For months, offline retailers and traders have been lobbying hard for a national retail policy to protect their business from the growing influx of e-commerce.
The Centre is mulling over creation of an independent body to regulate the country's vast retail sector. The retail regulatory authority would ensure a level playing field for indigenous retail traders if the government opens the sector to more foreign participation. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food has convened a meeting on July 8 in Delhi to discuss this and other proposals and chart a comprehensive plan for the sector, according to the agenda paper of the meeting.
Measure to be implemented in metros first, followed by state capitals, district HQs and rest of country
These items will remain under essential commodities segment till June-end, a move aimed at ensuring availability at reasonable prices and cracking down on hoarders/black marketeers.
Business chamber Assocham has asked the government to accord industry status to organised retail sector, which would improve investment inflows into the sector and increase its share in this segment. The move would increase the share of organised retail in the overall sector to 20-22 per cent from the current 3 per cent, Assocham said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has taken strong objection to the fact that despite a "No" to OOXML by a majority of the Bureau of Indian Standardsmembers, the software giant "continued to make representations to the top Indian leadership (read Ministry of Consumer Affairs), pressuring them to change the Indian vote".
A case was lodged on Saturday against Nestle India in a local court here over safety standards of its Maggi product, while actors Amitabh Bachhan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta have also been separately dragged to the court for promoting the 'two-minute' noodles brand.
Labayendu Mansingh, Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, is an amicable yet tough man. In his 5 months as the petroleum & natural gas regulator, Mansingh announced to the oil & gas industry his intention of proving that the regulatory board is more than a toothless tiger. The board will come out with its first set of regulations, which will lay down rules for the distribution of gas to households, vehicles & industries in cities by middle of this month.
Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan appealed to people to boycott products from China and also directed officials of his ministry not to procure any Chinese products for day-to-day office use while his ministerial colleague Ramdas Athawale said all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down.
With the Modi government close to completing its two years in office, a new survey on Saturday said nearly half of the respondents (49 per cent) feel "no change" in their living standards while another 15 per cent feel the situation has actually worsened.
Recently, the finance ministry waived off basic customs duty and health cess on imported oxygen and related equipment for three years.
The government and Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC's) strategic stake sale in IDBI Bank is expected to move to the second stage by the first quarter of FY24, said two people in the know. They added that considering the progress of the ongoing deal, financial bids are expected to come in by June this year. The proposed IDBI Bank stake sale is divided into two sequential stages.
The retail prices of essential food items have fallen by up to 11 per cent in Mumbai and Delhi in the first fortnight of April, much to the relief of millions in these metros who had to shell out 40 per cent more in the last one year.The rates have come down within two weeks of government's price control measures, reversing the trend of spiralling prices.
Nestle India on Monday said it has started production of Maggi noodles from its fourth plant at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
The government should frame appropriate guidelines to fix standards for drinking water to rid it of pesticides and other harmful chemicals.
Poor rain threatens recovery in production this season, sugar prices at three-month high
The draft favoured up to 49 per cent foreign equity in inventory model in the case of 100 per cent made in India products sold through Indian management-controlled platforms with resident Indian founders/promoters.
Paswan said his Ministry has acquired 55,000 tonnes of pulses.
As many as 12,394 complaints of alleged corruption were received against railway employees.
India's MRP and Packaged Commodities Acts are dated and not in line with the modern world's digital price mechanisms and comparisons.
A maximum quantity of 23,340 tonnes was seized in Maharashtra.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta's Sterlite Copper on Monday came out with an advertisement inviting expression of interest (EoI) for carrying out plant "restart activities" at its Thoothukudi unit in Tamil Nadu, that got closed more than five years ago following an order issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The EoI for restart comes when the company is still awaiting the final judgement on the issue, and the court has only allowed it to do maintenance work. "We have initiated the upkeep and maintenance activities at the plant as allowed by the Supreme Court vide its order dated May 4, 2023, in coordination with the district authorities.
Paswan, one of the most prominent Dalit leaders of the country who had been a part of several governments headed by rival parties, died on Thursday at the age of 74.
The action against the Lucknow passport officer was a hasty reckless decision taken by an establishment playing to the gallery to appease the pseudo-secular elite of the country, the Lutyens Delhi lobby intent on discrediting the Hindu identity, and an action that blatantly violated the basic tenets of justice, argues Vivek Gumaste.
FCI's suspension of tur under MSP is likely to force farmers to undergo distress sales of the commodity.
The Narcotic Control Bureau, which had told the court on Wednesday that Khan was involved in the conspiracy, illicit drug trafficking as well as its procurement and consumption, today claimed that 'evidence reveal Khan frequently took contraband substances'.
In a relief to industry, the government has accepted a parliamentary panel's recommendation on allowing cartels to opt for the settlement scheme under the Competition Amendment Bill, according to official sources. The proposed Bill seeks to introduce a clause for settlement and commitment that offers any enterprise against which an inquiry has been initiated to file an application for settlement. The Parliamentary Committee on Finance had suggested including cartels in the scope for settlement "as a pragmatic recourse to the whole process".
If approved, gas price will rise to $6.775 per million British thermal unit from $4.2 currently.
'Terrorists who are active in Poonch and Rajouri are not relying on random locals for logistics, guidance etc.' 'They are being supported by a selected few who are being vetted, cleared and directed from across the LoC.'
Nestle desires to relaunch Maggi by the end of this year.
Nestle India said it has conducted over 3,500 tests.
The RSS wants three nominees inducted: Tejaswi Surya, the young BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha member, and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The reshuffle is aimed at speeding up the implementation of the government's ambitious programmes like the SmartCity project and focus on key sectors like Mines, Information Technology and Road Transport.
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