UnPoliticko

In pursuance of the Budget Announcement 2016-17, the Government has constituted a five Member Committee to comprehensively review and give recommendations on the FRBM roadmap for the future. The composition of the FRBM Review Committee is as follows: (i)Shri N.K. Singh, Former Revenue Secretary & Expenditure Secretary &Former Member of Parliament(Rajya Sabha) : Chairman (ii)Shri Sumit Bose, Former Finance & Revenue Secretary: Member (iii)Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advised (CEA) : Member (iv) Shri Urijit Patel,Deputy Governor,RBI: Member (v) Shri Rathin Roy, Director, NIPFP: Member The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Committee are as under: (i) To review the working of the FRBM Act over last 12 years and to suggest the way forward, keeping in view the broad objective of fiscal consolidation and prudence and the changes required in the context of the uncertainty and volatility in the global economy; (ii) To look into various aspects, factors, c...

The Empowered Institution (EI) approves VGF Support for two PPP Projects of Government of Rajasthan The Empowered Institution (EI), under the Government of India's Scheme for Financial Support to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Infrastructure, met here today for its Seventy-First meeting. The Meeting was chaired by the Additional Secretary (Investment), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and approved Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support to two projects of the Government of Rajasthan. One project, in the Road Sector for Development and Operation of Chomu Chandwaji - Highways Project, was granted in-Principle approval while the other project, in the Power Sector, granted final approval of the VGF support, was for the development of the 400 kV Bikaner-Sikar Transmission Line Project .

Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourer Scheme – 2016 to be Made Central Sector Scheme Revised Scheme Proposes Increase in Quantum of Financial Assistance Annual Budget Raised from Rs.5 Crore to Rs.47 Crore; Cash Assistance from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. One Lakh Cash Assistance may extend to Rs Two Lakh in Special Cases and to Rs.Three Lakh in Cases of Extreme Deprivation The Government is revising the rehabilitation of bonded labour scheme and increasing the quantum of financial assistance from Rs 20 thousand to one lakh rupees. The Scheme proposes to increase the budget provision from Rs 5 crores to about Rs 47 crores per annum. This was stated by Shri Bandaru Dattatreya ,the Minister of State (IC) labour and Employment here today while announcing the proposed scheme. While the most deprived and marginalised like the disabled, female and children rescued from trafficking, sexual exploitation and transgender will get Rs 3 lakhs, the next in order is the special category comprising of females and t...

Union WCD Minister Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi released the draft National Policy for Women, 2016 today for stakeholder comments and consultations. Releasing the draft policy at a press conference in New Delhi, the Minister stated that the Policy is being revised after 15 years and is expeceted to guide Government action on Women's issues over the next 15-20 years. The Minister stated that several things have changed since the last Policy of 2001 especially women's attitude towards themselves and their expectations from life. She stated that in view of this the new draft Policy shifts the focus from entitlements to rights and from empowerment to creating an enabling environment. She has requested for widespread comments on the draft policy so that the final policy document can be a true reflection of the voice of all women. The Salient features of the policy are as follows: Background: Nearly a decade and half has passed since the National Policy for Empowerment of Women, 2...

The Union Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi will inaugurate the Annual Conference of Relief Commissioners and Secretaries of the Department of Disaster Management of States/UTs today in New Delhi. The Annual Conference will review the status of preparedness for South West Monsoon, 2016 and discuss other Disaster Management related issues. Representatives of concerned Central Ministries/Organizations rendering Emergency Support Functions, scientific organizations associated with forecasting officers of the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces will participate in the Conference. The Ministry of Home Affairs, India Metrological Department, Indian Space Research Organization, Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), Central Water Commission, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Geological Survey of India, Ministry of Defence and National Disaster Response Force will make presentations sharing their efforts towards preparedness of dealing with disaster si...

Commerce & Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman to lead Indian delegation at India-Myanmar Business Conclave at Yangon Myanmar has witnessed a landslide victory by the National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the elections held in November 2015. The new democratic Government in Myanmar has been established. Minister for Commerce & Industry, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman will be the first Minister from India to visit Myanmar after the change of regime in Myanmar. She will lead a high level CEO delegation to Myanmar from 18-20 May,2016 An India Myanmar Business Conclave is being organized by India at Yangon on 18-20 May 2016 as part of its Act East policy. A 25-member business delegation comprising of whos-who of the business world from India is attending the Conclave. The delegation includes amongst others Dr Naushad Forbes (President CII), Mr Rakesh Mittal (Bharti Enterprises), Ms Shobana Kamineni (Apollo Hospitals), Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya (State Bank of I...

States asked to convert 3,784 urban areas into statutory Urban Local Bodies Statutory ULBs lead to planned urban development, enhanced revenues ; entitled to Central assistance W.Bengal has 780 Census Towns, Kerala-461, Tamil Nadu-376, Maharashtra-279, UP-267, MP-112 Ministry of Urban Development has asked 28 States to take immediate and necessary action to convert 3,784 Census Towns into statutory Urban Local Bodies to promote planned urban development. Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (Urban Development) in a letter to the Chief Secretaries of these States has highlighted the need for statutory Urban Local Bodies for planned and coordinated infrastructure development, enhancement of revenues and efficient delivery of services to citizens leading to overall growth of economic activities. He stressed that "The opportunity of planned urban development might get lost if unplanned construction and ad hoc provisioning of infrastructure is allowed to take place over a long time". A Cen...

Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal issues directions to ensure timely supplements and consistently high quality food to Athletes during their preparations for Rio Olympics Government has issued directions to ensure that athletes get timely supplements and consistently high quality food during their preparations for Rio Olympics, 2016.  The directions were given by the Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal after his surprise visit to the Sports authority of India's Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), Patiala yesterday to take stock of the facilities being provided to the athletes preparing for the Rio Olympics 2016. The Minister directed that the Athletics Federation of India be contacted and food supplements be provided to Track and Field athletes within the next 2 days, keeping in view the international practice and after ensuring that the supplements are free of dope.  During his day-long visit, the Minister went to the h...

The Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha flew the indigenously designed and produced Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) at HAL Bangalore yesterday. The Tejas has been designed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and produced by HAL at Bangalore. The aircraft is an advanced fly by wire fighter aircraft with state of the art avionics. The aircraft structure comprises of a large amount (more than 50%) of composites and features a quadruplex digital fly by wire control system. The Air Chief Marshal carried out manoeuvers in the entire flying envelope of the aircraft. He carried out simulated air to air and air to ground attacks. He also assessed the advanced modes of the radar and Helmet Mounted Display Sight (HMDs). An ace fighter pilot himself, Air Chief Marshal Raha appreciated the flying qualities of the aircraft. He congratulated the entire team of ADA and HAL for their hard work in getting the LCA program to this stage. The series production of the Tejas aircraft has alread...

Dairy provides livelihood to 60 million farmers in India Shri Radha Mohan Singh During 2015-16, farmers produced 160.35 million tonnes of milk- Shri Singh At present, dairy sector is growing at the rate of 9.59 per year. America, Brazil, Australia and other countries are importing Indigenous Indian milch animals to develop heat resistant species. Odisha and Karnataka have been granted Rs. 2 crore each for marketing of A – 2 type milk. Rs. 582.09 crore have been allocated for 35 proposals under the National Gokul Mission. States have been granted permission to establish 14 Gokul Grams. Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister today during the One Day National Conference on Gauvansh / Gaushalas has mentioned that livelihood of 60 million rural households depend upon dairy sector. Out of this, two third are small, marginal and landless labourers. Agriculture and farmers Welfare Minister mentioned that India is a global leader amongst dairying nat...

Finance Ministry reviews the progress of Gold related Schemes; Total gold collected under Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) is 2891 kgs; Banks asked to put concerted efforts to mobilize more gold under the GMS in order to achieve the Scheme's objectives A meeting under the Chairmanship of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance was held here on Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) and Sovereign Bond Scheme (SBS) on 13.05.2016 with the senior executives of all Public and Private Sector Banks, RBI and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS). Shri H R Khan, Deputy Governor, RBI also attended the meeting. It may be recalled that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had launched these schemes on 5th November, 2015 to review the progress of the schemes. Under the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), total gold collected under Short Term Bank Deposit (STBD) and Medium and Long Term Government Deposit (MLTGD) is 2891 kgs. There are 46 Collection and Purity Ver...

In 2015-16, EPFO disbursed approximately Rs. 47,630 crore as member benefits and Rs. 8,200 crore as monthly pensions.

The process of seeding EPS pensioners' data with Aadhaar is underway in EPFO. While seeding the data, it has been noticed that in certain cases there is data mismatch between EPF data and Aadhaar data in respect of date of birth and name of pensioner. To rectify it, pensioners / members are being advised to correct either their details provided to EPFO offices or to correct the details given in Aadhaar, whichever is correct. It is also seen that a number of online transfer applications by members are pending with the employers for attestation and verification of member details by the employers Field offices of EPFO have been directed to take up the matter with employers to clear this on priority. On the occasion of International Labour Day, EPFO launched a special mission consolidation drive "One –Employee-One – EPF Account". The drive is to consolidate multiple accounts of members so that they are able to access variety of IT enabled services such as e-mail / SMS alerts,...

To monitor the status of enrolment of contractual employees especially in municipalities, EPFO has taken steps towards putting in place a system where principal employers including government bodies who enroll workers directly or through contractors can view details of contractors including the amount paid towards PF dues on real time basis. Now, EPFO will be in a position to compare the PF dues reimbursed to contractors and the PF dues actually remitted by contractors. Mismatch in the amounts would indicate possible specific evasion that can be followed up towards seeking compliance. A facility already exists in public domain wherein all principal employers can check the amounts remitted by contactors' establishments. Any person through this report can also check if her / his name appears in the list of employees submitted by contractor to EPFO on a monthly basis. EPFO is also in the process of digitizing compliance reporting system. It is expected that reporting in Compliance are...

National Conference on 'Gaushalas' Inaugurated The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries organized a day-long national conference on 'Gaushalas' (cowsheds) here today. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, said that villages were traditionally planned in such a manner that there were facilities for human beings and fodder for animals. He invited suggestions from the participants for the kind of policy-based decisions that can be taken to improve the situation. The Minister said that the draft of a policy is being prepared, which will include a provision to provide protein-rich fodder free of cost to the people living in villages adjoining the jungles. The Environment Minister also emphasized the need to protect pasture lands. He also suggested that if there is 500 acres of land, 25 acres be set aside for ...

India has witnessed substantial increase in milk production in 2014-15 and 2015-16 vindicating the government's policy of beef ban. T he average annual increase in milk production over 10 years was 4.62% in India, while it was 2.2% in the world. He stated that the annual increase in milk production for 2014-15 & 2015-16 is 9.59%.  According to the Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh there are 19 crore livestock in the country, which is about 14% of the world's livestock and out of this, 15 crore are indigenous livestock. He also emphasized that the government has granted funds to establish National Breeding Centres for the promotion and protection of indigenous livestock. He said that the government has granted Rs 582 crore in the last two years for the promotion and protection of indigenous livestock. He said "The availability of milk the world over is 296 grams, in India it is 340 grams."

Hyderabad and Amritsar to go Online from June 1; Jaipur in 4 months  To enhance the 'ease of doing business' in construction sector, Ministry of Urban Development has asked 13 more cities with airports to enable integrated Online approval of Building Plans during the current financial year. These 13 cities are among the 15 cities for which the Airports Authority of India has evolved Colour Coded Zoning Maps for according 'No Objection Certificates' in respect of height of construction projects. The other two cities viz., Delhi and Mumbai have already enabled Online approvals based on a Common Application Form. Shri Durga Shankar Misra, Additional Secretary(UD) today reviewed the status of these 13 cities in this regard with Municipal Commissioners of most of these cities and urged them to facilitate integrated Online approvals during this financial year. It was informed that Hyderabad would be ready with Online platform by the end of this month and would soon enable int...

INAM PRO has been developed as a web-based application ( www.inampro.nic.in ) for Infrastructure and Material Providers. It is a kind of a web based market place that brings together the material providers and the prospective buyers on a common platform. The platform was launched in March 2015 to facilitate contractors and cement buyers engaged in executing central/state funded roads and highways and bridge construction projects to place cement orders online with the registered cement companies offering cement at competitive rates in the vicinity of project execution locations. Cement companies are facilitated to update their offered stocks and the prices on the portal. They in turn get instant intimation about the orders placed and are able to approve the delivery schedules as requested by the cement buyers without hassles and delays. This is helping cement companies plan their annual production in advance and schedule deliveries with better precision. Cement companies also have the...

INFRACON is the National Portal for Infrastructure Consultancy Firms and Key Personnel. This portal acts as a kind of bridge between consultancy firms working in the road engineering and construction sector and domain experts and key personnel who are deployed both for project preparation and supervision. The portal hosts the credentials of consultancy firms and key personnel and has linkages to Aadhar and Digi-locker for data validation and purity. 474 consultancy firms and 2387 key personnel under various categories are already registered with the portal. In addition to this, agencies within the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, like the NHIDCL can receive technical proposals through INFRACON. This leads to a significant reduction of paper work during bid submissions and also brings in a lot of transparency and speed since the evaluation of technical bids can be done at the click of a button.

ePACE (Projects Appraisal & Continuing Enhancements) is an online integrated Management Information System that brings projects from all wings of the Ministry under a common platform, ensuring their effective and real time tracking. More than 2000 projects being executed by multiple agencies are currently listed on the portal and it is possible to get any information about their real time status, fund utilization etc. The portal can be freely accessed by anybody, and information regarding projects in any particular state can be found at the click of a button. The portal also allows for validation checks to prevent wrongful entries, making it difficult to fudge figures. It has provision to obtain reports in multiple formats with graphical interface for round the clock monitoring. It has also been provided with GIS interface to enable easy geo-tracking of the projects. The application has a data export engine for feeding into other applications. The architecture of the appli...

Calls Upon All Stakeholders to Use International Best Practises in Road Building Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari has called upon stakeholders to make conscious and active use of innovations and successful best practices from round the world in engineering and construction of roads. He said that the road transport sector in the country has immense potential, given the high traffic density and adequate availability of resources. However, this potential cannot be realized fully unless every player in the chain of execution has a positive attitude and is ready to give up outdated practices in favour of new and efficient ones. The Minister was speaking at the Highways Sector Stakeholders Meet in New Delhi today. The meet was attended by officials of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and NHIDCL, besides contractors, consultants, bankers and material suppliers concerned with road construction. Shri Gadkari further said that h...

Under the intention to promote Coastal Shipping in India, Ministry of Shipping in September 2015 amended the 2005 scheme of coastal concessions on coastal vessels and cargo/ container related charges. The amended instructions provide that restatement of rates for coastal vessel should take into account the exchange rate fluctuation of Indian Rupee vs the US dollar, so that vessels related charges for all coastal charges should not exceed sixty percent (60%) of corresponding charges for other vessel. This was notified to Traffic Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) by a notification in October, 2015. However, the TAMP has pointed out that in the context of general revision proposals of a few Ports in restatement of Coastal rates has resulted in steep increase in rates of coastal vessel /container as compared to pre-revised rates with the linking of Indian Rupee to US dollar. Since, this would seriously hamper the Ministry of Shipping's endeavor to promote coastal shipping as the transac...

The mechanized coal handling plant of Paradip Port has loaded a Panamax Vessel M.V Paola Bottiglieri on the 9.5.16 at a record time of 20:00 hrs. from berthing to de-berthing, for a quantity of 84,656 MT. This is an all time best Gross Productivity Rate of 4233 TPH(1,01,587 TPD) and Net Productivity Rate of 5084 TPH. The performance is at par with the International Coal Loading Ports of Australia & South Africa.The vessel was chartered by M/s. Bothra Shipping Services Pvt. Ltd. on account of M/s. Andhra Pradesh Power Generation CorporationLtd. for coastal shipment of thermal coal to their plant located at Vijayawada. Paradip Port is an all weather port capable of handling such vessels on sustainable basis. The record is especially significant as Indian ports are trying to achieve faster turn around times

Indian Naval Ships Delhi, Tarkash and Deepak under the command of Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh, NM entered Manama today.  During the visit, the crew of IN ships will undertake professional interactions with the Royal Bahrain Naval Force (RBNF) pertaining to nuances of maritime operations, including means of combating maritime terrorism and piracy. In addition, calls on senior Government and military authorities, sporting and cultural interactions and sharing of best practices, aimed at enhancing cooperation as well as strengthening mutual understanding between the two navies, are also planned. The visiting IN ships are also likely to conduct exercises with the RBNF. The current four day visit by IN ships will facilitate sharing of best practices, enhance maritime cooperation and evolve a shared understanding of the maritime security challenges, between the Indian Navy and the Royal Bahrain Naval Force. It will further bolster the strong bonds of fri...

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated Purbashree stall at Dilli Haat, INA here today. The North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd (NEHHDC) has set up the Purbashree stall to give further boost to the development and promotion of North East handicrafts and handlooms products. While inaugurating the stall, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that for the first time, the stall has been set up on permanent basis which is devoted exclusively to North east. The stalls showcasing northeast were earlier put up on temporary basis, he added. He said that these stalls will not only showcase the North Eastern culture and ethnicity, but will also help in generating the revenue. The Minister said that the permanent stalls in Dilli Haat is a significant milestone. Dr Jitendra Singh said that the current Government unde...

A 15-day special 'Swachh Office Drive' for ensuring cleanliness at all Government offices across the country has been launched today as a intensive thematic campaign under Swachh Bharat Mission. Launching the drive here today, Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu planted a Neem sapling at Nirman Bhawan and inspected the building for about an hour for an on the spot assessment of sanitation. The Minister visited different corridors of the building, individual rooms, toilets, storage places, water tanks and solar panels on the terrace of the building etc., and verified maintenance registers. In a meeting with senior officials later, Shri Naidu has noted that there has been considerable improvement towards ensuring cleanliness and there is still scope for improvement. He has directed senior officials of the Ministry and CPWD to ensure regular inspection by senior officials to ensure total sanitation. The Minister directed action to be taken for dumping waste materia...

Popularizing Science Education Among Women To popularize Science Education among women the Department of Science and Technology has recently constituted a Standing Committee for Promoting Women in Science vide Office Memorandum dated 11 March 2016 to recommend special measures to ensure growth of women in science and to design programmes specifically for fostering, utilizing and supporting women in science. The first meeting of Standing Committee is scheduled on 16 May 2016 at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE) is another unique programme of Department of Science and Technology through which budgetary support is extended for strengthening S&T infrastructure and also to enhance research facilities in women only universities, in order to encourage Science and Technology education among women. Ministry of Human Resource Development also launched UDAAN project to address the lower enro...

Rajya Sabha passed the major Economic Reform Bill moved by the Government i.e. 'Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,2016' on 11th May, 2016. With the passing of this Bill, India has crossed an important milestone in becoming a world class economy. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill on 5th May, 2016. The Bill will give big boost to Government's efforts to improve Ease of Doing Business. Code is a comprehensive and systemic reform, which will give a quantum leap to the functioning of the credit market and would take India from among relatively weak insolvency regimes to becoming one of the world's best insolvency regimes; Vision of the new law is to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation. 1.        Streamline recovery process; will remove old laws Hitherto India was lacking the legal and institutional machinery for dealing with debt defaults as per the global standards. The recovery proceedings by creditors, either through the Contract Act or through special laws suc...

A total of 70,045 tourists arrived in April 2016 on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 19,139 during the month of April 2015 registering a growth of 266%. UK continues to occupy top slot followed by USA and Russian fed. amongst the countries availing E-Tourist Visa facility during April 2016 Commencing from 27th November 2014 e-Tourist Visa facility was available until 25th February 2016 for citizens of 113 countries arriving at 16 Airports in India. The Government of India has extended this scheme for citizens of 37 more countries w.e.f 26th February 2016 taking the tally to 150 countries. The following are the important highlights of e-Tourist Visa during April, 2016. The following are the important highlights of e-Tourist Visa during April, 2016: 1)       During the month of April, 2016 a total of 70,045 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 19,139 during the month of April, 2015 registering a growth of 266.0%. 2)       During January- April 2016,...

In another indication of robust service sector and recovery in industrial production, the indirect taxes led by excise and service tax posted handsome growth in April 2016. Indirect Tax collections for the month of April 2016 was Rs 64,394 crore registering a growth of 41.8% as compared to Rs. 45,417 crore collected during the same period previous year i.e. month of April 2015. Overall growth in revenue collections on account of Indirect taxes excluding Additional Revenue Measures is 17%. The overall collections of Indirect Taxes during the month of April, 2016 amounts to achievement of 8.3% of BE target for Indirect Taxes for 2016-17. The Revenue collections target for indirect taxes as per the Budget Estimates 2016-17 is Rs. 7,78,000 crore while the actual collections on account of indirect taxes during 2015-16 was Rs. 7,09,022 crore. Thus, there is an increase of 9.7% in BE target for 2016-17 over the last year actual collections. As far as Central Excise collections in the month of...

India gave a befitting farewell to Sea Harriers of Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS 300) in a function organised at INS Hansa,Goa. The function was attended by Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Western Naval Command, serving and retired Officers and Men of the Indian Navy and all personnel who have served in the INAS 300. Speaking on the occasion Admiral RK Dhowan lauded the stellar role played by the squadron in the defence of the country and acknowledged the professionalism of the pilots, the maintainers and all those personnel associated with flying and maintaining the aircraft in peak efficiency during their service. He said that the rich legacy would continue as the baton is being passed on to the proud young crew of the MiG 29K squadron who have been successful in seamlessly integrating the fighters with INS Vikramaditya in the shortest possible time. In appreciation of the faithful service to the nation by INA...

A meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Steel and Mines was held in New Delhi on 10-5-2016 for reviewing the functioning of HCL and MSTC Ltd. Presided over by the Minister of Steel and Mines Shri Narendra Singh tomar, the meeting reviewed the progress achieved in the field of Copper by the Hindustan Copper Limited HCL and the challenges and opportunities in Copper Sector in India. The meeting also reviewed the functioning of the revamped MSTC limited and its role in the E-Auctioning and E-Tendering processes in the Government and Public Sector Organisations. The Union Steel & Mines Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar chairing the meeting said that the two organizations have shown a high growth in their respective fields and are contributing hugely in the "Make in India" and "Digital India" programmes oh the NDA government. There is a huge potential for both these organisations to make more contribution towards growth in t...

Oil Marketing Companies aim to increase the National LPG coverage to 75% The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that it is Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) aim to increase the National LPG coverage to 75 % with minimum 60 % coverage at State level and at least one distributor in each block by 2019. Further, the Government has launched "Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana" for providing LPG connections to 5 crore women belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families over a period of 3 years starting from FY 2016-17. Priority will be given to those States where LPG coverage is lower than the national coverage. Currently, the process for setting up of more than 1800 new LPG distributorships is at different stages of selection across the country.

Direct Benefit Transfer Program helped Indian government in significant savings across welfare schemes. It has resulted in weeding out of duplicate beneficiaries. Over 1.6 crore bogus ration cards have been deleted, resulting in savings of about Rs. 10,000 crore. Similarly, 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries were weeded out in the PAHAL scheme, resulting in savings of over Rs. 14,000 crore in 2014-15 alone. In MGNREGS too, a saving of Rs. 3000 crore (roughly 10 per cent) has been estimated in 2015-16. Several States and Union Territories too have achieved significant savings through DBT. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of creating a platform that is error-free, and would ensure that the targeted beneficiaries receive their benefits in time. He also asked all concerned departments to ensure that as the new mechanisms are put in place, they do not result in causing inconvenience to any beneficiary. The Prime Minister asked the officials to test...

In 2015-16, an amount of over Rs. 61,000 crore was distributed to over 30 crore beneficiaries, using Direct Benefit Transfer. This includes over Rs. 25,000 crore in MGNREGS, and over Rs. 21,000 crore in PAHAL (for LPG). India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of Aadhar and Direct Benefit Transfer program at a high level meeting on Monday. In the course of the two hour meeting, the Prime Minister was informed about the progress made in Aadhar number generation, and seeding of official databases with Aadhar numbers to streamline the process of identification of beneficiaries, and to ensure proper targeting of benefits to the people. 

Highest traffic handled by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal in April 2016 Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT), which is one of the three terminals of JN Port and is operated by the port authority, has handled 133,195 TEUs in April 2016, which is the highest traffic handled in a month since inception of the terminal. On month to month comparison, April 2016 throughput has registered a growth of 35% in comparison to April 2015. Further, this is also a 12% growth over the average monthly cargo handling of the year 2015-16. The earlier record handling was 132155 TEUs handled during August 2015.

Manohar Kumar takes over as Director (Engg) in NPCC Shri Manohar Kumar has taken over as Director (Engineering) on the Board of National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC). A graduate from the then Delhi College of Engineering Shri Kumar later did MBA from MDU, Rohtak. He has put in more than three decades of service in Civil Engineering field. NPCC is a PSU under Ministry Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. NPCC was established in 1957 as a premier construction company to create necessary infrastructure for economic development of the country in the core sectors of irrigation and water resources, power and heavy industries.

Indirect tax collections have also shown turn around during the Financial Year 2015-16. With growth in indirect tax collections, the indirect tax : GDP ratio for FY 2015-16 is about 5.17 per cent as compared to 4.36 per cent for FY 2014-15. Indirect tax: GDP ratio for the current Financial Year 2016-17 is estimated to be 5.20 per cent. E-payment of Central Excise and Service Tax refunds and rebates through RTEGS/NEFT has been implemented. 80% of the refund amount granted within 5 days for service exporters. Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT) acts as a single point interface for over 50 offices of six Government agencies for clearance of Exim Goods and reduces documentation and costs, thereby benefitting over 97% of India's imports.

Optimum Use of Technology for Expeditious Disposal of Assessment and Refunds; In FY 2015-16, 94% of income tax returns were filed online and 4.14 crore returns processed without any human intervention; More than 2.10 crore refunds amounting to Rs.1,22,425 crore were paid in FY 2015-16 as compared to Rs. 1,12,188 crore in the FY 2014-15 and Rs. 89,664 crore in the FY 2013-14; E-payment of Central Excise and Service Tax refunds and rebates through RTEGS/NIFT implemented; 80% of the refund amount granted within 5 days for service exporters. Both the Central Board of Director Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) are making optimum use of technology for expeditious disposal of assessment and refunds as well as for addressing the issues relating to custom clearance and facilitating trade among others.

India has signed important memorandum of understandings with Japan improving its friendly relationship.  Indo-Japan Collaboration in the Field of Science & Technology Both the countries have immense potential to further strengthen their collaboration in Science & Technology. There are several joint projects which are already in progress and more are in the planning process. The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan held a meeting with the Japanese Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology (MEXT) Mr. Hirodie Hase in New Delhi today. The meeting was a follow up of the six-month earlier meeting held in Japan. India and Japan are in close collaboration on several focus areas and projects like Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Ocean Sciences and Marine Instrumentation, High Skill Development, Use & Analysis of Big Data, Research & Development and Bio Information. These projects include the exchange of students...

Taking one step forward in creating e-markrtplace, the Government has added rules for suppliers and government buyers to bring more clarity. Department of Expenditure,Ministry of Finance has added a New Rule 141-A in the General Financial Rules(GFR) on the request of the Department of Commerce regarding proposed creation of One Stop Government e-Marketplace (GeM) by Directorate General Supply and Disposal (DGS&D). The DGS&D will host an online Government e-Marketplace (GeM) for common use Goods and Services. The GeM would be dynamic, self-sustaining and user friendly. DGS&D will ensure adequate publicity including periodic advertisements in newspapers of the GeM and the items to be procured through GeM for the prospective suppliers. The procuring authorities will satisfy themselves that the price of the selected offer is reasonable. GeM may be utilized by Government buyers (at their option) for direct on-line purchases as under: · Upto Rs....

05-May-2016 17:38 IST Centre asks States to use Rs 292 crores funds for fodder development and immediately prepare an action plan for this purpose Centre to coordinate movement of fodder for surplus area to deficient areas with Railways Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Devendra Chaudhry today here held a video conference with the Principal Secretaries of Animal Husbandry of all the States/ UTs. Important decision taken: i) Allocation of Rs. 292 crores of funds under the National Livestock Mission to various States/UTs. Use of these funds can be immediately made for taking up fodder development (growth and cultivation related activities) for which the NLM Action Plan (NAP) need to be prepared immediately so that the same is useful for ensuring fodder availability for the animals should the rainfall be deficient especially in States where there is already a shortage of fodder such as in Maharashtra, Kar...

05-May-2016 17:36 IST Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu dedicated to the nation a high speed Wi-Fi hotspot at the three Railway Stations namely, Kacheguda, Raipur and Vijayawada In a further move to implement Prime Minister's Digital India Prgoramme, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a programme held today at Railway Bhawan dedicated to the nation a high speed Wi-Fi hotspot at the three Railway Stations namely, Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), Kachiguda (Telangana) & Raipur (Chhattisgarh). The Wi-Fi facility for the visitors & rail users of these stations has been commissioned by Railway Ministry PSU RailTel in association with Google for providing high speed state of the art world class internet experience to the commuters. Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mital, Member Electrical, Shri A.K. Kapoor and other Board Members, and other senior officials were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Sures...

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Flags Off Fast Passenger Carrying Train namely Banihal-Baramulla Fast Passenger (DEMU) and Budgam-Baramulla DEMU in the State of Jammu & Kashmir The Union Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in the presence of Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh flagged off Train 74619/74620 Banihal-Baramulla Fast Passenger (DEMU) and 74617/74618 Budgam-Baramulla Demu through Video Conferencing between Rail Bhawan New Delhi and Anantnag Railway Station. Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Ms. Mehbooba Mufti graced the inaugural function at the Anantnag Railway Station along with other dignitaries. Chairman, Railway Board, other Board Members and various other dignitaries were among those present at the Rail Bhawan. Baramulla-Budgam-Banihal section is presently being served by 13 pair...