Page 45 - Centre

Average price of wheat flour rose by 31% in 2018-22 period: Centre

Average price of wheat flour rose by 31 per cent and mustard oil by 71 per cent between 2018 and 2022, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Friday. In a written reply, the government shared the average retail prices of about two dozen essential commodities. According to the data, wheat prices rose by 25 per cent since 2018 while the rates of rice increased by 23 per cent in the last five years. In a written reply, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti shared the "year-wise all-India average retail prices of 22 commodities, including atta (wheat flour), rice, onion and potato for the last five years". The minister noted that the government takes various measures from time to time to augment domestic availability and stabilise the prices of essential food commodities. "These steps, inter-alia, include releases from the buffer to cool down prices, imposition of stock limits, monitoring of stocks declared by entities to prevent hoarding as also requis

Centre, probe agencies not going for big fish of global drug syndicates: SC

The Supreme Court Friday said the Centre and investigating agencies are not arresting big fish who are members of international drug syndicates but catching small fish like agriculturists and someone standing at a bus stand in NDPS cases. The remarks of the top court came on a bail plea of an accused who was arrested after opium was found in his fields and has served more than five years in jail. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala said, "We must say that the Government of India and the investigating agencies are not arresting big fish. Why don't you go after international drug syndicates? Try to catch them. You are only catching small fish like agriculturists, someone standing at bus stand or other places." The top court was hearing the bail plea of Sabir who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act after opium of commercial quantity was recovered by the police from his agriculture lands. Additiona

Centre says media council may not be desirable; Parl panel makes fresh push

The government has told a parliamentary committee that it "may not be desirable" to set up a unified media council as each media platform was unique and distinctive in its own way with a self-regulatory mechanism, prompting the panel to make a fresh push for such a framework with statutory powers to enforce advisories. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, chaired by Shiv Sena member Pratap Jadhav, had suggested to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to have a media council, contending that there were limitations in enforcement of advisories issued by the Press Council of India and News Broadcasting Standards Authority. In an action-taken report on the subject 'Ethical Standards in Media Coverage', the committee said it had opined that the ministry should explore the possibility of establishing a media council encompassing print, electronic and digital media which should be equipped with statutory powers to enforce its orders wher

India's technical textile exports grew 28.4% in 2021-22: Govt to Lok Sabha

In view to boosting the technical textiles sector in the country, the government has set up the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) for a period of 4 years with an outlay of Rs 1,480 crores

OBC appointments in jobs above 27% during 2014-21: Centre to Rajya Sabha

The data on government positions has been collated from information uploaded by different ministries and departments on the Representation of Reserved Categories in Posts and Services (RRCPS) portal

Govt does not interfere with, control social media intermediaries: MoS IT

The government neither controls social media intermediaries nor casts any fetters on the freedom of expression of their users, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said that the IT Rules, 2021, cast specific obligations on the intermediaries that no intermediaries shall violate the rights accorded to citizens under the constitution. "The government does not interfere or control social media intermediaries and also does not cast any fetters on freedom of expression on their users. The IT Rules, 2021, casts specific obligations on the intermediaries that no intermediaries shall not violate the rights accorded to citizens under the Constitution," the minister said. He said that the government's objective is to ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable internet for citizens. In response to a question of whether the government proposes to appoint an officer to hold the accountability o

India ranks first, contributes 24% of global milk production: Govt to LS

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala told Lok Sabha that India is the highest milk producer in the world contributing 24 per cent of global milk production

NEET PG 2023: Govt extends internship deadline for candidates to Aug 11

The Ministry of Health on Tuesday decided to extend the last date of internship completion for to be eligible for NEET PG 2023, to August 11

Rs 1.45 trillion extra resources for FCI's capital needs, says govt

The IEBR of FCI for FY24 - in line with the Budget documents - is projected to jump a staggering 164 per cent to nearly Rs 1.45 trillion, from the 2022-23 (FY23) Revised Estimates (RE) of Rs 55,000 cr

Centre now largest Vodafone Idea shareholder as firm gives it 33.4% stake

Operational and management control of the company will remain with existing promoters

Centre appoints K Satyanarayana Raju as new MD & CEO of Canara Bank

State-owned Canara Bank on Tuesday said the Union Government has appointed K Satyanarayana Raju as its Managing Director and CEO, with immediate effect. He will be replacing L V Prabhakar who demitted office on December 31, 2022. Raju, who is a Physics Graduate, Post Graduate in Business Administration (Banking and Finance) and CAIIB (Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers), had earlier served Canara Bank as Executive Director since March 10, 2021. He has a very rich and vast experience in all segments of banking including Branch Banking, Corporate Credit, Retail Credit, Agri Financing, Credit Monitoring, Credit Recovery, Compliance etc. Also his rich experience and exposure led to digital transformation of banking products and services, the bank said in a release.

India's coal production target at 1,017 mn tonnes for next fiscal: Joshi

The country's coal production target has been fixed at 1,017 million tonnes for the next fiscal, Parliament was informed on Monday. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said the steps were being taken by the Centre to augment the coal output in the country by engaging mine developers and operators. "The target of all India coal production has been fixed at 1,017 million tonnes (MT) for the financial year 2023-24," the minister said. State-owned CIL has identified 15 projects having a total project rated capacity of 168.58 million tonnes per year for implementation through MDO mode. Out of these 15 projects, Letter of Award has already been given to nine projects. NLC India Ltd is implementing two MDO projects.

Sovereign Green Bonds of Rs 16,000 cr to be issued in current fiscal

Sovereign Green Bonds (SGBs), amounting to Rs 16,000 crore, are proposed to be issued in the current financial year for mobilising resources for green infrastructure projects, the Parliament was told

Govt blocks 138 betting, 94 loan lending apps with Chinese links

The crackdown on these platforms began after the government received an alert from a nodal officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs

Centre approves Pune-Nashik high speed rail connectivity: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the Ministry of Railways has accorded "in principle approval" for the Pune-Nashik high-speed rail project. Fadnavis made the announcement after a meeting with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw here. "I thank the Railway minister for granting in-principle approval to the Pune-Nashik high-speed railway project," the Maharashtra deputy chief minister said. He said officials from Maharashtra and the railway ministry will make a technical appraisal of the project and then take the proposal to the Union Cabinet for approval. "Pune and Nashik are important cities of Maharashtra economically and culturally. It would be our endeavour to provide rail connectivity to these two cities," Vaishnaw said. "We had a detailed discussion on the technical aspects of the project and will now take it forward," the Railway minister said. Fadnavis said high-speed rail between Pune and Nashik will boost development and provide seamless ..

Govt to push producers to use recycled steel as 50% input by 2047: Scindia

Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said his ministry will push primary steel producers to use 50 per cent of their input from scrapped/recycled steel by 2047 to help achieve the government target of moving into a circular economy. Currently, the level of recycled steel usage in primary steel production is only around 10 per cent even though recycled steel contributes to 22.5 per cent of the domestic total steel production of 140 million tonnes, the minister said while addressing the last day of the three-day international conference of material recycling here. The 10th conference is being organised by the Material Recycling Association of India and is attended by over 2,000 delegates from 38 countries. Noting that recycling is the key cog in the wheel of manufacturing as economies move into a circular model of development, he said, "Going forward the industry should focus on the 6Rs philosophy of reduce (exploitation of natural resources), recycle, reuse, recover,

BJP govt at Centre fighting with everyone, alleges Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday accused the BJP government at the Centre of "fighting with everyone", including states, judges, farmers as well as traders. Citing a news report on the Collegium system of appointment of judges becoming a major flashpoint between the Supreme Court and the Centre, Kejriwal advised the Narendra Modi government not to meddle in others' work. "Why does the central government fight with everyone? With judges, Supreme Court, state governments, farmers and traders? The country will not progress by quarrelling with everyone. Do your job and let others do theirs. Don't interfere in other's work," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. The AAP government in Delhi is involved in a running battle with the Centre-appointed Lt Governor over a range of governance and jurisdiction-related matters. Last month, Kejriwal along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP MLAs marched to Raj Niwas over an alleged delay in approving his government's ...

Working for welfare of deprived, backward sections our priority: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that welfare of the deprived and backward sections is the Central government's priority. Modi, during a virtual address at the Krishnaguru Eknaam Akhand Kirtan' in Assam's Barpeta district, also said special provisions have been made in the Union Budget 2023-24 to increase the interest rates on women's savings to empower them. The PM, draped in a white and green 'gamosa', said that the demand for the traditional hand towels have gone up in the last eight years. Lakhs of women organised under Self Help Groups (SHGs) are weaving these. Behind every gamosa' is the hard work of the women of Assam, he said. The month-long kirtan, which began on January 6, is being held at the Krishnaguru Sevashram.

'Higher for longer' interest rate approach needed to inflation down: IMF

Global central banks need to make clear to financial markets the probable need for interest rates to remain higher for longer in order to bring inflation sustainably back down, the IMF said

NHRC sends notices to Centre, others on high death rate of factory workers

The NHRC has sent notices to the Centre and various states and Union Territories over the reported high death rate of workers in accidents at registered factories, officials said on Thursday. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in a statement, said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a newspaper article that according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment's Directorate General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI) data, three people died and 11 were injured each day on an average between 2017 and 2022, due to accidents at registered factories in the country. Reportedly, as many as 3,331 deaths were recorded between 2018 and 2020, but only 14 people were imprisoned for offences under the Factories Act, 1948, it said. The data collected by DGFASLI from Chief Inspectors of Factories and Directors of Industrial Safety and Health represents that only registered factories provided the figures, whereas, 90 per cent workers in India are employed in the informal