Kolkata, Mar 28,2021: Barring a few sporadic incidents, the first of the eight-phase West Bengal Assembly election passed off peacefully with 80 per cent electorate exercising their franchise on Saturday, an Election Commission (EC) official here said.
New Delhi, Mar 24,2021: The Centre on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that nearly 130 people were still missing following the February 7 glacial burst in Uttarakhand and consequent floods in Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers, which left 74 dead so far.
Informing this in Lok Sabha in written reply Minister of State (MoS) for Home Nityanand Rai said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has constituted a joint study team of experts from different institutes and organisations of central and state governments to understand the causes of the flash floods in river Rishiganga and Dhauliganga, and to suggest mitigation and preparedness measures to prevent such incidents taking place in future.
The Minister said the Uttarakhand Governmnet has also constituted a committee to review the glacial natural lakes and their effects. “As per information received from the state government of Uttarakhand, 74 bodies have been recovered so far and 130 persons are still reported missing. The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the incident,” he said.
New Delhi, March 23,2021: A delegation from Pakistan reached New Delhi on Monday to hold talks with India under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty (IWT), after a gap of over two years.
The treaty warrants the two sides to meet once a year, alternately in India and Pakistan. However, the last year’s meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi was cancelled in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This will be an important meeting. We will engage with India in accordance with the Indus Water treaty. We are hopeful regarding this meeting,” Mehran Ali Shah, Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters told ANI.
During the talks, Islamabad is likely to raise objections to power projects on the Chenab River, Dawn reported.
The Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) is a bilateral commission of officials from India and Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, brokered by the World Bank. It comprises the Indus Commissioners from both sides and discusses technical matters related to the implementation of the treaty.
The last India-Pakistan PIC was held in Lahore, Pakistan in August 2018. The Indian delegation was led by PK Saxena, the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Pakistan President Ayub Khan in 1960.
The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission which includes a commissioner from each of the two countries. It also sets out a process for resolving so-called “questions”, “differences” and “disputes” that may arise between the parties.
India and Pakistan have engaged in a long outstanding water dispute over two hydroelectric projects.
Pakistan has raised objection to the building of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric plants by India, saying that it violates the provisions of the treaty. India insists on its right to build these projects and hold that their design is fully in compliance with the guidelines of the treaty.
The World Bank had asked both the countries to consider alternative ways to resolve their disagreements over the Indus Water Treaty Dispute 1960.
New Delhi, Mar 23,2021: Central government’s tax collections on petrol and diesel have jumped over 300 per cent in the last six years as excise duty on the two fuels was hiked, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
The central government collected Rs 29,279 crore from excise duty on petrol and Rs 42,881 crore on diesel in 2014-15 — the first year of office of the Modi government.
The collections on petrol and diesel rose to Rs 2.94 lakh crore in the first 10 months of the current fiscal (2020-21), according to information furnished by Minister of State Anurag Singh Thakur in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
Together with excise duty on natural gas, the central government in 2014-15 collected Rs 74,158 crore which has gone up to Rs 2.95 lakh crore in April 2020 to January 2021 period.
He said taxes collected on petrol, diesel and natural gas as a percentage of total revenue have gone up from 5.4 per cent in 2014-15 to 12.2 per cent this fiscal.
Excise duty on petrol has been raised from Rs 9.48 per litre in 2014 to Rs 32.90 a litre now while the same on diesel has gone up from Rs 3.56 a litre to Rs 31.80.
Taxes make up for 60 per cent of the present retail price of petrol of Rs 91.17 a litre in Delhi. Excise duty makes up for 36 per cent of the retail price.
Over 53 per cent of the retail selling price of Rs 81.47 a litre of diesel in Delhi is made up of taxes. As much as 39 per cent of the retail price comprises of central excise.
“The total central excise duty (including basic excise duty, cesses and surcharge) was increased by Rs 3 per litre on petrol and diesel with effect from March 14, 2020. It was further revised upwards by Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel with effect from May 6, 2020,” Thakur said.
These increases took away the gain that would have accrued to consumers from a sharp drop in international oil prices.
The hike in excise duty is similar to the increase in taxes the government did between November 2014 and January 2016.
Over nine instalments, duty on petrol rate was hiked by Rs 11.77 per litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in those 15 months.
The government had cut excise duty by Rs 2 in October 2017, and by Rs 1.50 a year later. But it raised excise duty by Rs 2 per litre in July 2019.
“The excise duty rates have been calibrated to generate resources for infrastructure and other developmental items of expenditure keeping in view the present fiscal position,” he added.
Majuli (Assam) , March 22,2021: Ahead of Assam Assembly elections, state BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said that the party will soon implement Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Speaking to ANI, Dass said: “Assam election campaign is in full swing. But top BJP leaders are keeping a distance from the issue of CAA, as after its approval from Parliament, Assam witnessed a lot of protests against the law.”
The state BJP chief in Majuli said today: “We have passed the Bill in the Parliament and we stand by it. Once the regulation for it is completed, and if we come back to power in Assam, we will implement CAA. There is no question of going back on the issue even during election time.”
Upon being questioned about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s promises that they will not allow CAA to be implemented in Assam, Ranjit Dass said: “I can bet that Rahul Gandhi doesn’t know anything about CAA. Even our booth level workers know more about CAA than Gandhi.”
“There will be no impact (of CAA) on Assembly elections and the people of Assam had earlier displayed it. When the citizenship issue was at its peak, we had participated in the panchayat polls, asking people to question us if any foreigner enters Assam. We bagged the highest number of seats in that election. CAA issue had cropped up even during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but the BJP succeeded in increasing its tally from seven to nine seats,” he pointed out.
The BJP state chief claimed that the CAA is not an issue in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state as people will vote logically, not emotionally. He said that they were convinced that not a single foreigner can illegally settle in Assam as long as the BJP is in power in the state.
Targetting Rahul Gandhi’s five guarantees to the people of Assam he said, “Congress can make any promises because they are neither in power nor they will come to power in near future. We are in government and we will again form the government after these elections. We have made promises that can be fulfilled.”
Reacting to Gandhi for promising Rs 365 wage to tea plantation workers. He said it is impossible if you will increase wages to Rs 365 all plantations in the state will close and workers will be jobless.
Assembly elections for 126 seats in Assam will be held in three phases starting from March 27 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2.
New Delhi, Mar 21,2021: The Union Ministry of Education is considering measures to attract more international students to India for higher studies.
Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare said that the criteria for institutions partnering under the ministry’s Study in India programme will soon be revised so that more institutions that have the necessary infrastructure and academic quality can join the programme.
At a review meeting of the programme with partner institutions on Friday, he also said that no distinction will be made between private and public institutions in matters of supporting internationalization.
Study in India programme aims to attract international students to higher education institutions in India. A select 117 institutions are partners under the programme that was launched in 2018. Admissions are merit-based and done through a common portal. Around 7500 students from over 50 countries have come to Indian institutions so far under this programme.
The government has also recognized the importance of creating a conducive, on- campus ecosystem for the international students, where they not only get quality academic inputs but can also feel safe, welcome, happy and hassle free.
In this regard, Secretary Khare urged all partner institutions to set up world class hostels for international students. There is a provision for financial assistance for this under the Champion Services Sector Scheme that supports the programme, which can be provided to some institutions.
In addition, there is an urgent requirement of setting up International Students’ Offices in every institution that takes in international students. This office should work as a single window support for anything that the international students may need, right from the day they get selected to join the institution.
Besides this, avenues like networks of families, mentors etc should be developed, who can help the students to socialize so that they feel welcome in the country and have an enjoyable stay here, with memories that they can cherish, and positive experience to share with others, according to a ministry statement.
In addition to this, the ministry has asked institutions that they should consider organizing orientation for international students when they join, as well as orientation for the faculty to sensitize them to teach using contexts that these students can relate to.
The ministry is also looking towards enhanced academic collaborations between Indian and international institutions under Twinning, Joint and Dual degrees with credit transfer mechanism.
The University Grants Commission has already brought out draft regulations in this regard that have currently been put up for stakeholder consultation. There regulations will give a boost to student exchange programmes and short programmes of one or two semesters.
The ministry has plans to take up the issue of allowing internship for international students with the concerned department of the government. Many of the partner institutions pointed out that the absence of internship for international students was a big drawback for any programme of higher studies in India. The Ministry will iron out other issues of concern for international students, for example visa issues.
All institutions have also been asked to activate their Alumni network and use this connect to draw more students to Indian institutions, said the statement.
New Delhi, Mar 17,2021: The Opposition Congress on Wednesday alleged that the central government was more focused towards export of Covid vaccines instead of vaccinating its own people as only 0.045 per cent of the population have been inoculated so far while over five crore doses been exported.
Initiating a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for 2021-22, Congress member Manish Tewari alleged, ‘the government is giving more importance to vaccine diplomacy by playing with the lives of the people.’Mr Tiwari claimed that neither the vaccination programme is clear and nor it is commencing properly.
He said the government is paying less attention to the health mission. Compared to last year’s budget, less amount has been allocated for the scheme this year, Mr Tiwari claimed.
Janata Dal (United) member Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan) said Covid-19 is a pandemic and should be kept away from politics.
He said on January 30 last year, the first case of COVID-19 case surfaced in the country and the government took immediate steps without any delay.
The JD(U) member stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi implemented the nationwide lockdown on March 25 last year and spread awareness among people about the virus, due to which, the impact of the pandemic was reduced.
He said it is the responsibility of all political parties not to instill fear in people about Covid-19, but to educate people about the virus and prevent its transmission.