The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has greeted the people on the occasion of Guru Purnima.

“सभी देशवासियों को गुरु पूर्णिमा की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं।

On the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, we bow in reverence to all our Gurus who have played an important role in inspiring, moulding and shaping our society”, the Prime Minister said.

सभी देशवासियों को गुरु पूर्णिमा की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं।

On the auspicious day of #GuruPurnima, we bow in reverence to all our Gurus who have played an important role in inspiring, moulding and shaping our society.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019.  It will replace the banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019.

The banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019 will replace the Ordinance promulgated on 21^stFebruary, 2019, which will otherwise cease to operate after six weeks after reassembly of Parliament.

Impact

The Bill will help tackle the menace of illicit deposit taking activities in the country, which at present are exploiting regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people of their hard-earned savings.

Background

The banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Bill, 2018 was considered by the Lok Sabha in its sitting held on 13^th February, 2019 and after discussion, the same was passed, as amended through the proposed official amendments, as the banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Bill, 2019.  However, before the same could be considered and passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on the same day.

The Second India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue (IRSED) shall be held on 10 July in New Delhi, under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and Mr. Timur Maksimov, Deputy Minister of the Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

The Second meeting of the IRSED shall be focussing on six core areas of cooperation, namely, Development of Transport Infrastructure and Technologies; Development of Agriculture and Agro-Processing sector; Small and Medium Business support; Digital Transformation and Frontier Technologies; Cooperation in Trade, Banking, Finance, and Industry; and Tourism & Connectivity.

The IRSED was established following a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation during the 19^th edition of the Annual India-Russia Bilateral Summit, which was held on October 5, 2018, in New Delhi.

The First India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held in St. Petersburg between November 25-26, 2018, and was chaired by Mr. Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has condoled the loss of lives due to the bus accident in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

“Pained by the bus accident in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those injured recover fast. The State Government and local administration are providing all possible assistance to the affected”, the Prime Minister said.

Pained by the bus accident in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones. I pray that those injured recover fast. The State Government and local administration are providing all possible assistance to the affected.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2019

Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman proposed that taxpayers can file the income tax returns by Aadhaar cards also. That implies, PAN card and Aadhaar card can be used interchangeably to file income tax returns.

“More than 120 crore Indians now have Aadhar card, therefore for the ease of taxpayers, I propose to make PAN card and Aadhar card interchangeable and allow those who don’t have PAN to file returns by simply quoting Aadhar number and use it wherever they require to use PAN,” FM Smt. Sitharaman stated.

Following the proposal by FM Sitharaman, people who don’t have Personal Account Number (PAN) can file income tax returns by quoting Aadhaar card. Further, the Aadhaar card can be used wherever PAN is required.

An amount of Rs. 400 crore has been provided for FY 2019-20 to create “World Class Institutions” in the field of education which is more than three times the revised estimates for the previous year. This was stated by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2019-20 in the Parliament today. The Finance Minister assured that the Government will also bring in a New National Education Policy to transform India’s higher education system to one of the global best education systems. The new Policy proposes major changes in both school and higher education among others, better Governance systems and brings greater focus on research and innovation.

To achieve the objectives of research and innovation, the Finance Minister also announced setting up of a National Research Foundation (NRF) to fund, coordinate and promote research in the country. NRF will ensure that the overall research eco-system in the country is strengthened with focus on identified thrust areas relevant to our national priorities and towards basic science without duplication of effort and expenditure, the Minister explained. The funds available with all Ministries will be integrated in NRF and would be adequately supplemented with additional funds.

Smt Nirmala Sitharaman also announced the programme ‘Study in India’, that will focus on bringing foreign students to study in our higher educational institutions. The Finance Minister disclosed that a draft legislation for setting up Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) would be presented in the year ahead. This will help to comprehensively reform the regulatory system of higher education to promote greater autonomy and focus on better academic outcomes.

Smt Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Khelo India Scheme will be expanded to provide all necessary financial support and a National Sports Education Board for Development of Sportspersons would be set up under Khelo India Scheme to popularize sports at all levels.

Highlighting the recent achievements, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman said that while there was not a single Indian institution in the top 200 in the world university rankings five years back, there are three institutions now – two IITs and IISc Bangalore – in the top 200 bracket. This has been achieved due to concerted efforts by the institutions to boost their standards and also project their credentials better.

Giving further details, the Finance Minister said that Massive online open courses through the SWAYAM initiative have helped bridge the digital divide for disadvantaged section of the student community. To up-grade the quality of teaching, the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme in higher education was started, aimed at tapping the global pool of scientists and researchers, she explained. The IMPRINT or IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology scheme began as a Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in selected domains needed by the country. It is because of this that Higher Educational Institutions are now becoming the centres of innovation, the Minister said.