Page 4 - Government Of India

Centre allows private bids for salt land transfer if states, CPSEs opt out

The Centre on Monday modified the guidelines for transfer of government-owned salt lands, providing for online auction under which the private sector can participate in case there are no takers from CPSEs, or states at the applicable rates. As per the revised guidelines, the land can be allocated for welfare measures, such as slum re-development, affordable housing and PM-Awas Yojana, and for the purpose of schools and colleges, lands can be transferred to CPSEs (central public sector enterprises), states and their enterprises at 25 per cent of the circle rate. These norms were issued in supersession of the internal policy guidelines-2012, after the approval of the Cabinet. "Online auction with the participation of private parties may be held in case CPSEs, state governments or their PSEs are not willing to take such lands at the applicable rates," the guideline said. The reserve price for such land parcel will be fixed through an approved valuer with reference to the circle rate .

Govt proposes domestic sale of raw sugar, ending six-decade-old ban

Raw sugar commands a higher price than refined sugar and could boost revenue in the market

UPSC NDA 2 2024: Admit card released at upsc.gov.in; here's how to download

UPSC NDA 2 admit card 2024 has been announced by the Union Public Service Commission. Candidates can download their call letters from the official website of UPSC at upsc.gov.in

IDBI Bank investors receive security clearance; await RBI approval

Central government and LIC are set to divest 61% stake amid strategic disinvestment drive. The govt aims to generate Rs 50,000 crore through asset monetisation this fiscal year

Govt proposes to set up e-commerce hubs to promote exports in PPP mode

The government on Tuesday announced setting up of hubs to promote exports through e-commerce medium in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that these hubs, under a seamless regulatory and logistic framework, will facilitate trade and export-related services under one roof. "To enable MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets, e-commerce export hubs will be set up in PPP mode," she said. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has recently said that a regulatory framework to push the country's exports through e-commerce medium is expected to be ready by September. At present, India's exports through this medium are only about USD 5 billion compared to China's USD 300 billion, annually. There is a potential to take it to USD 50-100 billion in the coming years. Through these hubs, small producers will be facilitated to sell to aggregators and then that aggregator will find

Govt to launch 'Hamara Samvidhan Hamara Samman' portal for citizens soon

This portal will serve as a repository of knowledge, providing citizens with easy access to information to create awareness about the Constitution and legal rights

Day 2 of new criminal laws: Arrests, police training, criticism & more

The three new criminal laws aim to modernise the criminal justice system. With states organising awareness programs and FIRs already filed under the new laws, here are the latest updates

Centre issues warning of strict action against its employees for tardiness

The Centre has warned of strict action against its employees for tardiness and said that habitual late attendance and early leaving from office should be viewed seriously by the authorities concerned. The move comes after it noticed that several employees were not registering their attendance in an Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and "some of the employees have been coming late on a regular basis". In an order, the Personnel Ministry suggested use of a mobile phone-based face authentication system that provides "live location detection and geo-tagging" among others as well. The matter of strict implementation of AEBAS has recently been reviewed and taking a serious note of the laxity in its implementation, it is "reiterated that all MDOs (ministry/department/organisation) will regularly monitor the attendance reports", according to the order. "Habitual late attendance and early leaving of office should be viewed seriously and be essentially discouraged. Strict .

Govt rolls out mandatory quality norms for asbestos cement products

The government has issued mandatory quality norms for asbestos or fibre cement-based products to curb the import of sub-standard goods and boost domestic manufacturing. A notification 'Asbestos or Fibre Cement based Products (Quality Control) Order, 2024 ' was issued in this regard by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on March 6 this year. Under these orders, items cannot be produced, sold, traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark. "It shall come into force on the expiry of six months from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette," the DPIIT notification said. To safeguard the domestic small/micro industries and ensure smooth implementation of the QCO and ease of doing business, relaxations have been granted to small/micro industries as regards to timeliness. An additional nine months have been given to small industries and an additional 12 months to micro industries to meet

Govt likely to cut bond sales aided by higher cash balance: Officials

The yield on benchmark 10-year bond was little changed at 7.09 per cent on Tuesday

Spice controversy: Norms for pesticide residue stringent, says govt

In India, pesticides are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare through the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB & RC)

Ayushman Bharat Diwas 2024: History, importance, steps to register

On April 30, Ayushman Bharat Diwas, also referred to as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) Divas, is observed. The day's objective is to raise awareness of the scheme and its advantages

Electronic manufacturers should ensure nation's security interests: IT secy

Electronic component manufacturers should ensure the country's security interests while starting new projects, said Union IT Secretary S Krishnan on Saturday. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Krishnan said the government was opening up on this topic and has been instructing companies to ensure that while designing a project, the country's security interests should be taken care of. "We spoke about this briefly (in the past) and how cyber security is becoming more and more important. This is something I would especially want the senior citizens, here something we need to be extremely careful about on a day-by-day basis," Krishnan said. He made those comments while delivering the 10th G Ramachandran Endowment Lecture on 'Building Economic Resilience Through Technology' organized by the Madras School of Economics and The Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) here on Saturday. Elaborating, he said, "With this space (cyber security) getting

Centre approves 99,500 tonnes of onion exports to 6 neighbouring nations

The Centre on Saturday said it has allowed exports of 99,500 tonnes of onions, mainly sourced from Maharashtra, to six neighbouring countries despite the ban on shipments. The Centre has also allowed exports of 2,000 tonnes of white onion cultivated, especially, for export markets in the Middle East and some European countries. On December 8, 2023, the government banned export of onions. In an official statement, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said the government has "allowed export of 99,150 tonnes of onion to six neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, UAE, Bhutan, Bahrain, Mauritius and Sri Lanka". The export prohibition has been imposed to ensure adequate domestic availability against the backdrop of estimated lower Kharif and Rabi crops in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. The ban was imposed amid an increase in demand in the international market, it added. The National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the agency for the export of onion to

Govt extends approval for use of drones for spraying pesticides for 1 year

'The drone technology helps in immense water savings along with being a step towards precision agriculture,'

An idea for the next government

Swift delivery of justice will improve the investment climate, increase growth potential, and enhance the overall quality of development

Government approves one-year extension to RBI Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar

The government has extended the term of RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar for a period of one year, according to sources. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the re-appointment of T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India, for a period of one year with effect from May 3, 2024, they said. He was appointed as the RBI Deputy Governor in May, 2021 for a period of three years. He had joined the RBI in 1990 and worked in various positions at the central bank. He was Executive Director of the Reserve Bank before being elevated to the post of deputy governor. As an executive director, he was looking after the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, the Department of Information Technology, Fintech and the Risk Monitoring Department of the RBI. He has served as an IMF Consultant (2005-11) on developing government bond markets and debt management. In addition to his professional career at the RBI, he is the Chairman, Indian Financial Technology and Allie

Artificial intelligence framework on the anvil, brainstorming begins

Dedicated regulation expected after the Lok Sabha elections

India's FY24 pulses imports hit 6-year high as red lentil purchases jump

India imported 4.65 million metric tons of pulses in the year ended March 31, 2024, the highest since fiscal 2018, and up from 2.53 million tons imported a year ago

Govt notifies specifications of Iffco's 'Nano Urea Plus' fertiliser

The government has notified specifications of a new product 'Nano Urea Plus' fertiliser to be manufactured by cooperative IFFCO in the country for the next three years. Nano Urea Plus is a new version of nano urea meant for meeting crop nitrogen requirements at critical growth phases. As per the gazette notification, the government has approved Nano Urea Plus in liquid form with 16 per cent nitrogen content and pH value of 4-8.5 and viscosity of 5-30. This product will be manufactured by the cooperative major IFFCO for a period of three years, it said. "IFFCO's Nano Urea Plus is an advanced formulation of Nano Urea in which nutrition is redefined to meet crop nitrogen requirements at critical growth phases. It is used in place of conventional urea and other nitrogenous fertilisers for promoting soil health, farmer's profitability & sustainable environment," IFFCO Managing Director and CEO U S Awasthi said on a social media platform X. It also enhances the availability and ...