Page 31 - Centre

Govt plans to ask lawyers to report clients' dubious transactions

The authorities believe the plan will help in faster recognition of dubious transactions involving shell companies and money laundering

Karnataka CM is making lame excuses to blame Centre on rice supply: Bommai

A day after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the central government of trying to scuttle his administration's free rice scheme for the poor, senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday hit back alleging that he was making "lame excuses" and indulging in "conspiracy politics" by putting the blame on the Centre. The Congress government in the state is indulging in tactics realising that it will default on the guarantees, the former chief minister said, suggesting that the Siddaramaiah regime put the money into the bank account of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer, until it makes necessary arrangements for rice. "The state government on one hand is cheating the people of the state with regard to providing 10 kg of free rice to the poor, and on the other hand to save themselves from the bad name of having failed to fulfill the promise, is playing politics on the issue of supply of rice," Bommai said. Speaking to reporters here, he said the Centre as per t

Centre focused on developing tribal human resource: Union Minister Munda

The Narendra Modi government has undertaken a range of initiatives in the last nine years to develop tribal human resources with a special focus on education, health, and livelihood generation, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said on Wednesday. He said the Pradhan Mantri Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Development Mission, announced earlier this year, will saturate the target families and habitats with essential facilities. Rs 15,000 crore has been allocated for the socio-economic development of these marginalised groups for the next three years, the minister said at a press conference here. This is the first time a dedicated scheme has been formulated to ensure holistic development and implement a data-centric human development indexing approach for the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), he said. Munda said the Union government will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) in the next three years. The EMRS .

Centre assures support to Manipur for foodgrains for NFSA beneficiaries

The Centre on Wednesday assured the Manipur government of complete support in ensuring sufficient foodgrains stock in different parts of the state and regular supplies of the entitled quantities to NFSA beneficiaries. "The estimated stock position will be sufficient to meet the requirement in the coming month. The regular inflow of stocks will be maintained to ensure that there is no scarcity of foodgrains in any part of the state," an official statement said. Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra visited Imphal on Wednesday and reviewed the functioning of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Manipur in the wake of the recent law and order issues. In the course of the visit, Chopra met State Food and Consumer Minister L Susindro Meitei and Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi. According to the statement, the Centre has allocated an additional quantity of 30,000 tonne of rice in view of the current law and order situation for a period of three months -- June to August -- for non-NFSA ...

Centre stops sale of rice, wheat under OMSS to state to check price rise

The Centre has discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to state governments, a move that will hit some states, including Karnataka, offering free grains to the poor. This decision has already been conveyed to the Karnataka government, which had sought 13,819 tonne of rice for its own scheme under the OMSS without e-auction for July at the rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal. According to a recent order issued by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), "The sale of wheat and rice under the OMSS(domestic) for state governments is discontinued". However, the sale of rice under the OMSS will be continued for northeastern states, hilly states and states facing law and order situations, natural calamities at an existing rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal, it said. FCI may liquidate rice under the OMSS to private parties from the central pool stock as per the requirement in order to moderate the market prices, it added. On June 12, the centr

Monitor tur prices, take action against violators of stock limit: Centre

The Centre on Wednesday directed the state governments to continuously monitor the prices of tur and urad and take action on those violating the stock limit order. This was conveyed in a meeting -- chaired by Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Ministry -- to review stock disclosure of tur and urad, and the implementation of stock limits by the state governments. The representatives of the State Food and Civil Supplies Departments, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) were present at the meeting. "In the meeting, the state governments have been asked to continuously monitor the prices and verify the stock positions of stock-holding entities and take strict action on those who violated the stock limits order," an official statement said. The retail prices, quantities of stocks disclosed by various stock-holding entities and stocks in the CWC and SWC warehouses in respect of tur and urad were reviewed in the meeting. T

Centre imposes stock limits on wheat till March 2024 to check prices

For the first time in 15 years, the government on Monday imposed stockholding limits on wheat with immediate effect till March 2024 in order to contain rising prices of the key commodity. The government also decided to offload 15 lakh tonnes of wheat to bulk consumers and traders from the central pool in the first phase under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). "There has been an uptick in wheat prices in the past month. There has been an increase of close to 8 per cent at mandi level. Though wholesale and retail prices have not gone up that much, the government has imposed stock limit on wheat..." Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra told reporters here. The stock limit has been imposed on traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors till March 31, 2024. On reducing wheat import duty, the Secretary said there are no plans to tweak the policy as the country has enough supplies and even the ban on wheat exports would continue. "The country has enough stock of wheat.

Centre releases Rs 1.18 trillion as tax devolution to state govts

The government is releasing an additional advance installment to the states in this month

Govt releases 3rd instalment of tax devolution of Rs 1,18,280 cr to states

The Centre on Monday released the third instalment of tax devolution to states amounting to Rs 1,18,280 crore, as against normal monthly devolution of Rs 59,140 crore

Security stepped up ahead of AAP's 'maha rally' against Centre's ordinance

Elaborate security measures have been put in place in and around Ramlila Maidan where the Aam Aadmi Party will hold a "Maha Rally" on Sunday against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in the national capital, police said. The rally is likely to be attended by around one lakh people, an AAP spokesperson claimed. A senior police officer said around 12 companies of paramilitary forces, along with the local police, will be deployed at the venue. He said surveillance through CCTV will also be conducted. Metal detectors will be installed at the entry gates of the ground. Those entering the rally venue will be frisked. Senior officials from the district will be present at the spot, the officer said. A large number of people are expected to attend the rally due to which the Delhi Traffic Police has also been asked to regulate the vehicular movement during the programme. Fire tenders and ambulances will also be deployed there, police said. The traffic police has issued an advis

Govt launches online portal to monitor dredging projects real-time

ShipMin launches platform to save cost on Rs 1,000 crore dredging projects

Going to the bank with Rs 2,000 notes? Things you should keep in mind

The I-T department is keeping a close watch on cash transactions that deposit more than Rs 10 lakh in a saving account or more than Rs 50 lakh in current accounts

Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi: All you need to know

The Delhi CM reached out to Opposition leaders to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre is unable to replace it through a bill in the Parliament.

Won't notify fact-checking unit till July 10, Centre tells Bombay HC

The Union government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it would not notify the fact-checking unit for identifying fake news against the government on social media till July 10. The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in its affidavit in response to stand-up comic Kunal Kamra's petition challenging the amended IT rules also said that the courts will be the final arbiters of what is true content and what is false. While the government defended the Rules, Editors Guild of India and Association of Indian Magazines also filed separate petitions challenging them on the ground that they are unconstitutional and arbitrary. The government's affidavit said the government has the obligation to not just protect the rights of those who post content on social media but also the rights of those who are consuming content. Any information identified as false and misleading by the fact-checking unit under the IT Rules would not result in automatic take-down of such ..

Course at IIT-M aligns with Centre's mission to make India electronic hub

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras here on Wednesday unveiled a new full time online course on electronic systems in alignment with the Centre's mission to make India a global hub for electronic manufacturing. The course would enable students to take up a career in various sectors including electronics, semiconductor, defence, and automotive, officials said. Noting that majority of courses offered in the country were service sector oriented, IIT-M professor electrical engineering department Andrew Thangaraj said companies like Samsung have their own equipment but avail service from other countries including India. "This programme aims to create our own electronic equipment indigenously instead of importing the devices from other countries.." Thangaraj, also the associate chair of Centre for Outreach and Digital Education (CODE) at IIT-M told reporters. The programme aligns with the India's semiconductor mission to make India a global hub for electronics manufacturing and ..

Won't notify fact-checking unit till July 10, Centre tells High Court

The Centre on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court it was extending till July 10 its earlier statement that it won't notify its fact-checking unit to identify fake news against the government on social media, even as two new petitions were filed challenging the recently amended IT Rules. The Union government had in April told the HC that the fact-checking unit would not be notified till July 5. The statement was made when the court was hearing a petition filed by stand-up comic Kunal Kamra challenging the constitutional validity of the Information Technology Rules. On Wednesday, a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale was informed that two new petitions have also been filed challenging the Rules. The petitions filed by the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines claim that the Rules are arbitrary and unconstitutional. The court said it would hear all the three petitions from July 6. We shall take up the petitions for final disposal from J

Farmers protest for MSP; Congress dubs Centre, Haryana govt anti-farmer

The Congress on Wednesday slammed the BJP governments at the Centre and Haryana, accusing them of being "anti-farmer" and breaking their promises every day.

Centre willing to have discussion with protesting wrestlers: Anurag Thakur

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur has tweeted that the Central government is willing to have a 'discussion' with the protesting wrestlers

Those in power at Centre do not like criticism: Rajasthan CM Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday targeted the BJP and its leaders, saying those in power at the Centre do not like criticism. He also said Congress leaders and workers are being portrayed in such a way as if they are not Hindus. Gehlot was addressing the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Agricultural Products Trade Building of Rajasthan Food Trade Association here. "A magnificent corridor of Rs 100 crore will be built in the Govind Devji temple. There is no shortage. But we, the Congress people, are being portrayed in such a way as if we are not Hindus at all. This is unfair," he said. The corridor project is being built at the Govind Devji temple here. The senior Congress leader said, "We have no enmity with the BJP and RSS. The fight is about ideology in a democracy. Everyone has to be taken along and everyone has to be listened to. Criticism has to be tolerated. Unfortunately, the people who are in power in Delhi today do not like to listen to criticism, wherea

Government extends timeline for submitting bids for OALP Round-VIII

Since March 30, 2016, seven rounds of Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) have been completed