ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Labour & Employment
“India’s vibrant start-up eco-system is a testimony of nation’s entrepreneurial talent” says Union Minister Bhupender Yadav
Minister presents EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021 to Falguni Nayar
Union Minister for Environment and Labour & Employment Shri Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday night presented the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021 to Falguni Nayar, the founder of Nykaa, who built a Unicorn start-up by disrupting a brick-and-mortar industry by taking the digital route to sell beauty products. Ms. Nayar will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award in June 2022.
Presenting the award at a ceremony in Mumbai, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said “it is great to see that this year, EY Awards has 21 Finalists with combined revenues of Rs 1.87 lakh crores, who collectively employ more than 2.6 lakh people; this is a testimony of nation’s entrepreneurial talent”.
Highlighting the growth of the Start-up sector in India, Shri Yadav remarked “capitalizing on demographic dividend and government’s initiatives enabling the start-up system, India’s youth has taken the nation to the Top 3 in the world.” The Minister informed that India is home to 94 Unicorns with a total valuation of approximately US $ 320 bn. Shri Yadav further said that during the times of uncertainty, Indian entrepreneurs have continued to demonstrate strong resilience and an excellent ability to adapt to changes and challenges during Covid19 pandemic.
The Minister informed that the Government has announced Rs 6,000 crore RAMP  Programme to scale up the businesses of MSMEs. He added that one of the thrust areas of the programme is to increase the participation of female entrepreneurs. Shri Yadav further said ‘the digital ecosystem created by our government with a focus on digital inclusion through 5G and investment in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and infrastructure will continue strengthening the development of entrepreneurship across the country’.
Union Minister Shri Yadav and Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad, also presented awards in 9 other categories. Shri A M Naik, Group Chairman of Larsen & Toubro was honoured with Life Time Achievement Award. The winners were selected by a nine member Jury under the chairmanship of eminent banker Shri K V Kamath. The EY Entrepreneur Awards were launched in India in 1999 with the objective of celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit and sharing the inspiring stories of successful Indian entrepreneurs.
Government of India has been proactively supporting innovation and entrepreneurship development in the country with a variety of schemes like Start-up India, Atal Innovation Mission, eBiz Portal, NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre among others. Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade  has recognized more than 60 thousand start-ups representing 55 industries, spread across 633 districts that have created over 6 lakh jobs since 2016.
Ministry of Defence
DRDO develops sanitisation enclosures and face shields to save primarily healthcare professionals from COVID-19
In the ongoing efforts against COVID-19 pandemic, Defence Research and Development Organisation  has been using scientific endeavours to develop products in an accelerated manner. The DRDO laboratories are working with industry partners for volume production.
Personnel Sanitisation Enclosure 
Vehicle Research Development Establishment , Ahmednagar, a DRDO Laboratory has designed full body disinfection chamber called as PSE. This walk through enclosure is designed for personnel decontamination, one person at a time. This is a portable system equipped with sanitiser and soap dispenser. The decontamination is started using a foot pedal at the entry. On entering the chamber, electrically operated pump creates a disinfectant mist of hypo sodium chloride for disinfecting. The mist spray is calibrated for an operation of 25 seconds and stops automatically indicating completion of operation. As per procedure, personnel undergoing disinfection will need to keep their eyes closed while inside the chamber.
The system consists of roof mounted and bottom tanks with a total of 700 liters capacity. Approximately 650 personnel can pass through the chamber for disinfection until the refill is required.
The system has see-through glass panels on side walls for monitoring purpose and is fitted with lights for illumination during night time operations. A separate operator cabin is provided to monitor overall operations.
The system has been manufactured with the help of M/s D H Ltd, Ghaziabad, within a time span of four days. This system can be used for disinfection of personnel at the areas of controlled ingress and egress such as entry and exit to hospitals, malls, office buildings and critical installations.
Full Face Mask 
Research Centre Imarat , Hyderabad and Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory , Chandigarh, have developed face protection mask for health care professionals handling COVID-19 patients. Its light weight construction makes it convenient for comfortable wear for long duration. This design uses commonly available A4 size Over-Head Projection  film for face protection.
The holding frame is manufactured using Fused Deposition Modeling . Polylactic Acid filament is used for 3D printing of the frame. This thermoplastic is derived from renewable resources such as corn starch or sugarcane and is biodegradable. The face mask will be mass produced using injection moulding technique for volume production.
One thousand face shields are being produced daily in TBRL and provided to Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research , Chandigarh. Similarly 100 are produced at RCI and these have been handed over to Employees' State Insurance Corporation , Hyderabad. A demand of 10,000 shields has been received from PGIMER and ESIC Hospitals based on successful user trials.
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Ministry of Finance
CGST Delhi officials bust a syndicate of 7 firms in GST evasion of more than Rs 85 crore
Through extensive analysis of E-way bills, CGST Delhi East Commissionerate had busted a syndicate of five firms who were engaged in availing and utilising fake Input Tax Credit  of Goods and Services Tax .
During further investigation it was found that this syndicate was using two more entities namely, M/s Shree Mahaveer International and M/s Gravity Enterprises. A communication was also received from GST, Gujarat State that a car bearing registration no. DL8CAS5941, registered in the name of one of the syndicate firm M/s Blue Water Expotrade Private Limited was intercepted by them in Ahmedabad. FastTags of Trucks were affixed on the car to create false movement of export goods from Delhi to Mundra port. The E-way bills in respect of the fake supply were issued by M/s Shree Mahaveer International.
Search was conducted at residential premises of Shri Rakesh Kumar Jain, proprietor in M/s Shree Mahaveer International and Partner in M/s Gravity Enterprises on 10th March 2022. Shri Rakesh Kumar Jain in his voluntary statement admitted that bogus invoices were received and issued from these syndicate firms without actual supply of goods.
It was evident that Shri Rakesh Kumar Jain was using multiple firms to avail and pass on fake ITC on bogus invoices and E-Way Bills without actual supply of goods. The quantum of GST evaded by him is more than Rs. 85 crore.
Therefore, he was arrested on 10th March 2022 for committing offences specified under Section 132& of the CGST Act, 2017 and produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Patiala House Courts, New Delhi.
Investigation by CGST Delhi  Commissionerate so far has unearthed fake ITC racket by seven firms namely, M/s Vibe Tradex, M/s Prime Mark Expotrade Private Limited, M/s Blue Water Expotrade India Private Limited, M/s Transglobe Tradex Private Limited, M/s Tirupati Overseas, M/s Shree Mahaveer International & M/s Gravity Enterprises. Further investigation in the case is under progress.
Ministry of Steel
Steel and Recycled Materials
Steel produced using recycled material such as steel scrap emits substantially less emissions and hence it is highly desirable. The steel scrap generated inside the steel plants are fully recycled back in the process. The steel scrap generated from various end use & sources are to be collected, segregated and sized before it can be used by the steel producers.
The following initiatives have been taken to enhance availability of steel scrap for the steel sector and promote recycling/ circular economy:-
- Ministry of Steel has notified a steel scrap recycling policy to ensure scientific processing of steel scrap from various sources so that higher quantities of steel scrap is available for the steel producers.
- The Vehicle Scrappage Policy , has been launched by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, to promote replacement of end of life vehicles and boost demand for new vehicles. According to the policy, end of life vehicles will have to be mandatorily scrapped if they do not pass the fitness and emission tests. Under the policy, automated testing stations and scrapping facilities are to be set up in phases.
- CERO, a joint venture between Mahindra Accelo and MSTC Ltd.  has set up two vehicle scrapping centres at Greater Noida and Pune.
- Ministry of Steel is also funding research & development projects to increase consumption of steel in the country. Increase in consumption will generate more end of life steel as scrap and promote circular economy.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Steel Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
Committed to help GST taxpayers in COVID-19 situations: CBIC
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs  said that it is fully committed to help the GST taxpayers in the present COVID-19 situation.
Since 30th March 2020, CBIC has processed 12,923 refund applications involving claims worth Rs 5,575 Crore, while in the last week itself, CBIC has processed 7,873 claims worth Rs 3854 Crore.
The CBIC said that a trade and business friendly measure taken by CBIC vide its Circular No. 133 dated 31.03.2020 to help GST returns filers to facilitate early ITC refunds and to ensure that the wrong ITC claims are not processed in the absence of relevant information, is misconstrued in certain section of social media and other media as troubling the taxpayers in COVID -19 like situation.
The CBIC said that this measure was taken into effect with GST Council’s approval in its 39th Meeting held on 14.03.2020 to mitigate delays in ITC refunds faced by the taxpayers besides ensuring that fake ITC claims are not processed. It had been brought to the notice of GSTC by various stakeholders including the taxpayers. It was noticed that lot of time is spent in verification of whether the credit was availed on services and/or Capital Goods in certain categories for the refund claims.
The CBIC said that in order to address the difficulty faced by trade in providing this data at the time of processing of claim leading to delays and increase in compliance cost, it was decided in the GST Council to make declaration of classification codes a part of the application itself. The GST Council in the same meeting has also decided to allow bunching of tax periods across financial years to facilitate claim of refund by exporters. This would apply to applications filed after 31.03.2020. It may also be noted that the due date of all such applications which were due during 20th March 2020 and 29th June 2020 has been extended to 30.06.2020.
The CBIC explained that the Circular No. 133  is with regard to the requirement to give HSN/SAC code along with the refund application. The GST Law doesn’t allow refund of credit availed on services and/or Capital Goods in certain categories. For example, Capital Goods ITC refund is not permissible for refund of ITC on account of exports and other zero-rated supplies. Further, ITC availed on services and capital goods are not allowed to be refunded in Inverted Structure Refund category.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Import and In-house production of PNG & CNG
As per information provided by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell , approximately 9,228 MMSCM of Natural gas has been produced domestically and approximately 9,966 MMSCM of LNG has been imported in the country during the period April-July, 2020. This gas also caters to demand of Piped Natural Gas  and Compressed Natural Gas .
IOCL is executing 517 km long Paradip-Haldia-Barauni Oil 30" capacity augmentation pipeline project. IOCL has informed that physical progress of 43.4% has been made as of 31.08.2020.
Further, GAIL is executing Jagdishpur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline  with extension of Barauni-Guwahati Pipeline  and spur line to Dhamra-Haldia  to connect the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. GAIL has informed that out of about 2,655 km of pipeline, approximately 1,401 km has been lowered as of now.
With respect to current development of Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited , it is submitted that Government of India has approved Viability Gap Funding  of 60% of project cost i.e. Rs. 5,559 Cr. on 08.01.2020. M/s MECON engaged as Project Management Consultant . Competent Authorities have been appointed for Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur under P&MP Act, 1962 for acquisition of land. Publication of section 3 notification under PMP Act, 1962 has been completed in Assam & Tripura. Various other pre-project activities are being undertaken.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply.
Competition Commission of India
CCI approves acquisition of shares in Fullerton India Credit Company Limited by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.
The Competition Commission of India  approves acquisition of shares in Fullerton India Credit Company Limited  by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. under Section 31 of the Competition Act, 2002.
The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of equity share capital of the Target by the Acquirer. It is in the nature of an acquisition and falls under Section 5 of the Competition Act, 2002.
Acquirer
SMFG is the holding company of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation  and its other group companies. Its primary business is to manage its banking subsidiaries and other companies. Apart from commercial banking, the SMBC group is also engaged in a diverse range of financial services, including leasing finance, project finance, real estate financing, securities and derivatives, maritime finance, consumer finance, credit card, trade finance, cash management, etc.
Target
FICC is registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company with the Reserve Bank of India. It is primarily engaged in the provision of loans such as loans for commercial vehicles and two- wheelers, loans against property, loan against securities, personal loans, loans extended to real estate developers, loans extended to businesses, and loans for rural solidarity group. Fullerton India Home Finance Company Limited , a wholly-owned subsidiary of FICC, is registered with the National Housing Bank as a non-deposit taking Housing Finance Company .
A detailed order of the CCI will follow.
President's Secretariat
President of India Presents Padma Awards for the Year 2021
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri Awards for the year 2021, this morning  at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President of India, Prime Minister, Union Minister for Home Affairs.
This was the first set of awards for the year 2021, the second set of awards will be presented this evening at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II.
Click here to see the List of Awardees:
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Drivers' Training Institutes
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched a scheme for setting up of Driving Training Centre  to provide quality training to commercial vehicle drivers, improve road and environment safety and strengthen overall mobility on roads. Any entity such as a State Undertaking/NGO/Trust/Cooperative Society/Vehicle Manufacturer/Firm etc. i.e. any legal entity registered under a State or Central Government Law are eligible to apply under the scheme.
The Ministry also implements schemes of setting up of Institute of Driving Training & Research  and Regional Driving Training Centre . So far, a total of 30 IDTR  and 5 RDTCs have been sanctioned.
Besides, large number of motor driving schools are authorized by the State Governments under section 12 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 to impart training.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Procurement operations of Pulses and Oilseeds directly from Farmers at MSP
Government of India through Central Nodal Agencies like NAFED and FCI has been striving to assure better returns for the farmers. Procurement of notified commodities at Minimum Support Price  from the farmers in several States in the Rabi 2020-21 season has started. Farmers are being given timely marketing support in the time of lockdown. Maximum numbers of farmers are being catered to by observing the guidelines issued to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
The procurement of Pulses & Oilseeds at MSP from farmers under the Price Support Scheme  scheme in Rabi 2020-21 season is currently in progress in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. As on 16th April 2020 a quantity of 1,33,987.65 MT of Pulses & 29,264.17 MT of Oilseeds was procured by NAFED/FCI valued at Rs 784.77 Crores through which 1,14,338 farmers have been benefited. During the lockdown period 97,337.35 MT of Rabi Pulses & Oilseeds has been procured under PSS scheme.
Toor is being procured from farmers by NAFED at MSP under Price Stabilisation Fund  scheme and also for the buffer stock of pulses. Toor procurement under PSS/PSF Kharif 2019- 20 season is underway in the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka & Telangana. Total procurement of Toor during Kharif Marketing Season 2019-20 is 5,32,849 MT out of which 29,328.62 MT of Toor has been procured since the lockdown period.
In Rajasthan, procurement of pulses and oilseeds in Kota Division was stopped after announcement of lockdown. From 15-04-2020, 54 centers in Kota division have started functioning and more number of procurement centres would be made operational in coming days. Procurement in remaining Divisions of Rajasthan is proposed from first week of May 2020. A maximum of 10 farmers per day are called per procurement centre and accordingly information is sent to farmers.
Procurement of Mustard seeds and Gram was started in Haryana from 15-04-2020 in 163 centres. Limited numbers of farmers are being called everyday to maintain social distancing. About 27,276.77 MT of Mustard seed has been procured from about 10,111 farmers in the first two days.
Preparations have been made for procurement of Gram, Masoor and Mustard in Madhya Pradesh and farmers have been informed to bring their produce to the procurement centres.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Cabinet approves Amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences  Act, 2012
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for Amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences  Act, 2012 to make punishment more stringent for committing sexual crimes against children.
Salient Features:
- The POCSO Act, 2012 was enacted to Protect the Children from Offences of Sexual Assault, Sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children. The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as matter of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child. The act is gender neutral.
- The amendment in Section-4, Section-5, Section-6, Section-9, Section-14, Section-15 and Section-42 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences  Act, 2012, is made to address the aspects of child sexual abuse in appropriate manner. The modification is made to address the need for stringent measures required to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country.
- To discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent Section-4, Section-5 and Section-6 are proposed to be amended to provide option of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault crime on a child to protect the children from sexual abuse.
- The amendments are also proposed in section-9 to protect children from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where children are administered, in any way, any hormone or any chemical substance, to attains early sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault.
- Section-14 and Section-15 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are also proposed to be amended to address the menace of the child pornography. It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying/or deleting/ or reporting the pornographic material involving a child. The person can be further penalized with jail term or fine or both for transmitting/propagating/administrating such material in any manner except for the purpose of reporting as may be prescribed and for use as evidence in court. Penal provisions have been made more stringent for storing/possessing any pornographic material in any form involving a child for commercial purpose.
Benefits:
The amendment is expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act. It may protect the interest of vulnerable children in times of distress and ensures their safety and dignity. The amendment aims to establish clarity regarding the aspects of child abuse and punishment thereof.