Page 25 - Central Government

Govt likely to table Telecommunications Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha on Monday

The government is likely to table the Telecommunications Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha on Monday, according to sources. The Telecommunications Bill 2023 aims to replace the 138 years old Indian Telegraph Act that governs the telecom sector. "The President has been informed about the Telecommunications Bill 2023. It is likely to be introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday, December 18," a source told PTI. The Cabinet had cleared the bill in August. The draft Telecommunications Bill released in 2023 had proposed to bring over-the-top or the internet based calling and messaging apps under the definition of telecommunications to enhance users' safety. The bill had also proposed to curb the power of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), on which industry players had raised concern. According to government officials, the issues around over-the-top players and Trai were resolved before it was cleared by the Cabinet. The draft had proposed to ease some of the rules like refund of fees for

Govt to help exporters maintain documentation to deal with US duty cases

The commerce ministry has started an exercise to help Indian exporters keep proper documentation to deal with US countervailing duty cases on domestic products, an official said. As part of the exercise, teams of the directorate general of foreign trade (DGTR) and directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR) are working on a roadmap to work on the kind of documentation that needs to be maintained by Indian exporters. Before imposing countervailing or anti-subsidy duty (CVD), a country carries out detailed investigations on products which it believes that its trading partner is subsidising for export purposes. Subsidising exports is a kind of unfair trade practice. Countervailing duties can only be imposed if the investigating agency of the importing country determines that the imports of the product in question are subsidized and are injuring a domestic industry. Imposition of this duty does not prohibit or restrict imports. World Trade Organisation (WTO) allows its member countrie

India's G20 presidency was its diplomatic achievement of 2023: Jaishankar

EAM Jaishankar said that through its G20 Presidency, India was able to get the most powerful countries of the world to show a new commitment to sustainable development and promoting green growth

Govt improving people's health with holistic approach, campaigns: Amit Shah

The Centre has taken up the mission to improve the health of people with a holistic approach by increasing the budget for it and launching various schemes and campaigns in the last one decade, Union Minister Amit Shah has said. Addressing the 6th Advancements in Endourology Conference here on Saturday, Shah also thanked doctors and paramedical staff for working with dedication in the fight against COVID-19. "The Union as well as state governments and doctors across the country are working together with a holistic approach to improve the health of the people through the implementation of schemes prepared minutely during the last 10 years," he said. "The biggest work was to increase the health budget from Rs 33,000 crore to Rs 1.33 lakh crore. The government worked to improve the health infrastructure and increase human resources required for modern medical science," he added. Campaigns such as the Swachh Bharat Yojana launched for prevention of diseases as well as initiatives to tak

Govt asks steel makers to enhance use of artificial intelligence in plants

The government on Friday asked steelmakers to enhance the application of artificial intelligence (AI) at their respective plants, as its usage can improve the value chain and energy management, according to an official statement. As the world looks at data-driven decision-making, the Indian steel industry needs to be at the forefront in implementing artificial intelligence technology in their operations, Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said, addressing a Chintan Shivir event here. The minister urged the stakeholders in the steel sector to enhance the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in their respective steel plants, the steel ministry said in a statement. "We in the steel sector need to understand that it is our responsibility to safeguard Mother Earth by embracing the concept of green steel and the latest technologies," Scindia said. Minister of State (MoS) for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said the usage of AI and automation can strengthen the value chain system

Centre gets bids for green hydrogen, electrolyser production incentives

In July, India invited pilot bids under its $2 billion programme to incentivise production of green hydrogen and manufacturing of electrolysers

Balasore tragedy: Rs 51.37 cr disbursed as ex-gratia payment to next of kin

The Railway Ministry has made a payment of Rs 51.37 crore as ex-gratia and compensation amount to the next of kin and victims of the Balasore train tragedy, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Balasore train accident caused the deaths of 296 passengers and over 1,200 were injured. Vaishnaw's response came after two BJD MPs, Sulata Deo and Niranjan Bishi, asked if the ex-gratia compensation announced by the Railways for the victims has been paid. Payment of ex-gratia has been made to the victims of the Balasore train tragedy. An amount of Rs. 51.37 crores has been paid as ex-gratia and compensation to the next of kin/victims of Balasore tragedy, Vaishnaw said in a written reply. The accident took place on June 2 when the Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary freight train at Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore and some of its derailed coaches fell onto the adjacent tracks and collided with the oncoming Yeshwantpur-Howrah Express. The ...

22 procedures related to mental disorders covered under AB-PMJAY: Govt

Twenty-two procedures related to mental disorders are covered under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), the government informed Parliament on Friday. The AB-PMJAY provides treatment corresponding to a total of 1,949 procedures under 27 different specialties, including mental disorders, nephrology, cardiology and general medicine, Minister of State for Health S P Singh Baghel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question. Of the 1,949 procedures, 22 are related to mental disorders, he said. From 2021-22 to 2023-24, a total of 1.35 lakh hospital admissions, amounting to Rs 120.19 crore, were authorised under the scheme for treatment related to mental disorders, Baghel said. The average duration of stay (in days) for treatment related to mental disorders for the financial year 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 are 13, 12, and 11 respectively, he informed.

Urea, DAP fertilizers availability comfortable in ongoing rabi season: Govt

The availability of two key fertilisers, urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), has remained comfortable during the ongoing 2023-24 rabi season, Parliament was informed on Friday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba said about 132.77 lakh tonne of urea has been made available for the October-December period of the ongoing rabi season, which is higher than the requirement of 91.05 lakh tonne for the same period. Total urea requirement for the entire 2023-24 rabi season is pegged at 185.41 lakh tonne, he said. Even the availability of DAP has remained comfortable in the country during the ongoing rabi 2023-24 season, he added. The minister also mentioned that there is no such report of artificial demand/shortage of urea that has come to its notice. Urea and DAP are two widely used fertilisers in the country. Currently, sowing of rabi crops like wheat and pulses is underway. Sowing begins from October and harvesting fro

More immigration desks, entry gates added at Delhi airport, says Scindia

In December last year, there were 31 entry points, which have been increased to 66. Similarly, X-BIS machines have been increased from 50 to 66

Embassy REIT expects SEZ regulation tweak to boost its finances from FY25

Embassy, which has business parks at SEZs in Bengaluru and Noida, saw its consolidated profit fall 46% to 236.8 million rupees ($2.84 million) in the September quarter, while its revenue grew about 4%

Procurement from govt's GeM portal may reach Rs 3.5 trillion this fiscal

The procurement of goods and services from the government portal GeM is expected to touch Rs 3.5 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal due to higher buying activities by various ministries and departments, a senior government official said. The government e-Market (GeM) portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments. "As of today, the procurement has reached Rs 2.4 lakh crore and going by the trend, the procurement this fiscal will reach close to Rs 3.50 lakh crore, hopefully," GeM CEO P K Singh told reporters here. In 2021-22, the procurement value stood at Rs 1.06 lakh crore. It crossed Rs 2 lakh crore last year. Singh said that the share of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in the total buying of goods and services is increasing at a healthy rate. More than 245 CPSEs, including Coal India, SAIL, NTPC and SBI, are participating in the process. The top five undertakings that are ..

Govt may address inverted duty structure for certain products in Budget

The government is likely to address the issue of inverted duty structure for certain products in the forthcoming Budget to boost domestic manufacturing, an official said. Inverted duty structure refers to taxation of inputs at higher rates than finished products that result in the build-up of credits and cascading costs. The official said that the Commerce and Industry Ministry has shared a list of 13-14 products with the finance ministry to look at the inverted duty structure issues. "The ministry always shares such list of goods, where customs duties on components are higher than the finished products, We have given our inputs to the finance ministry to look at that. Inverted duty structure is not economically efficient," the official said. Inverted duty structure impacts the domestic industry as manufacturers have to pay a higher price for raw materials in terms of duty, while the finished products land at lower duty and cost. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to

Centre cuts logistics costs to below 9% of GDP with higher state spending

According to the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index, India ranked 38th out of 139 countries in 2023, helped by improving road and port networks and digitisation of the supply chains

Rs 50k penalty, suspension for overcharging Aadhaar services: Govt

Any operator found overcharging for Aadhaar services is suspended and the registrar who appointed him faces a penalty of Rs 50,000, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. "Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has placed an obligation on all Aadhaar operators not to overcharge for Aadhaar services including update of biometric and demographic details," Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said. "However, if any report on overcharging is received, the same is enquired and if established, a financial penalty of Rs 50,000 is imposed on the enrolment registrar concerned and the operator is suspended," Chandrasekhar said. He said persons can lodge their grievances with UIDAI through email or call to the toll free number 1947. The minister said the enrolment and update of information of an Aadhaar number is done through a network of registrars and enrolment agencies, which are departments of the central government and

MGNREGS job demand dips for first time FY24 in Nov, compared to FY23

Around 17.67 million households sought work under the scheme in November 2023, which was almost 5 per cent less than the same month of the 2022-23 financial year

Govt likely to come out with logistics cost estimate framework on Thursday

The government is expected to release a framework to assess the logistics cost in the country to get a realistic estimate tomorrow, an official has said. At present, the government is going by certain estimates, suggesting India's logistics cost stands at about 13-14 per cent of the country's GDP (gross domestic product). Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), had earlier stated that the government is coming out with its logistics cost framework. The framework would include elements of this cost and how to measure that. Acknowledging the necessity for targeted policy interventions, a report containing baseline aggregated logistics cost estimates; and a framework for long-term logistics cost calculation is now ready and has been reviewed by external experts from the World Bank, the official said. "This comprehensive report is scheduled for the launch on December 14," the official added. The objective of this endeavou

Winter Session: Parliament clears bill to repeal 76 outdated, obsolete laws

Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill to repeal 76 redundant and obsolete laws with the government saying the move is part of its continuing efforts to improve the ease of living and doing business. The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023 was cleared in the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation on July 27 this year. In December last year, the government introduced the Repealing and Amending Bill to cull 65 old laws. But the bill could not come up for discussion in subsequent sessions. The government later moved amendment to add 11 more laws to the list, bringing the total to 76 laws. The bill proposes to repeal outdated laws like the Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885 and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950. The bill also seeks to repeal certain Appropriation Acts passed by Parliament in the recent past. Replying to the debate, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the Modi government since coming to power in 2014 has repealed 1,486 def

No shortage of anti-TB drugs in country, six months stock available: Govt

The ministry has previously stated that all drugs used in the treatment of drug-sensitive TB are available with sufficient stocks for a time period ranging from six months and above

Article 370 verdict doesn't affect China's claims over border: Official

China on Wednesday said the Indian Supreme Court's verdict on Article 370 upholding the centre's decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir does not have any bearing on its claim on the western section of the China-India border. India's Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the central government's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The apex court also upheld the validity of the Centre's decision to carve out the union territory of Ladakh from the erstwhile state of J&K and directed restoration of statehood at the earliest as well as holding elections to the assembly by September 30 next year. Asked about the court verdict upholding the validity of the decision of the Indian government to carve out the union territory of Ladakh, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here that China has never recognised the ...