Page 22 - Centre

Centre extends PLI scheme for automotive sector by 1 yr until FY28

The government has decided to extend the Rs 25,938-crore production-linked incentive scheme for the automotive sector by one year, Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said on Tuesday. Post extension, the five-year scheme, originally in place from 2022-23 to 2026-27, will be active until 2027-28. At present, incentives are applicable under the scheme for determined sales of Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) products (vehicles and components) manufactured in India from 1 April 2022 onwards for a period of five consecutive years. "The scheme is being extended by one year," the Heavy Industries Minister told PTI, after reviewing the performance of the scheme with stakeholders here. Speaking with reporters on the sidelines earlier, he shared that the ministry has also accepted other suggestions made by auto industry stakeholders pertaining to the scheme including quarterly disbursement of subsidies and increasing the number of agencies testing domestic value addition

Union Territory status of J-K is not permanent thing: Centre tells SC

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir is not a permanent thing and that it will make an elaborate statement on the vexatious political issue in the court on August 31. The central government's response was conveyed to the court by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, after a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, hearing the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370, asked it to set a specific time frame for restoration of electoral democracy in the erstwhile state. "The union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir is not a permanent thing. So far as Ladakh is concerned, its UT status is going to remain for some time," Mehta said. The top government law officer said he will make an elaborate statement on the future of the union territory status of J-K and Ladakh before the bench, which also comprises Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, on August 31. The bench,

Centre cuts LPG cylinders price by Rs 200 for PMUY beneficiaries

In July, oil companies increased the price of domestic LPG cylinders by Rs 50. Earlier, the prices were increased twice in the month of May

Census Act empowers only Centre to conduct census: Govt informs SC

The Central Government on Monday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and said that the Census Act,1948, empowers only the Central Government to conduct the census

Over 500,000 job letters given by Centre since Oct 2022: MoS Verma

Union minister B L Verma Monday said the Centre has distributed job letters to 5.5 lakh youth since last October and aims to provide 10 lakh jobs by year-end. Addressing a Rozgar mela at the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters here, Verma handed over appointment letters to 250 candidates, out of a total of 1,000 selected for various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) such as BSF, CRPF CISF, SSB, and ITBP. This morning, Modi distributed over 51,000 appointment letters to the youth, mostly in the security forces, joined in from 45 locations across the country. Distributing job letters at the event here, Verma said this Rozgar Mela scheme is part of the government's efforts to abate unemployment in the country. "In October 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a commitment that 10 lakh jobs will be given to youth by December 2023. By this time, we have provided job letters to 5.5 lakh youth," the Union Minister of State for development of the Northeastern region said. He adde

Centre issues advisory for media against betting platform advertisements

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) said that advertisements of gambling/betting platforms pose financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially children and youth

Goa guv questions Kerala assembly's resolution against Centre's UCC

Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Wednesday appeared questioning the resolution adopted recently by the Kerala assembly that decided to request the Central government to refrain from implementing the Uniform Civil Code in the country. Pillai was addressing a special session of the Goa legislative assembly in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu. Pointing out that the President had praised Goa for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, Pillai said, In other states, the daughter is entitled to one-third of property of her father and while two-thirds goes to male (son). Where is the gender justice? There is discrimination based on sex which is not allowed in the Constitution". Without taking any name, Pillai said recently a legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution which is their right. "I am not mentioning the name. If I mention it, the shame will come to me also as I am from that state. Of course, they can express their opinion. Everybody has the right to .

Centre to procure additional 200K-tonne onions amid farmer protest

The Centre already has a buffer stock of 300,000 tonnes of onions, which it has now decided to expand to 500,000 tonnes

Centre holds meeting on Covid, asks states to ramp up genome sequencing

Amid detection of newer variants of coronavirus globally, the Centre on Monday held a high-level meeting and asked states to ramp up whole genome sequencing of positive samples and keep close watch on the global variants. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr P K Mishra, after the deliberations highlighted that while the Covid situation in the country remains stable and public health systems remain geared up, there is need for states to monitor trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, an official statement said. He also emphasised on sending sufficient samples for testing of COVID-19 while ramping up whole genome sequencing and maintaining close watch on the new global variants. An overview of the global COVID-19 situation was given by Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant, including certain newer variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus like BA.2.86 (Pirola) and EG.5 (Eris), which have been reported globally. He underlined that as per the World

Centre approves release of Rs 200 cr to rain-battered Himachal Pradesh

The Centre on Sunday approved the release of Rs 200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund as advance assistance to Himachal Pradesh to help the rain-battered state undertake relief measures for affected people. A spokesperson of the Union Home Ministry said the Centre had earlier approved the advance release of Rs 360.80 crore from the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund in two instalments on July 10 and 17. The Central government also released Rs 189.27 crore of the state's past dues from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on August 7, the spokesperson said. The home ministry has approved the release of Rs 200 crore, as an advance from the National Disaster Response Fund to the government of Himachal Pradesh to help them undertake relief measures for affected people during the ongoing monsoon season, a spokesperson said. The central government is monitoring the situation in Himachal Pradesh round the clock and providing necessary logistics and financ

Govt unveils Green Hydrogen standards, sets emission limits for production

The government on Saturday unveiled Green Hydrogen standards and included electrolysis and biomass-based methods in its definition. In a significant move for the progress of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government has notified the Green Hydrogen Standard for India, the New and Renewable Energy Ministry said in a statement. The standards issued by the ministry outline the emission thresholds that must be met in order for hydrogen produced to be classified as Green', i.e., from renewable sources. The scope of the definition encompasses both electrolysis-based and biomass-based hydrogen production methods, it stated. After discussions with multiple stakeholders, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has decided to define Green Hydrogen as having a well-to-gate emission (i.e., including water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification, drying and compression of hydrogen) of not more than 2 kg CO2 equivalent / kg H2. The notification specifies that a detailed methodology ..

Lithium to niobium, export ban on 4 critical new energy metals on the table

Lithium, beryllium, niobium, and tantalum are to be banned for export

Centre rolls out Rs 5,000 crore RLI scheme for pharma, med-tech sectors

Govt rolls out research-linked incentive scheme to boost infra

Centre will 'intensify' efforts to control inflation: TV Somanathan

Inflation will be reduced in next three months, says Somanathan

Centre proposes SoP for govt officials' appearance in court, contempt cases

The SoP stipulates that in-person appearances of government officials should be summoned only in exceptional circumstances, rather than as standard practice

Cabinet approves funding for railways, e-buses, digital India | Key points

Union Minister Anurag Thakur said Rs 57,613 crores will be spent on PM-eBus Sewa, and the Centre will provide Rs 20,000 crore for the scheme

SK Hynix denies negotiation, collaboration with SRAM & MRAM for chip plant

South Korea-based SK Hynix on Monday said that the company neither had any negotiation with SRAM & MRAM Group, nor has any plans to collaborate with it for a semiconductor manufacturing or testing unit in India. UK-based SRAM & MRAM Group chairman Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani had told PTI that his company is in an advanced stage of discussion with semiconductor makers SK Hynix and GlobalFoundries to collaborate for its proposed chip manufacturing plant and a testing facility in India. Hiranandani had said that his group will hold a majority stake in the joint venture and the application to seek the Centre's approval for the project will be submitted within a week. However, SK Hynix denied any negotiation, collaboration with SRAM & MRAM Group. "SK Hynix haven't had any negotiations with SRAM & MRAM Group and therefore, do not have any plans to collaborate with the company on a chip manufacturing plant and testing facility in India," SK Hynix said in a statement. SK Hynix ..

Centre directs banks to work in tandem on loans scheme for street vendors

Union MoS for Finance Bhagwat K Karad on Saturday asked banks and civic bodies to work in collaboration with each other to achieve the goals of the PM SVANidhi scheme, which was launched to help street vendors get easy loans. Chairing a regional-level meeting to assess the progress of the scheme in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, Karad asked civic bodies to review the applications returned by banks and resubmit them after rectification. He also asked the civic bodies to work in a 'camp mode' and mobilise fresh applications to achieve the targets in a time-bound manner. Karad encouraged civic bodies to intensify their efforts with innovative strategies to enhance the digital onboarding of street vendors, a statement said. He emphasised on improvement in profiling of the scheme's beneficiaries and their families to facilitate their linkages to various central welfare schemes, it added. The meeting was attended by representatives of the state governments, commissioners of .

Centre does 'politics of development': Mandaviya hits back at Tejashwi

Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said the Modi government believes in "politics of development" and not "politics in development" while urging Bihar minister Tejashwi Yadav to provide suitable land for the construction of AIIMS in Darbhanga. The comments come after Yadav, who holds the health portfolio in the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of 'safed jhooth' (blatant lie) in his address earlier in the day when he spoke of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the north Bihar district of Darbhanga. "It is an outright lie on part of the PM to have made a mention of AIIMS at Darbhanga, which is yet to be constructed. He reminds me of Union Home Minister Amit Shah who some time ago boasted of Purnea airport, which is far from functional, as one of the achievements of the government," Yadav told PTI video. "The fact is, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had taken the initiative for AIIMS, Darbhanga and a piece of land, suitab

Health ministry proposes separate post for medical devices controller

Specific provision for recall of drugs and devices; penal provisions for substandard drugs