Page 35 - Centre

HC seeks Centre's stand on challenge to ban on fixed dose combination drugs

The Delhi High Court has sought the stand of the Centre on a petition by a pharmaceutical company challenging the government's decision to ban manufacture, sale and distribution for human use certain Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs. FDC drugs are those which contain a combination of two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in a fixed ratio. While issuing notice on three petitions by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd against the ban, the court directed the FDC drugs produced by the petitioners that are already in the distribution channel shall not be withdrawn and no coercive steps will be taken against them. The petitioner was producing FDC drugs under the brand names Glencoff Q, Ascodex Dx Syrup, Ascoril-C Syrup and others, the court noted. The government had announced a ban on 14 FDC drugs on June 2 this year on the recommendations of an expert committee, saying there was "no therapeutic justification" for these medicines and they may involve "risk" to people. The cour

J&K completes 5-year central rule, political parties demands early polls

Jammu and Kashmir on Monday completed five years without an elected government, prompting a scathing attack from the mainstream National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party over the delay in restoration of democracy in the Union Territory. On August 5, 2019, the Centre revoked Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the state into two Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti resigned from the post of the chief minister on June 19, 2018 after alliance partner BJP withdrew support to her coalition government. In a sarcastic tweet, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday said democracy in India ends where Jammu and Kashmir begins. "Democracy is in our veins, it is in our culture'; India is the mother of democracy'; India is the temple of democracy'. Great sounding words that the international community lap up & regurgitate ad-nauseam. Meanwhile J&K completes 5 years under ...

AAP accuses Centre of boosting criminals' morale as crimes shot up in Delhi

A day after a Delhi University student was stabbed to death outside Aryabhatta College, the AAP on Monday claimed that crimes have increased in the national capital and accused the BJP-led Centre of boosting the morale of criminals. The first-year student of the university's School of Open Learning was allegedly stabbed to death in the South Campus after he objected to his girlfriend being harassed by another student, police said on Sunday. Priyanka Kakkar, the AAP's chief spokesperson, said at a press conference, "Why is it happening in Delhi again and again? Law and order in Delhi come under a government that boosts the morale of criminals. Criminals who are declared absconders by the police appear on BJP forums after a few months." The AAP leader further said, "They are not scared of the law. We have been asking the L-G about how many PCR vans have increased in Delhi and how many police stations he has visited. But he does not answer." The Lt Governor has control over public ord

PLI scheme nodal agencies under watch as Centre readies for review

Centre mulls strategy to ensure powers given to the agencies are not misused

Good coordination between Centre, Gujarat govt during Cyclone Biparjoy

Very good coordination among the central and Gujarat governments, the NDRF and all agencies concerned during Cyclone Biparjoy successfully saved precious lives, sources said on Saturday. The weather system, which hit the landmass near Jakhau port as a very severe cyclonic storm on Thursday evening, turned into a deep depression and will further lose steam to become a depression, the India Meteorological Department said in its latest update. Home Minister Amit Shah visited the cyclone-affected areas of Jakhau and Mandvi in Gujarat to take stock of the relief operation. Sources privy to the development said there was very good coordination between the central and state governments, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and all agencies concerned during the cyclonic storm that hit Gujarat. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the able guidance of Home Minister Shah, the success achieved in dealing with such a huge storm showcases the story of strong and ...

Trying to destroy history: Raut after Centre renames Nehru Memorial Museum

Sanjay Raut accused the Central Government of messing with the country's history, saying, "Pandit Nehru's name could have been retained in the Prime Minister Museum"

Centre, state govt's common action plan to restore peace in Manipur: Guv

The peace committee, headed by the Governor, was constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs last week to facilitate the peacemaking process

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.