Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on May 12th, 2020, announced the Special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 20 lakh crores - equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP – to fight COVID-19 pandemic in India. He gave a clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India Movement. He also outlined five pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat – Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand.
Following the call of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman laid down the details of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package in a string of press conferences from 13th May to 17th May 2020.
The Ministries of Finance & Corporate Affairs have immediately started implementation of the announcements related to the Economic Package under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. Regular reviews and monitoring of the implementation of economic package is being overseen by the Finance Minister personally.
In the latest review taken by Smt Nirmala Sitharaman the following progress has been reported so far:
In this regard, Department of Expenditure has issued instructions that (due to COVID-19 pandemic) on the invocation of Force Majeure Clause (FMC), contract period may be extended for a period not less than three months and not more than six months without imposition of any cost or penalty on the contractor/concessionaire. Instructions were also issued to return the value of performance security to the contractor/ suppliers proportional to the supplies made/ contract work completed to the total contract value. The same is being implemented by various Departments/Ministries.
In an effort to support the financial position of the State Governments presently suffering from stress on account of revenue losses due to lock down, Department of Expenditure issued a communication to all the State Governments for additional Borrowing of 2 per cent of projected GSDP to the States in 2020-21 subject to implementation of specific State Level Reforms.
After taking Cabinet approval on 20.05.2020, Department of Financial Services issued Operational Guidelines for the Scheme on 23.05.2020 and Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) Fund was registered on 26.05.2020. In a short period of about one and half months noticeable progress has been achieved in identifying units, sanctioning as well as disbursing of loans to MSMEs. Following is the progress as on 9th July 2020:
After the Cabinet approval on PCGS on 20.05.2020, Operational Guidelines for the Scheme were issued on 20.05.2020 itself. Banks have approved purchase of portfolio of Rs. 14,000 crore and are currently in process of approval/negotiations for Rs. 6,000 crore as on 3rd July 2020.
The Department of Revenue has extended the time barring date for assessments getting barred by limitation on 30th September, 2020 to 31st March, 2021. In this regard, through the Press Release dated 24.6.2020, it has been already been communicated that making payment without additional amount under the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Scheme will be extended to 31st December, 2020 and the legislative amendments for the same in the Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020 (VsV Act) shall be moved in due course to time. Further, through the Notifications, compliance dates mentioned under the VsV Act falling during period 20th March, 2020 to 30th December, 2020 have been extended to 31st December, 2020.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is finalising a special insolvency resolution under section 240A of the Code, to provide relief to the MSMEs and the same would be notified soon.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 has been promulgated on 5th June, 2020 thereby provided for insertion of Section 10A in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 to temporarily suspend initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under Section 7, 9 & 10 of the Code for a period of six months or such further period, not exceeding one year from such date.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638112
Focussed and coordinated steps taken in tandem by the Centre along with the States/UTs through a ‘Whole of Government’ approach, bolstered by effective clinical management of COVID-19 after early detection and timely diagnosis has led to a consistent increase in the recovered cases. In the last 24 hours, a total of 19,235 were cured of COVID-19. This has resulted in the cumulative total number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients rising to 5,34,620 today. The recovery rate has presently improved to 62.93%.
As more people are recovering due to all-round efforts, the recovered cases exceed active cases by 2,42,362. Medical attention is being provided to all the 2,92,258 active cases.
The present health infrastructure dedicated to providing medical attention to the COVID affected includes 1370 Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCH), 3062 Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHC), and 10334 COVID Care Centres (CCC).
For the successful operation of these facilities, the Centre has so far provided 122.36 lakhs PPE Kits, 223.33 lakhs N95 masks, and 21,685 ventilators have been delivered to various States / UTs / Central Institutions.
Enabling factors like removing all impediments for COVID-19 testing and facilitation of widespread testing by States/UTs continues to result in a steady rise in the samples tested every day; during the last 24 hours 2,80,151 samples have been tested. The cumulative number of samples tested, as of now is 1,15,87,153. As a result of these efforts, the testing per million for India is presently 8396.4.
A crucial supporting factor in progressive rise in testing numbers is continuous expansion of the country-wide diagnostic lab network, which as on date comprises of 850 labs in the government sector and 344 private labs (total of 1194 labs). These include:
• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 624 (Govt: 388 + Private: 236)
• TrueNat based testing labs: 472 (Govt: 427 + Private: 45)
• CBNAAT based testing labs: 98 (Govt: 35 + Private: 63)
For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.
Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .
In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has appealed to the Indian students from various top global universities to come and innovate in India, to explore the emerging opportunities. He was interacting with a vibrant group of young overseas Indian scholars, students and friends, yesterday on last-mile energy access in India. The e-meet was organised by Lead India group of Princeton University, Think India Purdue, Develop Empower & Synergize India group at University of Maryland.
Articulating India’s energy vision, Shri Pradhan said, “Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi has envisioned a clear roadmap for India’s energy future which rests on five key enablers of energy availability and accessibility for all, energy affordability to the poorest of the poor, efficiency in energy use, energy sustainability for combating climate change as a responsible global citizen and energy security for mitigating global uncertainties.”
Speaking about Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Minister Pradhan said, “We introduced the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) scheme, in 2016. Its objective is to provide LPG cooking gas connections, free of cost to 80 million poor households. I am happy to inform you that we could achieve the target of 80 million customers well ahead of schedule. With this, LPG connections are now available to 98% of the households in India, up from just about 56% in the year 2014.”
About self-reliance in oil and gas sector, Shri Pradhan said, “PM Modi has set a target for reduction of 10 percent in energy import dependency by 2022. In this regard, the government has taken several policy as well as administrative measures to augment domestic oil and gas production and reduce dependency on imports for meeting the energy requirements of the country.”
He also talked about India’s energy diplomacy and said, “India has made its presence felt in the global energy map. India under leadership of PM Modi is leading the voice of consuming countries demanding for reasonable and affordable price of energy. We are engaging with OPEC, IEA, IEF and all other major voices in the world energy discussions. India has engaged with the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and all major energy producers, under a policy of diversification of supply sources.”
Speaking about India’s transition to gas-based economy, he said, “India is set to emerge as one of the primary drivers of growth in gas demand in Asia, despite the pressing Covid-19 challenges. Today, share of natural gas in India’s energy mix is about 6.3%. We have taken an ambitious target to increase the share of natural gas to 15% by 2030.”
On the current pandemic, Shri Pradhan said, "We are in the midst of an outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that challenges the fundamental assumptions of our lives. While the immediate economic impact may slow us down, we are presented with an opportunity to pause, rethink, and redesign.”
Dwelling upon the economic package announced during the pandemic, he said, “Prime Minister Modi has announced a massive stimulus package of $ 265 billion - accounting for 10% of India’s GDP, to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Major reforms were announced for a self-reliant India that seek to convert Covid-19 challenges into an opportunity, and for becoming global manufacturing hub of the 21st century. Energy infrastructure is an integral component of these reforms.”
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638110
For the first time the Indian Railways, loaded special Parcel train beyond the country borders to Benapole in Bangladesh with Dry Chillies from Reddipalem in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh state.
Guntur and its surrounding areas in the state of Andhra Pradesh are well known for Chillies cultivation. The quality of this farm produce is internationally renewed for its uniqueness in taste and brand. Earlier, the farmers and merchants in and around Guntur area have been transporting Dry Chillies by road to Bangladesh in small quantities and that was costing around Rs 7000 per tonne. During the lockdown period, they could not move this essential commodity by Road. Then Railway staff and Officials approached the consignors and explained the facilities to transport by Rail. Accordingly, they have moved the Dry Chillies by Rail in bulk through goods trains. But for moving the consignment by Goods trains, it is mandatory for the farmers and merchants to mobilise the quantity in bulk i.e. at least more than 1500 tonnes in each trip.
To mitigate this problem and to facilitate the Rail users to move their quantities in smalls i.e., up to a maximum of 500 tonnes in each trip, Guntur Division of South Central Railway took the initiative and moved the Special Parcel Express to Bangladesh. This has helped the farmers and merchants of Guntur to market their farm produce beyond the country border by transporting the Dry Chillies in small quantities through Special Parcel Express.
Accordingly, one Special Parcel Express train consisting of 16 Parcel Van moved to Benapole in Bangladesh. Each Parcel Van was loaded with 466 Dry Chillies bags, weighing around 19.9 Tonnes and the total weight carried by the Special Parcel Express is around 384 Tonnes. The cost per tonne for carrying by Special Parcel Express is Rs. 4,608 and which is very cheap and economical as compared to Road transport which is amounting to Rs. 7,000 per tonne.
It may be noted that Indian Railways has taken a series of steps to boost parcel train traffic during the Covid period.
Transportation of essential items like medical supplies, medical equipment, food, etc in small parcel sizes are a very important items that needed for business as well as consumption purposes. In order to fill in this vital need, Indian Railways has made railway parcel vans available for quick mass transportation by E-Commerce entities and other customers including State governments. Railways has been running time-tabled Parcel Special trains on select routes, to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential items.
The total of 4434 parcel trains have run 22.03.2020 till 11.07.2020,out of which 4,304 have been time-tabled trains.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638126
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to ensure capturing of FASTag details while registering or issuing fitness certificate to vehicles all over the country. In a letter addressed to NIC, with copies to all the States and UTs, the Ministry has informed that full integration of National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) with VAHAN portal has been achieved, and the same has gone live with API on 14th May last. The VAHAN system is now getting all information on FASTags through VIN/VRN.
As such, the Ministry has asked to ensure capturing FASTag details while registering new vehicles, as also while issuing fitness certificates to vehicles plying under national permit.
The fitment of FASTag in new vehicles at the time of sales of vehicles of category M and N, was made mandatory in 2017. But the integration with bank account or they being activated was being avoided by citizens, which would be checked now. Fitment of FASTag is to ensure that vehicles crossing the National Highway fee plazas use electronic medium of FASTag payment, and cash payment is avoided. This usage and promotion of FASTag will also be effective to minimising possibilities of spreading COVID at NH Toll Plazas.
The Ministry had issued a Gazette notification in November 2017, on this scheme.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638107
Following the call of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman laid down the details of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Package in a string of press conferences from 13th May to 17th May 2020.
The Ministries of Finance & Corporate Affairs have immediately started implementation of the announcements related to the Economic Package under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. Regular reviews and monitoring of the implementation of economic package is being overseen by the Finance Minister personally.
In the latest review taken by Smt Nirmala Sitharaman the following progress has been reported so far:
- Global tenders will be disallowed in Government procurement tenders up to Rs 200 crore
- Relief to Contractors
In this regard, Department of Expenditure has issued instructions that (due to COVID-19 pandemic) on the invocation of Force Majeure Clause (FMC), contract period may be extended for a period not less than three months and not more than six months without imposition of any cost or penalty on the contractor/concessionaire. Instructions were also issued to return the value of performance security to the contractor/ suppliers proportional to the supplies made/ contract work completed to the total contract value. The same is being implemented by various Departments/Ministries.
- Supporting State Governments
In an effort to support the financial position of the State Governments presently suffering from stress on account of revenue losses due to lock down, Department of Expenditure issued a communication to all the State Governments for additional Borrowing of 2 per cent of projected GSDP to the States in 2020-21 subject to implementation of specific State Level Reforms.
- Rs 3 lakh crore Collateral-free Automatic Loans for Businesses, including MSMEs
After taking Cabinet approval on 20.05.2020, Department of Financial Services issued Operational Guidelines for the Scheme on 23.05.2020 and Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) Fund was registered on 26.05.2020. In a short period of about one and half months noticeable progress has been achieved in identifying units, sanctioning as well as disbursing of loans to MSMEs. Following is the progress as on 9th July 2020:
- Rs 45,000 crore Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme 2.0 for NBFCs
After the Cabinet approval on PCGS on 20.05.2020, Operational Guidelines for the Scheme were issued on 20.05.2020 itself. Banks have approved purchase of portfolio of Rs. 14,000 crore and are currently in process of approval/negotiations for Rs. 6,000 crore as on 3rd July 2020.
- Rs 30,000 crore Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding for farmers through NABARD
- Rs 50,000 crore liquidity through TDS/TCS rate reduction
- Other Direct Tax Measures
The Department of Revenue has extended the time barring date for assessments getting barred by limitation on 30th September, 2020 to 31st March, 2021. In this regard, through the Press Release dated 24.6.2020, it has been already been communicated that making payment without additional amount under the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Scheme will be extended to 31st December, 2020 and the legislative amendments for the same in the Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020 (VsV Act) shall be moved in due course to time. Further, through the Notifications, compliance dates mentioned under the VsV Act falling during period 20th March, 2020 to 30th December, 2020 have been extended to 31st December, 2020.
- Further enhancement of Ease of Doing business through IBC related measures
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is finalising a special insolvency resolution under section 240A of the Code, to provide relief to the MSMEs and the same would be notified soon.
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 has been promulgated on 5th June, 2020 thereby provided for insertion of Section 10A in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 to temporarily suspend initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under Section 7, 9 & 10 of the Code for a period of six months or such further period, not exceeding one year from such date.
- Rs 30,000 crore Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638112
Contents shared By educratsweb.com
Focussed and coordinated steps taken in tandem by the Centre along with the States/UTs through a ‘Whole of Government’ approach, bolstered by effective clinical management of COVID-19 after early detection and timely diagnosis has led to a consistent increase in the recovered cases. In the last 24 hours, a total of 19,235 were cured of COVID-19. This has resulted in the cumulative total number of recovered cases among COVID-19 patients rising to 5,34,620 today. The recovery rate has presently improved to 62.93%.
As more people are recovering due to all-round efforts, the recovered cases exceed active cases by 2,42,362. Medical attention is being provided to all the 2,92,258 active cases.
The present health infrastructure dedicated to providing medical attention to the COVID affected includes 1370 Dedicated COVID Hospitals (DCH), 3062 Dedicated COVID Health Centres (DCHC), and 10334 COVID Care Centres (CCC).
For the successful operation of these facilities, the Centre has so far provided 122.36 lakhs PPE Kits, 223.33 lakhs N95 masks, and 21,685 ventilators have been delivered to various States / UTs / Central Institutions.
Enabling factors like removing all impediments for COVID-19 testing and facilitation of widespread testing by States/UTs continues to result in a steady rise in the samples tested every day; during the last 24 hours 2,80,151 samples have been tested. The cumulative number of samples tested, as of now is 1,15,87,153. As a result of these efforts, the testing per million for India is presently 8396.4.
A crucial supporting factor in progressive rise in testing numbers is continuous expansion of the country-wide diagnostic lab network, which as on date comprises of 850 labs in the government sector and 344 private labs (total of 1194 labs). These include:
• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 624 (Govt: 388 + Private: 236)
• TrueNat based testing labs: 472 (Govt: 427 + Private: 45)
• CBNAAT based testing labs: 98 (Govt: 35 + Private: 63)
For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.
Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva .
In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .
Contents shared By educratsweb.com
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has appealed to the Indian students from various top global universities to come and innovate in India, to explore the emerging opportunities. He was interacting with a vibrant group of young overseas Indian scholars, students and friends, yesterday on last-mile energy access in India. The e-meet was organised by Lead India group of Princeton University, Think India Purdue, Develop Empower & Synergize India group at University of Maryland.
Articulating India’s energy vision, Shri Pradhan said, “Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi has envisioned a clear roadmap for India’s energy future which rests on five key enablers of energy availability and accessibility for all, energy affordability to the poorest of the poor, efficiency in energy use, energy sustainability for combating climate change as a responsible global citizen and energy security for mitigating global uncertainties.”
Speaking about Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Minister Pradhan said, “We introduced the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY) scheme, in 2016. Its objective is to provide LPG cooking gas connections, free of cost to 80 million poor households. I am happy to inform you that we could achieve the target of 80 million customers well ahead of schedule. With this, LPG connections are now available to 98% of the households in India, up from just about 56% in the year 2014.”
About self-reliance in oil and gas sector, Shri Pradhan said, “PM Modi has set a target for reduction of 10 percent in energy import dependency by 2022. In this regard, the government has taken several policy as well as administrative measures to augment domestic oil and gas production and reduce dependency on imports for meeting the energy requirements of the country.”
He also talked about India’s energy diplomacy and said, “India has made its presence felt in the global energy map. India under leadership of PM Modi is leading the voice of consuming countries demanding for reasonable and affordable price of energy. We are engaging with OPEC, IEA, IEF and all other major voices in the world energy discussions. India has engaged with the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and all major energy producers, under a policy of diversification of supply sources.”
Speaking about India’s transition to gas-based economy, he said, “India is set to emerge as one of the primary drivers of growth in gas demand in Asia, despite the pressing Covid-19 challenges. Today, share of natural gas in India’s energy mix is about 6.3%. We have taken an ambitious target to increase the share of natural gas to 15% by 2030.”
On the current pandemic, Shri Pradhan said, "We are in the midst of an outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that challenges the fundamental assumptions of our lives. While the immediate economic impact may slow us down, we are presented with an opportunity to pause, rethink, and redesign.”
Dwelling upon the economic package announced during the pandemic, he said, “Prime Minister Modi has announced a massive stimulus package of $ 265 billion - accounting for 10% of India’s GDP, to deal with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Major reforms were announced for a self-reliant India that seek to convert Covid-19 challenges into an opportunity, and for becoming global manufacturing hub of the 21st century. Energy infrastructure is an integral component of these reforms.”
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638110
Contents shared By educratsweb.com
For the first time the Indian Railways, loaded special Parcel train beyond the country borders to Benapole in Bangladesh with Dry Chillies from Reddipalem in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh state.
Guntur and its surrounding areas in the state of Andhra Pradesh are well known for Chillies cultivation. The quality of this farm produce is internationally renewed for its uniqueness in taste and brand. Earlier, the farmers and merchants in and around Guntur area have been transporting Dry Chillies by road to Bangladesh in small quantities and that was costing around Rs 7000 per tonne. During the lockdown period, they could not move this essential commodity by Road. Then Railway staff and Officials approached the consignors and explained the facilities to transport by Rail. Accordingly, they have moved the Dry Chillies by Rail in bulk through goods trains. But for moving the consignment by Goods trains, it is mandatory for the farmers and merchants to mobilise the quantity in bulk i.e. at least more than 1500 tonnes in each trip.
To mitigate this problem and to facilitate the Rail users to move their quantities in smalls i.e., up to a maximum of 500 tonnes in each trip, Guntur Division of South Central Railway took the initiative and moved the Special Parcel Express to Bangladesh. This has helped the farmers and merchants of Guntur to market their farm produce beyond the country border by transporting the Dry Chillies in small quantities through Special Parcel Express.
Accordingly, one Special Parcel Express train consisting of 16 Parcel Van moved to Benapole in Bangladesh. Each Parcel Van was loaded with 466 Dry Chillies bags, weighing around 19.9 Tonnes and the total weight carried by the Special Parcel Express is around 384 Tonnes. The cost per tonne for carrying by Special Parcel Express is Rs. 4,608 and which is very cheap and economical as compared to Road transport which is amounting to Rs. 7,000 per tonne.
It may be noted that Indian Railways has taken a series of steps to boost parcel train traffic during the Covid period.
Transportation of essential items like medical supplies, medical equipment, food, etc in small parcel sizes are a very important items that needed for business as well as consumption purposes. In order to fill in this vital need, Indian Railways has made railway parcel vans available for quick mass transportation by E-Commerce entities and other customers including State governments. Railways has been running time-tabled Parcel Special trains on select routes, to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential items.
The total of 4434 parcel trains have run 22.03.2020 till 11.07.2020,out of which 4,304 have been time-tabled trains.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638126
Contents shared By educratsweb.com
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to ensure capturing of FASTag details while registering or issuing fitness certificate to vehicles all over the country. In a letter addressed to NIC, with copies to all the States and UTs, the Ministry has informed that full integration of National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) with VAHAN portal has been achieved, and the same has gone live with API on 14th May last. The VAHAN system is now getting all information on FASTags through VIN/VRN.
As such, the Ministry has asked to ensure capturing FASTag details while registering new vehicles, as also while issuing fitness certificates to vehicles plying under national permit.
The fitment of FASTag in new vehicles at the time of sales of vehicles of category M and N, was made mandatory in 2017. But the integration with bank account or they being activated was being avoided by citizens, which would be checked now. Fitment of FASTag is to ensure that vehicles crossing the National Highway fee plazas use electronic medium of FASTag payment, and cash payment is avoided. This usage and promotion of FASTag will also be effective to minimising possibilities of spreading COVID at NH Toll Plazas.
The Ministry had issued a Gazette notification in November 2017, on this scheme.
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1638107
Contents shared By educratsweb.com
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