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Niti Aayog Meet
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday played down West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that her mike was turned off when she was speaking at the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, stating that it was "not a national issue." Puri was speaking at a press conference here on the Union Budget, organised by the Gujarat BJP. Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog meeting claiming that her mike was muted five minutes after she started speaking. She claimed that other chief ministers were allowed to speak much longer. "I was not inside, and don't know how much time was given (for her to speak)," the Union minister told reporters when asked about the row. "But it is also said in Parliament that the mike has been turned off. It so happens that the mike is turned on when speaking. I do not know much about it. I have no idea how long she spoke. But I am certain that this is not a national issue, whether you spoke for 15 minutes or 18 minutes," he said.
The opposition BJP in West Bengal criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for walking out of the NITI Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, claiming that it was a "drama" aimed at reaping political dividends. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said it was a "weak script" prepared by Banerjee. "She was allowed due time at the NITI Aayog meeting. She did not go to the meeting for the economic benefit of the people of West Bengal but to reap political dividends and stage a drama by walking out," he claimed. "She portrayed herself as an opposition leader and not an administrator," he added. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya questioned why Banerjee attended the meeting in the first place when chief ministers of other INDIA bloc parties skipped it. "She was aware of the consequences. And her action again gives rise to the theory that she went to Delhi to have some understanding with Narendra Modi. People will realise the pretentiousness of the entire issue," he .
Vedanta Aluminium in partnership with NITI Aayog held a high-level stakeholder meeting to identify sustainable applications for red mud, a key byproduct in the bauxite refining process for making aluminium, a release said on Thursday. The experts congregated at the 8th joint meeting of the monitoring and steering committee for the project titled Technology Development for Holistic Utilization of Red Mud for Extraction of Metallic Values & Residue Utilization, the company said. Bauxite, the primary ore for aluminium, undergoes an intermediate refining stage known as the Bayer process to produce alumina, which is then subjected to electrolysis to produce aluminium. The alumina refining stage generates bauxite residue, commonly known as red mud. The day-long session focused on the effective utilization of red mud through focused research, development, and commercialization efforts in other industries, it said. As the testing phase of the collaborative project nears a successful ...
The Narendra Modi-led NDA government on Tuesday reconstituted the NITI Aayog, with four full-time members and 15 union ministers, including from BJP allies, as either ex-officio members or special invitees. Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the vice-chairperson of NITI Aayog, according to an official notification. Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also continue to be full-time members of the government think-tank. The four ex-officio members will be Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture) and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance). The prime minister has approved the revised composition of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), the notification said. The special invitees in the reconstituted NITI Aayog will be Union ministers Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and .
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