Page 21 - Centre

Govt exploring legal options against 2 cos for non-compliance with FAME II

The government is exploring legal options against electric two-wheeler companies for not complying with the FAME II scheme norms, according to a senior government official. The Centre has sought Rs 469 crore from seven electric two-wheeler makers for claiming incentives while not complying with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme norms. The government is seeking a refund of incentives from Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere EV, Revolt Motors, Benling India, Amo Mobility, and Lohia Auto. As per the official, notices have been sent to the companies, and so far, only Revolt Motors has offered to refund the amount. "We have sent them notices. So far, only Revolt has offered to pay...others have not responded," the official said. He noted that the deadline is almost over, and next week, the government will be making some decisions. "We are examining legal options," he said when asked about action being considered by the government. An ...

Special session of Parliament: All about the agenda, history and overview

Just a month after the Monsoon Session of Parliament ended, the Centre has called for a special session of Parliament from September 18 to September 12

Heavy Industry ministry's special cleanliness campaign yields Rs 5.7 cr

A special campaign by the Ministry of Heavy Industries led to revenue generation of Rs 5.71 crore through scrap disposal sale of 53,796 files, the Centre said on Tuesday. The cleanliness drive, -- part of a nationwide cleanliness drive -- was carried out at 101 identified sites of various units of the CPSEs and autonomous bodies (ABs) under Special Campaign 2.0 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries from October 2 to 31, 2022, which led to the weeding out of 52,445 files. In addition, 1,351 physical files were weeded out resulting in freeing the space by 12,349 sq.ft. as efforts under Special Campaign 2.0 were continued post-campaign through November 2022 to August 2023. The campaign focused on disposal of pendency, achieving space management, and making the Ministry and its Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Autonomous Bodies (ABs) across the country more efficient.

Waste to wealth: Centre eyes Rs 1,000 crore revenue from scrap disposal

The Centre is eyeing a whopping Rs 1,000 crore revenue from scrap disposal after the completion of the third edition of its 'Swacchata' campaign next month, a senior official said. Speaking to PTI, V Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), said the Central government is deeply committed to institutionalising 'swachhata' (cleanliness) and minimising pendency in all its departments. The 'special campaign 3.0', third phase of the 'Swacchata' drive, will be conducted from October 2 to 31 in all departments with a focus on outstation offices having a public interface. "The success of the 'special campaign 2.0' was institutionalised with all ministries or departments conducting the Swachhata campaign for three hours per week throughout the year. Over 100 nodal officers implemented the campaign," said Srinivas, a 1989 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre. Since the conduct of the 'Swacchata' campaign 2.

Governer Bose writes confidential letters to Centre, West Bengal govt

A day after West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu accused him of trying to "destroy" the higher education system in the state and running a "puppet regime" in universities, Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday warned of a much bigger action at midnight. As the clock was nearing midnight, a Raj Bhavan official said Bose had "signed two confidential sealed letters", one for the state secretariat, Nabanna, and another for the Centre. On the content of the letters, the official said "it would be disclosed later". "The governor signed two confidential letters tonight, one meant for Nabanna and the other for Delhi," the official added. "You will come to know the content of the letters later," the official told PTI, hinting that the subject could be on the recent war of words between the governor and the state government. Incidentally, Bose signed the letters a couple of hours after holding an elaborate meeting with chief secretary HK Dwivedi at Raj Bhavan. The topic of the meeting,

Govt discusses 2 new criteria for import of information technology hardware

Move to link import value of companies' domestic manufacturing and exports

Heavy industries' ministry scraps human safety tests for EV batteries

The ministry's testing parameters were more stringent than the MoRTH norms and required checks at three levels - the cell, battery management system, and the battery pack

Doesn't behove Centre to change names with political motives: Sukhbir Badal

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said it does not behove the Centre to "change names with political motives" at a time when the country is hosting a G20 summit. The government should focus on development and not create divisiveness in society, Badal said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. His reaction came after a massive furore erupted over invitations for a G20 dinner were sent out by President Droupadi Murmu describing her position as 'President of Bharat' instead of the customary 'President of India' with the opposition alleging that the Modi government is planning to drop India and stay with just Bharat as the country's name. "It does not behove a Union govt to change names with political motives at a time when it is hosting the #G20 summit. How will the world perceive a country which is indulging in such political stunts," Badal asked in his post on X. "What India needs is respect for all. We will be a strong nation if there is respect for all ...

'President of Bharat': Congress slams Centre over President's dinner invite

The G20 dinner invites sent in the name of "President of Bharat" instead of "President of India" sparks controversy

AIPEF terms Centre's coal import-related directives an additional load

Power engineers' body AIPEF on Monday termed the Centre's import-related directives for the thermal plants as an "additional load" on the coal-fired power units. The Union Ministry of Power has issued a directive that all thermal power plants of state governments, central government and the private sector should import 4 per cent of coal by March 2024 to meet the shortage of coal in thermal power plants running on domestic coal, the All India Power Engineers Federation said in a statement. The Centre has said that in view of the increased demand for electricity, there is a gap of 2 lakh tonnes per day in August between the consumption and supply of coal in domestic coal-fired thermal power plants, it added. As per the order, "the reason for not getting adequate coal to the thermal power plants is due to the constraints of the Railways and in such a situation, putting an additional load of imported coal on the thermal power plants of the state is not appropriate," AIPEF said. AIPEF

Centre to soon come up with PLI scheme for basic chemicals: Mandaviya

The Centre will soon come up with a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for basic chemicals for the promotion of the overall chemical sector, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya said here on Saturday. Mandaviya also said that his ministry has been working on an international-standard drugs and cosmetic bill which will be introduced in the Cabinet in a month's time before being passed in Parliament. He was addressing members of the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The government's PLI scheme is aimed at improving the cost competitiveness of domestically manufactured goods and enhancing domestic capacity and exports. "If we support basic chemicals, then agrochemicals and pharma chemicals, all types of chemicals will become cheaper to make. So, in a short time, we are coming up with a PLI scheme for basic chemicals. It will be useful to promote the chemical sector, he said. Basic chemicals, produced in large quantities, are usually sold within the chemical industry

Centre holds review meet on PM GatiShakti adoption in States, UTs

In a bid to promote wider adoption of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a review meetings with States and Union Territories on August 31 to monitor and extend support for efficient and effective utilization of their State Master plan (SMP) portals for infrastructure planning and implementation.The review meeting that was chaired by the Special Secretary in the DPIIT Sumita Dawra was held for the Western and Central Zones States/UTs of India. Representatives from several states and union territories including, Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan, Daman & Diu and Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh attended the meeting.Special Secretary (Logistics) during the meeting stressed the importance of utilising the GatiShakti NMP/SMP portal and adopting a 'whole of government' approach for infrastructure and social sector planning. During the conference,

Centre ignoring Bihar's plea on PMAY-G, 13 lakh rural people waiting: Min

The Centre has not provided Bihar with fresh targets under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) for the last three years, though around 13 lakh families are waiting for houses in the state, Rural Development Minister Sharvan Kumar claimed. He asserted that several letters were sent to Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Giriraj Singh, urging him to allocate fresh target for Bihar, but the state did not get it for 2018-19, 2022-23 and 2023-24. The opposition BJP, however, accused the Bihar government of playing politics over the issue, and claimed that the state administration is not ready to submit work completion reports or fund utilisation certificates on time. Eligible beneficiaries get financial assistance from both central and state governments to build pucca houses in rural areas under the PMAY-G scheme. According to the Centre's notification, the PMAY-G aims to construct 2.95 crore houses across rural India to achieve the vision of "Housing for All"

Govt to soon roll out U-WIN portal for e-registry of routine immunisations

The government is set to launch 'U-WIN' portal, designed on the lines of COVID-19 vaccine management system Co-WIN, for maintaining an electronic registry of routine immunisations. The U-WIN programme has been designed to digitise the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) and it is presently being run in a pilot mode in two districts of each state and Union Territory. The platform will be used to register and vaccinate every pregnant woman, record her delivery outcome, register every newborn delivery, administer birth doses and all vaccination events thereafter, official sources told PTI. U-WIN, which will replicate Co-WIN, was launched on January 11 in 65 districts across the country. Vaccination records under UIP are being maintained manually as of now. So this will do away with the hassle of keeping a physical record. It will enable the digitisation of session planning, and updating vaccination status on a real-time basis, an official said. Presently, multiple vaccines and dos

Govt to tap districts for enhancing exports: DGFT Santosh Sarangi

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi on Friday said that the government will go to the districts to enhance exports. Seventy districts in the country account for 80 per cent of the country's exports total exports, he told reporters at the Indian Chamber of Commerce here. In West Bengal, two districts - Darjeeling and Howrah have been identified for the purpose so far. Darjeeling for tea and Howrah for jewellery and engineering goods. Export plans for them have also been adopted, Sarangi added. "Districts have a huge potential for increasing exports. Only 70 districts account for 80 per cent of the total exports of the country," he said. DGFT, which is under the commerce ministry, formulates the country's trade policy and also implements it. Sarangi said India has a huge potential for export of electronic items, white goods and processed foods and with the kind of growth rates which the country is clocking for the last 15 years, it can aspire to become a ...

State's nod necessary for 'one nation, one election', says Kamal Nath

Amid reports of the Centre mulling over holding simultaneous elections, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath said on Friday it is not possible to do so without taking the nod of state assemblies. The Centre has tasked former president Ram Nath Kovind with the responsibility of heading a committee to explore the feasibility of one nation, one election, opening the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with upcoming assembly elections in many states, including MP. There is a need for a constitutional amendment for it. Besides, it cannot be done by passing a bill in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but it also needs to be ratified by the state assemblies, Nath told reporters when asked about his views on the concept of simultaneous polls. BJP-ruled states like Haryana and Maharashtra can pass a one-line resolution by the cabinet to dissolve their assemblies for holding elections with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan along with the Lok Sabh

Centre invites bids for privatisation of Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical

Interested buyers in Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical should submit initial bids to the government by Oct 15, according to the government document

Govt invites Expression of Interest from bidders for IMPCL strategic sale

The government on Thursday invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from bidders by October 15 for strategic sale of Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd (IMPCL). The Government of India holds a 98.11 per cent stake in IMPCL, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Ayush. The remaining 1.89 per cent is held by Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (KMVNL), an undertaking of the Government of Uttarakhand. "The Government of India intends to disinvest its entire stake in IMPCL through strategic disinvestment with transfer of management control. The KMVNL ...has expressed its willingness to disinvest along with GoI," the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said. The company is presently manufacturing 656 classical ayurvedic, 332 unani and 71 proprietary ayurvedic medicines for a varied spectrum of diseases. It supplies ayurveda and unani medicines to all the states under the National Ayush Mission (NAM) and 6,000 centres of Jan Aushadhi Kendras. "T

Jammu-Kashmir elections can take place at any time now: Centre tells SC

Article 370 hearing: Centre tells SC polls in J-K can take place at any time, decision depends on Election Commission, state poll panel.

HC asks Centre to take action on online drug sale without valid licence

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre and the city government to take action against those engaging in online sale of drugs without a valid licence. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula also granted six weeks to the Centre to take appropriate steps and inform the court about its final stand on "illegal" sale of drugs online. The bench listed the matter for further hearing on November 16 after the Centre's counsel informed the court that consultations are still going on about a draft notification on online sale of drugs. Union of India is granted further six weeks' time to take appropriate steps and thereafter, inform the court of UoI's final stand in this matter. In the interim, the Union of India and State Government are directed to take necessary action, in accordance with law, in respect of persons acting in violation of the interim order dated December 12, 2018, that is, engaging in online sale of drugs without a valid licence, the ..