'The procurement cycle still consumes too much time; little has changed.'
The Central Public Works Department, a prime construction agency of the central government, said the bullet-proof window system of the selected bidder will be sent for testing at the forensic science lab in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
Petrol doped with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out on Monday at select petrol pumps in 11 states and union territories as part of a programme to increase use of biofuels to cut emissions as well as dependence on foreign exchange-draining imports. At present, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 per cent ethanol, 90 per cent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the higher 20 per cent ethanol blended petrol two months ahead of the planned rollout in April, at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 in Bengaluru.
Under these rules, telecom gear makers have to share their source codes and get their equipment tested by third-party labs accredited to the government.
The vaccine would not have production scalability issues unlike Covaxin, Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 virus vaccine.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday said that the government has decided to go for open market tender to procure rice, whose process will start from Thursday.
The government has already implemented one of its five poll guarantees, "Shakti", by providing free services for women in public transport buses.
The resolution also pushes back against People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that Arunachal Pradesh is PRC territory, which is a part of the PRC's increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies.
Women staged a semi-nude protest in Assam's largest city Guwahati against an eviction drive in Silsako Beel (lake) area on Friday, as excavators ravaged to the ground several houses to clear alleged encroached land of the wetland.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Monday reported multiple irregularities in the accounts of units under the IT and telecom ministries, including purchases of hardware and software worth Rs 890 crore by NICSI in contravention of rules. In its audit report for financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged anomalies in the decision taken by state-run telecom firm BSNL, C-DoT, the Department of Posts, ITI Limited and CDAC that had adverse financial implications. "NICSI procured hardware and software costing Rs 890.34 crore through the 'Strategic Alliance' route in contravention of General Financial Rules, 2005 and departmental instructions and thus failed to ensure transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process," according to the CAG report tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday.
After ramping up production to meet the steep demand spike during the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian medical device makers are now struggling with idle capacity. According to industry estimates, around a third of the installed capacity, especially for consumables, disposables, small-ticket electronic items, etc., is lying unutilised. Sample this: India used to produce just 6.24 million pieces of PPE kits per annum before the pandemic, but by June this was ramped up to 233.87 million pieces per annum.
India must revive public sector firms.
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea on whether seeking details of hotel stays and call records to prove allegations of adultery are violative of the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.
'It has been an ongoing process, talking to the relevant ministries about eliminating leakages and curbing non-core expenditure in various schemes.'
After identifying the man who was the patient zero or index case of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, the state government on Saturday began looking for the source and place from where he got infected by seeking details of his mobile tower locations.
'We seem to be in a situation where we can do little, and nothing needs to be done anyway.'
A court in New Delhi on Wednesday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) 10 days' custody of two people accused in a case related to NGO terror funding.
The ministry of railways has dropped its proposal for monetisation of stations on public-private partnership mode, and projects are now being taken up under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, a source said. The source also told PTI that the ministry of railways has been asked to expedite monetisation of other assets, including trains, goodsheds, hill rail, stadiums, railway colonies and railway land parcels among others. "Largest asset class (stations) dropped. Stations earlier proposed on PPP mode are now being taken up under EPC mode," the source said.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday observed that the telecast of the recording of narco analysis conducted on Aaftab Amin Poonawala, the sole accused in the Shraddha Walkar murder, will prejudice the case and restrained all news channels from displaying or playing content of the charge sheet filed in the matter.
'The government is trying to kickstart the investment cycle in India and while the corporate investments are yet to gather momentum, there are early signs of the same.'
When the IAF veterans' bail petition came up for hearing, in an unprecedented move, senior serving and retired Air Marshals and Air Vice Marshals rallied behind the accused officers and appeared before the court to give sureties for each, something that has never happened ever before.
If the corruption issue doesn't claim Mr Baghel, the Congress's chances in the assembly election later this year are good, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The report, which was submitted to the apex court on March 19, 2021, was made public on Monday. The three-member committee had also suggested many changes in the laws, including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price (MSP) system legal.
The deal is estimated to be worth Rs 12,000 crore.
The agency said these accused persons collected information regarding vital installations, deployment and movement of security forces, procured official secret documents and passed on the same to their LeT handlers through encrypted communication channels for monetary consideration.
The ED said its investigation also revealed that from 2019 to 2022, the sale of 'unaccounted illicit' liquor was almost 30-40 per cent of the total liquor sale in the state.
If a 5% to 10% fall in the equity market gives you sleepless nights, you are not cut out for a 75% to 80% allocation to equities and must reduce it.
The limited availability of flexible (flex)-fuel vehicles in the Indian market and the slow rollout of ethanol-blended petrol by oil-marketing companies (OMCs) remain major obstacles to achieving widespread use of biofuels in the transportation sector in India. Recently, two Union ministers have emphasised India's biofuel potential, arguing that it has the capacity and potential to lead a transition towards widespread biofuel adoption. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari signalled that this transition is well underway and urged car manufacturers to quickly adapt and introduce new biofuel-run vehicles, lest the government resort to taxing diesel vehicles.
After bumbling for years since 2014, the Modi government seems to believe that massive government expenditure will lead us to prosperity supported by 'seat-of-the-pants' decision-making, observes Debashis Basu.
As Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma ruled out any possibility of a compromise, whispers were already being heard of a possible collapse of the talks.
"Just because some political figures are involved, you will not investigate, we will not allow this," said the court adding that it would have appreciated if the police had enquired into specific allegations levelled against each person and then filed the report.
For the Stalin government to win back the confidence of voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, post-flooding restoration works, their speed and efficacy would be closely watched, and not just by the political Opposition, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Barring Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the BJP will may make inroads in Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana in 2024.'
A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N R Borkar said Wankhede shall appear before the Thane police on February 23 (Wednesday) pursuant to the summons issued to him and extend his full cooperation with the investigation.
The NIA on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six people in connection with the October 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast, saying the prime accused of the terrorist attack was "inspired by ISIS ideology".
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
'My wife, family members as well as members of the workers will be trustees.' 'The trust will take all decisions -- no family member can individually take any decision.'
With the objective of curbing paper leaks in government recruitment exams, the Gujarat legislative assembly has unanimously passed a bill that provides for up to 10 years in prison for such malpractices.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress remain the most dominant political forces in Chhattisgarh, though the state has several regional outfits that have pockets of influence, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making a determined bid to challenge its well entrenched rivals and make a mark in polls to the 90-member House.
Sensex, Nifty under pressure on weak global cues.
