Page 11 - Niti Aayog

All ministries, departments to scrap 15-year-old vehicles: FinMin

The finance ministry has directed all ministries and departments to scrap all 15-year-old vehicles that have become unserviceable. The Department of Expenditure, under the finance ministry, in an office memorandum said the existing provisions of condemnation of vehicles have been reconsidered in consultation with Niti Aayog and the road transport ministry considering the broad objectives of the government to reduce pollution and improve passenger safety and fuel efficiency. "It has been decided that henceforth all the condemned vehicles (including prematurely condemned vehicles) belonging to ministries/departments of government of India, shall only be scrapped," it said in an office memorandum. Scrapping of such vehicles shall only be at registered vehicle scrapping facilities, it said, adding that vehicles which have been condemned or reached 15 years of age, will not be auctioned. The detailed procedure for scrapping of all such vehicles shall be separately notified by the road .

Urbanisation set to be key with 50% population in cities by 2047: NITI CEO

NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer on Thursday said that urbanisation is going to be the key as 50 per cent of India's population will live in urban areas by 2047. Addressing an event organised by industry body FICCI, Iyer said many states have done wonderful work in solid waste management. "Urbanisation is going to be the key. By 2047, 50 per cent of the population will live in urban areas, if you don't have basic services in urban areas, then it is going to be a big challenge," he noted. He said the circular economy is now also becoming increasingly important. Replying to a question on issues of cleanliness of India's tourist destinations, Iyer said," If you want to promote tourism in India aggressively, you better have clean places around, you better have better behaviour by tourists and by the locals." Most beautiful tourist destinations in India are littered.

Nuclear power: All that you need to know about small modular reactors

Small modular reactors are advanced reactors that have a power generation capacity of up to 300 megawatts (MW) per unit

NITI Aayog VC says old pension scheme will burden future taxpayers

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery on Sunday expressed concern over the revival of Old Pension Scheme by some states, saying it would burden future taxpayers at a time when India needs to focus on fiscal prudence and promoting sustained growth. In an interview to PTI, Bery also underlined the need for enhancing capital expenditure and creating a space for the private sector through fiscal consolidation. "I am slightly more worried about the return to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). I think that is more of a concern because the cost will be borne by future taxpayers and citizens, not the present," he said. The OPS, under which the entire pension amount was given by the government, was discontinued by the NDA government in 2003 from April 1, 2004. Under the new pension scheme, employees contribute 10 per cent of their basic salary towards pension while the state government contributes 14 per cent. "I think political parties have to exercise discipline, since we are all working for a

Need to promote circular economy to deal with climate change: Amitabh Kant

State chief secys' meet to address challenges faced in implementation of circular economy, says India's G20 Sherpa

Former Niti Aayog V-C Rajiv Kumar joins advisory board of India Sotheby's

Rajiv Kumar, the former Vice-Chairman of the Niti Aayog, has joined the policy and advisory board of property consultant India Sotheby's International Realty. Kumar will advise the company on policy and advocacy matters with the objective of promoting transparency and professionalism in the real estate sector, India Sotheby's International Realty (ISIR) said in a statement. He will also be guided on the next phase of growth in the region, including the evaluation of new opportunities in the sector, said Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby's International Realty. "India Sotheby's International Realty is a premier organisation in the real estate advisory and transaction segment. We all know that the realty sector is a major driver of economic growth in the country. Transparency and professionalism are key to a healthy growth of the real estate sector and these are also the core values at ISIR," Kumar said. Alumni of St Stephen College and Lucknow University, Kumar has received D.Litt degr

Some foreign cos keen to bring hyoerloop tech to India: NITI Aayog member

Some foreign companies have shown interest to bring hyperloop technology for ultra-high-speed travel in India, but discussions are at a very early stage, Niti Aayog Member VK Saraswat said on Friday. Saraswat, who is heading a committee to explore the technological and commercial viability of the Virgin hyperloop technology, said the committee has prepared a preliminary report. "We have also interacted with some of the companies which are foreign companies, which are already developing this (hyperloop) technology. "They have shown some interest in bringing this technology (to India). The discussion is in a very early stage," he told PTI. Hyperloop is a high-speed train, running in vacuum in a tube. The technology proposed by inventor and businessman Elon Musk, who is behind the electric car company Tesla and the commercial space transport company SpaceX. The Virgin Hyperloop test run was conducted on November 9, 2020, on a 500-metre track in Las Vegas in the US with a pod, as the

Govt to finance green bond projects and initiatives under 9 categories

Proceeds will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India

Govt may release green bond framework today; financing under 9 categories

Proceeds from green bond issuances will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India

Recession, climate change, Ukraine war: Kant lists challenges before G20

The former Niti Aayog chief executive said that climate change was another big crisis that the world faced, impacting larger nations, as well as threatening to submerge smaller island nations

Welcome write-off: Acknowledging failure of 116 projects is the first step

It is true that the government should not throw good money after bad, but failed projects should at least be used as lessons to improve the implementation of future infrastructure projects

NITI wants infra projects lagging for decades completed by FY23-end

Shortlists 494 projects, including 279 roads and highways worth Rs 1.92 trillion, petroleum projects worth Rs 1.11 trillion, almost a trillion rupees worth of railway projects

Ministries of coal, power to finalise freight cost cut plan: NITI Aayog

Senior coal ministry officials told Business Standard they were aware of the report that NITI Aayog was preparing

The UK or Korea: What is the ideal benchmark for the size of India's govts?

There must be a warning in the fact that some of the most problem-ridden middle-income economies have big govts, big deficits, high levels of debt and large-scale corruption, writes T N Ninan

Need for Indian model of localisation to achieve SDGs 2030: NITI Aayog V-C

NITI Aayog Vice-chairman Suman Bery emphasised the need for the Indian model of localisation to achieve Social Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 set by the United Nations. No poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation and affordable and clean energy are among the 17 SDGs. Bery said the Indian model of SDG localisation has four pillars: creating institutional ownership, establishing a robust review and monitoring system, developing capacities for integrating SDGs in planning and monitoring and promoting a "whole society approach". Speaking at the ninth Dr Verghese Kurien Memorial Oration at XLRI, Jamshedpur, he said, "In 2015, before the world became divided as it is now due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the world community came together to formulate a shared view of the future of our planet to make it a better place to live in." SDGs were formulated in 2015. Hailing students as the future leaders of India, he asked the

56 mn Indians may have turned poor in 2020 due to pandemic: World Bank

"The global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is likely to be missed: by then, about 600 million people will remain in abject poverty. A major course correction is needed," Indermit Gill said.

Existing pharma marketing practices code is adequate: Centre tells SC

Says Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance's investigation report cleared Dolo-650 maker, Micro Labs, of allegations of bribing doctors with freebies worth Rs 1,000 crore

Service sector may be included in the Wholesale Price Index soon: Report

A government panel headed by Niti Aayog's Ramesh Chand is finalising the changes in the WPI to include 60 per cent of the economy for the first time

Proof to PM's commitment to make India innovation hub: NITI VC on GII rank

India's jump to the 40th rank in the Global Innovation Index 2022 is a testament to the Prime Minister's commitment to making India an innovation hub, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said on Friday. Addressing an event organised by the Aayog, Bery further said the industry needs to ensure that its contribution to the R&D goes up substantially in the coming year. Also, speaking at the event, Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General said India leads the world in ICT services exports and hosts top ranking in key indicators. In 2021, Indian companies have almost 40 billion US Dollar in-venture capital investment, which is more than 200 per cent increase over the prior year, he added. India climbed six notches to 40th position in the Global Innovation Index 2022 on account of improvement in several parameters, according to a report by WIPO. Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the world's ...

NITI Aayog-led $1 billion fund for two-, three-wheeler EV financing soon

The fund will be used to provide guarantees against defaults on loans taken to buy electric two-, three-wheelers