Page 37 - Centre

Centre appoints nodal officers for 150 water stressed districts: Officials

The Centre has appointed nodal officers for 150 water stressed districts across the country to take stock of the work under the 'catch the rain' programme, officials said on Thursday. These officers would visit respective districts coordinating implementation of various rain water harvesting, conservation measures and source sustainability aspects, etc., they said citing an official order in this regard. Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain (JSA:CTR) - 2023 with the theme "source sustainability for drinking water" was launched by President Droupadi Murmu on March 4. In this regard, officers of the government of India are hereby appointed as Central Nodal Officers (CNOs) for the identified 150 water stressed districts to take stock of the progress of the works under JSA:CTR-2023 with the directions to visit their districts, said the order issued by the Personnel Ministry. The Central Nodal Officers will be working with a team of Technical officers (ground water scientists and engineer

Take action against traders not making disclosure of tur dal stocks: Govt

The Centre on Wednesday directed state governments to take strict action against traders, millers and importers and stockists, who have not provided full disclosure about their tur dal stocks. In a review meeting on status of stock disclosure of tur and urad with major pulses producing and consuming states, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that the quantity of tur dal stocks disclosed as compared to its production and consumption has also been found to be "low" in certain states. While the number of entities registered in the stock disclosure portal has increased, it was observed that the actual number of stakeholders in certain states could be higher, he said in a statement. "The states were directed to conduct verification of stocks held by various entities and take strict action on undisclosed stocks under relevant sections of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the Prevention of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980,"

Odisha seeks 50,000 vaccines from Centre as Covid cases rise: Official

With more than 100 cases of coronavirus being reported in Odisha for four days now, the state government Tuesday requested the Centre for at least an additional 50,000 doses of vaccine in the first phase to cover people who have not received the booster dose yet, an official said. The state director of family welfare Bijay Panigrahi, who is also its nodal officer for immunization, has in his letter to the ministry of health and family welfare sought CorBEvax vaccine for Odisha. Presently there is a rise in Covid cases in Odisha. Also there is a demand from public for precaution dose vaccination at government facilities, Panigrahi said in the letter. The state does not have any vaccine left since February this, he wrote and requested for at least 50,000 doses of CorBEvax vaccine with long expiry as early as possible. The state on Tuesday reported 141 fresh infections and the number of active cases in the state has increased to 731. It has been reporting more than 100 new cases for

New data protection bill to be introduced in Monsoon session: Centre to SC

The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that a new data protection bill is ready and will be introduced in the Monsoon session of Parliament. Attorney General R Venkatramani told a Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph that the bill is ready. The bench also comprising justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C T Ravikumar took note of the submission. They directed that the matter be placed before Chief Justice DY Chandrachud so that a new bench can be constituted as Justice Joseph is set to retire on June 16. The matter has been posted for hearing in the first week of August 2023. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the court should not link the court hearings to the legislative process. The legislative process is complex and it may be again referred to some committees, he said. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by two students -- Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi -- challenging the contract entere

Centre aims for low premium, coverage with new livestock insurance scheme

According to the parliamentary panel's reports, not even a single livestock was insured during 2022-23, whereas in 2021-22, 174,061 animals were insured

TN adopts resolution urging Centre to fix timeline for Guv to approve bills

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution to urge the Centre and the President to fix a timeframe for State Governors to approve Bills adopted by the respective Houses. The bill, moved by Chief Minister M K Stalin and adopted by the House also sought the President and the Centre to 'advise' Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi to give his assent to the Bills passed by the state Assembly in a time-bound manner. The government's move came in the wake of bills including the ones seeking exemption to Tamil Nadu from the NEET ambit and banning online gambling pending with the Raj Bhavan for the Governor's assent. While moving the Bill, Stalin launched a tirade against the Governor, saying Ravi was not approving certain bills due to his "whims and fancies." He also charged Ravi with converting the Raj Bhavan into a "political Bhavan" and accused him of being against the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. The resolution "regretfully" recorded that by keeping the Bills pending, the

Govt to set up 16th Finance Comm in 2023 for Centre-state tax devolution

The government is likely to set up the 16th finance commission this year to suggest, among other things, the ratio in which tax is to be divided between the Centre and states for five years, beginning April 1, 2026, an official said. The members of the commission and its Terms of Reference (ToR) are being worked out, the official added. Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations. The previous Finance Commission submitted its report on November 9, 2020, for the 5 fiscals -- 2021-22 to 2025-26 -- to the President. The 15th Commission under NK Singh had kept the tax devolution ratio at 42 per cent -- at the same level suggested by the 14th Commission. The central government accepted the report of the commission, and accordingly, the states are being given 42 per cent of the divisible tax pool of the Centre during the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. The 15th finance commission's recommendations include the fiscal deficit, debt pa

Bihar CM Nitish urges Centre to provide fresh Covid-19 vaccine stocks

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday urged the Centre to provide fresh stocks of COVID vaccine vials so that administering of jabs, which is currently on hold, could be resumed. Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a function, he also asserted that his government was "alert" in view of rising incidence of COVID cases in some parts of the country, though Bihar was not one of them. "Our testing rate is much higher than the national average, which is six lakh tests per one million people. We are conducting eight lakh tests. Bihar accounts for about one fourth of the total number of tests conducted across the country", claimed Kumar. He underscored that the current spike was noticed in those parts of the country which were the worst affected when the coronavirus had caused a global pandemic. "In Bihar cases are very few but we are alert, nonetheless. In places like hospitals wearing of masks is being reinforced. We were also carrying out vaccination till our supply drie

Decoded: Centre's plan to identify, take down 'fake' or 'misleading' news

The latest notification by the Centre regarding new IT rules provides for appointing a fact-checking body for online content

Critical views can't be termed anti-establishment: SC lifts ban on MediaOne

The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the Centre's denial of security clearance to Malayalam news channel MediaOne, and pulled up the Ministry of Home Affairs for raising national security claims in "thin air" without facts. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud set aside the Kerala High Court order which had upheld the Centre's decision to ban the channel's telecast on security grounds. The top court said critical views of the channel against government policies cannot be termed as anti-establishment as an independent press is necessary for robust democracy. "National security claims cannot be made out of thin air, there must be material facts backing it," the bench said. The top court was hearing the plea of the news channel against the Kerala High Court's order which had upheld the Centre's decision to ban its telecast on security grounds.

DMRC writes to Centre on Reliance arbitral award high court order: Sources

Delhi Metro has asked the Centre and the city government for "further directions" on a Delhi High Court order that directed the two to help it pay dues of an arbitral award passed in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited, sources on Tuesday said. The DMRC sought directions in a letter dated March 28 addressed to the secretary, Union Ministry of Urban and Housing Affairs, and chief secretary, Delhi government, in separate copies, they said. DMRC officials, when contacted, did not comment on the issue. The Delhi High Court had on March 17 directed the Centre and the city government to attend to DMRC's request for extension of sovereign guarantees or subordinate debt to enable it to make payment of dues of an arbitral award passed in favour of DAMEPL, saying the governments cannot shirk from their liability to abide by judgements and decrees. The high court's verdict had come on an execution petition filed by Reliance Infrastructure-owned DAMEPL against the Delhi Metro

Centre releases over Rs 22 cr as grant under PMGSY to Arunachal Pradesh

In a push towards strengthening rural road connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh, the Centre has released Rs 22.74 crore to the northeastern state under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) as grant-in-aid, an official statement said on Tuesday. The incentive has been given for the "best performance" of the state in the implementation of the rural road development scheme during the 2022-23 financial year. The fund would be used for periodic maintenance of rural roads already constructed under PMGSY, the statement said. During FY'23, roads covering 1096.24 km, including 61 bridges, were constructed in the state under the PMGSY scheme. Efforts of the state government to improve quality with new technology and fund spent on the maintenance of roads are considered for the financial incentives, the statement said. Chief Minister Pema Khandu thanked the Centre and assured that the grant would be "optimally and judiciously utilised". He said rural connectivity is a top priority of t

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127,999 regular tourist visas issued from Oct 2021 to Mar 2022: Centre

The government issued 1,27,999 regular tourist visas and 2,27,225 e-tourist visas from October 6, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the Parliament was informed on Monday. Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha. In response to another query, he said the government has promoted green initiatives to advocate responsible tourism in the country during G20 meetings in partnership with states and industry. "The venues hosting G20 meetings adopt various green initiatives, including non-use of single use plastic, conservation of water and energy apart from other initiatives," Reddy said. The ministry had also launched Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme which will focus on sustainable and responsible development of tourist destinations. Greening of tourism sector for a sustainable, responsible and resilient tourism sector is one of the five key priorities of the Tourism Working Group. Asked if after the pandemic of COVID-19, the government has star

10% of wheat crop damaged due to untimely heavy rains, says Centre

The Centre on Monday said about 8-10 per cent of the wheat crop is estimated to have been damaged due to recent untimely rains and hailstorms in key producing states, but better yield prospects in late-sown areas are expected to make up for the production loss. Despite the recent inclement weather, Agriculture Commissioner P K Singh asserted that the country's total wheat production will touch a record 112.2 million tonnes this year as per the second estimate of the agriculture ministry. India is one of the major producers of wheat, a key staple for a significant population, and the crop damage scenario also comes against the backdrop of persisting high inflation and food security woes globally amid geopolitical uncertainties. Since the last few weeks, major wheat-growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have received unseasonal rains accompanied by thunderstorms, hailstorms and gusty winds due to the Western disturbances at a time when the crop was almost

Nearly 28 most wanted gangsters hiding in 14 countries, says report

The Centre has prepared a list of 28 most wanted gangsters operating from 14 foreign countries, with nine of them hiding in Canada and five in the United States, sources said on Monday. Cases of murder, extortion and kidnapping have been slapped against these gangsters, including Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi, suspected of being the mastermind behind the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala last year. Another wanted gangster, Anmol Bishnoi alias Bhanu, is believed to have taken shelter in the US. He is accused of carrying out terror attacks and targeted killings of prominent personalities from the film and business worlds, the sources said. The nine accused staying in Canada are -- Sukhdool Singh alias Sukha Duneke, Gurpinder Singh alias Baba Dalla, Satveer Singh Warring alias Sam, Snover Dhillon, Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala, Charanjeet Singh alias Rinku Bihla, Ramandeep Singh alias Raman Judge and Gagandeep Singh alias ..

Centre to put up 50 Gw of renewable projects for bidding this year

Of this, at least one Gw would be wind energy

Arbitration off track

Delhi Metro shareholders should step up

Himachal Pradesh to collaborate with Centre to promote lavender cultivation

The Himachal Pradesh government is all set to collaborate with the Union government on the "Aroma Mission", a lavender cultivation initiative that has proven to be a boon for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. With the climatic conditions of several regions in Himachal Pradesh, including Chamba, being similar to those of Jammu and Kashmir, the state government aims to replicate the success of this initiative in Himachal Pradesh in a big way. This initiative will boost the economy of farmers as well as the state in a big way, a statement issued here on Sunday said. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had a discussion with Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh and the latter assured the state of providing technical support to farmers for the project. The Chief Minister said that the initiative has the potential to transform the lives of farmers and with the collaboration of the state and Union government, the "Aroma Mission" could prove to

States responsible for implementing menstrual health schemes: Centre to SC

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that it is dedicated to improve access to menstrual hygiene for young and adolescent girls but the responsibility of providing healthcare services lies with the respective state governments as public health is a state subject. In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Health ministry said it has undertaken awareness and training programmes and made necessary resources available to girls across the country. "It is submitted that public health is a state subject and the responsibility of providing healthcare services is that of respective state governments. "The Central government and its agencies are not the implementing bodies for schemes relating to menstrual health; and it is in fact the states and their agencies which are at the forefront of enforcement of the policies," the ministry said. It submitted that the Central government is committed to improving menstrual hygiene for young and adolescent girls and to make necessary ...