Page 12 - Government

Direct govt purchases play a diminishing role in GeM transactions

Value of transactions has crossed over Rs 2 trillion in 2022-23

Govt exceeds FY23 RE target of combined disinvestment, dividend mop up

The government has exceeded the revised estimates of collection from disinvestment and dividend combined in the current fiscal at Rs 94,282 crore. The revised estimates (RE) had pegged receipts from disinvestment and dividend at Rs 93,000 crore. In 2022-23, dividend receipts stood at Rs 58,988.34 crore and disinvestment receipts at Rs 35,293.52 crore. Together, the government has realised Rs 94,281.86 crore as disinvestment and dividend proceeds from CPSEs as on March 31, 2023. The Revised Estimate for disinvestment and dividend proceeds FY2022-23 is Rs 93,000 crore, which includes disinvestment mop up at Rs 50,000 crore and dividend of Rs 43,000 crore.

Government trying to 'strangle' MGNREGS, other welfare schemes: CPI(M)

The government is trying to "strangle" the rural job guarantee scheme as well as other welfare programmes by periodically cutting budget allocations, the CPI(M) has alleged. The latest editorial of the Left party's mouthpiece People's Democracy also criticised the introduction this year of the compulsory marking of attendance by workers under the scheme through mobile-based application 'National Mobile Monitoring Service (NMMS)'. "This has led to chaos at worksites across the country. With patchy internet connectivity, workers are reported to be spending hours just to get their attendance recorded. It is a life and death issue for them because failure to mark their attendance would mean loss of wages for the day," it claimed. "Imposition of this kind of hi-tech measures is a well known ploy of this government, ostensibly to tackle fraud. It has been imposed earlier in PDS distribution, in marking attendance of government school teachers, etc - all with similar chaotic and tragic ...

Govt directs retailers not to keep 'unseasonable' profit margin on tur dal

Concerned over rising tur dal prices, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh on Friday directed retailers not to keep their profit margin on pulses, especially tur dal, at "unreasonal level". In a meeting with Retailers Association of India (RAI) and major organised retailers, the secretary told them to calibrate the retail margins in such a way that the composition of pulses consumption basket of households is not disturbed by price rise. "He directed them to ensure that retail margins for pulses, especially tur dal, are not kept at unreasonable level," an official statement said. The retail industry players expressed their commitment to extend full cooperation with the government and also assured that all efforts will be made to keep prices of pulses under control. Today's meeting with retail association and major organised retail chains is part of the series of meetings that the department had with stakeholders across pulses value chain to ensure availability and ...

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