Bengaluru, Aug 9,2021: BJP Karnataka’s Economic Cell State Convener Dr Samir Kagalkar said the formation of a new cooperation ministry will help achieve the $5 trillion mark by 2025 as it will give a major boost to the growth of the agriculture sector.
“The step of moving to the 5 trillion USD-mark by 2025 and to the 10 tTrillion USD economy status by 2030, will be impossible without the growth in the agricultural sector,” Kagalkar said in the state party unit’s blog.
Sadly, the agriculture sector was still put in chains by the Congress government when the entire country was a beneficiary of the reforms since 1991, he lamented.
Just about 17 percent of India’s GDP is contributed by agriculture, on which over 57 per cent of people depend, Kagalkar said.
“The inference is very clear, that unless there is a massive improvement in efficiency & productivity in the farm sector, the country as a whole cannot move to the prosperity level,” he said.
Only through economic prosperity can India root out poverty, bring in lots of social welfare measures for the needy, strengthen national security for a peaceful progress, Kagalkar said.
“In this regard, PM Narendra Modi has adopted the twin strategies of ease of doing business and ease of living,” he added.
To massively improve efficiency, the farm sector had to be liberalized, Kagalkar said.
In this regard, the Modi government came out with the truly historic agricultural reforms in 2019, liberalizing the sector and therefore enabling them to reap the benefits of reforms, Kagalkar said.
One of the key enablers to help the farm sector open up and benefit is the need for strong cooperation-based competition, he said.
To achieve this, the Modi government has announced massive subsidies, financial and other help to kick-start ten thousand FPOs that will act as the common platform based on cooperation to achieve their individual interests, he said.
The agricultural sector requires strong support from the government, to bring them at par with the other two sectors. And, it can be done by bringing in a new cooperation ministry, Kagalkar said.
Chennai , August 6,2021: Tamil Nadu Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments PK Sekar Babu launched the Tamil Archanai scheme at Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore, Chennai on Thursday.
While talking to the media, Sekar Babu said that the scheme was launched on the advice of Chief Minister MK Stalin and will initially be launched in 47 major temples across the state.
The minister also added that the present system of chanting archanai mantras in Sanskrit would not be disturbed.
“The present system of chanting archanai mantras in Sanskrit will not be disturbed in any manner. Only a few selected priests will chant these mantras in Tamil based on wishes of the devotee,” said Sekar Babu.
New Delhi , August 6,2021: Responding to a question on provision for providing relief amount for Sikhs who were victims of 1984 riots, the Union Minority Affairs Ministry on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha said that the Government of India has introduced a rehabilitation package to provide relief to victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots.
While responding to Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Santosh Pandey’s question in the Lower House of Parliament, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated that the scheme contained ex-gratia payment of Rs 3.5 lakh for each death case and Rs 1.25 lakh in case of injuries.
The Union Minister further stated that the scheme also contained a provision for State Governments to grant pension to widows and old aged parents of death victims at the uniform rate of Rs 2500 per month, for whole life. The expenditure on payment of pension was to be borne by the State Government, he added.
According to the Minister, in 2014, the Government of India introduced a scheme for grant of enhanced relief of Rs 5 lakh per deceased person, who died during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots.
Naqvi stated that in the Union Budget-2021-22, a provision of Rs 4.5 crore has been made for payment of enhanced compensation to the next of kin of deceased of 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots.
For payment of enhanced ex-gratia amount, the States/UTs would disburse the money from their own funds and the Ministry of Home Affairs would reimburse the amount to the concerned State/UT Government on receipt of utilization certificate, said the Union Minister.
New Delhi , August3,2021: The present percentage of blending of biodiesel in diesel is less than 0.1 per cent, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Monday and noted that National Policy on Biofuels, 2018 prescribes as indicative target of 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameshwar Teli said in a written reply that the government has taken various steps towards achieving 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol.
These include allowing use of sugarcane and foodgrains (maize and surplus stocks of rice with Food Corporation of India) for conversion to ethanol, administered price mechanism for procurement of ethanol under EBP Programme including the enhanced ex-mill price of ethanol year-on-year from ethanol supply year 2017.
The measures also include lowering GST rate to 5 per cent on ethanol for EBP Programme, amending Industries (Development & Regulation) Act for free movement of ethanol, interest subvention scheme for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol production capacity in the country.
He said the average ethanol blending percentage in petrol for the ethanol supply year 2020-21 is eight per cent as on July 26 this year.
“The present percentage of blending of biodiesel in diesel is less than 0.1 per cent. The National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, prescribes as indicative target of 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030,” he said.
The minister said that availability of biodiesel has been low in the last few years due to the increase of price and non-availability of feedstock for biodiesel.
Some biodiesel is also being marketed by agencies other than oil marketing companies.
“To increase the supply of biodiesel in the country, OMCs are regularly floating Expression of Interest (EoI) to encourage the production of biodiesel from used cooking oil,” he said.
Washington [US], July 28,2021: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday has scaled down India’s growth to 9.5 per cent for the current financial year from 12.5 per cent estimated earlier in April.
As per the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released by IMF, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection is at 9.5 per cent for 2021-22.
It has also revised the GDP growth for FY 2022-23 to 8.5 per cent.
The IMF has projected the global economy to grow at 6 per cent in 2021 and 4.9 per cent in 2022.
“The IMF projects the global economy to grow at 6 per cent in 2021 and 4.9 per cent in 2022. The recovery remains uneven across regions, depending on access to vaccines. More in the updated World Economic Outlook,” IMF said in a tweet.
The IMF projected China to grow at 8.1 and 5.7 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.
India witnessed a strong second wave of COVID-19 earlier this year.
The report said that vaccine access has emerged as the principal fault line along which the global recovery has splits into two blocs: those that can look forward to further normalization of activity later this year (almost all advanced economies) and those that will still face resurgent infections and rising COVID death tolls.
New Delhi , July 28,2021: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examinations (JNUEE) for the academic session 2021-22 will be held from September 20 to September 23, announced the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday night.
As per the circular issued by NTA, the online registration for JNUEE began on Tuesday and the submission of the application form will end on August 27, up to 5:00 pm, while the applicants are allowed to complete the submission of the exam fee online till 11.50 pm on the same day.
The examinations will be conducted via computer-based test and all papers will have multiple-choice questions. The medium of papers will be only English, except for the language courses.
Candidates who desire to appear in JNUEE-2021 may apply online only at https://jnuexams.nta.ac.in during the specified period.
Informing about the entrance process, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Vice-Chancellor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said the University has worked closely with NTA and worked out the schedule for the JNU entrance exam to be held during September 20 and 23.
“Once the results are announced, the university will make sure that the admission process will take place without any delay. In all the programs, where viva is part of the admission process, it will be held in online mode so that applicants do not have to travel during these difficult times. The University will be open to the admitted students as and when the government permits us to open the educational institutes,” said the Vice-Chancellor.
Jul,25,2021: The Delhi High Court has said that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) cannot insist on the physical or virtual presence of both the spouses for processing Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card applications for one of them.
The high court’s order came while asking FRRO to accept the OCI card application of an Iranian woman, who has been living separately in Bengaluru after her relationship with her husband, an Indian citizen, turned sour.
The woman, in her plea, said their marriage was solemnised in Dubai, U.A.E, in May 2009. Shortly after they consummated the marriage, she relocated to Bengaluru at her husband’s insistence.
However, as their relationship soured, the woman said her husband left her in Bengaluru, to reside with his family in Goa.
On November 14, 2020, the woman generated her application for an OCI card on the basis of her marriage, and went to submit it to the local FRRO in Bengaluru. However, the officials refused to accept the form stating that the presence of her husband was requisite for processing her application.
‘Marriage is proof’
The woman submitted that once her marriage with an Indian citizen since 2009 has been proved and is an undisputed fact, the same should be enough to merit grant of an OCI card in her name.
On the other hand, the Centre’s counsel argued that unless her spouse comes forward at the time of making the OCI card application, the FRRO cannot even consider the same. The counsel sought to rely on a checklist prescribed by the FRRO for submission of the OCI card application.
Justice Palli, however, pointed out that the provision in the Visa Manual “merely makes it requisite for all OCI applicants to be present for a personal interview, either physically or through video conferencing”.
“…Given that there is no rule or guideline which mandates the presence of both the spouses at the time of making application for an OCI card, it is surprising that the Checklist was formulated in a manner to impose such a condition,” Justice Palli observed.
“Thus, the very imposition of such a requirement on OCI card applicants, being unsupported by any Rule/Formal Guideline, cannot be permitted to operate,” Justice Palli said while directing the FRRO to process the woman’s OCI card application in accordance with law within a period of six weeks.
New Delhi, Jul 23,2021: The Centre on Thursday said that there is no proposal for restoration of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) which had been suspended last year in the wake of pressure on government finances due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its meeting held on 6th April, 2020 decided not to operate MPLADS for two years — FY21 and FY22. The funds under the scheme were left at the disposal of the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
“The funds saved from the MPLAD Scheme and cuts from MP’s salary have been utilized to enhance the allocation of funds for improving health infrastructure, provide free ration under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, and free vaccination,” said the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
“At present, there is no such proposal for restoration of MPLADS,” he added.
Apart from suspending the MPLADS, the salaries of MPs had also been cut last year by passing “The Salary Allowances and pension of Members of Parliament Amendment Bill of 2020″ to meet the exigencies arising out of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
New Delhi, Jul 22,2021: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of an Integrated Multi-purpose Infrastructure Development Corporation for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
‘The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the establishment of an Integrated Multi-purpose Infrastructure Development Corporation for the Union Territory of Ladakh,’ an official statement said.
The Cabinet also approved the creation of one post of Managing Director, for the corporation in the pay scale of Rs 1,44,200- Rs 2,18,200 level.
The authorised share capital of the Corporation will be Rs 25 crore and recurring expenditure will be around Rs 2.42 crore per year. It is a new establishment. Presently, there is no such similar organisation within the newly formed UT of Ladakh, the statement said.
The approval has an inherent potential for employment generation as the corporation will be undertaking various kinds of developmental activities.
The Corporation will work for industry, tourism, transport and marketing of local products and handicraft. The Corporation will also work as main construction agency for infrastructure development in Ladakh.
The establishment of corporation will result in inclusive and integrated development of the Union Territory of Ladakh. This will, in turn, ensure socio-economic development of the entire region and population of the Union Territory.
The impact of development will be multi-dimensional. It will help in further development of human resources and better utilisation thereof. It increases domestic production of goods and services and will facilitate their smooth supply. Thus, the approval will help in realising the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat.