Page 17 - Government Of India

Erosion of soil fertility big issue; govt promoting natural farming: Tomar

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday expressed concern over erosion in soil fertility due to excess use of chemical fertilisers and said the government is taking measures to promote natural farming. The minister was speaking after inaugurating the National Conference on Soil Health Management for Sustainable Farming, organised by Niti Aayog. According to an official statement, Tomar said due to chemical farming and other reasons, soil fertility is getting eroded and climate change is going to be a big concern for the country as well as the world. The minister said lack of organic carbon in the soil is a serious concern for us. "To meet this serious challenge and for better soil health, we have to promote natural farming, which is beneficial for the environment," he added. To promote natural farming, Tomar said the Centre is working with the state governments. The government has re-adopted the Indian natural farming system for agriculture. Natural farming system is

Coal important for energy security, govt undertaking reforms: Pralhad Joshi

Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi while emphasising on the importance of dry fuel in securing energy security on Saturday said that the government is undertaking various reforms in the sector

Reliance Infra moves SC against DMRC for payment of Rs 4,500 crore

Court issues notice to DMRC, seeks reply by Dec 12

Govt proposes issuance of one licence for all insurance businesses

Suggests allowing insurers to sell other financial products

Govt to launch 4th tranche of Bharat Bond ETF from Fri, to mature in Apr

The government will launch the fourth tranche of Bharat Bond ETF, India's first corporate bond exchange traded fund, from Friday. The new fund offer of the ETF will open on December 2 and close for subscription on December 8, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, which manages the fund, said in a statement on Thursday. The funds raised would be utilised for undertaking capital expenditures by central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). This new Bharat Bond ETF and Bharat Bond Fund of Fund (FOF) series will mature in April 2033. Through the launch of this new series in the fourth tranche, the government proposes to raise an initial amount of Rs 1,000 crore with a green shoe option of Rs 4,000 crore. In December last year, the government had launched the third tranche with a base issue size of Rs 1,000 crore. It was over-subscribed 6.2 times with bids worth Rs 6,200 crore coming in. The maiden offering of Bharat Bond ETF was launched in 2019, helping CPSEs raise Rs 12,400 crore. In the second and

Data hack derails daily life at AIIMS; admin reaches out to govt, IT firms

Staff forced to log manually, as patients grapple with test delays

Govt plans to introduce 16 new bills in upcoming Winter session from Dec 7

The government has planned to introduce 16 new bills, including the one which seeks to increase accountability and reform electoral process in multi-state cooperative societies, in the Winter Session of Parliament beginning December 7. The National Dental Commission Bill, which seeks to set up a National Dental Commission and to repeal the Dentists Act, 1948, is also in the tentative session agenda of the government. The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, another measure the Health Ministry plans to introduce, seeks to set up a National Nursing and Midwifery Commission (NNMC) and to repeal the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued on Thursday, the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is being introduced with an objective of strengthening governance, enhancing transparency, increasing accountability and reforming electoral process in the multi-state cooperative societies by supplementing existing legislation and .

Farmers get Rs 1.25 trn as claims till Oct 31 under Fasal Bima Yojana: Govt

Farmers have been paid claims worth Rs 1,25,662 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana since its inception in 2016, the government said on Thursday. Crop insurance premium totalling Rs 25,186 crore have been paid by the farmers under the scheme till October 31, 2022. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the agriculture ministry said, the government is committed to provide comprehensive insurance coverage against crop loss on account of non-preventable natural risks. "In the last 6 years, Rs 25,186 crore have been paid by farmers as the premium, wherein Rs 1,25,662 crore have been paid to the farmers against their claims as on October 31, 2022 with Central and state governments bearing most of the premium under the scheme," an official statement said, while clarifying on reports that a paltry sum of insurance claims being paid to the farmers in certain districts of Maharashtra. The PMFBY is the third largest crop insurance scheme in the world and tipped to .

Indian crypto industry group writes to govt for 'strong regulations'

Bharat Web3 Association says collapse of USA's FTX highlights 'lacunae in corporate governance'

Govt aims to cross 10 mn job-mark from digital economy in 2 yrs: Vaishnaw

The government has set a target to cross 1 crore job-mark in the next 2 years in three main segments of digital economy -- electronics, startups and IT, and IT-enabled services, minister for IT and Communications Ashwani Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. While speaking at an ESCSTPI event for startups, Vaishnaw said three big pillars of digital economy -- electronics manufacturing, IT and ITes, startups -- they have created 88-90 lakh jobs. "Government has set a target that in this we should be easily crossing 1 crore jobs in the coming two years without any doubt," the minister said. He said that the digital economy and its associated employment is a major trend now and the other trend is diversity. "Earlier names of a couple of cities were mentioned for startups. Now when I go to schools in villages, children in villages want to set up a start-up," Vaishnaw said. The minister said that India is now becoming a technology producer from being a technology consumer. He said that the Soft

Geo-engineering and climate control

The idea of engineering the atmosphere to stave off global warming is increasingly gaining popularity, but it raises several issues

SC allows Mumbai Metro to pursue application to cut 84 trees in Aarey

Case pertains to construction of Metro car shed on forest land in Aarey which adjoins Sanjay Gandhi National Park; next hearing likely in Feb 2023

Govt offers Coal India flexibility to levy mine closure costs to consumers

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been given freedom to pass mine closure costs on to consumers, but has not taken any such step yet, a company official said on Monday. The Maharatna PSU may consider "levying an additional fee on per tonne basis to be paid by the coal consumers to meet the cost of mine closure with the approval of the board and to provide funding for those subsidiaries which are not able to fund the closure of these mines", an official said quoting a Coal ministry notification. "Coal India has not taken any decision about levying such charges on coal sales as of now," the official said. The Kolkata-headquartered company has created a provision of Rs 7,238 crore as on March 2022 and incurred Rs 494 crore on mine closure during 2021-22, its annual report stated. The miner had produced 622 million tonnes of coal in 2021-22 and was pursuing a target of 700 million tonnes in the current fiscal. "As per guidelines, typically mine closure cost is around Rs 9 lakh/hectare for open

Demand for musical instruments up; Chennai, Kolkata rank as top exporters

India exported $22 million worth of musical instruments and their accessories in the first half of the current fiscal year, as compared to $38.5 million in the previous year

PNB gets Centre's approval to divest its entire stake in UTI AMC

The bank holds 15.22 per cent stake in UTI AMC worth around Rs 1300 crore at current valuation

Mystery of the missing millions: Why UN projects higher India population

Its estimate of India's population by the end of the decade is 41 mn higher than TGPP's 1.47 billion

Govt needs to share risks with private companies in projects: L&T CFO

The government needs to share risk with private companies it partners with "and not just talk about what can be done" in a project, Larsen & Toubro chief financial officer R Shankar Raman said on Wednesday. He also called out regulatory overreach and over regulation as one of the biggest risks when it comes to India, saying that such a posturing destabilises growth. The belief that private capital can court larger risk is "misplaced" and there has to be an "optimal risk share" between the government and the private partner in a project, Raman said. "partnership in its true sense means holding hands and not just leading the horse to the pond and watching the fun," Raman said, speaking at the annual SBI Conclave here. The bureaucracy and thought leaders in the government need to "evolve" to understand the risk aspect, "and not just talk about what can be done", Raman said, urging the government to play an enabling role. Asserting that he is "intimately" connected with projects and .

Any 'hanky panky': SC asks for govt file on Arun Goel's appointment as EC

The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Wednesday to produce before it the file related to the appointment of Election Commissioner Arun Goel, who was appointed on November 19. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph said it wants to know whether there was any "hanky panky" in Goel's appointment as election commissioner as he was only recently given voluntary retirement from service. The bench rejected the objections of Attorney General R Venkataramani on the court willing to see the file related to Goel's appointment while the hearing is on. Venkataramani said the court is dealing with the larger issue of appointment of ECs and the chief election commissioner (CEC) and it cannot look at an individual case flagged by advocate Prashant Bhushan. "I take serious objection to this and have my reservation to the court seeing the file amidst the hearing of a Constitution bench," he said. The bench said it started hearing the matter last Thursday and Goel's appointment

Zoom seeking VoIP licence indicates organisational shift in India: Experts

Zoom Video Communications has sought approval from the government of India to launch its Zoom Phone services in India, according to media reports

Govt's efforts for investment should convert into progress for UP: Mayawati

A day after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced plans to invite investment in Uttar Pradesh, BSP chief Mayawati on Wednesday said such efforts should not just be limited to acquiring land or serving electoral interests but also convert into speedy progress for the state. Addressing a curtain-raiser in Delhi ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 on Tuesday, Adityanath said his government plans to organise roadshows in 18 countries and seven major cities of India to invite investors to the summit. He said the state has set a target of attracting an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore through the event, which will be held in Lucknow from February 10 to 12 next year. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Mayawati said, "Continuous efforts of the government for domestic and foreign capital investment in UP are necessary, but they should not be limited only to the acquisition of agricultural land and serving political and electoral interests. People should also see speedy ...