Tag: Government of India

  • Government ready to answer all questions, debate any issue in Parliament: PM Narendra Modi

    By Online Desk

    As the winter session of Parliament began on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the media outside Lok Sabha, said that his government was ready to debate and answer all matters in the Parliament.

    “This is an important session of the Parliament. The citizens of the country want a productive session. They are fulfilling their responsibilities for a brighter future”, the Prime Minister added.

    PM Modi asked the Opposition to maintain decorum during the proceedings. He said that the “citizens of the country want a productive session.”

    Twenty-six new bills are on the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.

    The government has indicated that the bill to repeal three farm laws will also be taken up on priority. The bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week.

    PM Modi also said on Monday morning that the country should be on alert in view of the new Covid variant ‘Omicron’.

    The winter session is scheduled to conclude on December 23.

    (Inputs from ANI)

  • It’s expected that all 18-plus beneficiaries will be vaccinated against Covid by Dec 2021: Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The pace of COVID-19 vaccination across India is amongst the fastest in the world and in view of the evolving nature of the pandemic, it is expected that all beneficiaries aged 18 years and above will be vaccinated by December 2021, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

    Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a written reply, said while there have been instances of vaccine wastage in states and Union territories (UTs), but extra doses have also been extracted from a given vial according to the Co-WIN portal.

    “The vaccine doses wasted and maximum possible doses extracted beyond the labelled quantity are taken into account to arrive at vaccine wastage figures for a state,” he noted.

    The minister was responding to a question on whether the states/UTs are not keeping up the pace of the vaccination and wasting the doses.

    ALSO READ | Covid vaccines being used in country required to be stored within 2-8 Degree temp range: Centre

    “Between May 1, 2021 to July 13, 2021, a total of 2.49 lakh doses were wasted, while 41.12 lakh extra doses were extracted beyond the labelled quantity,” he said.

    Mandaviya underlined that regular review meetings are held with states and UTs to review all aspects of the vaccination drive, including vaccine wastage, and they are advised to keep the wastage to the minimum.

    Regular advice in this regard is also communicated to them through regular letters from the Ministry of Health, he said.

    Asked if the government has decided to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire population free of cost on priority basis and if so, the target fixed to administer the doses, the health minister said according to Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program, which came into effect from June 21, all citizens aged 18 years and above, irrespective of their income status, are entitled to free vaccination at all government vaccination centres.

    The COVID-19 vaccination is an ongoing and dynamic process, which is being guided by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) on the basis of concurrent scientific evidence.

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    “In view of the dynamic and evolving nature of COVID-19 pandemic, no fixed timeline at present can be indicated for the completion of the vaccination drive, however, it is expected that all beneficiaries aged 18 years and above will be vaccinated by December 2021,” he said.

    Mandaviya further informed that in accordance with the ‘Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program’, the Centre is procuring 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by vaccine manufacturers in the country.

    These vaccines are provided free of cost to states/UTs on the basis of their pro rata target population, consumption pattern and vaccine wastage.

    As on July 20, 2021, a total of 34.83 crore doses have been supplied free of cost by the Government of India to states and UTs, he told the House.

    Two vaccines, namely Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech, that have been granted permission for restricted use in emergency situation by the national regulator are being procured by the central government for free supply to states/UTs, the minister said.

    Apart from these two vaccines, Sputnik V marketed in India by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Moderna vaccine have also received permission for restricted use in emergency situation by the national regulator.

    Sputnik V is being used in private hospitals for Covid vaccination, he added.

  • Media reports on homeless people barred from registering for Covid vaccination baseless: Centre

    It added that the government has issued an advisory on May 27 for near-to-home vaccination centre services for the elderly and differently-abled persons.

  • Centre bars states from sharing Covid-19 vaccine information

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has prohibited states from sharing Covid-19 vaccine stock-related information to any other agency or organisation, calling it “sensitive”, it has emerged. States are supposed to update the Centre on stock and transactions of all vaccines, those included in its Universal Immunisation Programme as well as using the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (EVIN), a management system implemented in India with the help of the United Nations Development Programme.

    The eVIN system is used to track the vaccine stock status and temperature at all levels of vaccine storage from the national to sub-district levels after being launched in 2012-13. 

    ​“It is overwhelming to see that all states are using the system to update the stock and transactions of Covid-19 vaccines on a daily basis,” said a letter issued to the mission director of the National Health Mission in states on June 4 by the ministry.

    The letter added that data and analytics generated by eVIN for inventory and temperature are owned by the ministry and should not be shared with any other organisation, partner or media agency, online and offline public forums without consent. 

    “This is sensitive information and to be used only for programme improvement,” the letter added.

    The letter has come at a time when questions are being raised on the lack of centralised vaccine availability data in the public domain and opacity in the vaccine distribution plan to states. Officials in the ministry, however, insisted that this was a routine letter issued to states and is sent periodically on all vaccines and was not issued specifically for Covid-19 vaccines.

    “That is because information related to vaccine consumption and cold storage etc. can be used by private companies to push their trade agendas in specific areas,” clarified an official in the reproductive and child division of the ministry. Another official said data related to vaccines is also updated on the CoWIN portal.

  • Trying to comply with new IT rules, says Twitter

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: After the Centre’s “one last notice” to comply with the new IT rules, Twitter has written to the government that it was making efforts to comply with the guidelines.

    In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said: “Twitter has been and remains deeply committed to India, and serving the vital public conversation taking place on the service. We have assured the Government of India that Twitter is making every effort to comply with the new Guidelines, and an overview of our progress has been duly shared. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government.” 

    Since the notification of the new rules in February, there has been a tussle between the government and Twitter and other social media intermediaries which were given three months to comply.

    According to a news agency, Twitter has written to the government that it was in advanced stages of finalising a chief compliance officer as per the new IT rules and that additional details will be submitted within a week. 

    ​This comes after the Centre’s recent notice saying it was giving Twitter ‘one final notice’ to comply.

  • ‘Contrived fear-mongering’: Delhi Police, Centre slam Twitter’s threat to expression salvo

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Gloves were off on Thursday as the spat between Twitter and the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) turned ugly, with the former calling out the Centre’s new regulatory regime and the latter saying the platform has no locus in dictating India’s legal policy framework. Both claimed their goal was to protect the user’s privacy and the freedom of speech and expression. 

    With Twitter claiming it was being intimidated by the Delhi Police for flagging BJP leader Sambit Patra’s tweet on an alleged Congress toolkit as ‘manipulated media’, the latter piled on it, calling the statement mendacious and “designed to seek dubious sympathy and impede a lawful enquiry”.

    “Twitter Inc. has taken upon itself, in the garb of terms of service, to adjudicate the truth or otherwise of documents in public space. Twitter is purporting to be both an investigating authority as well as an adjudicating judicial authority. It has no legal sanction to be either. The only legal entity… to investigate is the police and to adjudicate is the courts,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Chenmoy Biswal.

    ALSO READ | BJP’s souring social media affinity

    The ministry said the company is refusing to comply with those very regulations in the intermediary guidelines on the basis of which it is claiming a safe harbour from any criminal liability in India. The Centre said that Twitter’s statement is an attempt to dictate its terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    The ministry charged Twitter with being complacent in taking action against those who incited violence during the Red Fort violence, promoting vaccine hesitancy through its platform as well as showing Ladakh a part of China during the border disputes between two countries. It asked Twitter to stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of land. “Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what India’s legal policy framework should be,” the ministry said.

    Earlier in the day, Twitter said it is planning to advocate changes in the core elements of the recently-framed social intermediary guidelines. “To keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India. But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law,” the company said in a statement.Anatomy of the confrontation in three statements – the Delhi Police’s, Centre’s and Twitter’s

    Delhi Police’s Full Statement:

    We have come across press reports that quote Twitter Inc. statements pertaining to the ongoing inquiry by Delhi Police.

    Prima facie, these statements are not only mendacious but designed to impede a lawful inquiry by a private enterprise. Twitter Inc. has taken upon itself, in the garb of terms of service, to adjudicate the truth or otherwise of documents in public space. 

    Twitter Inc. is purporting to be both an investigating authority as well as an adjudicating judicial authority. It has no legal sanction to be either. The only legal entity, so empowered by the duly laid down law, to investigate is the Police and to adjudicate is the Courts.

    However, since Twitter Inc. claims to have material information basis which it not only ‘investigated’ but arrived at a ‘conclusion’, it must share that information with the Police. There should not be any confusion about this logical course.  

    The entire conduct by Twitter Inc, including its Indian entity, in the last few days has been obfuscatory, diversionary and tendentious. There is one simple thing to do which Twitter refuses to do. That is, cooperate with the law enforcement and reveal to the legal authority the information it has.

    Twitter, being a public platform, must lead by example in demonstrating transparency in its functioning which has a bearing on public discourse and should proactively bring clarity into what are subject matters of public domain. 

    Since the matter has been put in public domain, it is important to set the record straight on the tendentious statements made.

    First, Delhi police has registered a preliminary inquiry at the instance of a complaint filed by the representative of the Indian National Congress. Hence, the efforts by Twitter Inc. that portray that this as an FIR filed at the behest of the Government of India is wholly and completely incorrect. 

    Second, Delhi Police is conducting a preliminary inquiry on the same and the matter is under investigation. Twitter Inc., while placing the cart before the horse, went ahead and declared that the toolkit was ‘Manipulated Media’. This clearly demonstrates that Twitter Inc. was acquainted with the facts of the case and it had material information which was germane to the inquiry by a duly recognized law enforcement agency. Therefore, Twitter was asked, by way of multiple communications, to join the inquiry to provide the information it possesses.Third, the purpose of Twitter being served a notice to participate in the inquiry was to allow the investigation to process to proceed and bring all relevant matters on record. Twitter India’s subsidiary, TCIPL’s Managing Director, chose to adopt a path of evasiveness instead of cooperation. 

    Initially, TCIPL’s Managing Director stated in his response that he was merely a sales head, had no role whatsoever in any operations relating to content and thereby refused to join the inquiry. It is to be noted that TCIPL’s stance that it’s Managing Director is a mere sales head runs contrary to his very own previous press interviews wherein he elaborately discussed Twitter’s plan to devise methods to identify abusive/ manipulative content. The above interview makes it clear, that Twitter India’s convoluted stance is similar to a deer caught in the headlights. 

    Fourth and last, the contrived fear-mongering by Twitter Inc. unfounded and misplaced. The Managing Director of TCIPL was merely served a notice, not as an accused but to participate in the inquiry as Twitter claims to have been acquainted with certain facts. 

    Twitter’s Inc’s latest statements are devised to seek dubious sympathy when they themselves not only refuse to comply with the law of the land but also claim to be possession of material evidence but refuse to share it with legal authority duly recognized.

    Government of India’s statement:

    The Government strongly controverts the claims made by Twitter today in its press release. India has a glorious tradition of free speech and democratic practices dating back centuries. Protecting free speech in India is not the prerogative of only a private, for-profit, foreign entity like Twitter, but it is the commitment of the world’s largest democracy and its robust institutions.

    Twitter’s statement is an attempt to dictate its terms to the world’s largest democracy. Through its actions and deliberate defiance, Twitter seeks to undermine India’s legal system. Furthermore, Twitter refuses to comply with those very regulations in the Intermediary Guidelines on the basis of which it is claiming a safe harbour protection from any criminal liability in India.

    The larger question is if Twitter is so committed then why it did not set up such a mechanism in India on its own? Twitter representatives in India routinely claim that they have no authority and that they and the people of India need to escalate everything to the Twitter Headquarter in USA. The purported commitment of Twitter, to its Indian user base, thus not only sounds hollow but completely self-serving.

    Twitter has a large user base in India, it earns significant revenue from its Indian operations but is also the most reluctant to appoint an India-based grievance redressal officer and mechanism, chief compliance officer and nodal officer to whom its own users can complain when they are subjected to offensive Tweets.

    The Rules empower the ordinary users who become victims of defamation, morphed images, sexual abuse and the whole range of other abusive content in blatant violation of law, to seek redress.

    These Rules were finalized after widest possible consultations including with representatives of social media platforms. Ministry of Electronics and IT put the draft Rules in public domain and invited public comments. The Ministry received large number of comments from individuals, civil society, industry associations and organizations. A significant number of counter comments to these comments were also received. There are also various judicial orders by various courts including the Supreme Court of India directing the Government to take appropriate steps. There are also several Parliamentary debates and recommendations to take appropriate measures.

    Freedom of Speech and Expression is a Fundamental Right under the Indian Constitution. The Government of India respects the right of people to ask questions and also criticize on these social media platforms including on Twitter. The Government equally respects the right of privacy. However, the only instance  of scuttling free speech on Twitter is Twitter itself and its opaque policies, as a result of which people’s accounts are suspended and tweets deleted arbitrarily without recourse.

    Twitter needs to stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land. Law making and policy formulations is the sole prerogative of the sovereign and Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what should India’s legal policy framework should be.

    Twitter has claimed that it is committed to the people of India. Ironically, this commitment of Twitter has been most invisible in recent times. It is pertinent to share some recent examples:

    Twitter chose to show the geo-location of certain locations in Union Territory of Ladakh as part of People’s Republic of China at a time when India and China were engaged in peaceful resolution of border-related issues through bilateral dialogue. Twitter took several days, that too only after repeated reminders, to rectify this blatant disrespect to India’s sensitivity and territorial integrity.

    Twitter chose to take suo-moto action against those users who it considered as perpetrators of violence at the Capitol Hill in the USA. But, just a few days after the unlawful incidents on Red Fort in Delhi, Twitter refused to take prompt action on the lawful request made by the Government of India to block contents that sought to incite violence on the pretext of a fake genocide plan. Later, it chose to comply, that too partially, .when the damage had been done.

    Twitter’s lack of responsibility has led to rampant proliferation of fake and harmful content against India and Indians. Promoting vaccine hesitancy has been rampantly done through the use of Twitter platform and yet Twitter has taken no action. Is this commitment to the people of India?

    Discriminatory behavior has been practiced against Indians and people of Indian origin because of malicious tagging of B.1.617 mutant as ‘Indian variant’ name despite strict WHO guidelines against it. Again, Twitter has taken no action against such fake narratives and Tweets while grandiosely claiming to serve the people of India.

    Twitter Inc., a USA-based private company, in its communique says that it seeks “constructive dialogue”, “collaborative approach” from the government of a sovereign democratic republic to “safeguard interests of the public”. It is time that Twitter disabuses itself of this grandiosity and comply with the laws of India. 

    The Government also wishes to emphatically assure that representatives of social media companies including Twitter are and will always remain safe in India and there is no threat to their personal safety and security.

    Government condemns the unfortunate statement issued by Twitter as totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India to hide their own follies.

    The Delhi Police has also issued a detailed press release, pertaining to an ongoing investigation, which answer the completely baseless allegations raised by Twitter.

    Twitter’s statement:

    “Twitter is deeply committed to the people of India. Our service has proven vital for public conversation and a source of support for people during the pandemic. Right now, we are concerned by recent events regarding our employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve.

    “We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules. We plan to advocate for changes to elements of these regulations that inhibit free, open public conversation. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government and believe it is critical to adopt a collaborative approach. It is the collective responsibility of elected officials, industry, and civil society to safeguard the interests of the public.”

  • Government of India approves 12 new varieties of different crops developed in Chhattisgarh

    The Central Seed Subcommittee of the Government of India has notified 12 new varieties of different crops developed by Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh State for commercial cultivation and quality seed production. Three rice, two of wheat, one of gram, one of soybean, three of safflower and two of linseed, developed by Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, in the meeting of Central Seed Subcommittee held under the chairmanship of Deputy Director General Crop Science of Indian Council of Agricultural Research. New varieties have been notified for commercial cultivation and quality seed production in Chhattisgarh and other states of the country. All these new varieties developed by the university from the coming years will be taken up in commercial farming and quality seed production program.

    Among the new crop varieties developed by the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, the Central Seed Subcommittee has notified three new varieties of paddy – Vikram T.C.R. (Vikram Trombay Chhattisgarh Rice), C.G. Jawanphool Trombay (RTR-31), CG Barani Paddy-2 (RRF-105) has been notified for the state of Chhattisgarh. New variety of wheat – CG-1029 (Kanishka) for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan (Kota and Udaipur divisions) and Uttar Pradesh (Jhansi division) and Chhattisgarh Hansa wheat (CG-1023) Has been notified for the state of Chhattisgarh. The new variety of gram developed by the university – RG.2015-08 (CG Lochan gram) has been notified for the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, the new variety of soybean – RSC 11-07 has been notified for the states of Eastern Region (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh and Southern Region (South Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu). Soybean variety RSC-10 -46 has been notified for the eastern region (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh) and the central region (Madhya Pradesh, Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, Marathwada and Vidarbha of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra). .SC-1052 has been notified for the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Marathwada and Vidarbha in Maharashtra. The new variety of safflower is IGKV Kusum (R.S. S.-2016-30) has been notified for the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Similarly, RLC-164 and RLC-167, a new variety of linseed developed by the University, has been awarded to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh. , Has been notified for the states of Punjab and Chhattisgarh.

  • ‘Why UPSC candidates who missed last attempt can’t be given another chance’: SC asks Centre

    The top court on September 30 last year had refused to postpone the UPSC civil services preliminary exam, which was held on October 4, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Bird flu confirmed in 12 Indian states for crow, migratory and wild birds: Centre

    Compensation is paid to farmers whose poultry birds, eggs and poultry feed are culled/disposed of by the state as per the action plan.

  • We stand united with farmers in ensuring their good future: Rahul Gandhi

    The leaders of all opposition parties stand united with farmers in ensuring their good future, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday and called for a farm loan waiver.

    Addressing a gathering of protesting farmers at Jantar Mantar, he said no one will be able to silence the voice of farmers and youth.

    If the Indian government insults them, then they will will ensure its removal, Gandhi said.

    He added that the farmers were not seeking a “free gift” from the government by asking for a farm loan waiver. They were only asking for what’s due to them, the Congress chief asserted.

    “If this government can waive Rs 3.5 lakh crore loans of 15 big industrialists, why can’t the loans of crores of farmers in the country be waived?” he asked.