Page 29 - Centre

Union min releases postal cover commemorating 9 yrs of T'gana formation

Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy has unveiled a postal cover on '9 Years of Telangana Statehood' and picture post cards showcasing 'Buddhist Heritage in Telangana Bavapur Kurru' here. Speaking on the occasion, Reddy lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and new initiatives that have helped transform India Post into a Multi Service Agency providing services to the citizens "on value-for-money basis". In an official release on Friday, he said by utilising the services of postal department as last mile connectivity, the central government is planning to make the Department of Post as One Stop Solution for all services of the schemes so that the fruits of welfare programmes reached the citizens in the remotest areas of the country. Praising the postal department, the union minister said it has transformed itself from delivery of articles to rendering various welfare schemes and has become the most crucial part of the Centre and the welfare programmes introduced by it.

Centre asks states to promote organic farming, stop urea diversion

Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday urged states to promote organic farming for preservation of soil health and make efforts to reduce use of chemical fertilisers. The minister also asked states to take up effective steps to curtail diversion of urea meant for agriculture and farmers, to other sectors, according to an official statement. Mandaviya said this while virtually interacting with agriculture ministers of states and Union Territories on the recent decisions made by the Cabinet regarding fertiliser sector. On June 28, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a new scheme, PM-PRANAM to incentivise states to promote alternative fertilisers and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and also decided to continue the current urea subsidy scheme for three years ending March 2025, with an outlay of Rs 3.68 lakh crore. That apart, CCEA approved an outlay of Rs 1,451 crore subsidy to promote organic manure, taking the total package t

CERT-In cyber security norms bar use of Anydesk, Teamviewer by govt dept

Cyber security watchdog CERTin has barred the use of remote desktop softwares like Anydesk and Teamviewer in the government department under new security guidelines released on Friday. The guidelines prescribe government departments use virtual private networks (VPN) for accessing network resources from remote locations and enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for VPN accounts. "Ensure to block access to any remote desktop applications, such as Anydesk, Teamviewer, Ammyy admin etc," Guidelines on Information Security Practices for Government Entities said. CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team ) said the purpose of these guidelines is to establish a prioritised baseline for cyber security measures and controls within government organisations and their associated organisations. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in an official statement said the government has taken several initiatives to ensure an open, safe and trusted and accountable digi

Govt extends relaxations for central ministries on capital expenditure

In order to push capital expenditure by central ministries, the Finance Ministry on Friday extended the relaxed norms on capex in excess of Rs 500 crore to the second quarter of this fiscal. As per the office memorandum dated April 25, 2023, the finance ministry had removed all restrictions and conditions on capital expenditure by ministries, under the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) and grants-in-aid for the creation of capital assets for the first quarter of the current financial year. It has been decided to continue relaxation for the second quarter of the current financial year, the finance ministry said on Friday. "For subsequent quarters, a separate advisory will be issued before the commencement of the quarter. It further reiterated that the relaxation will be subject to strict adherence to the Single Nodal Agency (SNA) and Central Nodal Agency (CNA) guidelines issued by the Department of Expenditure," it said. Usually, ministries and departments are allowed to spend 25 pe

Centre re-appoints Tushar Mehta as Solicitor General for three years

Senior advocate Tushar Mehta was re-appointed as the Solicitor General of India on Friday for a term of three years. Mehta was appointed as Solicitor General on October 10, 2018 and since then he had been granted extension twice. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, besides Mehta, six Additional Solicitors General for the Supreme Court were also re-appointed for a period of three years. Six ASGs who were re-appointed for the top court are Vikramjit Banerjee, K M Nataraj, Balbir Singh, S V Raju, N Venkataraman and Aishwarya Bhati. The names of Additional Solicitors General Madhavi Goradia Divan and Sanjay Jain, whose tenure came to end on Friday, did not feature in the list of re-appointed law officers. Additional Solicitor General Jayant K Sud, whose tenure came to end on Thursday, also did not feature in the list. Additional Solicitors General Chetan Sharma for Delhi High Court, Satya Pal Jain for Punjab and Haryana High Court, Devang Girish

Govt to construct Rs 4,500-cr National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal

National Maritime Heritage Complex is expected to boost tourism in the region and contribute to economic development, the ministry said

Consumer affairs dept asks online platforms to not use 'dark patterns'

The Consumer Affairs dept advised online platform to not engage in 'unfair trade practices' by incorporating dark patterns in their online interface to manipulate consumer choice

Karnataka High Court rejects Twitter plea against govt blocking orders

'You are not a farmer but a billon-dollar company': Karnataka High Court tells platform for not complying with centre's orders

Centre unlikely to launch PLI schemes for new sectors this year: Report

The proposed changes to the PLI schemes will allow new players to benefit from the incentives, sources said

Centre prohibits import of cigarette lighters priced less than Rs 20

The government on Thursday prohibited imports of cigarette lighters if the price per unit is less than Rs 20, with a view to discourage inbound shipments of the product. "The import policy of cigarette lighters...is revised from 'free' to 'prohibited'. However, import shall be free if CIF value is Rs 20 or above per lighter," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. CIF value (cost, insurance, and freight) is a trade term used in international commerce to determine the total value of goods being imported. The prohibition has been imposed on pocket lighters, gas fuelled, non-refillable or refillable. Imports of pocket lighters, gas fuelled, non-refillable stood at USD 0.66 million in 2022-23. It was USD 0.13 million in April this fiscal. Similarly, the inbound shipments of pocket lighters, gas fuelled, and refillable, stood at USD 8.87 million in 2022-23 against USD 7 million in 2021-22. It was USD 0.96 million in April of this fiscal. These are impo

Aadhaar-based face authentication crosses all time high of 10.6 mn in May

The number of face authentication transactions is on an upward trajectory, and the monthly numbers clocked in May is an increase of 38 per cent

Tax hike on international transactions to come into effect from Oct 1

No change in rate of TCS for all purposes under LRS and for overseas travel tour packages, regardless of mode of payment, for amounts up to Rs 7 lakh per individual per annum

India eyes cap on state transmission charges on green power purchase

Industrial and commercial consumers across the country have complained about various transmission charges levied by states on power purchase leading to higher costs

Centre to conduct 12 national good governance webinars for officials

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances will hold webinars with district collectors and other officers on good governance initiatives that won the prime minister's awards for excellence in public administration with the objective of greater dissemination and replication. In pursuance of the directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the DARPG under the Personnel Ministry will conduct 12 National Good Governance webinars in 2023-24, an official statement issued on Wednesday said. The prime minister has directed the DARPG to hold virtual conferences/ webinars with district collectors and other officers to which past award winners of the PM's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration will be invited, it said. The webinars are to be held on the last Friday of every month, it said. The National Good Governance Webinar for June 2023 will be held on Friday on the theme Samagra Shiksha", the order said. The speakers would be the district collectors of ...

Centre hikes sugarcane FRP by Rs 10 per quintal for 2023-24 season

According to the Sugarcane (Control) Order of 1966, FRP is the minimum price that sugar mills have to pay to sugarcane farmers

Centre announces '5G & Beyond Hackathon 2023'; applications process starts

Hundred winners of the hackathon will share a total prize pool of Rs one crore, and the unique opportunity to scale and implement their 5G products/solutions

Govt plans Rs 17,000 cr scheme for green hydrogen production: MNRE secy

The government has planned over Rs 17,000 crore in incentives to promote the manufacturing of electrolyzers and green hydrogen in the country, MNRE Secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla said on Wednesday. The draft of the incentive scheme for electrolyzer manufacturing and a part of the incentive scheme for the production of green hydrogen have been finalized and will be rolled out soon. The incentives will be provided under a scheme and the draft of the same has been prepared, Bhalla said. The move will result in demand creation for the clean energy source, the official said. The government is already working with respective ministries to promote green hydrogen. The Ministry is also working on provision of incentives for electrolyzer manufacturing and for production of green hydrogen, Bhalla said. The MNRE Secretary said that "the draft of the incentive scheme for electrolyzer manufacturing and part of the incentive scheme for the production of green hydrogen have been finalized and w

Govt makes draft rules to incentivise voluntary environmental actions

The government has come out with the draft Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules 2023 for incentivising voluntary environmental actions of various stakeholders. According to a notification issued by the Environment Ministry, the Green Credit programme encourages private sector industries and companies as well as other entities to meet their existing obligations, stemming from other legal frameworks, by taking actions which are able to converge with activities relevant for generating or buying Green Credits. The main objectives of the Green Credit Programme are to create a market based mechanism for providing incentives in the form of Green Credits to individuals, farmer producer organisations, cooperatives, forestry enterprises, sustainable agriculture enterprises, urban and rural local bodies, private sectors, industries and organisations for environment positive actions. The programme also envisages to create a mass movement around environment positive actions and realise th

Govt seeks industry feedback on PLI scheme to enhance effectiveness

The government has sought feedback from the industry on the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme with a view to enhancing its effectiveness, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday. The commerce and industry ministry, which coordinates the scheme, also urged PLI beneficiaries to take up any procedural challenges/ issues with the respective implementing ministry or department so that positive reforms can be brought about and the scheme can be made more efficient and effective. Issues pertaining to the scheme were discussed in a workshop called by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on June 27 here. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government is committed to fostering a conducive business environment and accelerating growth in PLI sectors. "The minister encouraged industry's feedback and collaborative engagement to shape the policies, procedures and effectiveness of the PLI scheme," the ministry said in a statement. The government announc

Cong questions pricing of predator drone deal with US, seeks transparency

The Congress on Wednesday demanded complete transparency in the multi-crore India-US drone deal, while alleging that the 31 MQ-9B Predator UAV drones were being procured for a higher price. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a press conference that national security was paramount and that several doubts were being raised on the predator drone deal. "The Modi government is known to jeopardise national interests and the people of India have witnessed the same in the Rafale deal, where the Modi government bought only 36 Rafale jets instead of 126. We also saw how HAL was denied transfer of technology. We also saw how several unilateral decisions were made, despite widespread objections from the Defence Acquisition Committee and the Armed Forces. The Rafale 'scam' is still under scrutiny in France," he charged. "We demand complete transparency in this Predator Drone deal. India needs answers to the crucial questions. Otherwise, we will be trapped in another 'scam' under the Modi