Page 18 - Indian Government

Logistics efficiency helped India climb 6 places on World Bank's LPI: Govt

Various initiatives taken by the government to improve its logistics efficiency has helped India climb six places on the recently released World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023, an official statement said on Wednesday. India has climbed six places on the LPI, now ranking 38th in the 139 countries index, as a result of significant investments in both soft and hard infrastructure as well as technology. India was ranked 44th on the index in 2018 and has now climbed to 38th in the 2023 listing. India's performance has drastically improved from 2014, when it was ranked 54th on the LPI. "India has been taking numerous initiatives since 2015to improve its logistics efficiency. The World Bank has acknowledged India's efforts towards increasing logistics efficiency," the commerce and industry ministry said. On four out of six LPI indicators, India has seen a remarkable improvement on the back of various initiatives being implemented over the past few years, it said. "This is

Smriti Irani opens Mahila Samman Savings Certificate account in Post Office

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday opened Mahila Samman Savings Certificate account at Sansad Marg Head Post Office in the national capital, and urged more women to take benefit of the scheme. Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs, stood in the queue as a post office customer, and thereafter completed the account opening formalities at the counter. Her Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC) account was opened and computer generated passbook was handed over to the minister at the counter itself. The minister also interacted with some of the MSSC and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account holders, as well as the post office staff. Irani termed the scheme a unique and powerful step towards women empowerment, and added that "every woman should take benefit of the scheme". MSSC scheme was announced in the 2023-24 Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and is a significant step towards financial incusion and empowerment of women. "The two-year ten

Govt reveals new names for Namibian, South African cheetahs at Kuno park

The MyGov platform received a total of 11,565 submissions suggesting names for reintroduced cheetahs

Govt launches Sangathan se Samridhhi to mobilise 100 mn women into SHGs

The primary goal of the campaign is to mobilise disadvantaged rural communities unaware of the benefits of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission

As mercury soars, Centre issues guidelines for workers during hot summers

Amid the intense heatwave that many areas across the country are grappling with, the government has issued a health advisory for the workers to keep themselves protected in this scorching heat

Birth Control Rules 2023: Govt lays rules to control dog population

The Centre has already issued letters to various departments and asked local bodies to implement the Animal Birth Control Rules 2023

India shows tech can bridge haves & have-nots divide: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The government will spend some $200 million (around Rs 1,635 crore) to develop an AI ecosystem and make e-governance platforms more intelligent, said Chandrasekhar

Nagaland civilian killings: Centre denies permission to prosecute army men

Human rights group and state legislator protest decision, say 'justice is being denied'

Indian Semiconductor Mission: Centre invites more companies to set up units

The idea behind inviting these firms to set up plants in India was to ensure manufacturing of chips began on time, said an official

Network Planning Group under PM Gati Shakti approves 4 infra projects

The Network Planning Group (NPG) under the PM Gati Shakti initiative has approved four infrastructure projects related to railways, an official statement said on Friday. In October 2021, PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan was launched with an aim to develop an integrated and planned infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing an investment of over Rs 500 crore, are routed through NPG. "NPG under PM Gati Shakti at its 46th session examined and recommended four infrastructure projects," the commerce and industry ministry said, adding that these projects will be developed in tandem with PM Gati Shakti principles using the integrated and holistic approach. These projects will also provide multimodal connectivity, seamless movement of goods and passengers, it said. The four projects are construction of broad-gauge double line between Sawai Madhopur and Jaipur in Rajasthan, broad-gauge line between Junagarh to Nabarangpu

Indian government forms panel to review pension system, says FinMin

The Indian government has formed a panel to review the country's pension system and discuss whether changes are warranted, the finance ministry said on Thursday

Govt blames Oppn for logjam in Parliament as productivity dives in Houses

The government on Thursday blamed the Opposition for the virtual washout of the second half of Parliament's Budget Session, saying the ruling BJP was ready to drop its demand, a likely reference to its insistence on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's apology, if opposition parties reciprocated its gesture on their stand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani issue. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal told reporters after the session concluded that the government wanted a discussion on the Finance Bill before it was passed. "We were ready to give up our stand. But they should have also given up their stand. We had a strong stand," he said, without directly referring to the BJP stand. He noted that Speaker Om Birla had called a meeting to defuse the logjam, but the Opposition stuck to its stand. Meghwal said the productivity of Lok Sabha was 34 per cent and of Rajya Sabha 24.4 per cent during the session, which had begun on January 31. Overall

Why's govt unable to seek release of ex-Navy personnel from Qatar: Congress

The Congress on Thursday raised concerns over the detention of eight former Navy personnel by Qatar and sought to know from the government why it could not seek their release even after seven months. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement that even though the Qatari national arrested along with the former Naval personnel has been released, why have the Indian authorities not been able to secure the release of Indians? "Why is the Indian government still unable to either ascertain the facts of the case or to reassure the ex-naval personnel and their families that justice will be done," he asked. Ramesh reminded the government that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had in Parliament termed it a "very sensitive case and said that the interest of the detained is "foremost in our minds... We assure, they are our priority". Yet, while an Omani national who was arrested along with the ex-Navy personnel was released in November, the Indian citizens remain in ...

Surrogacy law in its current form is appropriate, govt tells SC

The law, in its current form, bans commercial surrogacy. Furthermore, it aims to regulate the surrogacy industry

185 outsiders bought land in Jammu and Kashmir in last 3 years: Government

As many as 185 people from outside Jammu and Kashmir have bought land in the Union Territory in the last three years, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, however, said as per the information provided by Ladakh, no land has been bought by outsiders in the UT. "As per the information provided by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, a total of 185 people from outside the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have bought land in the UT during 2020, 2021 and 2022," he said replying to a written question. While, one person bought land in 2020, 57 bought in 2021 and 127 in 2022, he said. The Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two UTs -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Following the Constitutional change in October 2020, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification stating that any Indian citizen can buy land, except agricultural, in munic

Modi hails work under Mission Amrit Sarovar, 40,000 water bodies developed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the achievement of around 40,000 water bodies having been developed under the Mission Amrit Sarovar in the last 11 months, saying the speed at which work is being done in this direction infuses new energy in our resolves of 'Amrit Kaal'. Around 40,000 water bodies have been developed under the Mission in the last 11 months, achieving around 80 percent of the target under the scheme, according to the Rural Development Ministry. In a tweet, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said Mission Amrit Sarovar is moving towards achieving its goal. "More than 40,000 Amrit Sarovars have been dedicated to the nation. There is a target of constructing 50,000 Amrit Sarovars by August 15, 2023," he said. Responding to Shekhawat's tweet, Modi said on Twitter, "Many congratulations! The speed with which 'Amrit Sarovars' are being constructed across the country is infusing new energy in our resolutions of 'Amrit Kaal'." Amrit Kaal, which roug

LS: MP gives adjournment notice to discuss govt in 'market for new spyware'

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Wednesday gave an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha to discuss a news report that "reveals that the Indian Government is in the market for new spyware."Tewari said, "A report in the Financial Times dated 31st March 2023 reveals that the Indian Government is in the market for new spyware. The NSO, the company that manufactures and sells Pegasus, has been blacklisted by some countries.""The report further reveals that the Government is willing to spend up to USD 120mn or around Rs 1000 crore. Around a dozen spyware sellers are expected to bid to the Indian Government," he added.He further said that the procurement of such Surveillance Technology without parliamentary oversight has grave implications for the right to privacy of individuals guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian ConstitutionUnder these circumstances, the House must adjourn to discuss the matter of the Government reportedly seeking to procure Pegagus-like surveillance technology, he ...

Govt may consider 0.3% fee to maintain UPI payment system: Report

The government may consider a 0.3 per cent uniform digital payment facilitation fee to fund the infrastructure required for such transactions and also to ensure financial viability of the UPI payment system, suggested a study by IIT Bombay. The facilitation fee of 0.3 per cent can generate around Rs 5,000 crore in 2023-24, said the study titled 'Charges for PPI-based UPI payments--The Deception'. The study, which analyses the impact of the decision of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to introduce interchange fee on payments through mobile wallets, argued that the payments received by merchants should remain 'unpolluted' whether they are from UPI directly or through prepaid e-wallets. The NPCI, with effect from April 1, 2023 introduced an interchange fee of 1.1 per cent on transaction amount for usage of prepaid payment instruments for making payments through UPI to merchants. These will apply on prepaid wallet-based UPI merchant transactions. Rather than thrusting

April-February net tax revenue at Rs 17.32 trn, says government data

The government's non-debt capital receipts consisted of recovery of loans of Rs 20,229 crore and miscellaneous capital receipts of Rs 38,671 crore

Government asks state-run banks to conduct more robust stress tests

The matter was reviewed at a March 25 meeting of the bank leaders with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who met to discuss progress of a reform agenda for the lenders