Govt

Govt to sign peace pact with two insurgent groups of Tripura on Wednesday

An agreement will be signed between the central and Tripura governments and two insurgent groups of Tripura here on Wednesday, in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to end violence and bringing "lasting peace" in the Northeastern state. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Tripura government will also be present during the signing of the Memorandum of Settlement. "In presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a Memorandum of Settlement is to be signed among government of India, government of Tripura and representatives of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), in New Delhi on September 4," an official statement said. The MHA has been working tirelessly to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of developed Northeast, free from extremism, violence and conflict, it said. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the government has signed 12 important agreements to bri

BJP govt recruitments keeping SCs, STs, OBCs away from reservation: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday alleged the BJP is deliberately making recruitments in jobs in a manner that the SC, ST, OBC classes can be kept away from reservation. He asserted it is necessary to fully implement the provisions of economic, social and political justice contained in the Constitution and that is why the Congress is demanding a caste census for social justice. In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "BJP, which has ripped apart the Constitution, has made a double attack on reservation!" "Today the Modi government has issued an advertisement to fill at least 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Directors and Deputy Secretary at the Centre through lateral entry. Is there SC, ST, OBC and EWS reservation in this?" Kharge alleged. "Under a well-planned conspiracy, the BJP is deliberately making such recruitments in jobs so that SC, ST, OBC classes can be kept away from reservation," the Congress president alleged. The "reservation scam" in the appointment of 69,

Govt implements uniform 5% tax for all aircraft, airplane engine parts

"This new policy eliminates... disparities, simplifies the tax structure, and fosters growth in the MRO sector," the minister said

India raises seafarer abandonment crisis at IMO; secures seat at council

India has called for effective measures to resolve the issue of seafarer abandonment and ensuring the safety of maritime workforce, an official statement said on Wednesday. A high-level Indian delegation led by Ports, Shipping and Waterways Secretary T K Ramachandaran raised the issue at the 132nd session of the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. In recognition of its continued commitment to address seafarers' issues, India secured its position as one of the eight governments representing IMO in the joint tripartite working group, it said. "India, an elected member of the IMO Council in the category of countries with the largest interest in international seaborne trade, emphasised the urgent issue of seafarer abandonment," the statement said. The delegation pointed out that despite efforts, there are 44 active cases involving 292 Indian seafarers, the statement added. "India's strong stance on the need for effective measures and oversight to resolv

Delhi HC asks Centre to decide on AAP office space allotment in six weeks

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said the AAP is entitled to space for a party office here like other political parties and asked the Centre to take a decision on the issue within six weeks. Justice Subramonium Prasad said "pressure" or non-availability of a house in the general pool cannot be a reason for rejection of the request. "They are entitled to a house from the general pool. Mere pressure or non-availability is no reason to reject because pressure is always there and houses have always been allotted to political parties," the court stated. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking allotment of space for its office by the Centre on account of it being recognised as a national party. Considering that the AAP needs to vacate its current office in Rouse Avenue by June 15, the party's counsel had argued that a unit on Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Marg, which is presently with one of its city ministers, ought to be temporarily allotted to it. Justice Prasad, however, said the party ca

Ban 23 breeds of ferocious dogs, govt tells state amid rising deaths

The central government has directed states to ban the sale and breeding of 23 breeds of ferocious dogs, including Pitbull Terrier, American Bulldog, Rottweiler and Mastiffs, amid rising instances of people dying due to pet dog attacks. The directive issued to states and Union Territories bars people from keeping as many as 23 breeds of dogs as pets. In a letter dated March 12 to chief secretaries of all states and UTs, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying also said that these breeds of dogs, which have already been kept as pets, should be sterilised to prevent further breeding. Flagging serious recent issues of death of human beings due to dog bites by some ferocious breeds of dogs kept as pets, the department said it has received representations from citizens, citizen forums and Animal Welfare Organisations (AWOs) to ban some of the breeds of dogs from keeping them as pets and other purposes. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying had set up an expert committee

Cabinet approves proposal to implement of umbrella scheme on women safety

Out of the total project outlay of Rs 1,179.72 crore, a total of Rs 885.49 crore will be provided by the Home Ministry from its own budget, and Rs 294.23 crore will be funded from the Nirbhaya Fund

'Govt not considering any cuts in import duty on rubber as of now'

The government is not considering any cut in import duty on rubber as of now as the differential between the local and international prices is maintained, a senior official said on Monday. "We have a differential already maintained for the imports that we are getting vis-a-vis the local production. "If you see the local price vis-a-vis international price...so there has been a differential maintained on account of that import duty... So I do not think there is any rethink on reducing import duties as of now," Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Amardeep Singh Bhatia told reporters here. He was replying to a question about the domestic user industry's demand to cut the duties and that of local producers against any duty reduction. Tyre makers are one of the major consumers of the commodity. Over 13 lakh rubber growers are there in the country. Kerala accounts for a major chunk of the production, which was 8.39 lakh tonne in 2022-23. Consumption during that fiscal was 13.5

Govt sells 36,250 ton buffer onion in mandis of 12 states in last 3 weeks

The government on Monday said 36,250-tonne onion from its buffer stock has been released in the wholesale markets in 12-odd states and Union territories at prevailing rates in the last three weeks to arrest rising retail prices of the key kitchen staple. National Cooperative Consumer's Federation of India Ltd (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) have been mandated to sell buffer onion in wholesale and retail markets. They have also been asked to procure additional onion from farmers to increase the buffer stock quantities from the current 3 lakh tonne to 5 lakh tonne this year. Speaking to PTI, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said: "The government will go all out to ensure no undue rise in prices by following a two-pronged approach of releasing our buffer stock onion in the wholesale and retail markets". Since August 11, a total of 35,250 tonne of buffer onion has been released in the wholesale markets. Out of which NCC

Govt cuts windfall tax on domestic crude, hikes levy on diesel, ATF export

The government on Friday cut special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude petroleum to Rs 6,700 per tonne with effect from September 2. In the last fortnightly review on August 14, windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil was set at Rs 7,100 per tonne. Besides, SAED or duty on export of diesel will increase to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 per litre, currently. The duty on jet fuel or ATF will be doubled to Rs 4 per litre effective Saturday, from Rs 2 per litre currently, according to a finance ministry notification. It said SAED on petrol will continue at nil. India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1, 2022.

Govt calls all-party meeting ahead of monsoon session of Parliament

The government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to deliberate on a host of issues related to Parliament's monsoon session, which will begin from July 20. It's a customary get-together on the eve of a session's start as various parties put across their issues at the meeting attended by senior government ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also participated in many such meetings. A similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar has been deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties. While opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal. While Goyal is the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Joshi is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Sources said it was in connection with the all-party meeting called by

Govt to construct Rs 4,500-cr National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal

National Maritime Heritage Complex is expected to boost tourism in the region and contribute to economic development, the ministry said

Rozgar Mela: Govt committed to create employment, says Shripad Naik

Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik on Tuesday said that the government is committed to create jobs

Govt unable to protect citizen's detail: Cong slams Centre over data breach

The Congress on Tuesday intensified its attack on the Centre over the alleged data breach on CoWIN platform and accused it of not being able to protect the personal details of crores of people. Asserting that the CoWIN portal was completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy, the government has dismissed as "mischievous" the claims of data breach on the platform and said the matter has been reviewed by the country's nodal cyber security agency CERT-In. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said neither does the Narendra Modi government care about the right to privacy of citizens nor about national security. "Overall, the situation is clear. The Modi government neither cares about the fundamental right to privacy of 140 crore people nor about national security. Data privacy law has not been made and no national security policy has been implemented on cyber attacks," he said in a tweet in Hindi. "No matter how much an irresponsible Modi government covers up the CoWIN data

New IT Rules: 16 groups join hands against govt-run fact-checking unit

The groups said that the new IT Rules would censor journalism and severely jeopardise freedom of expression

Back in action: After a year of lull, Centre to swing into hiring mode

Will recruit more for central ministries and depts in 2022-23 and 2023-24

Govt extends bidding deadline for commercial coal mines auction till Jan 13

The government on Monday said that it has extended the deadline to submit bids for the coal blocks under sixth round of commercial mine auction till January 13. The biggest tranche of 141 mines covering eleven coal-bearing states are being offered in the sixth round of commercial coal mine auction. "In response to... requests from prospective bidders, the ministry has extended the bid due date till January 13, 2023," the coal ministry said in a statement. The earlier due date for submission of online and offline bids was December 30. The coal ministry had recently organised investor's conclaves in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Indore, for which tremendous response was received. Several pleas for extension of bid due date were received during conclaves and also in writing at the office of the nominated authority, ministry of coal. The coal ministry had launched the process for auction of 133 coal mines under sixth round of commercial auctions, of which 71 are new coal mines and 62 blocks

Rs 2.46-trn capital procurement proposals approved for armed forces: Govt

The government on Monday said that it has accorded approval to 163 proposals worth Rs 2,46,989 crore under various categories of capital procurement for the armed forces in the last three years. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, also said the share of procurement from domestic firms has been on an upward trajectory. "The government, in the last three years that is from 2019-20 to 2021-22 and current year (2022-23 up to September 2022), has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 163 proposals worth Rs 2,46,989.38 crore approximately, under various categories of capital procurement which promote domestic manufacturing as per DAP-2020," he said. The AoN is the initial approval for any defence project. Procurement is done under the framework of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP). Bhatt said the share of domestic firms in the total procurement was at 54 per cent in 2018-19. It jumped to 59 per cent in 2019-20 and to 64 per cent in .

Govt tweaks spending norms for Contingency Fund of India

The fund is held by the Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the President of India and it can be operated by executive action

Delhi govt caps RT-PCR price at private hospitals, labs at Rs 300

The earlier cost of an RT-PCR test was Rs 500