Government policies, leadership stories and much more
India is halfway through an ambitious plan to deliver safe drinking water to all 192 million homes in 600,000 villages by 2024. Hundreds of thousands of contractors and labourers are installing more than 2.5 million miles of the pipe as part of the US$ 50 billion projects, which about 18,000 government engineers are overseeing.
According to separate notifications of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the duties have been imposed on certain flat rolled products of aluminium; sodium hydrosulphite (used on dye industry); silicone sealant (used in manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules, and thermal power applications); hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32; and hydrofluorocarbon blends (both have uses in refrigeration industry).
The Prime Minister announced that from 3rd January 2022, Monday, vaccination will start for the children in the age group of 15-18 years. The move is likely to aid in education normalization in schools and will reduce the worry of the parents with school going children. He also announced precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers from 10th January 2022, Monday.
150 million dollars were allocated for the reconstruction in housing sector, 100 million as grant and 50 million in the form of Line of Credit. It has helped in the construction of 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts of Nepal. The GoI has appointed UNDP and UNOPS as socio technical facilitation consultants for Gorkha and Nuwakot district in 2018.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on Wednesday has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India(ICAI) and the Polish Chamber of Statutory Auditors (PIBR) to establish mutual co-operation in the areas of Member Management, Professional Ethics, Technical Research, CPD, Professional Accountancy Training, Audit Quality Monitoring, Advancement of Accounting Knowledge, Professional and Intellectual Development.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today urged political leadership, bureaucracy and industry leadership to focus their initiatives to reduce compliance burden, on principles of simplicity and timely delivery of services.
At an event here on Tuesday, Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi delivered Rs 1000 crore (US$ 132 million) to the bank accounts of self-help groups, benefiting roughly 16 lakh women.
In a closely coordinated effort between intelligence agencies and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry on Monday ordered the blocking of 20 channels on YouTube and 2 websites spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news on the internet. Vide two separate orders – one for 20 YouTube channels directing YouTube, and the other for 2 news websites, requesting Department of Telecom to direct the internet service providers for blocking of the news channels/portals.
After a brief debate in which some opposition members urged that it be submitted to a parliamentary commission, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, led by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, was passed by voice vote.
Alarmed at the growing danger from cyberattacks and threats to national security, the government is in the process of setting up a unified national-level cyber security task force with a special focus on the risks emanating from the telecom sector
