The defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries.
The Cabinet also initiated the process of notifying the dates of the seven-phase parliamentary elections by sending the Election Commission's recommendation to President Droupadi Murmu.
The government has granted Geographical Indications (GI) tag to various products, including Gamosa of Assam, Tandur Redgram of Telangana, and an apricot variety of Ladakh. The commerce and industry ministry said on Wednesday that the total number of GI has reached to 432. "Famous Gamosa of Assam, Tandur Redgram of Telangana, RaktseyKarpo Apricot of Ladakh, Alibag White Onion of Maharashtra have got their GI tags," it said.
Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.
Railway employees including station masters, engine drivers, ticket checkers, etc too have been selected for vaccination and their list is being compiled for the exercise.
A task force set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) for transforming India into an "electronic and semiconductor products" nation is on the verge of finalising its report, which is likely to recommend an allocation of Rs 44,000 crore between 2024 and 2030 to support homegrown companies in their quest to develop products and build global brands. The task force's recommendations include significant incentives: Rs 15,000 crore dedicated to electronic products (systems), Rs 11,000 crore for semiconductor products, and Rs 18,000 crore for various other incentives such as talent development, common infrastructure, logistics, and technology & IP (intellectual property) acquisition, a member of the panel revealed.
Even as the government debates whether to continue the FAME-II subsidy for electric vehicles (EVs), the share of such vehicles in overall sales is decelerating, after witnessing a heady growth in the first few years. The penetration of EVs - electric two-wheelers, passenger vehicles, three- wheelers and other segments collectively - in the first 10 months of FY24 has been pegged at 4.3 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in FY23, according to credit rating agency ICRA.
'The private sector believes that some enablers in labour-intensive sectors like apparel, toys, tourism, and media retail, can unlock a lot of jobs.'
The finance ministry on Wednesday reimposed expenditure curbs on ministries and government departments for July-September quarter. There will be no spending restrictions on the ministries of health, rural development, agriculture, MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) and railways as part of a two-pronged strategy. "The existing guidelines for expenditure control have been reviewed. "Keeping in view the evolving situation arising out of Covid-19 and anticipated cash position of the government, it is felt essential to regulate Quarterly Expenditure Plan (QEP)/Monthly Expenditure Plan (MEP) of specific ministries/departments for July-September, 2021," the Department of Economic Affairs in the finance ministry said in a notification.
Following the conflict, Israel has banned the entry of Palestinian workers. The departure of several thousand other foreign workers, the Israeli construction industry has been facing a deep crisis.
India's industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in January, while the February retail inflation at 5.09 per cent remained within the Reserve Bank's comfort zone for the sixth straight month, according to the latest government data. Growth in factory output, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.8 per cent in January 2024, mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.
'When there are no good roads and no buses plying to villages, your spending on development is skewed.'
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is considering raising the monthly minimum wage ceiling from Rs 15,000 now to improve the coverage and bring millions of informal workers under its purview. The last increase in the minimum wage ceiling was in 2014 to Rs 15,000 from Rs 6,500.
Minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said it is a major step to place the right talent for the right role.
During April-September, the eight sectors grew by 4 per cent, against 5 per cent in the year-ago period.
India on Friday asked its citizens not to travel to Iran and Israel amid increasing fears that Tehran may launch an attack on Israeli soil in retaliation to a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria 11 days ago.
The wholesale inflation rose to a 13-month high of 1.26 per cent in April fuelled by rising prices of food articles, especially vegetables, amid expectations of RBI holding interest rates in the policy review next month. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been rising for two months in a row.
Payments banks are expecting to get the rights to offer small-ticket loans sometime soon, according to an industry source familiar with the matter. The industry has been in talks with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for some time in seeking lending rights.
Industrial production declined by 10.4 per cent in July, mainly due to lower output of manufacturing, mining and power generation, as per the government data released on Friday.
Manufacturing sector production registered a decline of 17.1 per cent, while the output of mining and power fell 19.8 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
Any government support or incentive to help exporters deal with high freight and insurance costs is unlikely.
When contacted, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh told PTI that the decision has been taken in view of the "overwhelming" public sentiments.
In a major policy reversal, the AAP government wrote to the Centre to withdraw approval given by previous Congress government for FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would result in large-scale job losses.
From the time he first rose to prominence during the movement against the then UPA government, Arvind Kejriwal has regularly grabbed headlines for his surprise moves and decisions. Here are 10 such instances.
Semiconductor makers need thousands of engineers and technicians, and though India has one of the largest pool of engineers in the world, they do not have experience in the semiconductor manufacturing space.
The final Budget for the fiscal is likely to be tabled in July after formation of the new government.
The government will put on sale around 20 critical mineral blocks in the fourth round of auction by the end of June, mines secretary V L Kantha Rao said on Monday. Rao further said that the auction process for seven critical mineral blocks put on sale in the first round is almost complete and the result would be declared in a month's time. Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are essential components in many of today's rapidly growing clean energy technologies -- from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles.
Indian and global airlines such as SpiceJet, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic among others too are marketing Covid-19 insurance products to attract passengers.
Sources said a 100-day agenda for immediate steps to be taken after a new government is formed in May was deliberated upon during the meeting for its quick implementation.
Rationalisation of income tax slabs, infrastructure status for digital services and incentives to hydrogen storage as well as fuel cell development were some of the suggestions made by various stakeholders at the pre-Budget consultation meeting convened by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The customary pre-Budget consultation meetings were held with the finance minister virtually between December 15 and December 22, as per the finance ministry statement. More than 120 invitees representing seven stakeholder groups participated in eight meetings, scheduled during this period, it said.
The stormy second part of Budget Session continues. Both houses of Parliament have been facing continuous protests by opposition parties over issues like fuel price hike.
Coal India looks set to achieve its 2024-25 (FY25) production targets. If it can achieve its aim of ramping up Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) and e-auction volumes, along with cost-saving, evacuation and infrastructure-improvement projects, the company could maintain its momentum as a critical infrastructure and core industry performer. Analysts estimate e-auction volumes of 108 million tonnes (MT) in FY25 and 120 MT for FY26, which is encouraging given the premium of e-auction prices which are consistently over 50 per cent higher than FSA.
Explore, engage, participate and excel in as many co-curricular activities and hackathons as possible to improve your self-confidence, communication skills and overall personality, advises rediffGURU Chocko Valliappa.
Industrial production surged by 13.6 per cent in June mainly due to a low-base effect and good performance by manufacturing, mining and power sectors but the output remained below the pre-pandemic level. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew by 13 per cent in June this year, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday. The mining sector output rose by 23.1 per cent in June while power generation increased by 8.3 per cent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government will use the unorganised workers database - e-Shram portal - to provide the benefits of various government programmes to the nearly 300 million workers over the next five years, if it is voted to power for the third consecutive term in the upcoming general elections. "We have registered unorganised workers on the e-Shram platform. "We will reach out to the e-Shram registered 'shramik bandhu' and help them avail the benefits of various government programmes that they are eligible for," the manifesto of the party read.
Ministers' resignation accepted, portfolios farmed out
Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday assumed charge as the Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister for the second consecutive term and is slated to soon present the final Budget for FY '25 that is going to set the tone for the Modi 3.0 government's priorities and direction for Viksit Bharat. Upon her reaching the North Block office, Sitharaman was greeted by Finance Secretary T V Somanathan and other top officials. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was also present. Chaudhary assumed charge on Tuesday evening.
He stated that what transpired on October 7 was a 'terrorist attack' but also acknowledged, in reference to the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza, that every response must take into account something called international humanitarian law.
The contracts for the procurement of the platforms and weapons systems were signed in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and defence secretary Giridhar Aramane, under whose guidance these deals fructified, an official readout said.
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