'It's a changing world and the opening up doesn't mean that concerns with regards to security have gone away.'
The government is considering the option of handing over operations of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to BSNL through an agreement, instead of pursuing a merger route, a source privy to the development said. A final call on this is likely to be taken in a month's time. The source said the option of handing over debt-laden MTNL's operations to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) through an agreement is being looked into.
The government on Tuesday decided to set up a committee of secretaries to fast-track implementation of infrastructure projects along the border with China.
'Each state and central government body may be asked to update its system to ensure PAN is used as a common identification to access its services.'
Singh Deo will, however, remain the minister for Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education, Twenty Point Implementation and Commercial Tax departments.
All banks are eligible for privatisation. A committee of secretaries will decide which banks will be privatised, says Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda.
The vacancies are learnt to be impacting the I-T department's day-to-day functioning.
The central government has agreed in-principle to Air India employees' main demands. It fears an industrial dissension now could impede the process of privatisation. It has agreed to bear the cost of liquidation loss on account of transfer to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from company-owned trusts, inclusion of employees in the central government health scheme (CGHS), and encashment of leaves. The template of the Air India process will be followed for other public sector undertakings up for privatisation at a later date.
They noted that the exercise had begun in 2011 and an Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting for 10 times.
Operationalising the ban is being fleshed out: it will entail which cryptocurrencies will be banned and how.
However, the government is readying a relief package and it could include a cut in the licence fee to 5 per cent, two years' moratorium on paying spectrum charges with interest, and referring the GST tax refund issue to the Council.
The suspension will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure. The decision was taken at the meeting of group of ministers held under the chairmanship of Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.
More than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported and they are in different stages of development. Three candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I, II and III trials, and more than four are in advanced pre-clinical development stage, Choubey said.
The Oil Ministry has been trying since July to get an Empowered Committee of Secretaries to vet the separate price proposals of RIL and Essar but the panel has so far not decided to take up the issue.
The industry ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, a move which will allay industry's concern over policy paralysis.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met over 40 CEOs across broad swathes of industry, ranging from makers of mobile devices, auto components, food products to telecom networking equipment and pharmaceuticals. The agenda: To discuss how to make India an integral part of the global supply chain. The focus of the discussion would be the much touted yet not so well understood production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), the centrepiece of the government's drive to massively boost the manufacturing sector. To do so, the government has created a war chest of over Rs 197,000 crore to be paid out as incentives to over 14 industries in five years. There are three objectives to the scheme, two explicitly stated, one implied.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a vote of confidence to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is generating Aadhaar numbers for India's 1.2-billion strong population.
The Centre will set up a high-level committee of secretaries for processing the Sixth Pay Commission's report for its employees. The Empowered Committee of Secretaries will be headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said after the Cabinet meeting.
Tightening the procedure for official foreign visits by bureaucrats, the Centre has said that proposals for trips abroad should go through the Prime Minister Office and screening committee of secretaries for approval.
The prime minister initiated the discussion on the move, which was announced last month, with the ministers after the meeting of the Union Cabinet ended in New Delhi.
The central government said the railways and civil aviation ministry must suspend all concessional travel on trains and flights, except for students, patients and disabled people.
The company at present provides monthly mobile services at starting price of Rs 24 without data, and plans with data service starts from Rs 33 onward. It did not disclose the quantum of hike.
The planning commission and the committee of secretaries have favoured a single appellate tribunal for power and petroleum sectors.
Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.
The CMOAI had earlier called for a three-day strike that began on Thursday.
Over 20,400 foreign nationals have been evacuated from India amid the coronavirus crisis and any decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the situation, the government said on Friday.
Three years and Rs 28,710 crore worth of transactions later, it has more than double the number of sellers than Flipkart.
Demands include clearing eight critical coal blocks attached to projects of big corporate houses.
A group of ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss hiking the natural gas price after four years of government cap, and may approve a Rs 400 per thousand cubic meters increase to Rs 3,250 per thousand cubic meters.
Pulok Chatterjee to head panel; deadline set for specific targets.
A group of ministers will soon meet in New Delhi to decide on allowing foreign entities to pick up stakes in the airline sector in India, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Wednesday.
New policy to give greater flexibility to foreign players.
The United Progressive Alliance government has decided to make its intelligence agencies accountable to Parliament for scrutiny in the wake of several goof-ups, failures and misuse of the unlimited funds placed at their disposal.
Committee of Secretaries has come up with a pointless set of guidelines.
Biyani's comments come on the heels of the Committee of Secretaries' recommendations for opening up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment, with a cap of 51 per cent and a minimum investment of $100 million by overseas players.
The Cabinet approved giving Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio an option to avail of a two-year moratorium on payments they were supposed to make in yearly installments for the spectrum bought in auctions.
It is assumed that the growing worry over slowing down of economic growth had prompted the government to act.
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