Page 12 - Government

Govt to invite bids for Rs 1.5-trn transmission proj in 18 months: Sterlite

The industry is expecting the government to invite bids for power transmission infrastructure projects worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore in the next 18 months, Sterlite Power Transmission said on Thursday. In December, the government had launched a plan with investment opportunities of about Rs 2.44 lakh crore for building a transmission system for evacuating 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil based energy by 2030. "We expect that nearly 60-65 per cent of these projects totalling Rs 150,000 crore will come up for bidding in next 18 months since completion of all processes and then construction of projects will take another 4-5 years," said a senior Sterlite Power Transmission official. The industry expects the government to invite bids under tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) for power transmission infrastructure projects as it accelerates creation of new power lines and green energy corridors to integrate rising share of renewable power, the official said. As one of India's leading ...

Competition Bill with host of changes passed in Lok Sabha amid uproar

Changes include working of penalty on global turnover of companies; bill has introduced a deal value threshold to enable CCI to review transactions depending upon their value

Govt eyes IDBI financial bids by June, stake sale completion in FY24 itself

Govt has made several provisions and brought regulatory clarity to make deal attractive for bidders. These include allowing a consortium of foreign entities to own over 51% in the Bank

Centre working to reduce logistics cost to GDP to 7.5% in 5 years: Shah

The government is working to bring down logistics cost to GDP to 7.5 per cent from the current 13 per cent, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tuesday. Addressing the annual session of Assocham, Shah said, without the development of the country's infrastructure and reduction of logistics costs, development was not possible. The logistics cost in India is 13 per cent to the GDP as compared eight per cent in the rest of the world, making it difficult for Indian exports to compete globally, he said. "We will have to remove the eight per cent and 13 per cent gap. We have formulated a framework for the next five years. I can assure you that we will reach 7.5 per cent logistics cost in the next five years," he said. Shah said the Narendra Modi government has made a plan of Rs 100 lakh crore investment in infrastructure with some mega projects such as the doubling of railway lines, their widening, dedicated freight corridors from Mumbai to Delhi and Amritsar to Kolkata besides 11 other ..

Guidelines in place for use of ASI sites to hold cultural events: Govt

The issue relating to use of any specific areas of centrally protected monuments or sites across the country for holding "cultural events" has been resolved and the competent authority has approved a slew of guidelines for it, the Parliament was informed on Monday. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha on whether the government has any policy to permit cultural shows at heritage sites. In his response, the minister shared the list of guidelines, and said, "The issue relating to usage of specific areas of protected monuments/sites for holding cultural events has been resolved and the competent authority has approved the following guidelines for usage of protected areas". As a matter of course, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will not like to permit the use of monuments and land attached to such monuments for holding functions/events, reads the guidelines. "The circles may, however, permit such use only as an except

Government to set up Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit

The government will set up a Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) to process and dispose of applications for removal of company names from the records under the companies law. In a written reply to Lok Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh said the centre will be established at Manesar in Haryana. "This initiative is likely to provide ease to such companies for closing their business as per provisions of chapter XVIII and getting their names removed from the Register of Companies," he said. C-PACE will process and dispose of applications for removal of names from the Register of Companies filed by companies, including private limited companies, under Section 248 of the companies law. A notification regarding C-PACE was issued on March 17 and the same would come into force from April 1. Section 248 of the Companies Act, 2013 provides for removal of name of company from the Register of Companies, if it is not carrying on any

Differences between govt and judiciary doesn't mean confrontation: Rijiju

Denying any clash between the government and judiciary as speculated in the media, Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday contended that differences were inevitable in a democracy but they should not be construed as confrontation. The Minister inaugurated the Chief Judicial Magistrate court, Mayiladuthurai, in the presence of Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice T Raja here. "We have differences, but it doesn't mean there is confrontation. It sends a wrong message across the world. I want to make it clear that there is no problem between different organs of the State. There are signs of robust democratic actions, which are not a crisis," he emphasised. Pointing to some media reports of alleged differences between the government and the Supreme Court or the legislature and judiciary, the Union Minister said, "we must understand that we are in a democracy. There are .

Govt claims farmers received Rs 514 for Rs 100 paid in PMFBY crop insurance

Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday informed Parliament that for every Rs 100 of premium paid by farmers under the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), they have received about Rs 514 as claims. Since implementation of PMFBY in 2016, around 38 crore farmer applicants have been enrolled and over 12.37 crore (provisional) have received claims, he said in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha. "During this period, nearly Rs 25,252 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of over Rs 1,30,015 crore (provisional) have been paid to them. Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about Rs 514 as claims," the minister said. PMFBY was launched with an aim to address problems of high premium rates for farmers and reduction in the sum-insured due to capping. In a separate reply, the minister said the PMFBY is available for all states/UTs and is voluntary for them. It is also voluntary for the .

Cabinet clears 4% hike in dearness allowance for central govt employees

Cabinet decided to increase dearness allowance from 38% to 42% today for central government employees and pensioners

Parl panel urges govt to frame comprehensive policy on electric vehicles

This would serve as a guiding policy to all states and ensure a comprehensive and uniform growth of the EV sector

70 projects worth Rs 2,856 cr sanctioned under Sagarmala Programme: Govt

Under the Sagarmala Programme, 70 projects worth Rs 2,856 crore have been sanctioned, out of which 15 projects worth Rs 849 crore have been completed, Parliament was informed on Friday. Under the Sagarmala Programme, 70 projects worth Rs 2,856 crore have been sanctioned for the development of coastal berths, roll-on, roll-off, passenger jetties etc. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal said various initiatives and projects have been undertaken to facilitate shifting of cargo from conventional land-based transportation to coastal shipping mode. A discount of 40 per cent is offered by major ports on vessel and cargo related charges to coastal cargo vessels, Sonowal added. He said green channel clearance was introduced for faster evacuation of coastal cargo at ports. According to the minister, the projects for improvement in the first and last-mile road and rail connectivity with all the major and non-major ports have al

No proposal to establish new defence industrial corridor in country: Govt

There is no proposal to establish any new defence industrial corridor in the country, Parliament was informed on Friday. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said this in written response to a query in the Lok Sabha. The government, in its budget for 2018-19, announced setting up of two defence industrial corridors (DICs) to develop a holistic defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country, he said. One corridor has been established in Uttar Pradesh with six nodes, namely Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Lucknow. The second is in Tamil Nadu with five nodes, namely Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli, he said. "As per the information received from the government of Uttar Pradesh, 108 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with industry/organisation having potential investment of Rs 12,191 crore. Investment of Rs 2,445 crore has already taken place in Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC)," he said. Further, as per informa

PSU banks' gross NPA declines from 14.6% in Mar 2018 to 5.53% in Dec 2022

The government has taken various reforms following which asset quality of public sector banks has improved significantly with gross NPA ratio declining from the peak of 14.6 per cent in March 2018 to 5.53 per cent in December 2022, Parliament was informed on Monday. All PSBs are in profit with aggregate profit being Rs 66,543 crore in 2021-22, and that further increased to Rs 70,167 crore in first nine months of current financial year, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. At the same time, resilience has increased with provision coverage ratio of PSBs rising from 46 per cent to 89.9 per cent in December 2022, he said, adding capital adequacy ratio of PSBs improved significantly from 11.5 per cent in March 2015 to 14.5 per cent in December 2022. Total market cap of PSBs (excluding IDBI Bank, which was categorised as private sector bank in January 2019) increased from Rs 4.52 lakh crore in March 2018 to Rs 10.63 lakh crore in December ..

Delhi Mayor underlines need for more representation of women in govt bodies

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Monday stressed the need for greater representation of women in government bodies and said they should actively participate in public life. She was speaking at a Women Leaders Conclave and Inter-College Gender Fest organised by the Women's Development Cell of Kalindi College in collaboration with Delhi University's Transgender Cell and Gender Sensitisation Committee. The theme of the programme was 'Ordinary Women: Extraordinary Lives'. The aim behind it was to create a critical space for engaging women on issues like development, education, health, political participation and violence against them, Kalindi College's Women's Development Cell said in a statement. Oberoi, who was the first speaker at the event, shared her journey from being a faculty member at Delhi University to becoming the first woman mayor of Delhi. "She stressed the need for greater representation of women in government bodies and interacted with women students of the college, ...

JDA conducts anti-encroachment drive to free land valued at Rs 200 cr

The enforcement wing of Jaipur Development Authority on Monday carried out an anti-encroachment drive in Vidhyadhar Nagar area of Jaipur. The estimated market value of the land is around Rs 200 crore, Chief Controller- Enforcement (JDA) Raghuveer Saini said. The 7-8 bigha of land was illegally occupied by nine marble-granite dealers, seven scrap dealers, tea vendors and others. The occupants were issued notices on March 10 as a result of which some of the occupants removed their encroachment while the action to remove the other encroachment started early morning today with the help of JCB machines, he said. The land is located in zone 2, adjacent to AEN office in Vidhyadhar Nagar. Saini said the land was illegally occupied for the last 40-50 years.

Over 7,000 women personnel serving in Indian Army, says Government

Over 7,000 women personnel are serving in the Indian Army at present followed by 1,636 in the Indian Air Force and 748 in the Navy, according to details provided by the government in Lok Sabha on Friday. Replying to a question, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said 7,093 women are in the Army, which included 6,993 in the Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service (MNS). Hundred women are serving in other ranks. Bhatt said, currently women are serving in officer's cadre only in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and their strength as on March 1 (excluding medical and dental branches) is 1,636. "As on date, women are employed in the Navy in the officer's rank. The strength of women officers in the Indian Navy, as on March 9 is 748, including medical and dental officers," he said Bhatt said employment in the Indian armed forces is gender neutral. "There is no distinction in the deployment and working conditions of male and female soldiers in the arms and servic

Govt not letting Parliament run to avoid discussion on Adani issue: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday accused the government of instigating the Opposition and not letting Parliament function to avoid a discussion on the Adani issue and its "failures". He also reiterated that there is no question of an apology over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK. Gandhi's remarks during his recent trip to the United Kingdom have rocked Parliament, with both Houses failing to transact any significant business on the first three days of the Budget session's second half. "Is there untouchability or not, it is there, so if someone goes abroad that person will talk about itlikewise democracy is being trampled upon, we were demonstrating peacefully yesterday, who stopped us? They put women constables in the front to try and stop us," Kharge alleged. The Congress along with several other opposition parties had taken out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue on Wednesday. However,

Deepak Mohanty new PFRDA chairperson, Mamta Shankar named whole-time member

Mohanty was whole-time member (economics) of PFRDA and retired in May 2022

Govt releases Rs 1.4 trn monthly instalment tax devolution to states

The monthly instalment for March is much more than the normal monthly devolution of Rs 70,159 crore made for states

Govt invites applications for 17 posts at CCI on deputation basis

The government has invited applications for 17 posts, including for Additional Director General and Deputy Director General, at the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on a deputation basis. The CCI, which comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), keeps a tab on anti-competitive practices in the marketplace and also works towards promoting fair trade practices. Applications have been sought for the posts of Additional Director General, Joint Director General and Deputy Director General, among others, according to a notice. Applicants must be employees of central or state governments, government companies or autonomous bodies or regulatory authorities or universities or judicial institutions of central/ state governments. The appointment will be made on deputation on a foreign service terms basis initially for a period of three years, which can be extended for a period not exceeding seven years. "Applications in the prescribed proforma, together with all necessary ...