Page 19 - Indian Government

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

Govt sanctions Rs 800 cr for installing 7,432 EV fast charging stations

The Ministry of Heavy Industries on Tuesday said Rs 800 crore under FAME India Scheme Phase II has been sanctioned to three PSU oil marketing companies (OMC) for setting up 7,432 public fast charging EV stations across the country. The amount has been sanctioned under FAME Scheme Phase II. The ministry has released Rs 560 crore or 70 per cent of the total amount to three OMCs -- Indian Oil (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) -- as the first installment for the installation and commissioning of upstream infrastructure and charging equipment of EV public charging stations at respective retail outlets in the country. The installation is expected to be completed by March 2024, the ministry said in a statement. At present, there are 6,586 charging stations across the country. "The addition of the new 7,432 public charging stations will be a significant push to EV charging ecosystem," the release said, and added the charging capacity would be used for chargin

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 hasn't intervened in Adani's tussle with US short seller: Sanyal

The "government has not intervened anywhere," Sanyal, a member of prime minister's economic advisory council, said in an interview in New York

India to splurge $12 bn on airports in next two years as travel rebounds

The world's fastest-growing aviation market aims to boost the number of airports to 220 by 2025 from the current 148, for which private builders will invest about $9 billion

Govt plans to establish 100 observatories to expand seismological network

India plans to establish 100 more observatories in the next two to three years to further enhance seismic monitoring capabilities, Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In a written reply, Singh said the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) maintains a network of 152 observatories for monitoring of seismic activity in and around the country. He said the National Seismological Network has a detection capability down to magnitude 3.0 earthquake for most parts of the country. Singh said natural disasters are triggered by natural processes and not always affected by the human consequences. However, vulnerability of any region is always affected by non-engineered structures, he said. "Thus, there is a need to devise proper mitigation strategies by adopting scientific and engineering solutions to reduce the associated risks," the minister said. He said seismic microzonation study was important as it helps generate inputs for constructing ...

UIDAI makes Aadhaar document update facility online free till June 14

The Unique Identification Authority of India has made document update facility online for Aadhaar free till June 14, an official statement said on Wednesday. Earlier, residents were required to pay Rs 25 to update their documents on the Aadhaar portal. "The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has decided to allow residents to update documents in their Aadhaar online free of cost, a people-centric move that will benefit millions of residents...The free service is available for the next three months, i.e., March 15 to June 14, 2023," the official statement said. As per Aadhaar Enrolment and Update Regulations, 2016, Aadhaar number holders may, on completion of every 10 years from the date of enrolment for Aadhaar, update their supporting documents in Aadhaar, at least once, by submitting proof of identity (POI) and proof of address (POA) documents, so as to ensure the continued accuracy of their information. "It is important to note that this service is free only on ...

India likely to keep April-Sept borrowing under 60% of FY24 goal: Report

India aims to raise 15.43 trillion rupees ($187.18 billion) from the market in the financial year starting April 1, higher than the 14.21 trillion rupees it raised this year

Govt's new security testing plan targets pre-installed phone apps

Smartphone players often sell their devices with proprietary apps, but also sometimes pre-install others with which they have monetisation agreements

Government to fall short on tax collection target of Rs 30.43 trn in FY23

The government may not achieve a revised tax collection target of Rs 30.43 lakh crore for the current financial year, a top official said. Revised estimate was raised steeply by over 10 per cent from the budget estimate in the FY24 Budget presented last month, the official said. The revised estimates (RE) for the current fiscal pegged gross tax revenues at Rs 30.43 lakh crore, higher than the budget estimates of Rs 27.57 lakh crore. On the direct tax side, the official said, "The RE was quite steep. we are expecting a shortfall. The net collections could be between Rs 15-15.5 lakh crore." In the current fiscal (2022-23), the revenues from direct tax (which includes income and corporate taxes) are projected to grow by over 17 per cent at Rs 16.50 lakh crore compared to 2021-22 fiscal when the collection was Rs 14.20 lakh crore. In the current fiscal, the revenue from corporate tax is expected to come in at Rs 8.35 lakh crore. This is projected to rise by 10.4 per cent to over Rs 9.

Government amends anti-money laundering rules, brings PEP under PMLA

The government has amended rules under the anti-money law, making it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to record financial transactions of politically exposed persons (PEP). Also, financial institutions or reporting agencies will be required to collect information about the financial transactions of non-profit organisations or NGOs under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Under the modified PML Rules, the Finance Ministry defined PEPs as "individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, including the heads of States or Governments, senior politicians, senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations and important political party officials". The financial institutions will also have to register details of their NGO clients on the Darpan portal of the Niti Aayog and maintain the record for five years after the business relationship between a client and a

Vedanta may buy 6% more stake in Hindustan Zinc for Rs 7,900 cr

Govt planning OFS to sell 15% stake by March-end, will lose special rights over company; sources says Vedanta is looking raise about $1 billion from three foreign banks to fund the acquisition

Cough syrup case: Govt recommends cancellation of Marion Biotech's licence

The company Marion Biotech had supplied the cough syrups that reportedly caused the deaths of Children in Uzbekistan

Govt not in 'crazy rush' to sell everything: FM Sitharaman on privatisation

The government is not in a "crazy rush" to sell everything and it will continue to have a presence in four strategic sectors, including telecom, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. In strategic sectors, a bare minimum presence of the existing public sector commercial enterprises at the holding company level will be retained under government control. The remaining enterprises in a strategic sector will be considered for privatisation or merger with another PSE or for closure. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, the minister said that the country will have government-owned professionally run companies in four broad strategic sectors. According to the PSE Policy, the four broad strategic sectors are - atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunication; Power, Petroleum, Coal and other minerals; and Banking, Insurance and Financial Services. The policy, she added, "is not a crazy rushing out to sell everything..nor it is saying that the government will ru

Govt issues quality control norms for bicycles' retro reflective devices

The government has issued quality control norms for bicycles retro reflective devices with a view to contain imports of sub-standard products and promote domestic manufacturing in the country. The Bicycles-Retro Reflective Devices (Quality Control) Order, 2023 will come into force from July 1 this year, according to an order of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT). The notified items cannot be produced, sold/traded, imported and stocked unless they bear BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) mark. This order, however, would not apply to goods or articles meant for exports. "Any person who contravenes the provisions of this order shall be punishable under the provisions of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016," it added. The department is also working on bringing quality control orders (QCOs) for a number of other products such as aluminium alloy items; bolts, nuts and fasteners; ceiling fan regulator; conduits and fittings for electrical installations;

India 3rd country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation: Batra

Nokia Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Nishant Batra lauded the Indian government's approach towards 6G spectrum and said that India has become third largest country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation. Nokia has started hiring top talents in its Bengaluru office with competence in 6G standardisation and India has become third largest country for Nokia for engagement in 6G standardisation, Batra told PTI at Mobile World Congress here. "We have already started seeing a moment in India to define the 6G spectrum. It is a very encouraging and progressive step by the government. In this case, I am actually proud to say that it is taking a progressive step beyond what the rest of the world is doing," Batra said. On November 1, 2021 the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) constituted a Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG-6G) with members from various Ministries/Departments, R&D institutions, Telecom Service Providers and industry to develop vision, mission and goals