Page 8 - Government

Jairam Ramesh criticises Modi govt for hastily changing the Forest status

Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday took a swipe at the Centre after the Odisha government reportedly withdrew its controversial "deemed forest" order, saying that in its hurry to do away with 'deemed' forests, the Modi government has actually "doomed forests". Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which said that the Odisha government has withdrawn a controversial order issued on August 11, which told district officials that 'deemed forests' as a category would cease to exist under the recently amended Forest Act. "After Parliament passed the dangerous amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 last week, which many, including me, had warned against, the Odisha government was quick to pass orders that 'deemed' forests would no longer be considered as forests," Ramesh said. "Now the Union Ministry says the state's order is withdrawn. Confusion galore. In its hurry to do away with 'deemed' forests, the Modi government has actually

Centre proposes SoP for govt officials' appearance in court, contempt cases

The SoP stipulates that in-person appearances of government officials should be summoned only in exceptional circumstances, rather than as standard practice

Govt to pay fee ranging Rs 3k-5k to empanelled mediators in consumer cases

Empanelled mediators in consumer cases will now be paid a fee in the range of Rs 3,000-5,000 by the government which will lead to the settlement of more complaints through mediation cells, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Friday. The ministry took a decision in this regard after a series of consultations with various stakeholders, and during regional workshops held in northeastern and northern states, an official release said. It was observed that a substantial number of cases are not resolved through mediation because the parties in the disputes are observed to be reluctant in paying the fee of the mediator. Based on the suggestions, the ministry has "decided to pay the fees of the empanelled mediator from the Consumer Welfare Fund," the release said. According to the consumer affairs ministry release, the amount of dispute, or the fee of the mediator as set by the President of the Commission, or the fees prescribed below, whichever is least, will be paid to the mediator. A

Centre working on digital registry for organ donation to streamline process

An official was quoted as saying by Mint that the donation registry is aimed at revamping NOTTO under the National Organ Transplant Progamme (NOTP) 2.0

Govt appoints Sanjay Kumar Agarwal as CBIC chairman, to succeed Vivek Johri

The government on Saturday appointed Sanjay Kumar Agarwal as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Agarwal succeeds Vivek Johri who superannuated on May 31. "The President of India is pleased to appoint Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, IRS, ...member CBIC as chairman CBIC in the department of revenue ...with status of Special Secretary to the Government of India with effect from date of assumption of the post...," the finance ministry said in an office order. Agarwal was holding charge of CBIC member compliance management, looking into investigations. In a separate order, the ministry said Surjit Bhujabal, currently principal director general, DGGI, has been appointed as CBIC member. The CBIC board has a chairman who is assisted by six members who look into tax policy, customs, IT & taxpayer services, GST, compliance management and vigilance.

Assam govt outreach drive: CM, ministers to visit over 25,000 villages

The Assam Chief Minister, ministers, senior government officers, and other staff will visit 25,501 villages across the state over a period of 15 days

Govt pulls up ISMA for premature estimation of 2023-24 sugar output

The secretary said he will hold a discussion with ISMA about this issue and added that it is too early to predict sugarcane and sugar production for the 2023-24 season, starting in October

Plans on track to open 5 more sub-registrar offices in Delhi: Officials

In view of the mounting workload and increased property registrations, the Delhi government is gearing up to open five more sub-registrar offices in the city, officials said Tuesday. Presently there are 22 sub-registrar offices in the city and the number will increase to 27 after new offices are opened, they said. "The revenue department has sent a proposal for opening five more sub-registrar offices to the minister concerned Atishi. If accepted, the new offices will help reduce workload on the existing offices and speed up property registration," a senior Delhi government official said. It has been also proposed to hire workforce to handle the helpdesk at the sub-registrar offices to facilitate the people in completing documentation. The sub-registrar offices of revenue department at district level are responsible for registration of properties bought and sold, deeds and gifts involving substantial amounts. The stamp duty charged for documentation is a major source of revenue for

Govt extends deadline of IT hardware products PLI scheme till August 30

The budgetary outlay was more than doubled to Rs 17,000 crore compared to the previous scheme with a provision of Rs 7,325 crore

Govt passing bills even as no-confidence motion accepted in LS: Oppn MPs

Congress MP Manish Tewari cited former Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Satyendra Narayan Sinha as saying that "whenever there is a no-confidence motion

S K Mishra to continue as Enforcement Directorate chief till Sept 15: SC

The order comes after the government had filed an appeal for an extension of the deadline till October 15

Insurers gave fake invoices when quizzed on tax credit claims: Officials

GST E-way bill is a document used to trace goods in transit to verify the authenticity of input credit claims

Apps, firms could lose 'continuous consent' in data protection bill

The move will discard the concept of 'continuous consent' where apps and services get permission to process data from the users when they initially sign up for the service

Rajasthan government to start campus placement in 100 colleges soon

The chief minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, had announced in the state Budget 2023-24 the start of campus placement in government colleges

Projected population of Muslims in 2023 to stand at 197.5 mn: Govt in LS

The projected population of Muslims in India in 2023 would stand at 19.75 crore, the government has informed the Lok Sabha. In a written reply to a question by TMC MP Mala Roy in Lok Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani said as per the Census 2011, Muslim population is 17.22 crore, which constitutes 14.2 per cent of the total population of the country. "As per the report of the Technical Group on Population Projections, July 2020, National Commission on Population, country's projected population in 2023 stands at 138.82 crore. Accordingly, applying the same proportion of 14.2 per cent, as was there in Census 2011, projected population of Muslims in 2023 would stand at 19.75 crore," Irani said. As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2021-22 conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, literacy rate of Muslims aged seven and above stands at 77.7 per cent and the labour force participation rate for all ages as per usual status stands at 35.1 pe

PM Modi to distribute 70,000 job letters at 'Rozgar Mela' event

The newly inducted appointees will train themselves through the Karmayogi Prarambh, an online module

Govt announces re-bidding under PLI for advanced chemistry cell production

The government on Thursday announced the re-bidding of production linked incentives for 20 GWh Advanced Chemistry Cell manufacturing -- India's Rs 18,100-crore programme to boost local battery cell production. The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) will facilitate a stakeholder consultation with industry representatives on July 24, 2023 for their inputs and suggestions before the start of the re-bidding process of remaining 20 GWh capacity. "The ministry is committed to finalize the bidding documents and proceeding with the rebidding process at the earliest," an official statement said. With this auctioning process, the prospective applicants can submit their bids to set up domestic manufacturing facility for advanced chemistry cell, which will help them qualify for incentives under ACC PLI scheme. ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric energy as and

Don't make it an issue of prestige: SC tells govt on Cheetah deaths

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Prashant Kumar Mishra made these observations while hearing the issue related to the death of cheetahs.

Tamil Nadu has secured nearly Rs 3 trn investments till date: Govt

Tamil Nadu has attracted fresh investments to the tune of nearly 3 lakh crore from various companies by signing 240 new projects till date, the state government said on Wednesday. The new investments are expected to generate over 4 lakh new jobs in the state. With a vision of growing Tamil Nadu into a USD 1 trillion economy by 2030, the DMK government, after assuming office on May 7, 2021, has been engaged in taking up new measures to boost industrial activity in the state. Chief Minister M K Stalin, along with a host of delegates, have been on overseas trips to invite multinational companies to set up shop in the state. "Till date, this government has attracted Rs 2,96,681 lakh crore investments that will create 4,14,836 new jobs and signed 240 new projects," an official release here said on Wednesday. In a bid to further enhance industrial production, an ultra-modern integrated manufacturing facility is being set up by SOL India Pvt Ltd at an outlay of Rs 145 crore, for which St

Professionals registered on MCA21 portal to have single ID, says govt

The government has started the process for deactivating multiple login IDs that are in the name of a single company secretary, chartered accountant or cost accountant on the MCA21 portal, which is the platform for submitting statutory filings under the companies and LLP laws. In this regard, the corporate affairs ministry has issued a circular and professionals, who are having multiple IDs, need to get approval from their respective apex institutes for deactivating the IDs so that there is only one ID for one user, according to officials. Professionals refer to company secretaries, chartered accountants and cost accountants. The move comes as Version 3 (V3) of the portal is being operationalised. Under V3, a professional can have only one login ID whereas in V2, multiple IDs were allowed. For instance, a company secretary having multiple log IDs on the MCA21 portal need to get approval from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for deactivating the multiple IDs. In