Page 14 - Niti Aayog

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NITI Aayog meet: PM advises fiscal prudence, work towards 'Viksit Bharat'

The meeting was attended by the chief ministers and Lt governors representing 19 states and 6 UTs

PM asks states to develop long-term vision to make India developed nation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked the states and districts to develop a long-term vision to make India a developed country by 2047, when the country completes 100 years of Independence. Addressing the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog here, Modi also urged the states to take financially prudent decisions which are capable of delivering programmes that meet the aspirations of the people. Briefing media about the deliberations of the meeting, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said that 11 chief ministers did not attend the Governing Council meeting. It was also the first formal meeting at the newly-constructed Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan which later in the year will host G20 Summit. In his address to the Governing Council, the Prime Minister said that it was essential to combine the vision of states and districts with the national vision to reach the goal of Vikasit Bharat by 2047. "At #NITIAayog's #8thGCM, PM @narendramodi stated that when states gro

CMs boycotting NITI Aayog meeting is anti-people, irresponsible: BJP

The BJP on Saturday lashed out at chief ministers who boycotted the governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog, calling their decision "anti-people" and "irresponsible". The meeting, which will deliberate on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047, began here on Saturday. Addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the NITI Aayog is a key body for determining the entire objective, framework and road map for the development of the country. He said as many as 100 issues are proposed to be discussed in the eighth governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog but chief ministers of eight states are not coming to attend it. Chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann and Mamata Banerjee are among those not attending the meet. "Why are they not coming to attend the meeting where 100 issues are to be discussed. If su

PM chairs meeting of Governing Council of NITI Aayog themed Viksit Bharat

Several Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar were in attendance

Kerala, Rajasthan CMs to not attend PM Modi's NITI Aayog meeting today

Other than him, Delhi's CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab's CM Bhagwant Mann, Telangana's CM KCR, West Bengal's CM Mamata Banerjee and Bihar's CM Nitish Kumar are expected to skip the meeting

Cooperative federalism being turned into joke: Kejriwal wrote to PM Modi

AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, announced boycott of the Niti Aayog meeting over Centre's recent ordinance and charged that "cooperative federalism" in the country was being turned into a "joke". The chief minister of the AAP-ruled Punjab, Bhagawant Mann, has also declared to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting to be held on Saturday. The ordinance brought recently by the BJP-led central government has taken back elected Delhi government's executive control over bureaucracy that was earlier given to it by the Supreme Court through its verdict on May 11. Kejriwal, in his letter to Prime Minister Modi, also alleged that the non-BJP governments in the country were being toppled through the use of money or threat of central probe agencies like ED and CBI orchestrating defection of their MLAs, and questioned whether such action encouraged cooperative federalism in the country. The Niti Aayog meeting will take place on ...

No West Bengal representative at Niti Aayog meeting in Delhi on Saturday

West Bengal will not have any representative at the Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Saturday as the TMC government's request to send the state finance minister and the chief secretary was "turned down" by the Centre, which "insisted" that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may attend the event. Banerjee has already decided not to attend the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog. Confirming the development, State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told PTI, "We had requested the Centre to allow me and the chief secretary to attend the meeting as Mamata Banerjee is busy with some other work. In its reply, the Centre said the 'CM may attend'. This is an indirect way of not allowing anybody other than the CM to attend the meeting. Hence, there will be no representative of West Bengal at tomorrow's meeting." "If the chief minister of the state is preoccupied with some other work, can't she send any minister or official on her behalf? After all, I am the finance minister of t

No perceptible effect on economy: NITI Aayog VC on Rs 2,000 note withdrawal

The RBI's decision to withdraw Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation will not have any 'perceptible effect' on the economy as any such notes returned will be replaced by either equivalent cash in lower denomination notes or a deposit, former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said. Panagariya further said the likely motive behind this move is to make the movement of illicit money more difficult. " We will not see any perceptible effect on the economy. Any currency in Rs 2,000 notes returned will be replaced by either equivalent cash in lower denomination notes or a deposit. So money supply will not be impacted," he told PTI. Panagariya noted that Rs 2,000 currency notes represent only 10.8 per cent of the cash currently in the hands of the public and probably most of it is being used for illicit transactions. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation, and existing notes in circulation can either be deposited

PM Modi to chair NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting on May 27

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair NITI Aayog's Governing Council meeting on May 27, and issues related to the economy, agriculture and health are expected to be taken up for discussions, according to official sources. The council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. Modi is the Chairman of NITI Aayog. Generally, the full council meeting happens every year and last year, it was held under the chairmanship of Modi on August 7. The council meeting was not convened in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first meeting of the council took place on February 8, 2015.

NITI Aayog to use private investment route to set up nuclear reactors

NITI Aayog has pitched for establishing attractive financing frameworks such as blending finances and green bonds to attract private sector investment in setting up small modular reactors (SMR) to decarbonise India's energy sector. The Aayog in a report titled 'The Role of Small Modular Reactors in Energy Transition' further suggested that availability of low-cost finance, green finance and incorporation of nuclear into green taxonomy can improve the economics of SMR projects. "De-risking SMR projects and establishing attractive financing frameworks such as blending finance, green bonds, etc. is pivotal for incentivising private investors," it said. According to the report, it has been observed that venture capital is a poor fit for the "hard" SMR sector. As per the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power generation capacity ranging from less than 30 MWe to 300+ MWe. "Hence, the public and private sectors must work together to

Mamata to participate in May 27 NITI Aayog meeting to put state issues

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she would participate in the Niti Aayog meeting scheduled in New Delhi on May 27, and highlight the issues the state has been facing. Banerjee also claimed that the erstwhile Planning Commission gave states a platform to speak and resolve issues, but now the Centre "decides the agenda" to discuss at Niti Aayog meetings. I will participate (in the meeting). There is no other platform to highlight the issues of the state even if I am allowed to speak only at the end," she said. "They will maybe let me speak after sunset and after everyone. Still, I will go. I have been escalating several matters related to West Bengal, and I will highlight those, the CM said.

Employers must consider increasing maternity leave to 9 months: NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog member V K Paul on Monday said that both the private and public sectors should consider enhancing the the maternity leave for women workers from six months to nine months. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Parliament in 2017 entitling paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from earlier 12 weeks. "Both private and public sector need to sit together to think about increasing the maternity leave of the mothers from present six months to nine months," FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) said in a statement quoting Paul. According to the statement, Paul said the private sector should help the NITI Aayog to design the comprehensive care of the children by opening more creches for children for better upbringing as well as doing the needful for the elderly care . "As millions of care workers will be needed in future, we have to develop systematic soft and hard skilling training," Paul added. FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) president Sudha Shivkumar said t

The Ashok Hotel divestment: 1956-built hotel to undergo a structural audit

Ashok's divestment has drawn interest from all the big hospitality players, including Taj Hotels, Hilton, DLF, JLL, Brookfield-backed HLV Ltd and Wyndham Hotels

India needs to be competitive for overseas market for milk: NITI Aayog

India has already emerged as the largest milk-producing nation in the world, and if it has to capture overseas markets for its surplus milk, then the country must be export competitive, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said. Chand in a working paper further said India's dairy industry has been opposing any free trade agreement that involves liberalisation of trade (import) in dairy products. "However, if we have to capture overseas markets for disposal of the future surplus of milk in the country then we must be export competitive. "Being export competitive requires higher competitiveness than competing with imports," he said. According to Chand, a country cannot be export competitive if it is unable to compete with imports and this issue is crucial for the future growth of the dairy industry in India. While noting that the dairy industry must prepare for channelising some domestic production to overseas markets, he suggested that it is better if it is done after processing vari

Indian drug regulation standards should be at par with world: NITI Aayog

The NITI Aayog has recommended that Indian standards of drug regulation should be on par with global standards as well as aligned with the International Council for Harmonisation guidelines while promoting ease of doing business. The apex public policy think tank of the central government also suggested creating a separate authority to regulate medical devices in the country which is currently being monitored by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The recommendations have been made during the ongoing inter ministerial consultation on the New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023. The draft New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023, which seeks to replace the existing Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, was put up on public domain in July last year seeking feedback from stakeholders. It has been revised and sent for inter-ministerial consultation. On clinical trials, the NITI Aayog said the draft bill should reflect the intent of overcoming the hesitancy

Going green: Electric vehicle sales cross the 1 million mark in FY23

Electric two-wheeler segment leads the way with 61 per cent share in total EV sales

How reward-driven are top-level appointments to World Bank and IMF?

Opinion is divided on the issue, with one section of experts and seasoned politicians claiming meritocracy isn't always at play, while another puts the choice down to plain pragmatism

Niti Aayog and health ministry planning Ayushman 2.0, middle class in focus

The scheme is also exploring options to get a partial contribution or a top-up from individuals covered under the scheme

Govt planning to set up index to track states on their digital initiatives

The index will establish better coordination among states for learning from each other's work in the domain