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Tag: Prakash Javadekar

  • Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar may receive organisational responsibility in poll-bound states

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Former Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar may soon receive senior organisational positions in the BJP.

    Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is soon likely to announce new positions for the senior former Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, sources said.

    These leaders may get National General Secretary or Vice President position in the party, sources told ANI.

    Also, major responsibilities will be given to them for the upcoming Assembly poll pound states. BJP president JP Nadda will soon make an announcement regarding the same, sources added.

    Nadda on Sunday called for a meeting of National Secretaries at BJP headquarters in the national capital at 3 pm. According to sources, the upcoming Assembly polls strategy is expected to be part of the agenda of the meeting

    As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

    The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid COVID-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.

    Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar were among the 12 Union Ministers who had resigned from their posts of Council of Ministers ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion on July 7. 

  • Major clean up in mega shake-up of Modi’s Cabinet

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Aiming to do an image makeover and making the party poll ready with ample representation from the weaker sections of the society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday carried out a major shake-up of his council of ministers. The adverse impact of Covid-19 apparently led to the culling of 12 ministers, including biggles like Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar. 

    With the government being hauled over the coals by an aggressive higher judiciary during the Covid second wave, Prasad lost his place in the new Cabinet. The new law minister is Kiren Rijiju, who has been elevated to Cabinet rank.

    Javadekar was seen as not having delivered as the first spokesperson of the Centre in his role as minister for information and broadcasting. The new I&B minister is Anurag Thakur, who has also been given Cabinet rank. Vardhan, in the firing line for not anticipating the Covid second wave, lost his health portfolio to Mansukh Mandaviya, who who had been actively arranging medicines for Covid patients. 

    The axe also fell on Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ (education goes to Dharmendra Pradhan), Sadananda Gowda (chemicals and fertilizers with Mandaviya as added responsibility) and six ministers of states, which included Santosh Kumar Gangwar and Babul Supriyo. 

    Others who were elevated to Cabinet rank were Hardeep Puri, G Kishan Reddy, R K Singh and Puroshottam Rupala. In all, 43 ministers took oath of office. The first was Narayan Rane as Cabinet minister, which indicated the party is not looking to win back the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, and will go it alone in the next Assembly polls while expanding its support base in the Konkan region. He will hold the MSME portfolio.

    As expected, former CM of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and the architect of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia got Cabinet rank. Scindia is the new minister for civil aviation. Interestingly, his father Madhavrao Scindia had quit as civil aviation minister in 1992 after an aircraft crash.

    BJP’s national general secretary Bhupender Yadav, a key aide of Union home minister Amit Shah, and a protégé of late minister Arun Jaitley, joined the Cabinet. He will hold the environment and labour portfolios. Shah has been given the additional role of running the new ministry of cooperation. 

    Bureaucrat-turned-politician Ashwini Vaishnaw from Odisha also entered the Cabinet. He had earned his spurs in Vajpayee’s PMO. He is the new minister for information technology and railways. A dozen ministers from the Scheduled Castes were also drafted in, including A Narayanswamy (Karnataka), Kaushal Kishore (UP) and L Murugan (Tamil Nadu). With eight ministers hailing from the tribal community, the BJP clearly sought to work out its social engineering with the SCs, STs and Other Backward Castes (OBCs). 

    NDA allies who took their oath included R C P Singh (JD-U) and Pashupati Paras (LJP), both Cabinet rank, and Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal as minister of state. With Gujarat polls due next year, Mandaviya and Puroshottam Rupala, both belonging to the Patidar community, were promoted. Reddy’s elevation was in line with the BJP’s aspirations in Telangana. Adding combative leaders, the PM drafted in Shobha Karandlaje (Karnataka) and Meenakshi Lekhi (Delhi), while Bengal was represented by four new faces. 

    Youngest ever team picked so farWith an average age of 56, the new team is the youngest ever Modi has led so far. The youngest is first time Lok Sabha member from Cooch Behar Nisith Pramanik (35) while the eldest is 69. The other young ministers are Shantanu Thakur (38), Anupriya Patel (40), Bharati Pawar (42) and John Barla (45)

    Seven former babus in Modi’s new teamThe new team has 27 members representing the Other Backward Classes, 12 Scheduled Caste and eight Scheduled Tribe ministers. It also has a Muslim, Christian and Sikh each and two Buddhists. As for professionals, it has three lawyers, six doctors, five engineers and seven former civil servants

    Axed

    D V Sadananda Gowda
    Ravi Shankar Prasad
    Thaawarchand Gehlot
    Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
    Dr Harsh Vardhan
    Prakash Javadekar
    Santosh Kumar Gangwar
    Babul Supriyo
    Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao
    Rattan Lal Kataria
    Pratap Chandra Sarangi
    Debasree Chaudhuri
    New ministers of state

    Pankaj Choudhary
    Anupriya Singh Patel
    Dr Satya Pal Singh Baghel
    Rajeev Chandrasekhar
    Shobha Karandlaje
    Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma
    Darshana Vikram Jardosh
    Meenakshi Lekhi
    Annpurna Devi
    A Narayanaswamy
    Kaushal Kishore
    Ajay Bhatt
    B L Verma
    Ajay Kumar
    Chauhan Devusinh
    Bhagwanth Khuba
    Kapil Moreshwar Patil
    Pratima Bhoumik
    Dr Subhas Sarkar
    Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad
    Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh
    Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar
    Bishweswar Tudu
    Shantanu Thakur
    Dr Munjapara Mahendrabhai
    John Barla
    Dr L Murugan
    Nisith Pramanik

    All you want to know about ministers

    Narayan raneFirst-time Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra; six-time MLA and CM for a few months in 1999. Expelled from Shiv Sena in 2005; joined Congress; formed own outfit in 2017 which then merged with BJP

    Sarbananda sonowalA law graduate, he was CM of Assam from 2016-2021; two-time Lok Sabha MP; was minister of state (independent charge) in the Modi government earlier; has been an MLA twice; seen as a major figure 

    Virendra KumarMP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh; elected to Lok Sabha seven times; a PhD in child labour, he has served as MoS for Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs in the Modi govt in the past

    Jyotiraditya ScindiaFive-time MP, currently Rajya Sabha member; was a minister in the UPA govt; quit Congress and joined BJP last year with 22 MLAs and helped the saffron party regain power in Madhya Pradesh; just reward, it seems

    Ram chandra Prasad SinghAn alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and a retired IAS officer of 1984 batch, he is a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar; is the president of Janata Dal-United and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s close confidante

    Ashwini VaishnavIs a former IAS officer from Odisha and Rajya Sabha MP; has done MBA from Wharton School, Pennysylvania University and MTech from IIT Kanpur; has held leadership positions in global companies

    Pashupati ParasA Lok Sabha MP from Hajipur in Bihar and brother of the late Ram Vilas Paswan; has been a 7-time MLA; is heading the breakaway faction of LJP following the recent coup against nephew Chirag Paswan

    Bhupendra YadavA lawyer and two-time Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan; close to Amit Shah; known for his leadership across various parliamentary committees; played key role in BJP’s accession to power in several states  

    Kiren RijijuA prominent leader of BJP from Northeast (Arunachal); gets a promotion with Cabinet rank; was minister of state for sports and youth affairs earlier; was MoS Home in Modi government’s first term

    RK SinghBureaucrat-turned politician who steered Modi govt’s power sector reforms agenda; two-term Lok Sabha MP from Arrah in Bihar; was MoS for power and renewable energy and skill development earlier

    Hardeep Singh Puri Is Rajya Sabha MP; was a 1974 batch IFS officer and one of India’s top diplomats who held several key positions such as Permanent Represen-tative to UN; was earlier minister for civil aviation, housing and urban affairs 

    Mansukh MandaviyaRajya Sabha MP from Gujarat; was minister of state for port & shipping and chemical & fertilisers; started his political career as member of the BJP’s youth wing; became the youngest MLA in Gujarat in 2002

    G Kishan ReddyMP from Secunderabad, Telangana; was earlier MoS; was earlier a three-time MLA and BJP floor leader in Telangana and undivided Andhra assemblies; was BJP state president in Telangana and undivided Andhra

    Parshottam RupalaA Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat; was earlier minister of state for agriculture and panchayati raj; is known for his humour and oratory skills; the 66-year-old served as a minister in state earlier

    Anurag ThakurIs the youngest from Himachal Pradesh to hold Cabinet rank in Union council of ministers; was earlier minister of state for finance; has served three terms spanning  seven years as BJPs Youth Wing president

    Bhanu Pratap Singh VermaLok Sabha MP from Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, serving his fifth term in Parliament; in 2001, he became vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s SC Morcha and a decade later, he became its president

    Rajeev CHandrasekharRajya Sabha MP from Karnataka; served on various parliamentary committees; has MTech in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology and Advanced Management Program from Harvard University

    Meenakshi LehkiLawyer and two-time Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi; appointed vice-president of BJP’s Mahila Morcha in 2010; her contempt petition had forced Rahul Gandhi to apologise to Supreme Court for ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ jibe

    Shobha KarandlajeLok Sabha MP from Udupi Chikmangalur in Karnataka; was an MLA and MLC earlier; is a close associate of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddiyurappa; was a minister in his cabinet earlier

    Pankaj ChoudharySix-time Lok Sabha MP from Maharajganj in UP; began his political career in 1989-91 as member of Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation, later became deputy mayor; became member of BJP working committee in 1990

    Anupriya patelPresident of BJP’s ally Apna Dal (S) and Lok Sabha MP from Mirzapur, UP; serving her second term; was earlier MoS-health in the Modi government; was a professor before entering politics

    SP Singh baghelLok Sabha member from Agra and serving his fifth term; holds PhD and law degrees; was minister in the Uttar Pradesh government in th past; a prominent SC face in this crucial heartland state; was in SP and  BSP earlier

    Darshana Vikram JArdoshA three-time MP from Gujarat’s Surat; was a corporator earlier and member of the Gujarat Social Welfare Board; an OBC face of the party; has served as a member of different committees of Parliament

    Annpurna DeviFirst-time MP from Kodarma, Jharkhand; was a four-time MLA and also served as a minister in the states of Jharkhand as well as Bihar; she has done Masters in History from the Ranchi University

    A Narayana swamyFirst-time Lok Sabha MP from Chitradurg, Karnataka; was MLA for four terms earlier and minister in the state; SC face of BJP; said to be close to party national general secretary BL Santosh

    Kaushal KishoreThe 61-year-old two-time MP represents Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh; belongs to SC (Pasi) community; state chief of BJP’s Scheduled Caste wing; was in Samajwadi Party earlier

    Ajay BhattMP from Nainital, elected first time to Lok Sabha; was a practising lawyer before joining politics; Brahmin face from Kumaon in Uttarakhand; was three-time MLA and Cabinet minister in the hill state

    BL VermaThe 59-year-old is first time Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh; hails from Badaun district; is prominent OBC face; became UP BJP vice-president in 2018; is in Parliament Committee on Welfare of OBCs

    Ajay Kumar Lok Sabha MP from Khiri constituency in Uttar Pradesh; is the lone Brahmin face from among the ministers appointed from the state; represent Terai region; the 60-year-old former MLA also holds a law degree

    Chauhan Devusinh A two-term Lok Sabha member from Kheda in Gujarat; an OBC, was 2-time MLA earlier; prior to his full-time political career, he has served as an Engineer in All-India Radio; holds a diploma in Electrical Engineering 

    Bhagwanth KhubaElected to Lok Sabha from Bidar in Karnataka for second term; hails from politically dominant Lingayat community; holds BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering; in Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture

    Kapil M PatiLIs Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, serving his second term; is BJP’s OBC face; shifted to the party from NCP; has been member of standing committee on defence & committee on absence of members from House

    Pratima BhoumikFirst-time MP from Tripura West Lok Sabha seat; the 52-year-old BJP leader is from a humble background and holds a graduate degree in Bio-Science; is the first to be made minister from the state in three decades

    Subhas SarkarIs a first-term Lok Sabha MP from Bankura in West Bengal; is a gynaecologist and board member of AIIMS Kalyani; has been BJP’s organisation man in the state; was made vice-president of West Bengal BJP in 2013 to 2017

    Bhagwat K KaradRajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra, serving his first term; a doctor by profession, runs Dr Karad Multi Specialty Hospital & Research Center in Aurangabad; the 64-year-old has also served as mayor of Aurangabad

    Rajkumar Ranjan SinghIs a first-time MP of the BJP from Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency. The 68-year-old Singh was a professor of geography for four decades before becoming a lawmaker; holds MA and PhD degrees

    Shantanu ThakurElected to Lok Sabha from Bongaon constituency of West Bengal; is an influential Matua dharma guru; has been actively involved in spreading Matua culture as a leader of All India Matua Mahasangha

    Bishweswar TuduIs a Lok Sabha MP from Mayurbhanj in Odisha; hails from the Cuttack region; the 56-year-old holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering,  worked as an engineer in state water resources dept prior to joining politics

    Bharati Pravin PawarIs first-time Lok Sabha MP from Dindori in Maharashtra; holds MBBS degree and was a medical practitioner before joining politics; the 42-year-old also served as member of Nashik Zila Parishad

    Munjapara MahendrabhaiIs Lok Sabha MP from Surendranagar, Gujarat, serving his 1st term; prior to his political career, he had a 3 decades long career as a Cardiologist and Professor of Medicine in Gujarat; is known to be a social worker at heart

    L MuruganPractised law in the Madras High Court for 15 years before joining public life; was Vice Chairman of the National Commission of SCs from 2017 to 2020; he holds a LLM and PhD in Law from Madras University

    John BarlaIs a Lok Sabha MP from Alipurduars, West Bengal, serving his first term; he started off as a tea garden worker at the age of 14 and has worked for the rights of tea garden workers for more than two decades

    Nisith Pramanik He is a Lok Sabha MP from Cooch Behar constituency in West Bengal, serving his first term as a member of Parliament; the 35-year-old has worked as an Assistant Teacher in a Primary School and has a BCA degree

  • Negative publicity in second wave cuts short Javadekar’s innings

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Senior BJP leader and Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar was among the 12 ministers who resigned on Wednesday. Javadekar appears to have paid the price of negative publicity, which the Modi government faced during the second wave of the pandemic.

    The departure of Javadekar, who was also the environment minister, is a political setback for him because he was the government’s spokesperson and had for years shaped narratives presented to the media. Some of the headlines in global media that brought India into shame was The Guardian’s ‘The system has collapsed; India’s descent into covid hell’, New York Times’ ‘India’s Covid-19 Crisis Shakes Modi’s Image of Strength’, UK Financial Times’ ‘More funeral pyres will burn unless Modi takes accountability’. During the peak of second wave,  CNN said: ‘PM Modi could have prevented India’s devastating Covid-19 crisis, critics say.’

    An opinion piece in The Guardian said: ‘While India is desperate for oxygen, its politicians deny there’s a problem’, an editorial in The Atlantic was headlined, ‘India Is What Happens When Rich People Do Nothing’, French newspaper Le Monde’s carried an editorial titled ‘Narendra Modi’s lack of foresight caused the crisis’. Time magazine had an opinion piece titled, ‘It isn’t just Modi, India’s media must also take responsibility for Covid-19 crisis’.

    The other senior minister whose exit came as a surprise to many was Union Law and Information & Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He had lately been locked in a bitter row with Twitter over new IT rules. Last month, he was even briefly locked out of his Twitter account.

    The exit of these two ministers also marks a generational change, sources in the Bhartiya Janata Party said. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also quit, with deputy Ashwani Chaube. The resignations were viewed as an admission of the government’s mishandling of the Covid crisis, particularly in the second wave when the world saw the plight India was in.

  • PM Modi rejigs Cabinet; Sonowal, Scindia brought in; 12 ministers exit

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Effecting a big reset, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday brought in Sarbananda Sonowal, Narayan Rane and Jyotiraditya Scindia as Cabinet ministers while dropping as many as 12 ministers including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.

    As many as 15 Cabinet ministers, including some new faces, were sworn-in at the swearing in ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

    While 13 members took oath in Hindi, two took in English.

    Rane, 69, a Rajya Sabha MP and a former Maharashtra chief minister, was the first to take oath.

    After Rane, Sonowal, former Assam chief minister, took oath in English.

    The 58-year-old leader has earlier served as Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Sports and Youth Affairs under Prime Minister Modi Congress-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, also took oath as a Cabinet minister.

    The 50-year-old leader has been Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Union Minister of State for Commerce & Communications in the earlier UPA government.

    Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and JD(U) leader R C P Singh, Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Hajipur Pashupati Kumar Paras, were also sworn-in as Cabinet ministers.

    Kiren Rijiju, R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, G Kishan Reddy and Anurag Thakur were elevated to the Cabinet level.

    Bhupendra Yadav, who has been serving in the BJP organisation as a general secretary, was also sworn-in as a Cabinet minister.

    Earlier, four senior Union ministers — Prasad, Javadekar, Vardhan, Pokhriyal — were among 12 ministers who resigned on Wednesday ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.

    Besides these four, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria and Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo also resigned.

    Prasad and Javadekar had also been the face of Cabinet briefings, announcing key Cabinet decisions on several occasions in the past few years.

    This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.

    With this reset, Modi has brought in young faces and has also given representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.

  • Union Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurates virtual ‘India Pavilion’ at Cannes Film Festival 

    NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday inaugurated the virtual ‘India Pavilion’ at 74th Cannes Film Festival, saying he hopes the novel coronavirus pandemic ends soon and people come back to the theatres.

    The 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival kick-started from July 6 and will conclude on July 17.

    The ministry has opened up a facilitation office to give approvals to international filmmakers to release their films in the country, with a single clearance window, Javadekar added.

    Addressing the virtual inauguration, organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt of India, jointly with FICCI, the minister said this is the second year when the pavilions are virtually organised but the business is real including the creativity, talent, technology and India offers the best of these.

    “The virtual India pavilion can become a meeting place to meet and discuss the future of the world of cinema,” he added.

    The minister also stated that many of the international films are being filmed in India with over 500 sites available.

    In order to attract more international filmmakers to India, the government of India has taken a number of steps, he said.

    “We have now opened up a facilitation office which guarantees that all permissions are given in one go,” he added.

    Javadekar further stated that a lot of Hollywood movies such as “Lion King”, “Jungle Book”, “Life of Pi”, “X-Men”, and “Avatar” have got their VFX animation done in India, and the country’s contribution to world cinema is also increasing.

    Talking about the virtual ‘India Pavilion’, the minister said it can serve as a meeting ground to discuss the future of the world of cinema.

    “Cannes Film Festival is a festival of creativity and talent but simultaneously a place for business as well. The Cannes Film market offers a big opportunity for the filmmakers of the world. Films will do huge business after the pandemic and many of the films are shot for OTT platforms also,” he added.

    According to producer Ekta Kapoor, India weaves a lot of local inbuilt flavours in its storytelling.

    “India is known as a content creating nation. Indian content has always been the soft ambassador of India and it has a lot of appeal in the international market. Collaborations are the way forward for any company and there are a lot of opportunities in India,” Kapoor added.

    Prasoon Joshi, writer, poet and chairman, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), said the Indian film industry is heading in the right direction along with the focus on regional cinema.

    “Indian audiences today are more active seekers and the pandemic has given more acceleration to explore the world of cinema. There is a churn in Indian cinema,” he added.

    Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious movie galas in the world, was initially scheduled to take place from May 11 to May 22 but was pushed by two months due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

    Last year’s edition was cancelled due to the pandemic and replaced by a low-key event in October, showcasing short films but without the A-list movie stars, directors and producers.

  • Cabinet approves Rs 6.29-lakh crore COVID-19 relief package announced by Finance Minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs 6.29-lakh crore relief package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to support the pandemic-hit economy. This was informed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar after the Cabinet meeting.

    As part of the package to support the COVID-19 pandemic-hit economy, Sitharaman had on Monday announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore of additional credit for small and medium businesses, more funds for the healthcare sector, loans to tourism agencies and guides, and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists.

    Together with previously announced Rs 93,869-crore spending on providing free foodgrains to the poor till November and additional Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy, the stimulus package, which is mostly made up of government guarantee to banks and microfinance institutions for loans they extend to COVID-19-hit sectors, totalled up to Rs 6.29 lakh crore.

    The finance minister provided Rs 23,220 crore of additional funding to set up children and paediatric care at hospitals to prepare healthcare infrastructure to deal with any emergency arising due to COVID-19 wave hitting children.

    Further, to incentivise job creation, the government committed to paying the employer and employee’s share to provident fund (PF) for all new recruitments done till March 2022. Previously, the government paid Rs 902 crore for 21.42 lakh beneficiaries of 79,577 establishments.

    With the tourism sector being hit hard by the pandemic, the minister had announced a financial support to over 11,000 registered tourists, guides, travel and tourism stakeholders, in addition to free one-month tourist visa to first five lakh tourists.

    Other announcements included an additional Rs 19,041 crore to provide broadband internet cover to all village panchayats, an extension of tenure of a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing by a year and Rs 88,000 crore of insurance cover for goods exporters.

    The central government has announced the support measures as states start lifting restrictions after new coronavirus infections showed a decline.

    Two annoucements made by Sitharaman regarding the additional subsidy of Rs 14,775 crore for DAP & P&K fertilizers, and extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) – free food grains from May to November 2021, were previously approved by the Cabinet.

  • India’s contribution to climate change in last 200 years just 3 per cent: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Unbridled carbon emissions especially by Europe and the US over the last 200 years, and in the last 40 years by China have caused the climate change disaster, Union Environment Prakash Javadekar said on Monday.

    He also said that India’s contribution to climate change in the last 200 years has been only three per cent.

    Developed nations owe USD 1.1 trillion to developing nations as a part of climate change mitigation under the Paris Agreement, and this was discussed at the G7 Summit, which concluded on Sunday, Javadekar said at the virtual ‘Environment Conclave: Revival, Regeneration and Conservation of Nature’.

    “India’s contribution to climate change in the last 200 years is just three per cent. The unbridled carbon emissions particularly by Europe, USA and in the last 40 years by China, caused climate change disaster. These countries prospered economically but polluted the world,” he said.

    “India is one of the countries with the least contribution in climate change,” Javadekar said at the webinar organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).

    The FLO is a wing of apex trade body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

    The minister said that as part of the Paris agreement, rich countries promised to provide USD 100 billion each year to help developing nations combat climate change.

    “But for the last 11 years nothing has come. In the just concluded G7 meet yesterday they discussed this financial issue seriously because they know they cannot postpone it further,” Javadekar said.

    He said that as soon as schools — shut due to the Covid pandemic — reopen, his ministry will initiate a nursery programme in 5,000 schools.

    Under this programme, students of classes six to eight will plant saplings and nurture them till they pass out from their schools, Javadekar said.

    “This will inculcate (in them) a habit of taking care of plants, bring discipline and will also help in generating much-needed oxygen (O2). This will be also introduced in IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and other higher education institutes soon,” he said.

    Javadekar lauded the government’s efforts to combat air pollution by introducing BS-VI emission norms for vehicles in April last year and completing the construction of the western and eastern peripheral expressways around Delhi, saying these have helped reduce pollution in the national capital in a big way.

    “The adoption of the zig-zag technology in 3,000 out of 6,000 brick kilns around the National Capital Region (NCR) has also helped in reduction of air pollution. Soon all brick kilns will follow the suit,” he said.

    In zig-zag kilns, bricks are arranged to allow hot air to travel in a zigzag path which results in better mixing of air and fuel, allows complete combustion, reducing coal consumption by about 20 per cent.

    Javadekar added that the central government is also taking steps to ensure the country becomes free of single-use plastic by next year.

    In a statement the FICCI FLO said that the conclave was aimed at spreading awareness about issues related to the environment and to collectively work together for a better world.

    Speaking at the conclave, FICCI FLO president Ujjwala Singhania said the FLO encourages its members’ enterprises to manage their triple bottom line – profits, people and planet.

    “There is an urgent need to formulate a development model which focuses on responsible and eco-friendly government policies that will promote sustainable use of natural resources,” she said.

    “The FLO this year has taken the pledge of planting over one lakh trees by our 18 chapters across India. An impactful beginning to this initiative was made on World Environment Day,” Singhania said.

    She said that the FLO has adopted 143 villages across India with an objective to ensure integrated development with adequate infrastructure and to develop eco-friendly small-scale industries to create sustainable livelihood.

    Chair of the FICCI environment committee Mukund Rajan said that with global warming and climate change taking a toll on the planet, there is a need to focus more on preserving bio-diversity.

    “Global warming and climate change is taking its toll on us in form of various natural disasters, cyclones, extreme climate events and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    This shows we should focus more on preserving biodiversity and our corporates to find solutions for environmental challenges within the natural environment itself. Our markets are coping up to predict and cope with such events,” he said.

  • Covid-19 vaccination exercise in India will be complete by December​, says Prakash Javadekar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Asserting that the COVID-19 vaccination will be complete in India by December this year, the BJP on Friday slammed Rahul Gandhi for his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the pandemic’s spread and said the language he used and the way he tried to stoke “fears” confirm that the Congress was behind the “toolkit”.

    Speaking to reporters, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar noted that the health ministry had recently given a roadmap about producing 216 crore doses by December and how 108 crore people will be vaccinated, as he rebutted Gandhi’s claim that it may take three years to finish the exercise, considered critical to curb the disease.

    Attacking the Congress leader, the Information and Broadcasting minister alleged that his choice of words like “nautanki” for the prime minister when Modi is working to curb Covid is part of the toolkit’s script, referring to a controversial document about targeting the government.

    The BJP has claimed that the Congress is behind it, a charge the opposition party has rejected.

    It has instead blamed the BJP and sought police probe into the matter.

    “It has been confirmed, and there is no need for any evidence. It is clear that the toolkit was produced by you. The kind of language you used and the way you tried to stoke confusion and fear among people is part of that politics,” Javadekar said.

    People have instead put an end to his “nautanki”, he added, an apparent pointer to the series of electoral setbacks the opposition party has suffered over the years.

    What Gandhi has said is an insult to the country and people, he added.

    India ranks second in the world in the scale of vaccination by administering over 20 crore doses, and it is set to see a big jump from August, he said.

    The BJP leader said Gandhi should rather be concerned about the Congress-ruled states as they have not been able lift their quota from vaccine producers.

    Noting that Gandhi had stressed the importance of vaccination, he said this is what the government has been saying and working on from the beginning and cited the production of two vaccines in India.

    Attacking the Congress, Javadekar said its leaders raised questions and spread doubts about the indigenously manufactured Covaxin.

    Modi put all such questions to rest by opting for this jab himself, the minister said.

    Earlier, Gandhi had held Modi’s responsible for the second coronavirus wave and warned of more waves at the current rate of vaccination.

    Calling on the government to evolve a vaccine strategy for the entire population, he noted that India is the vaccine capital of the world and it is possible to escalate the inoculation drive as only three per cent of the people have received both doses.

  • ‘Appears to be ultra vires of previous act’: News broadcasters demand exemption from new IT norms

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) Thursday urged the government to “exempt and exclude” the traditional television news media and its extended presence on the digital news platforms from the ambit of the IT Rules 2021, saying it is already “sufficiently regulated” by various statutes, laws, guidelines, codes and regulations.

    “The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000) had not contemplated the regulation of digital news media. Despite this, the IT Rules, 2021 seek to inter alia include traditional news media, i.e. electronic television news media having a digital news feed and presence on other digital media platforms, within its purview. This appears to be ultra vires the IT Act, 2000,” the NBA said, raising its concerns in a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

    The NBA represents several leading national and regional private television news and current affairs broadcasters which run news channels in Hindi, English and regional languages.

    “In any event, while the NBA appreciates the need for regulations, the traditional news media need not be subjected to and/ or covered under the scope of the IT Rules 2021, since it is already sufficiently regulated by various statutes, laws, guidelines and codes, regulations, and judgements,” it said.

    The NBA members are also required to adhere to the code of ethics and broadcasting standards and the National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) regulations and the guidelines, it added.

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    The NBSA is an independent self-regulatory mechanism that is headed by an eminent jurist along with four independent members from the civil society, being persons with proven eminence in various fields of activity and four editors of the members of NBA.

    “The IT Rules 2021, if applied to the digital media of the linear television medium, would only result in duplication of the adjudicatory and redressal mechanism resulting in the creation of parallel adjudicatory bodies,” the NBA said.

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 prescribe administrative regulations, which will make it “virtually impossible” for small or medium-sized traditional news media organisations to survive, the news broadcasters body said.

    “Any additional mandates as contemplated under the IT Rules, 2021 would result in increasing the employee costs and compliance requirements of the traditional television news media organisations along with duplication and creation of parallel processes,” it said.

    The NBA said the media organisations would have to devote “significant resources and time” in resolving each complaint and in defending themselves before multiple forums.

    “Therefore, NBA suggests that the focus should primarily be on further strengthening the already existing mechanism of NBSA and giving statutory recognition to NBA’s Code of Ethics under the Cable TV Rules,” it added.

    The NBA also said that the IT Act, 2000 and the IT Rules 2021, and “more specifically” provisions such as the blocking of content in cases of emergency, will “severely” impact the freedom of speech and expression of the media.

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    “Since the news channels/broadcasters and their extended digital arms strictly adhere to the statutes and regulations applicable and are governed at multiple levels of redressal mechanism, if the IT Rules, 2021 are made applicable, it will not only lead to harassment of the news channels/broadcasters but will also suppress and violate their fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression and will also restrict news reporting in a fair manner,” the association said.

    “The NBA requests the exclusion of the digital news platforms that are owned and run by traditional news media from the purview of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021,” it said.

    The association requested that a “specific and express exclusion” should be carved out in the definitions of “digital news media and/or publishers of news and current affairs content” to exclude the applicability of the provisions of the IT Rules, 2021 to the digital news platforms that are owned and run by the traditional news media.

    The association also urged the ministry to keep the IT Rules, 2021 “in abeyance/suspension”, specifically concerning the NBA members till the pending matters challenging the IT Rules, 2021 in the various high Courts are adjudicated upon and decided.

  • Union Minister Prakash Javadekar tests positive for COVID-19

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and urged those who came in contact with him in the last two-three days to get themselves tested.

    Javadekar, who holds the key portfolios of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Information and Broadcasting; and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; informed about having tested positive for coronavirus on Twitter.

    “I have tested #COVID positive today. All those who have come in contact with me in the last 2-3 days may please get themselves tested,” the 70-year-old Union minister said.

    I have tested #COVID positive today. All those who have come in contact with me in the last 2-3 days may please get themselves tested.
    — Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) April 16, 2021

    Several top political leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, have also tested positive for COVID-19 recently.

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