate from the negotiations being held by the Working Committee of Naga National Political Groups (WC-NNPGs) with the Centre. The

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slams Centre over high petrol, diesel prices

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday slammed the Centre over high prices of petrol and diesel, alleging that the government's priority was only to fill the pockets of a few billionaires. In a post in Hindi on 'X', the Congress general secretary said crude oil has become cheaper by 29 per cent in the international market in the last 19 months. "Oil companies have earned Rs 1.32 lakh crore profit in six months. The burden of their huge earnings is being passed on to the people of the country," she alleged. Inflation is at its peak in the country due to the high prices of petrol and diesel, Gandhi said. "Poor and middle-class people are not able to run their families but they have not got any relief. The government's priority is only to fill the pockets of a few billionaires," she alleged.

Sitharaman meets heads of public sector banks, reviews performance

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Saturday held a meeting with heads of public sector banks and reviewed their financial performance. During the meeting, concerns related to cyber security and the risks on the financial sector were discussed, sources said. Issues related to fraud and wilful defaulters and progress on the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) also came up for discussion, they said. This is the probably last full review meeting before the presentation of Budget 2024-25 and general elections later next year. On the performance front, PSU banks have earned a net profit of about Rs 68,500 crore during the first six months of the current financial year. During 2022-23, it said banks' balance sheets grew at a healthy pace, with both deposits and credit growth accelerating. The Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) fell to a decade low of 3.9 per cent at the end of March 2023 and further to 3.2 per cent in September

Centre to launch 2nd version of National Career Service portal in 2024

The government will launch the second version of the National Career Service (NCS) portal as well as persuade states to roll out labour reforms as part of efforts to further improve the ease of doing business and provide social security for the unorganised labour, particularly gig and platform workers, in 2024. Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav told PTI that his ministry will soon launch the "advanced version, namely NCS 2.0, to facilitate better job matching and search facility for jobseekers along with a recommendation engine for skilling by the use of latest technologies and leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning". The NCS project was launched in July 2015 to provide various employment-related services, including career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, apprenticeship and internships, through a digital platform. As of November 30 this year, the NCS platform had more than 3.64 crore registered jobseekers

Deepfake issue: Govt will keep an eye on platforms' approach, says MoS IT

Terming the menace of deepfakes and misinformation as "a very problematic issue" for the Indian democracy, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said the government will "keep an eye" on the remedial measures taken by the platforms on the advisories. The minister also promised that inaction on their part may prompt amendment to the IT Rules that will be more "prescriptive". In an interview with PTI, Chandrasekhar, who is Minister of State for IT and Electronics, counted the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) legislation, setting up of grievances appellate panels and tighter accountability enforced on digital platforms for user safety as being among the big achievements for 2023. Chandrasekhar, however, said that the Digital India Act (that will supersede the 22-year-old Information Technology Act) despite undergoing extensive pre-consultations "ran out of time" and termed it "an unfinished agenda". "...The Digital India Act which we put a lot of effort into...spent almost a

Govt has strictly no plans to put MEP on all agri commodities: Comm Min

The government on Friday said there are "strictly" no plans to impose the minimum export price (MEP) on all agricultural products. Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal said that there is no such intention of the government to look into exports of all agri products. "Just want to clarify that the government has no intention to put in MEP on all agri products or review all agri products from the export perspective. There is no such decision. The government has strictly no such plans," he told reporters here. An inter-ministerial committee, which looks into MEP on onion, has recently decided on basmati rice. He said that the committee getting a wider mandate does not mean that "the committee is there to look into each agri product and start recommending MEP for that". He informed that despite banning exports of non-basmati white rice, India has allocated 13 lakh tonnes of rice for exports to over 14 countries for their food security issues.

Next steps after examining ruling: MEA on Navy veterans row in Qatar

India on Friday said its next steps in the case relating to eight former Indian Navy personnel will be decided after examining the ruling of a Qatari court and discussions with the legal team handling the matter. Qatar's Court of Appeals has commuted the death sentences handed out to the Navy veterans by another court earlier. "The interests of Indians and their family members is our foremost concern," Ministry External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing. "We will be discussing the next possible steps with the legal team and the family members," he added. Bagchi said he would not like to say anything more as the matter is sensitive. The Indian nationals, who were working with Doha-based Al Dahra Global Technologies, were taken into custody in August 2022 in a case of alleged espionage. While the charges against them were not made public by Qatari authorities, they were sentenced to death by the Gulf country's Court of First Instance in October this

Sharda temple in PoK 'encroached by Pak Army', committee seeks govt's help

The Save Sharda Committee (SSC) here on Friday sought the help of the Indian government to remove the "encroachment by the Pakistan Army" on the Sharda temple premises in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), in order to pave way for its restoration. Addressing a press conference at Press Club of Bangalore, SSC founder Ravinder Pandita alleged that the Pakistan army had encroached upon the dilapidated old Sharda temple premises and opened a coffee home there despite a court order in the committee's favour. Save Sharda Committee requests the Government of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise the issue of encroachments and removal of a coffee home recently erected on Sharda Peeth premises by the Pakistan army. This is despite the Supreme Court of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir's landmark judgment on January 3, 2023 pronounced in favour of Save Sharda Committee based on its representation seeking to stop encroachments, he said. He added that civil society in PoK has also raised their