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Tag: Centre

  • Centre approves Rs 1,255-crore capital investment for Arunachal Pradesh

    Centre approves Rs 1,255-crore capital investment for Arunachal Pradesh

    Itanagar: The finance ministry has approved a capital investment proposal of Rs 1,255 crore for Arunachal Pradesh in the current financial year, an official release said on Monday.

    Approval has been given under the scheme entitled Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24′.

    The department of expenditure under the ministry has approved a total of Rs 56,415-crore capital investment for 16 states under the scheme for the current fiscal, it said.

    Capital investment projects in diverse sectors have been approved including health, education, irrigation, water supply, power, roads, bridges and railways.

    Funds for meeting the state share of Jal Jeevan Mission and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have also been provided under the scheme to enhance the pace of the projects in these sectors, the release said.

    Among the 16 states, Bihar has the highest allocation with Rs 9,640 crore, followed by Madhya Pradesh (Rs 7,850 crore), West Bengal (Rs 7,523) and Rajasthan with Rs 6,026 crore.

  • Centre turns down request to supply rice: Karnataka Food Minister

    Centre turns down request to supply rice: Karnataka Food Minister

    New Delhi: Union Minister Piyush Goyal has turned down the Karnataka government’s request to supply rice for implementation of a poll promise of free rice distribution citing a lack of stock, state Food Minister K H Muniyappa said on Friday.

    After meeting Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, Muniyappa said, “The state government has announced 10 kg of free rice. For that purpose, we requested for rice. We are ready to pay the price. But the Minister has said there is no stock and unable to give.

    Muniyappa informed in the meeting that there is enough rice stock in the central pool. Against the buffer stock of 135 lakh tonnes of rice, the central pool has 262 lakh tonnes.

    “We requested rice for BPL cardholders. He (Goyal) said it is not possible to give. It is politically motivated. The minister is not willing to give even though the rice is available,” he told reporters.

    Therefore, the state government has identified central agencies like Nafed, Kendriya Bhandar and NCCF to procure rice for the state scheme “Anna Bhagya”, he said, and added that the government will fulfil its commitment and distribute free rice to the poor as early as possible.

    There are more than 1.19 crore BPL cardholders and 4.42 crore beneficiaries in Karnataka, he added.

    Karnataka and other states which are operating their own state schemes are hit hard after the central government on June 13 discontinued sale of rice under the open market sale scheme (OMSS) to state governments due to inflationary pressure.

    In a representation submitted to Goyal, Muniyappa said the Karnataka government has been making use of the OMSS scheme for sourcing rice for state cards that are sanctioned over and above the cards under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and for given one kg of rice as additional entitlement to all ration cardholder for the last seven months.

    The state government requires 2.29 lakh tonnes of rice per month for distribution of an additional 5 kg of rice to all beneficiaries of NFSA and state cardholders, he said.

    “The sudden discontinuation of OMSS took away the possibility of getting rice from FCI for this state scheme unexpectedly. It is not only difficult to launch the new programme of giving additional 5 kg rice per member per month, but also stopped regular monthly entitlement of foodgrains of 39 lakh beneficiaries of state ration holders,” he said.

    As kharif procurement season is over in most parts of the country, the state’s efforts to source rice from other states or from open market is becoming “challenging,” he said.

    It may be noted that the Centre is supplying monthly 5 kg free rice per beneficiary under the NFSA at present. Over and above this, the Karnataka government will supply additional 5 kg of free rice.

  • Center assures adequate food grains supply to crisis-hit Manipur

    Center assures adequate food grains supply to crisis-hit Manipur

    New Delhi: The Centre has assured strife-torn Manipur of complete support in ensuring that there are sufficient stocks of food grains in different parts of the state at all times and the National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries are able to receive regular supply of the entitled quantities, an official said on Wednesday.

    Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Wednesday visited Imphal and reviewed the functioning of NFSA in the wake of the recent law and order breakdown in Manipur.

    He met the state’s consumer affairs minister and the chief secretary.

    Official sources said that the Centre has allocated an additional quantity of 30,000 MT of rice to the violence-hit state in view of the current law and order situation prevailing there, for a period of three months (June 2023 to August 2023) to non-NFSA beneficiaries.

    Currently, the stock position at nine depots is 30,600 MT which is adequate against the total monthly allocation of 12,000 MT under NFSA and 6,500 MT under non-NFSA.

    Besides, the department is exploring additional routes to ensure smooth and seamless supply of foodgrains through various routes, like from Dimapur, Silchar and Bairabi to Manipur and inducting a total of 25,500 MT of rice in the state by the end of this month.

    The estimated stock position will be sufficient to meet the requirement in the coming month, sources said.

    Regular inflow of stocks will be maintained to ensure that there is no scarcity of foodgrains in any part of the state, they added.

    Manipur has witnessed devastating ethnic violence since May 3, killing over 120 people and injuring more than 350, besides destroying thousands of houses, large numbers of private and government vehicles and properties.

  • Centre launches IT hardware PLI 2.0 with Rs 17,000 cr outlay

    Centre launches IT hardware PLI 2.0 with Rs 17,000 cr outlay

    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday approved an updated Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware, nearly doubling the overall outlay for the scheme to around Rs 17,000 crore. The tenure of the programme will be applicable for six years and the government expects investments worth Rs 2,430 crore in the scheme.

    “This move will help more Indian companies grow and they can combine design and manufacturing to become global brands. We believe that the final investment in the IT hardware PLI 2.0 will be more than what we expect, just like the telecom PLI scheme,” IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters here.

    In the telecom PLI scheme, the expected investment was Rs 900 crore for the first year, but it reached Rs 1,600 crore in just one year. The IT hardware PLI 2,0 will help push Rs 335,000 crore worth incremental production and is likely to generate 75,000 direct jobs.

    “Overall, we expect more than 2 lakh direct and indirect jobs via IT hardware PLI 2.0 scheme,” said the IT Minister. After the success of the PLI scheme in mobile phones manufacturing, the government has come out with PLI 2.0 scheme for the IT hardware sector that aims to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments and jobs over the coming years.

    “PLI 2.0 for IT hardware will be a catalyst for India’s $300 billion electronics manufacturing mission, an important part of India’s trillion dollar digital economy goal,” said Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

    The cabinet’s approval of IT hardware PLI 2.0 is focused on expanding India’s production and presence in the global value chains of IT hardware/servers/laptops.

    It will create additional incentives for companies to invest and set up their manufacturing base in India and also the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that incorporate Indian-designed IP into their systems and their products.

    “We are working hard to deliver on PM Narendra Modi’s vision to broaden and deepen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem to propel India to become a significant player in the Global Electronics Supply Chain and catalyze our Techade goals,” said Chandrasekhar.

    -IANS

  • DMK urges Centre to restore the name All India Radio

    DMK urges Centre to restore the name All India Radio

    CHENNAI: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday urged the Centre to withdraw its decision to change the name of All India Radio – Akashvani and to restore the name All India Radio.

    Writing to Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur, veteran DMK MP TR Baalu referred to media reports on Prasar Bharati’s direction to stop using the words ‘All India Radio’ and instead use the word ‘Akashvani’ and said the decision is not acceptable at all.

    “The sudden decision of Prasar Bharati is unwarranted. You may be knowing that for decades together English broadcasts and Regional broadcasting stations have been using the name ‘Vaanoli’, the Tamil equivalent of ‘Akashvani’. Though Prasar Bharati claims now that this is an old decision and the All India Radio Stations have been just advised to implement it. This is not proper and is not acceptable at all, ” the DMK MP said in his letter.

    “Already people in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere have started protesting the action of Prasar Bharati. Several political parties in Tamil Nadu have strongly condemned the move of Prasar Bharati to deny the rightful place of Tamil in All India Radio and impose Hindi in its place. On behalf of DMK also we sharply protest the decision of Prasar Bharati to jettison the popular name All India Radio. In the circumstances, I request you to kindly intervene in the matter and advise Prasar Bharati suitably so that the earlier practice is restored by it immediately, ” he added.

  • Center approves Rs 687 crore for better distribution of electricity in Ladakh

    Center approves Rs 687 crore for better distribution of electricity in Ladakh

    The central government has given its approval for the implementation of Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in the Union Territory of Ladakh with a sanctioned cost of Rs 687.05 crore, officials said in a PTI report.

    It is said that the Ministry of Power conveyed its approval to RDSS for implementation in Ladakh.

    In this regard, an agreement was signed between the chief engineer, Distribution, Ladakh Power Development Department (LPDD), Tsewang Paljor and executive director WAPCOS Limited A K Gahlot in the presence of administrative Secretary Power, Ladakh, Ravinder Kumar, they added.

    The scheme includes the grid connectivity of the Changthang region, downline infrastructure in the Zanskar region along with other loss reduction works in the Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh, they said.

    The Ministry of Power also approved the appointment of WAPCOS, a Government of India undertaking as the project management agency (PMA) for the implementation of RDSS in Ladakh.

    The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme aims to improve operational efficiencies and financial sustainability, by providing result-linked financial assistance to DISCOMs for strengthening supply infrastructure based on meeting pre-qualifying criteria and achieving basic minimum benchmarks.

  • Mamata Banerjee steps up offensive against Centre

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened to take her sit-in-protest to Delhi if the Centre does not clear the state’s dues. “We waited till Thursday because we thought the Centre will respond to our demand. But no leader did that. Not only in Kolkata, but we can also take our movement to Delhi. If necessary, we will hire trains to reach the national capital.

    We will stage sit-in-demonstration wherever they will stop us,” she said while addressing on the last day of her two-day dharna on Red Road in Kolkata in protest against the state’s dues from central government and misuse of central agencies. Mamata, however, did not specify any date for continuing her movement in Delhi.

    She also mentioned the opposition’s unity to derail the BJP from the Centre. “They will have to accept people’s verdict and step down. The day will come soon,” she said. The Bengal chief minister alleged the Centre is yet to clear the state’s dues to the tune of Rs 1,15,000 crore. She also accused the BJP-led Centre of showing discrimination against West Bengal.

    Elaborating on the reason behind her sit-in-demonstration, Mamata said, ‘’Many people told me I should have held dialogues with the Centre before staging the dharna. I discussed the issue with the Centre 10 times. How many times we will have to tell them.’’