100-day agenda: Commerce ministry pushes for separate logistics department
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
Keeping in view the approaching Lok Sabha elections, the All Indian Congress Committee has appointed a battery of high-profile spokesmen for the Congress to showcase the achievements of the last 10 years of United Progressive Alliance government and publicise the various sectors where the UPA has performed. Renu Mittal reports
Wayanad will continue to support Rahul but not to the same extent as in 2019, when his margin of victory had been enormous. Articulate, to the point and speaking in fluent Malayalam, CPI's Annie Raja, had the people who gathered to see her, listening in rapt attention, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Centre is unlikely to offer new direct tax incentives for units operating in special economic zones (SEZs) and may instead allow the grandfathering of previous exemptions that such units were entitled to, according to proposed amendments to the SEZ Act, 2005, people aware of the matter said. The amendments, proposed by the commerce department, will soon be considered by the Cabinet for approval. This represents a departure from the department's earlier plan to introduce these changes through the Development Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023, which faced strong criticism from the ministry of finance.
'Farmers have been sent notices in which the government is threatening that if you will join the movement, then we will impound your ancestral properties.' 'We will seal your bank accounts.' 'We will revoke the passports of your kids.'
The ten trade unions are National Trades Union Congress, All India Trade Union Congress, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India United Trade Union Centre, Trade Union Coordination Centre, Self Employed Women's Association, All India Central Council of Trade Unions, Labour Progressive Federation and United Trade Union Congress.
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar to move Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, in Rajya Sabha on Sunday.
So, how does it feel when a fellow Parliamentarian doubles up as your commercial aircraft pilot?
Leterme contended that there is a need for the United Nations Security Council to adapt to the realities of the 21st century as it requires representation that goes beyond the structures established in the 20th century.
As people queued up across these states to cast their vote, there were some famous faces in the lines at different polling stations.
Indian Railways has managed to improve its freight volumes each year since the pandemic. However, its inability to add new industries and goods will pose a challenge for the national transporter in the wake of it setting an ambitious target of 45 per cent share in the national logistics by 2030. According to officials, the ministry of railways achieved 114 million tonnes (mt) of miscellaneous goods (classified as balance and other goods) in 2023-24.
Sitharaman has held pre-budget meetings to elicit views of various sections including representatives of chambers of commerce and industry.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Go-getter, ambitious, dynamic, workaholic are some of the adjectives that officials who worked closely with B V R Subrahmanyam use to describe him.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
Indian exports are set to reach the targeted $80 billion mark by the close of 2007, thus raising the country's share in global exports to one per cent, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Rajiv Pratap Rudy
Divestment Minister Arun Shourie will now handle the key Communication and Information Technology ministries too.
'We need a candidate who will do our work and fight with the authorities; someone we can hold accountable.' 'Piyush Goyal is not that candidate.'
Of the Rs 1.97 trillion that the government intends to spend on all 14 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, around Rs 41,000 crore remains unutilised as of now, according to a senior government official. This means that 80 per cent of the total allocated amount, or Rs 1.56 trillion, will be used to pay incentives to companies eligible to claim benefits over the next few years. The unutilised amount/savings result from undersubscription, lukewarm responses in the case of schemes such as textile, as well as a reduction in the allocation of schemes.
Exports are expected to grow by 10-15 per cent in the current fiscal, FIEO director general and chief executive officer Ajay Sahai said.
Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she will pursue the matter with the finance ministry
As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
Kinetic on Wednesday relaunched the iconic two-wheeler Luna in an electric avatar, addressing the demand for affordable electric vehicles (EVs), more than two decades after its initial introduction. e-Luna will be available at an introductory ex-showroom price of Rs 69,990, as announced by Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and chief executive officer of Kinetic Green, after Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the vehicle. Motwani pointed out that the current top 10 electric two-wheelers in the country are priced between Rs 1.05 lakh and Rs 1.49 lakh, making them a "luxury" that is not "practical and accessible" for most people in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi involves junior ministers in the decision-making process and holds a meeting of the Council of Ministers every last Saturday of the month, but there is a group of ministers that he reaches out to more often.
India doubled its exports of smartphones to $11.1 billion (about Rs 91,000 crore) in 2022-23 (FY23) over the previous year's figure of $5.48 billion (Rs 45,000 crore), thanks largely to the Apple juggernaut, according to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "With the doubling of exports of smartphones to over Rs 90,000 crore, India is well on its way to becoming a leader in the global mobile device market." On the flip side, despite the government prodding Chinese companies to export more, their smartphone shipments fell steeply by 26 per cent from $214 million in FY22 to $157 million in FY23.
Far more important than governance is to ensure how different states get necessary representation a'The pressure to expand the council of ministers will come from states where the BJP has formed a government after ousting the Congress,' predicts A K Bhattacharya.
Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday reiterated that the Centre was ready to talk to the farmers protesting against the new agriculture laws, and said that mere gathering of crowd does not lead to revocation of legislations.
Tomar said the government is committed to "peaceful talks with farmers' leaders and does not intend to hurt farmers' sentiments".
In the Modi government, he was the mentor -- he groomed half a dozen of those who became ministers. Some remembered, others did not -- Jaitley seemed to care little. Aditi Phadnis reports.
Here are some of the key farmer leaders who fronted the protests.
Trade unions on Tuesday opposed the entry of foreign direct investment in the country's tobacco sector, considered the largest in the world, and asked the Government not to experiment in such 'socially sensitive' areas.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, has organised protests in different states on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers' movement against three central farm laws.
India on Monday strongly advocated the establishment of "South Asian Union" as it sought to enhance the bilateral trade - with Pakistan - which had the potential to touch $6 billion.
Sources said they discussed and finalised the government's position for the Wednesday meeting.
Stressing that the Apna Dal-S stands for social justice, Union minister Anupriya Patel on Monday dissociated her party from "Hindutva and all those issues" and said it is ideologically different from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi for 'false' allegations of irregularities in a food processing project.
Of the eight RBI governors who have held office since the 1991 economic liberalisation, Bimal Jalan had the longest stint and S Venkitaramanan, the shortest. Current Governor Shaktikanta Das will overtake Bimal Jalan before completing his second term in December, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
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