Page 56 - Modi Govt

Centre will uphold freedom of speech, says Union Minister of State Murugan

The Centre favours upholding the Constitutional right of freedom of speech and expression, but posts on the social media against the country, its armed forces, sovereignty and bilateral relations would be blocked, said Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Dr L Murugan here on Saturday. Murugan, on a 6-day visit to Kerala, made it clear that the sovereignty and security of the country were of paramount importance and there would be no compromise on that, said an official release. He spoke of the huge investments the Central government has made in the fisheries sector in the last eight years compared to the first 60-65 years after independence. The Minister told reporters that the Centre has invested Rs 32,500 crore in fisheries in the last 8 years compared to Rs 3,000 in the 60-65 years, according to the release. He said in order to usher in a blue revolution, Rs 20,000 crore has been sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri

Representatives of Jat body meet PM, press for inclusion of community

Representatives of a Jat body met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday and pressed for the inclusion of life stories of major personalities from the community, including King Suraj Mal, in text books, a statement from them said. The delegation of 'Antarrashtriya Jat Sansad' (International Jat Parliament) included Ramavatar Palsaniya, P S Kalwaniya and Ram Singh Kulhari. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat also joined the meeting, the statement said. The members expressed their deep condolences to Modi on the death of his mother, it added. They also presented the prime minister with a picture of Suraj Mal, the legendary Jat king. They also briefed Modi about the work undertaken by their body in various fields, including education, art and culture, and literature, it said.

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel meets PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. The Congress leader called on Modi a day after Chhattisgarh decided to introduce the Old Pension Scheme for government employees by giving them the option to choose between it and the new pension scheme after the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority repeatedly rejected the state's demand for return of funds deposited as part of the National Pension System. The Prime Minister's Office tweeted, "Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Centre committed to working with all communities: MoS Chandrasekhar

Every Indian must have equal opportunities to prosper irrespective of community, caste, place or religion and the Centre was committed to working with all communities for the future of the country, said Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar here on Friday. Chandrasekhar said Christians contributed to the growth and development of Kerala and were a stakeholder in 'Amrit Kaal' - the journey towards a developed nation by 2047, according to an official release. The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the Malabar Yuvajana Sangamam in Kozhikode district of the State, the release said. He tweeted about his interaction with leaders of the Christian community during the day. "Had lunch with Bp.Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, Bp.Mar Varghese Chakkalakal and members of Kerala Catholic Youth Movement #KCYM. "Grateful to Sister Celesti from the Missionary sisters of Mary Immaculate and her team for the delicious lunch," he tweeted. At the

India's soft power on display through non-stop cultural calendar in 2022

2022 was a year when the government used India's soft power diplomacy both at home and abroad to create a non-stop cultural calendar of events for 365 days. While it appealed to the sense of pride and patriotism of the domestic population by urging them to be part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a series of events to celebrate 75 years of Indian independence, it highlighted the country's rich culture and heritage to the global audience. In a testament to the scale of these engagements, the culture ministry held more than 136000 events under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav including several mega programmes such as Har Ghar Tiranga. The campaign reached 23 crore households and six crore 'Selfie with Tiranga' were also registered digitally. The official website also had a feature of 'Pin a Flag', which accumulated more than five crore entries. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also undertook various activities as part of Har Ghar Tiranga which included hoisting of high flag mast of 15 m

Rural, semi-rural areas are high on priority of Modi govt: Jitendra Singh

Singh highlighted that over the last 8 years, PM Modi's welfare schemes reached the neediest without any vote bank consideration

Modi govt created futuristic avenues for India's youth: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government has created futuristic avenues for the country's youth in the last over eight years. Addressing "a dialogue with new young voters" at the Shri Venkateshwara University in Gajraula in Uttar Pradesh, he said the forward-looking reforms unleashed by the government has given a new hope to the youth. He said India's reputation has grown in the global club of nations and the whole world is now keen to understand and connect with India. Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said the new India is open, futuristic and known for its progressive views and the development of the country is on the shoulders of the youth. He reminded the young voters that for many decades, there were unstable and coalition governments that led to apprehension not only among the public but also in the world about India's future. "But, in 2014, people of India chose a stable government which also brought stability in policies and wor

Modi govt giving full support to judiciary to resolve pending cases: Rijiju

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the Centre is giving full support to the judiciary in resolving the cases pending before courts. The minister pointed out that more than five crore cases are pending before various courts across the country. Rijiju was addressing the three-day 16th national conference of the "Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad" at the Kurukshetra University campus here in Haryana. He said the government took steps to "equip" the courts well even during the COVID-19 pandemic so that the courts could function during the period. Rijiju said several politicians and mediapersons continue to spread that there is some sort of tension between the Centre and the judiciary and many a times, newspapers claim that the government is trying to "capture the authority of the judiciary". He said since Narendra Modi took over as the prime minister, the Constitution is considered a "pious book" when it comes to running the country. "The people of the country have to judge wh

DoPT fast emerging as key human resources nucleus for govt: Jitendra Singh

Singh said, in the last 8 years of the Modi Govt, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has become a "facilitatory ministry" dedicated to service of both the personnel, common man

India better placed as world deals with Covid, economic headwinds

From a full-blown war in Europe to China's botched-up exit from its zero-Covid policy, the first of a yearender series assesses how geopolitics and geoeconomics played out for India

Tech needs responsible regulations and certainty in legal framework: Pichai

He said India as an export economy will benefit from an open and connected internet

Terror incidents in J-K down by 168% under Modi govt: Anurag Thakur

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said that "terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir decreased by 168 per cent" since the Modi government came to power and "Left Wing Extremism incidents were down by over 265 per cent" since 2015. Underlining that the Modi government has a "zero tolerance policy towards terrorism," Thakur said, "the government undertook decisive actions which yielded definitive results." "Surgical strikes in 2016 were in response to the Uri attack. Balakot Air strikes in 2019 were in response to the Pulwama bombing, so all these decisive actions yielded definitive results," Thakur told reporters here. He said since 2014, violence due to insurgency has come down by 80 per cent, civilian deaths decreased by 89 per cent and 6,000 militants have surrendered. "Terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have reduced by 168 per cent under the Modi government and the conviction rate in terror financing cases is over 94 per cent," he said. While the Left Wing Extremism incid

Delhi CM Kejriwal asks for boycotting Chinese goods, slams BJP govt

Chairing the National Council meeting of Aam Adami Party (AAP) at Calista Resort in Kapashera, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked the people to boycott Chinese goods

Centre spent over Rs 3,723 cr on advertisements in 5 yrs, Rajya Sabha told

Government has spent a total of Rs 3,723.38 crore on advertisement of its policies and programmes over the past five years through the Central Bureau of Communication, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. In a written reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the expenditure on advertisements and publicity has not increased over the past five years. According to the data shared by the government, Rs 1,220.89 crore was spent on advertisements in 2017-18 while an expenditure of Rs 1,106.88 crore was incurred in 2018-19, which was ahead of the general elections of 2019. The government spent Rs 627.67 crore in 2019-20; Rs 349.09 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 264.78 crore in 2021-22, Thakur said. In the current financial year, the government has spent Rs 154.07 crore on advertisements till December 9, he said. As per the above data, expenditure on advertisement and publicity has not increased in the last few years, Thakur said in response to a question by Congress memb

Centre awards nine GI tags to take total to 432, Kerala bags five

With this, the total number of GI tags in India comes to 432

Towards a meaningful market economy

Currently the emphasis is on government schemes and projects. The focus needs to shift to enabling policies

Rs 1.25 trn black money recovered by govt: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

'Benami properties worth Rs 4,300 cr have been attached, Rs 1,254 lakh crore black money has been confiscated, 1.75 lakh shell companies have been de-registered'

ABRY benefitted over 60 lakh beneficiaries in pandemic: Labour minister

The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) meant for creating employment during the pandemic benefitted 60.13 lakh beneficiaries, Parliament was informed on Monday. The ABRY was launched on October 1, 2020, to incentivise employers to create new employment and restore employment lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries was March 31, 2022. As on November 28, 2022, benefits have been provided to 60.13 lakh beneficiaries," Minister of State for Labour & Employment Rameshwar Teli said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the government. Accordingly, the government has taken various steps to deal with the problem of unemployment in recent times, Teli told the House. The government has announced the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package to provide stimulus to businesses and mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19. Under this package, the government is providing fiscal ...

Controlling high food inflation: The world is on a wing and a prayer

An IMF paper sheds light on the issue of persistently high global food inflation, and the prognosis is not comforting

'Modi govt dedicated to those left out of mainstream by previous regimes'

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is dedicated to those who were left out of the mainstream by the previous governments.According to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, the Union Minister said this during 'Divyang Parivar Maha-Samelan' organized at Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir at the initiative of a social organization SAKSHAM.During his address, said that from the day PM Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India, certain drastic steps were taken by him for the welfare of Divyangs."Be that the fee remission for Divyangs in Civil Services Examination, two choices of home cadre for Divyangs qualifying civil services examination, increase in reservation for Divyangs from 3 per cent to 4 per cent, increase in the Divyang pension etc., every other step has been taken by this government for the welfare of Divyangs," he said.For the welfare of Divyangs, the Union Minister said that 15,000 posts ..