NEW DELHI: To usher in greater ease of doing business, the government has taken steps to rein in the notorious "inspector raj". In an advisory to all ministries which is aimed to check fishing expeditions by inspectors, the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has said no inspection of business premises and factories should be done unless it is approved by the head of the department.
NEW DELHI: Coal India Ltd started production on Friday at a 12-million-tonnes-per-year mine, its first major new project in at least five years, which should help boost supplies to fuel-starved power plants.
The world's biggest Coal miner has struggled to raise output fast enough to meet rising demand from power companies, making India the world's third-largest coal importer despite sitting on the fifth-biggest reserves.
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Central Coalfields Chairman Gopal Singh said the opening of the mine, its first in decades, was fast-tracked on the orders of new Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, who took charge about 45 days ago.
"The minister has given us strict orders to raise output," Singh said at an event where Goyal inaugurated the mine from a New Delhi hotel using video conferencing.
Goyal said many more such projects were needed to help India provide power to all, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in May won India's strongest election mandate in 30 years on promises of growth.
In a significant development, China today invited India to attend a summit of Asia and Pacific (APEC) leaders as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jin Ping and discussed various issues including the need to resolve the boundary question in an amicable manner.
The two leaders, who arrived almost at the same time here last evening for attending the BRICS summit, engaged shortly thereafter for what was described as "good discussions and good meeting".
The meeting was scheduled for 40 minutes but it went on for 80 as it was freewheeling discussion without any constraints.
The two leaders appeared well prepared for the meeting as both of them referred to the statements made by the other before they assumed power, Akbaruddin said. He quoted Xi as saying that "when India and China meet the world watches us".
President Xi in particular referred to Modi's experience in Gujarat as Chief Minister and his focus on development.
The discussions centred around all aspects of the bilateral relations, regional and international matters, he said.
The surprise invitation for the APEC summit as part of partnership and engagement came in the context of the two leaders discussing the need for the two countries to work together in international fora like BRICS and other fora.
Even as the Centre holds consultations with stakeholders to amend various contentious labour legislation, the NDA regime has decided to strike at the much-dreaded inspector raj introducing a new inspection system that will shield business establishments against frequent harassment and rent-seeking.
Under the new system, which is likely to come in force from September, inspectors will not be authorised to visit factories or business units unless there exists a “prima facie evidence” of wrong-doing. Besides, if the inspectors fail to upload their inspection report within 72 hours on a unified portal, which is being developed, it will “not be deemed legitimate”, according to sources.
To this end, the ministry of labour and employment is also developing a single unified web portal for online registration of units, reporting of inspections, submissions of annual returns and redressal of grievances. To start with, it has identified 16 of the 44 labour laws administered by the ministry. Each of them will have a Central Analysis and Intelligence Unit (CAIU). If there is any complaint against any business establishment, the respective CAIU will first go through it and only if there is prima facie evidence of any violation that inspectors will be authorised to carry out an inspection.
“The advantage of the new system is that it will restrain inspectors from carrying out random and wilful inspections on the basis of frivolous complaints. If an aggrieved party feels that he or she is being harassed for minor violations, they can ask why they have been picked up for inspection. They can take recourse to the Right to Information Act and find out how many other establishments were targeted or not targeted for the same,” official sources told The Indian Express.
Earlier, there was no timeframe for the inspectors to submit the inspection report, which gave some of them an opportunity to arm-twist the employers. Now they have to upload their report within a specified period and its veracity or the lack of it will have a bearing on the annual performance appraisal of the inspectors, said sources.
A LONG list of additional train stoppages, mostly cleared after pressure from local MPs, costs the Railways department about Rs 1 crore daily. Now, the cash-strapped ministry has decided to scrap as many as 1,250 such stoppages across the country.
While the ministry has told Parliament that the stoppages are being reviewed, sources confirmed that these will cease to exist by September.
An internal costing exercise done as part of the Rail Budget found that each additional stop was costing the Railways about Rs 8,000 on account of fuel and other operational expenses. On the other hand, the Railways was earning less than Rs 500 per stoppage.
The net revenue loss per year was estimated to add up to a whopping Rs 300 crore. The ministry’s bookkeepers unofficially refer to these stoppages as “silent killers”.
Trains linking Bihar and Kerala are among those which have the highest number of such stoppages. Of the total 2,400 such stoppages, 1,250 have been listed as commercially “unwanted and unaffordable”.
These stoppages were generally approved after MPs cited demand from residents. Most of these MPs have not been re-elected. Many of them had agreed that the stoppage would be cancelled if it did not have the desired effect on ticket sales.
“For many politicians, getting a train to stop at stations of their choice served as a mark of their clout. So if they didn’t get projects or trains or other sops for their constituencies, they asked for at least a stoppage,” said a senior Railways official.
The ministry had asked its zonal chief operations managers to justify the continuance of these stoppages. However, some stoppages which are “socially desirable” despite being commercially unviable will remain.
According to Bloomberg Global Poll, India offers one of the best investment opportunities among eight of the biggest markets worldwide
Two Indians were released in April, 2014. Following an intervention by Ms. Swaraj earlier this month, their employers dropped charges. The remaining detainees were sent back without any of their belongings or remaining wages. Haroon’s family has not even received the life insurance payment of around Rs. 50 lakhs. The survivors now want to press charges against the Saudi Government in the Supreme Court.
“There are 70 more Indians languishing there for years. I will raise it in Parliament. Their (Saudi) Islam does not evoke mercy or compassion,” Mr. Ansari told this paper. “There are not enough garlands in this world for Ansari sahib and Sushma ji. Even if we get palaces we shall never go there (Arabia) again,” said a choked Naushad. Others nod in agreement.
Major changes are in the offing in the way the PM’s National Relief Fund is managed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday directed that the Gujarat model should be emulated in selection of beneficiaries, giving priority to the poor and children.
Modi reviewed the functioning of the Relief Fund (PMNRF) and suggested several qualitative changes in the way the fund is managed, a PMO statement said.
Referring to the Gujarat model, he directed that the election of beneficiaries should be done in a more comprehensive, scientific and humanitarian basis, giving priority to children, poor and cases from government hospitals, the statement said.
Cases involving life-threatening diseases should be accorded priority and applications should be decided on need and merit, the Prime Minister added.
He also directed that pendency in appeals for help should be minimised and the draw to select the cases should be conducted in a manner that does not leave out any genuine case.
It was decided that a letter from the Prime Minister should be sent to all beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries whose appeals have been approved for grant of relief will be informed through an SMS alert, it said.
There is little doubt that union transport minister Nitin Gadkari is on a work high. He has now acquired software which will allow cars, across India, to drive through toll plazas without any wait.
Speaking to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, Gadkari said car owners will need to buy a chip from banks or approved vendors and stick it on the windshield of the car. When the car passes through the toll plaza, money will be deducted automatically. This scheme will be implemented in three months.
Gadkari also says that he is about to issue the orders to convert the roofs of all toll plazas into solar panels so that toll plazas can generate electricity for their own needs.
Signaling the end of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics' monopoly in the domestic aerospace arena, the Modi government on Saturday gave the formal nod for the Indian private sector to tie up with a foreign collaborator to supply 56 transport aircraft to the IAF.
TOI on Wednesday had reported that the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley, would clear the proposed Rs 13,000 crore project in its meeting on Saturday.
The project had been put on hold by the previous UPA regime after the then heavy industries & public enterprises minister Praful Patel and the strong PSU lobby in October 2013 had vehemently opposed the move to virtually keep state-run units like HAL and BEML out of the mega programme.
But brushing all this aside, Jaitley on Saturday said the project, under which the selected foreign aviation company will partner with an Indian Production Agency (IPA), would help make the Indian private sector "a player" in aircraft-manufacturing and lead to "capacity-building" domestically.
The newly elected India government of Narendra Modi has announced a suite of initiatives for solar energy across the country that will be partly funded by a doubling of the tax on coal.
Modi – a long time supporter of solar – has promised a “saffron” revolution that will include ambitious targets for small, large and off-grid solar and a switch away from an assumed reliance on coal as the country seeks to deliver on its momentous task of bringing electricity to the entire country.
Modi-solar_1769999fIn its first budget announced this week, Modi’s government announced funding for a series of “ultra mega” solar PV farms to be located in four Indian deserts, in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The government also launched a scheme for 100,000 solar power driven agricultural pump sets and water pumping stations in off grid areas.
It has also announced plans to dramatically extend a plan to cover canals with a series of 1MW solar farms, using availabl space to generate electricity and to reduce evaporation.
And it has also announced tax cuts and excise exemptions for arrange of solar components and machinery to help reduce the cost of domestic manufacturing of solar PV cells and modules.
This is considered crucial if the government is going to meet the ambitious 20,000MW of solar by 2022 under the previous government’s National Solar Mission program.
The new Government has prepared a dossier on lobbyists. In India, they could be arms dealers, middlemen, fixers and other shadowy figures who hang out in the lounges of five-star hotels and exclusive clubs of New Delhi waiting for the kill. Their presence at these privileged zones seems to have diminished. Nor are these men in their Armanis seen swaggering past Delhi’s corridors of power with sleek briefcases, or darting back to their luxury cars after dropping by at the ministerial offices of friends. For the time being, they seem to have crawled back to inactivity.
In a big departure, a top-bracket industrialist couldn’t meet a young minister recently for a private chat because the instructions of Prime Minister Modi forbade him from doing so. By Modi’s diktat, ministers must treat corporate leaders with respect and meet them in their offices, not at residences or hotels. The billionaire tycoon finally met a senior Cabinet minister, but in his office, and in the presence of bureaucrats. “No, we are not anti-corporate. On the other hand, we are pro-business but not pliable to machinations by top industrial houses, like the UPA Government used to be,” says a minister who adds that the NDA Government isn’t merely posturing here “to prove any point” but “is genuinely committed towards” creating an investor-friendly environment without interference and rule-flouting by big industrialists.
Overturning a policy of selectively granting aviation licences to applicants, the civil aviation ministry has approved six new airlines.
The move could result in as many as eight new airlines taking to the skies this fiscal year, including Tata Sons Ltd’s low-cost joint venture (JV) with Air Asia Bhd that has already started flights and its premium JV with Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), expected to launch operations in October.
Three of the new approvals are for national airlines.
The move is likely to stoke competition, leading to lower fares for consumers, and at the same time improve connectivity across the country.
NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government has proposed a sweeping change in ensuring product quality and that substandard goods are compulsorily withdrawn. Items that are defective will be subject to mandatory recall and, in return, the government will end the inspector raj on standards. Service providers such as doctors, restaurants, railways will also have to follow certain standards to ensure service quality as part of this shift.
The proposed change will allow the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to evolve as a National Standards Body for goods and services with emphasis on self-certification and market surveillance instead of inspectors visiting factories. "It is very important to harmonise standards with those practices internationally... We have to move in that line," a senior government official told ET. Towards this end, the government is planning far-reaching amendments to the Bureau of Indian Standards Act that will give it more teeth to ensure quality products reach consumers, the official said.
New Delhi: For the first time in the history of the Indian Administrative Services, two IAS officers Arvind Joshi and Tinoo Joshi have been dismissed from service by the government, four years after an income-tax search on their house led to the detection of disproportionate assets worth Rs 350 crore and recovery of Rs 3 crores in cash.
Arvind and Tinoo Joshi were dismissed from service by the government a day after receiving the go-ahead from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said sources. Their properties were found to 3,151% more than their legal source of income.
MUMBAI: After nearly a decade of delay, the Navi Mumbai airport project has finally taken off. The civil aviation ministry has set the process of inviting tenders for the airport's construction into motion by clearing the revised tender document Cidco had prepared.
The new government moved swiftly to okay the document, and what could not be accomplished in years was done over a weekend, officials said. The plan to construct the Navi Mumbai airport was first mooted in 1998. In 2000, the project cost was pegged at Rs 5,000 crore. Today, it is Rs 14,575 crore. In early 2013, Cidco had submitted the initial draft of the tender document they had prepared for inviting bids. In March this year, they submitted the revised draft to the UPA government. Then, on Friday, they met the new civil aviation minister and resubmitted the revised draft. Cidco babus were in for a surprise when three days later, on Monday, the ministry cleared it.
350 Crore..Are the numbers correct ? Mind boggling numbers for IAS officers.Shamlee wrote:Administration
23 July 2014
For the first time in the history, IAS officers sacked in disproportionate assets case
New Delhi: For the first time in the history of the Indian Administrative Services, two IAS officers Arvind Joshi and Tinoo Joshi have been dismissed from service by the government, four years after an income-tax search on their house led to the detection of disproportionate assets worth Rs 350 crore and recovery of Rs 3 crores in cash.
Arvind and Tinoo Joshi were dismissed from service by the government a day after receiving the go-ahead from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said sources. Their properties were found to 3,151% more than their legal source of income.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a web platform - MyGov - which will allow common man and experts from different fields to reach out to the government with their ideas a nd suggestions.
The web platform - http://www.mygov.nic.in- is devised in such a way that it allows the citizens to discuss their ideas with experts within and outside the government and even earn "credit points" for the tasks which would eventually be approved for implementation by concerned departments\agencies.
Govt dissolves Khadi commission
NEW DELHI, JULY 27:
The Government has dissolved the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) with effect from July 24, 2014.
“As per the provisions of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, all members including the Chairman shall vacate their office as members/Chairman of the Commission with immediate effect,” said a release issued by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) issued here on July 25.
All the properties and funds which, immediately before the dissolution on July 24, 2014, were in the possession of KVIC shall now vest in the Central Government, the release added.
Last week, Devendrakumar R Desai, a veteran Gandhian, had resigned as Chairman of KVIC “on moral grounds”, according to a PTI report. Desai had told the news agency that he had resigned “on moral grounds after the formation of new Government at the Centre, to give it the chance to appoint a new Chairman”.
He was appointed as KVIC Chairman in November 2012 by the UPA Government.
Generating jobs
According to the MSME Ministry, KVIC has been dissolved to revamp the institution and make it “more professionally competent, effective and efficient body for the development and promotion of khadi and village industries and for generation of more employment opportunities in the rural non-farm sector.”
Incidentally, after taking over from the NDA in 2004, the UPA Government too had issued a release dissolving KVIC, citing almost similar reasons, i.e. “to make it more professionally competent, effective and efficient for the development and promotion of khadi and village industries as also for the generation of more employment opportunities in the rural non-farm sector.”
The then Chairman, Mahesh Sharma, an NDA appointee, had to quit.
Last week, in a written reply to Parliament, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra had informed the House that a detailed study of the khadi sector had been assigned to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2008 by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) on the basis of a concept note prepared by KVIC.
The study had formulated a scheme to revitalise the sector, after which the UPA Government started the Khadi Reforms and Development Programme, which is being implemented with assistance of $150 million from the Asian Development Bank.
Recently, the Minister also held a review meeting on khadi and village industries and asked the KVIC to come out with a time-bound action plan to revitalise the sector.
(This article was published on July 27, 2014)
The Central government has set September 15 as the deadline for all government servants to declare their assets and liabilities.
As per the notified rules under the Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts, it is mandatory for all public servants to declare their assets and liabilities as on March 31 every year on or before July 31 of that year. The employees need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent children.
Government sources said that orders were issued for giving some more time to ‘babus’ for declaring the same as the conduct rules for different services and ranks were yet to be finalized.
The assets declarations by the Central government employees will be put in public domain.
Amid concerns over extinction of of indigenous cattle breeds, the government today launched 'Rashtriya Gokul Mission' with an outlay of Rs 500 crore to be implemented in the ongoing 12th Five Year Plan for protection, preservation and conservation of the indegenous breeds.
India’s armed forces top brass are a happier lot since the Narendra Modi government took over and have been gushing over the “decisiveness” of the NDA government at meetings and during private conversations.
The latest to do so, that too publicly, was Army chief General Bikram Singh at a farewell tea hosted by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley last week.
At the get-together of all top officials from the ministry above the Joint Secretary rank and senior officials from the armed forces, Singh told in presence of Jaitley, that he was “very happy” with the quick decision-making capabilities of the Defence Minister and the government’s political leadership. “During the brief time-period in which I worked with the new government, I was impressed with the decisiveness that was shown,” he was quoted as saying at the farewell by Ministry officials.
Just days ahead of the farewell meeting, Singh’s Navy counterpart Admiral Rabindra Kumar Dhowan was “very impressed” with the manner in which Jaitley had conducted his first-ever Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting, on a Saturday, when the government offices are usually closed.
The first DAC meeting under Jaitley’s chairmanship cleared the Rs. 15,000-crore tendering process for 56-plane project to replace the ageing fleet of Air Force’s Avros transport aircraft.
This apart, the DAC in its meeting a week ago, also cleared procurement proposals worth Rs. 21,000 crore, including the supply of 32 HAL-built Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv’ to the Coast Guard and the Navy at a cost of Rs. 7,000 crore. The two maritime forces would get 16 Dhruvs each under the supply order.
Industry has blamed India's outdated labour laws as a hindrance to growth. The Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto promised to bring together stakeholders to "review our labour laws, which are outdated, complicated and even contradictory".
August 1, the mothers of Baramulla will heave a sigh of relief as their children can now stop going to Srinagar and elsewhere for higher secondary studies. Behind the local Kendriya Vidyalaya starting classes for Std XI and XII students is a tale of quick, decisive action by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Of late Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being accused of not saying much in public, with some critics even calling him “mauni baba”. But the people of Uri town, 18 km from Baramulla on the river Jhelum, are not complaining. They think Modi’s actions speak louder than anything he can say.
Prime Minister Modi’s work resounds here as for the first the time, a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Baramulla district will start classes for standard 11 and 12 students.
And it’s PM Modi’s unique style of governance that Power Minister Piyush Goel is raving about.
On July 4, around 11.30 am he landed at the helipad in Baramulla district of Kashmir valley, where Modi was to arrive shortly to inaugurate the 240-Megawatt Uri-II hydro electric project. Meanwhile, the young and energetic Goel started talking to a few locals, among them women. They complained to Goel that their children went to a hostel in Srinagar from class seven or eight onwards as the district didn’t have any Kendriya Vidyalaya for standard 11 and 12 students. The mothers of Baramulla found it very worrisome to send away their teenage kids to Srinagar, which is almost a three-hour drive. The local school, which only has up to standard 10, is funded by a power PSU.
On learning this Goel, image, left, immediately called up Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on her mobile phone and proposed that his ministry will pick up the expenses if Irani can permit the addition of two more standards in the current Kendriya Vidyalaya in Baramulla.
Smriti told him, “Give me five minutes,” as the HRD secretary was in a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary in New Delhi just then.
Within an hour or so Smriti Irani called back Goel and said that her department will make all the arrangements and the school can start immediately once Modi gave the go-ahead.
Modi arrived at the helipad in Baramulla at 3.30 pm. Goel told him about the concerns of the mothers of the area and requested the PM, “If you approve, then we can start the school for 11 and 12 standards.”
Modi asked his staff to make a few calls to New Delhi and talked to some senior officials about the standard operating procedure in such cases. He set the ball rolling and by 4.15 pm Modi himself announced in Uri that the local Kendriya Vidyalaya will start admitting students to standards XI and XII from this year on.
Goel could not believe that Modi will act so fast and that things will change for the children and mothers of Baramulla so quickly. The admission process started a week after Modi left the town.
On August 1, Friday, for the first time ever, standard 11 and 12 classes will be conducted in Baramulla. So far 11 children have taken admission for the new academic year but once the school starts functioning, it is expected that many more students will return from Srinagar and other places where they are currently studying.
NEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh has implemented what PM Narendra Modi promised during campaigning five months ago.
Modi had promised deportation of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and rehabilitation of those who fled to India because of religious persecution. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has implemented the latter part of his promise by rehabilitating over 5,000 Bangladeshis who belonged to the 'minority' community in the neighbouring country.
They have been given citizenship, ration cards, shelter and employment, the state informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Though it did not reveal their religious identity, sources said there were no Muslims among them.
National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC), an ISO 9001 certified company, since its establishment in 1955, has been working to fulfill its mission of promoting, aiding and fostering the growth of small scale industries and industry related small scale services/business enterprises in the country. Over a period of five decades of transition, growth and development, NSIC has proved its strength within the country and abroad by promoting modernization, upgradation of technology, quality consciousness, strengthening linkages with large medium enterprises and enhancing exports - projects and products from small industries.
NSIC operates through 10 Zonal Offices, 61 Branch Offices, 50 NSIC Business Development Extension Offices, 7 Technical services Centres and 2 Software Technology Parks supported by a team of over 500 professionals spread across the country. To manage operations in African countries, NSIC operates from its office in Johannesburg.
NSIC carries forward its mission to assist small enterprises with a set of specially tailored schemes designed to put them in a competitive and advantageous position. The schemes comprise of facilitating marketing support, credit support, technology support and other support services.
NSIC carries forward its mission to assist small enterprises with a set of specially tailored schemes designed to put them in a competitive and advantageous position. The schemes comprise of facilitating marketing support, credit support, technology support and other support services.
Marketing
Marketing, a strategic tool for business development, is critical to the growth and survival of small enterprises in today's intensely competitive market. NSIC acts as a facilitator to promote small industries products and has devised a number of schemes to support small enterprises in their marketing efforts, both in an outside the country. These schemes are briefly described as under:
Consortia and Tender Marketing
Small Enterprises in their individual capacity face problems to procure & execute large orders, which inhibit and restrict their growth. NSIC, accordingly adopts Consortia approach and forms consortia of units manufacturing the same products, thereby easing out marketing problems of SSIs. The Corporation explores the market and secures orders for bulk quantities. These orders are then distributed to small units in tune with their production capacity. Testing facilities are also provided to enable units to improve and maintain the quality of their products conforming to the standard specifications.
Single point Registration for Government Purchase
NSIC operates a single Point Registration Scheme under the Government Purchase Programme, wherein the registered SSI units get purchase preference in Government purchase programme, exemption from payment of Earnest Money Deposit etc.
Issue of tender sets free of cost.
Advance intimation of tenders issued by DGS&D.
Exemption from payment of earnest money.
Waiver of security deposit up to the monetary limit for which the unit is registered.
Issue of competency certificate in case the value of an order exceeds the monetary limit, after due verification.
Exhibitions and Technology Fairs
To showcase the competencies of Indian SSIs and to capture market opportunities, NSIC participates in select International and National Exhibitions and Trade Fairs every year. NSIC facilitates the participation of the small enterprises by providing concessions in rental etc. Participation in these events exposes SSI units to international practices and enhances their business prowess.
Buyer-Seller meets
Bulk and departmental buyers such as the Railways, Defence, Communication departments and large companies are invited to participate in buyer-seller meets to enrich SSI unit's knowledge regarding terms and conditions, quality standards, etc required by the buyer. These programmes are aimed at vendor development from SSI units for the bulk manufacturers.
Export of Products and Projects
NSIC is a recognized Export House and exporting products and projects of small industries of India to other countries. The major areas of operation are:
Export of products such as handicrafts, leather items, hand tools, pipes/fittings, builder's hardware etc.
Supply of Small Industry projects on turnkey basis.
Credit Support:
NSIC facilitates credit requirements of small enterprises in the following areas
Financing for procurement of Raw Material (Short term)
NSIC's Raw Material Assistance Scheme aims at helping Small Scale Industries/ Enterprises by way of financing the purchase of Raw Material (both indigenous & imported). The salient features are
Financial Assistance for procurement of Raw Materials upto 90 days.
Bulk purchase of basic raw materials at competitive rates.
NSIC facilitates import of scares raw materials.
NSIC takes care of all the procedures, documentation & issue of letter of credit in case of imports.
Financing for Marketing Activities (Short term)
NSIC facilitates financing for marketing actives such as Internal Marketing, Exports and Bill Discounting.
Much like in government, the winds of change are blowing in the corridors of Parliament. After a deadlock of nearly three years, there is a flurry of activity on the floor of the House. In the last three weeks, the 16th Lok Sabha recorded a productivity of 103%, in sharp contrast to the 15th Lok Sabha that worked for only 61% of the scheduled time.
The remarkable jump can also be partly explained by the brute majority the NDA government enjoys in the lower House.
It is the first-time lawmakers who are leading the charge. In 2014, participation of first-time MPs in the debate on demand for grants increased by 58% with 158 first-timers speaking on the subject as compared to 100 in 2009.
Analysis by independent body PRS Legislative Research reveals an increase of 41% in participation by new MPs in discussing the railway budget. Interest in the general budget was also high with 26% more participation by legislators in 2014 as opposed to 2009.
In all, participation by first time MPs has gone up by 38.5% as compared to veterans whose participation has increased by 27% between 2009 and 2014.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on an official visit to Nepal offered a line of $1 billion credit to the Himalayan nation, a minister said Sunday.
The fund is for road and hydro-power projects, Nepalese Finance Minister Ram Saran Mahat briefed the media.
The NDA government wants to speed up its agenda of deporting lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi nationals staying in the country by asking every state to build detention centres.
In a recent consultation meeting of nodal officers from all states, the Union home ministry also tasked them to identify and mark Bangladeshis who have been overstaying in their area. There are two categories of illegal migrants — those who overstay on a valid visa and those who migrate illegally across the 4,096.7-km international border.
"We had a meeting this month with state government officials and it was agreed that every state should have a detention centre. The states will spend on setting up the centres," a senior home ministry official said.
Last year 5,234 Bangladeshi nationals who overstayed on their visas, were deported. While the number of migrants who cross over illegally is unknown, the government estimates it to be around 1.5 crore. Thus far, very few states and UTs have constructed such centres. Assam has three detention centres, Delhi has two while West Bengal and Gujarat have one each.
The BJP owes its recent success in the North East, especially in Assam where it got 7 of 14 Lok Sabha seats, thanks to its anti-illegal Bangladeshi plank. The illegal Bangladeshi migrants issue has become big in the northeast after BJP made it an electoral agenda in 2014 general elections.
The proposal had been pending for several years as it was first mooted by the Commerce Ministry during the previous UPA government. However, the then Defence Minister AK Antony had blocked it, citing national security concerns.
