President Shri Ram Nath Kovind today said, the government is moving towards building a strong, secure, prosperous and inclusive India in line with their aspirations.

This journey is inspired by the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas. Addressing the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, Shri Kovind said, from day one, the Central government is committed to improving the lives of people by removing their sufferings from misgovernance and providing all the necessary facilities. He said, people after evaluating the government’s first term, have given even stronger support for the second term in the Lok Sabha elections.

The President said, nearly half of the MPs have been elected for the first time and the largest number of women MPs elected in the history. He said, new India will carry forward the ideals of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s ideals where people’s minds are fear-free, and their head is held high with self-respect. Shri Kovind added that the vision of the new India is also inspired by the ideas of Shri Narayan Guru.

Listing the government’s initiatives, the President said it has been decided to provide the ‘Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi’, to every farmer in the country. He lauded the government’s ‘pension scheme’ for small shopkeepers and retail traders, which has been approved in the first Cabinet meeting. The scheme will benefit around three crore small shopkeepers in the country.

To give emphasize on water conservation, the government has formed a separate Jalshakti Ministry which is a decisive step and will have far-reaching benefits. Through this new Ministry, water conservation and management will be made more effective.

Shri Kovind said, the government’s focus is to strengthen rural India and 25 lakh crore rupees will be invested in the coming years to increase the productivity of the agriculture sector. Several steps have been taken in the last five years to double the farmers’ income by 2022.

The President said, women empowerment is one of the highest priorities of the government saying their effective participation in society and economy is the test of a developed society. He added that the government’s motto is not only women should grow, but also there should be women-led development.

The government has made the punishments for crimes against women more stringent.

The President stressed the need to eradicate the practices of Tripe Talaq and nikah-halala to ensure equal rights for every sister and daughter in the country. He urged the MPs to extend their support to these efforts to make the lives of sisters and daughters more dignified.

Shri  Kovind said, around 19 crore loans have been given for self-employment under the Prime Minister’s Mudra Yojana and this scheme will now be expanded to 30 crore people. Now, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

The President advised the newly elected MPs that they should always remember the fundamental mantra of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi that every decision of should be guided by its impact on the poorest and the weakest persons in society. Shri Kovind said, the elected members should also remember the voter who setting aside all his work and overcoming his difficulties went to the polling station to cast his vote and discharge his responsibilities towards the nation and their priority should be to fulfill the voter’s aspirations.

The President touched upon every aspect of governance, and  said that India is now on the way to become the world’s fifth largest economy in terms of GDP. To maintain the high growth rate, reform process will continue. Mr Kovind said, it is the government’s objective to make India a 5-trillion dollar economy by 2024.

Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal has urged small traders and retailers to join e-commerce platform to grow their business. Addressing a meeting of kirana stores, traders and retailers associations in New Delhi, Shri Goyal called upon small traders to come on GeM platform which has achieved 25 thousand crore rupees turnover.
The meeting was aimed at exploring the strengths and weaknesses of small traders and engaging them for discussions on issues of e-Commerce.
Shri Goyal reiterated that India will not allow multi-brand retail by foreign companies and on the pretext of B2B no entry will be allowed for multi-brand retail.
He also asserted that predatory pricing will not be allowed and necessary action will be taken against defaulters. He said, government will give all support and assistance to small traders and retailers to grow their business.

In a major decision to facilitate the solar and wind energy projects, Shri RK Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship has approved a proposal to set up a Dispute Resolution Committee to consider the unforeseen disputes between solar/wind power developers and SECI/NTPC, beyond contractual agreement.

Emphasising the importance of this step, Shri Singh said that the move will give further fillip to the smooth implementation of solar/wind energy projects in India. It fulfils a long pending demand of the industry to resolve expeditiously, unforeseen disputes that may arise beyond the scope of Contractual Agreements.

The Solar and Wind Industry have been demanding setting up of Dispute Resolution Mechanism by MNRE for quite some time, to resolve expeditiously, unforeseen disputes that may arise beyond the scope of Contractual Agreements between solar power developers / wind power developers and SECI/ NTPC.

The issue was considered and it was felt that there is need to erect a transparent, unbiased Dispute Resolution Mechanism, consisting of an independent, transparent and unbiased Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC), for resolving the unforeseen disputes that may arise in implementation of contractual agreements and also for dealing with issues which are beyond the scope of Contractual Agreements between solar power developers/ wind power developers and SECI / NTPC.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, held a meeting with representatives of associations of kirana stores, traders and retailers in New Delhi today. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State of Commerce and Industry and Som Parkash, Minister of State of Commerce and Industry were also present during this interaction.

Piyush Goyal interacted with the representatives in order to engage them for discussions on issues of e-Commerce and explore the strengths and weaknesses of small traders. The Minister also looked at the possibilities of small stores, traders and retailers who may benefit from an e-Commerce platform. He urged small traders and retailers to come on the GeM platform which has achieved Rs. 25000 crore turn over.

Commerce and Industry Minister urged the participants to speak frankly and put before him all their apprehensions and fears so that the Commerce and Industry Ministry and other Government Departments may be able to address them.

Representatives of the associations of kirana stores, traders and retailers discussed the need for a level playing field and the impact of anti-competitive practices like predatory pricing and other discriminatory methods that are being faced by them from foreign competition.

Commerce and Industry Minister again reiterated that India will not allow multi-brand retail by foreign companies and on the pretext of B2B no entry will be allowed for multi-brand retail. Commerce Minister assured the participants that each and every point made by them will be taken up. He also asserted that predatory pricing will not be allowed and necessary action will be taken against defaulters.  Piyush Goyal further said that the Government of India will give all support and assistance to small traders and retailers to grow their business.

Piyush Goyal further said that the aspect of data in the law is being addressed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). He requested the representatives of associations of kirana stores, traders and retailers to send all suggestions for the draft e-Commerce policy in the next five days without any delay. The e-Commerce policy will be finalized only after taking into account every suggestion received by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said the Minister.

Piyush Goyal urged small retailers, kirana stores to make use of modern technology and avail benefits of Government of India schemes like MUDRA to improve their business, spruce up their shops, improve stocks by storing high quality products and pass on the benefits to people employed by them.

Minister explained that by bringing in greater controls through rules and laws will only help up to a certain point, but for long term gain, short term pain will have to be borne and India cannot remain in isolation and will have to be part of the global value chain in order to become a USD 5 trillion economy.

Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat reviewed the ongoing Namami Gange projects in Varanasi during his visit to the city today. He inspected the 140 Million Litres Day (MLD) Dinapur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) from inlet upto outfall point into Varuna. He was accompanied by Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Shri Rajiv Ranjan Mishra.

Union Minister, Sh. Shekhawat instructed the officials of Dinapur STP to conduct periodic chemical checks to ensure that the sewage does not have any industrial or other toxic discharge. Under the Namami Gange program, 2 STPs at Dinapur and Goitha (120 MLD) have been recently completed at Varanasi, of which, the Dinapur STP was inaugurated late last year by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in November 2018.

Furthermore, the 50 MLD STP being constructed in Ramana will bolster the existing sewage treatment capacity of the city and take it to 412 MLD which is adequate to meet the sewage treatment demand till 2035 and stop untreated sewage from entering the Ganga in Varanasi.

Shri Shekhawat also inspected all the 84 iconic Ghats of Varanasi by boat with a particular focus on the 26 Ghats, where the projects of repair/ renovation have been taken up under the Namami Gange Program. He also reviewed the project for regular cleaning of the 84 Ghats as well as the river surface cleaning project, both of which have been put in place under the Namami Gange Program to ensure cleanliness in and around the river.

Apart from inspecting the Ghats, he also observed the Ghat pumping stations and tapping of drains. Out of 23 drains, 20 drains have already been tapped. The remaining 3, including Assi are being tapped through Ramana STP project, which is to be completed during this year.

The Minister also visited ‘Ganga Tarini’, a floating museum on a house boat which showcases a film display on Ganga and its rich biodiversity. It is a first of its kind initiative to inform people about the various facets of the river including the social, cultural, historical and economical aspects. Ganga Tarini has been developed by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with NMCG.

Shri Shekhawat also visited ‘Jalaj’, a boat which moves along the Ghats of Varanasi and the nearby villages, displaying and selling products prepared by the Ganga Praharis and local villagers, as a boost to better livelihood opportunities for people living along the banks of the Ganga. The trained Ganga Praharis also educate the local people and tourists regarding Ganga river, biodiversity and cleanliness.

Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, today announced the restoration of the ‘ration in kind’ for the officers of the three Armed Forces posted in peace areas.

Now all officers of the Armed Forces including those in peace stations will be getting ration.  A lot of effort from all levels in the Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces has resulted in this restoration.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with the Presidents of all political parties having representation in Parliament on the issue of One Nation One Election in New Delhi today.

During the meeting, celebrations of 75 years of India’s Independence in 2022 and Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations this year will also be discussed.

Increasing the productivity in parliament and the development of aspirational districts are other items on the agenda.

The Prime Minister has pitched for One Nation One Election on various occasions.  During his Mann Ki Baat programme in All India Radio in August last year, Mr Modi had described the debate on the issue as a healthy sign for democracy.

He had said that it is an appropriate tribute to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who changed the country’s political culture.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, welcomed the unanimous election of Shri Om Birla as the Speaker of the seventeenth Lok Sabha, in accordance with the highest traditions of the House.

Congratulating Shri Om Birla, in his address at Lok Sabha today, the Prime Minister said that it is a proud moment for all the members to have such a distinguished personality as the Speaker of the House.

He said that Shri Om Birla has been in public life for years, starting as a student leader and has been continuously serving the society. He commended the role played by Om Birla in the transformation and overall development of Kota, Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister also remembered his long association with the newly elected Speaker. He underlined Shri Om Birla’s dedication to service and his contributions towards the rebuilding efforts in Kutch after the earthquake and Kedarnath after the floods. He added that the seventeenth Lok Sabha is getting a compassionate leader as its Speaker.

The Prime Minister assured the Speaker that he would receive full cooperation of the members in conducting the proceedings of the House successfully.

In a move to benefit skilled persons from economically underprivileged sections of the society, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to remove the requirement of minimum educational qualification for driving a transport vehicle. Under Rule 8 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, a transport vehicle driver needs to have passed class 8. However, there are large numbers of unemployed persons especially in rural areas of the country, who may not have a formal education, but are otherwise literate and skilled. In a recent meeting in the Transport Ministry, the Haryana government had requested for waiver of the educational qualification condition for drivers from the economically backward Mewat region where the population is dependent for livelihood on low-income earning pursuits including driving. The state government had submitted that many people in the region possess the required skill but not the required educational qualification, and were finding it difficult to obtain driving license.  Hence it was felt that driving being more a matter of skill than of educational competence, the condition of minimum educational qualification acts as a hindrance for the otherwise eligible unemployed youth. The removal of this requirement will open up employment opportunities for a large number of unemployed persons, especially the youth in the country.

Not only this, the decision will also help meet the shortage ofnearly 22 lakh drivers in the transport and logistics sector, which is hindering its growth.

However, while removing the requirement of a minimum educational qualification, the Ministry has strongly emphasized upon training and skill testing of drivers so that road safety is not compromised in any way. Anyone applying for a driving license will have to mandatorily pass a stringent skill test. The Ministry has emphasized that training imparted by a school or establishment as mentioned in the the Motor Vehicels Act 1988 should ensure that the driver can read signs and perform logistical duty such as maintenance of driver logs, inspection of trucks and trailers, submission of pre-trip and post-trip records, determination of discrepancies in paperwork, effective communication to report safety hazards.  Moreover schools and establishments which are providing vocational training and skilling facilities are subject to regulatory control by the states. Hence, the training imparted should be of high quality covering all aspects of driving a particular type of motor vehicle.

It may also be noted that the Supreme Court, in its judgment dated 3.7.2017 in Civil Appeal No. 5826 of 2011 – MukundDewagan Vs. Oriental Insurance Company Limited &Ors., in the matter of issue of driving licenses for light motor vehicles,  had passed directions that the licence for Transport Vehicles would not arise in case of licence of the Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) class.

The Ministry had already proposed the removal of requirement for educational qualification in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill that got passed by the previous Lok Sabha. The subject was also deliberated upon by the Standing Committee and  Select committee of the Parliament.

In light of the above the Ministry of Road Transport & highways has initiated the process of amendment to the Rule 8 of Central Motor Vehicles 1989 and the draft notification in this regard will be issued soon.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, upon his return from Muzaffarpur, has reviewed the situation arising from the reported cases of AES/JE in Bihar in a high level meeting today which was attended by senior officers of the Health Ministry, ICMR, and AIIMS. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MOS(HFW) was alsopresent at the meeting.

The Union Health Minister has directed for anotherhigh level multi-disciplinary team to be sent to Bihar immediately. The team will undertake the necessary ground work for setting up state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary research centre at Muzaffarpur. Dr. Harsh Vardhan during his review visit yesterday has assured the State about establishing such a Centre at Muzaffarpur.

“To establish the cause of the disease, there is urgent need for an inter disciplinary, high quality research team.  The research team shall work with the children suffering from AES/JE looking at various aspects including periodicity, cycle of disease, environmental factors and metrological data, besides other factors”, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated.

The inter disciplinary team consists of experts from ICMR, Delhi; NIMHANS, Bangalore; National Institute of Malaria Research; National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad; National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune; National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) Chennai and AIIMS, Delhi.

The members of the high level central team are:

• Dr Jhuma Sankar, Associate Prof , Dept of Pediatrics , AIIMS DELHI
• Dr V Ravi , Senior Prof Neuro Virology , NIMHANS
• Dr Abhinav Sinha , Scientist E in National Institute of Malaria Research
• Dr Biswaroop, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology, AIIMS
• Dr Manoj Murhekar, Director, National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai
• Dr Tandale, Scientist F, NIV, Pune
• Dr Arlappa , Scientist F, National Institute of Nutrition , Hyderabad

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also said thatfive virological labs will be set up in different districts in the State.  The location of the district can be decided in consultation with the State Government and can be funded through NHM, he stated.

In one of the decisions taken during his visit, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has instructed to set up a 100-bedded paediatric ICU at SKMCH by the State Government.Also, in the adjoining districts, 10 bedded paediatric ICUs will be set up with support from the Centre, so that such cases can be given better and exclusive treatment and there is no unnecessary load on the facilities available at SKMCH.

Emphasising the need for early detection and treatment of hypoglycemia cases,Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that a dedicated team of doctors should be placed in endemic PHCs with required facilities at least for 3 to 4 months before and during onset of disease and they may be incentivised under NHM appropriately. As for present, the concerned PHCs and CHCs should take prompt corrective measures for hypoglycaemia at the facility itself to utilize the golden hour, he added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also said that Ministry of Earth Science will be requested to upgrade its IMD observatory facility for improved monitoring of climate related parameters such as temperature humidity, rainfall, heat waves, etc., and share it with the State Government and NCDC for better preparedness and management of AES.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, Piyush Goyal, held an extensive consultation with tech industry and e-Commerce companies in New Delhi yesterday. E-Commerce and tech companies across all segments, who have businesses in India and foreign MNCs, participated in the interactive session with Commerce& Industry Minister, Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Secretary Department of Commerce, Secretary Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)and Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The meeting was held by Piyush Goyal in order to understand their concerns and take their suggestions towards building a robust data protection framework that will achieve the dual purpose of privacy and innovation and strengthen India’s position as a global tech leader with focus on trust and innovation.

All the companies who were represented in this meeting put forth their concerns related to RBI data storage requirements and processing related guidelines issued by the RBI. Deputy Governor of RBI, B.P. Kanungo, assured the industry representatives that the Reserve Bank of India will look into this.

The e-Commerce industry representatives also put forth their concerns before the Commerce Minister about the e-Commerce draft policy which they felt was not adequately consultative. Commerce Minister assured the e-Commerce industry representatives that each and every concern of the industry will be addressed and for that the Minister requested e-Commerce representatives to send their concerns in writing to the DPIIT within 10 days.

Industry representatives also informed the Minister that the consultations for the Data Protection Bill by MeitY was satisfactory but as a lot of time had elapsed and the industry was not sure about the final shape of the Bill. Secretary MeitY, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, assured the e-Commerce companies that the Bill will reflect all the consultations that had taken place with the industryduring the formulation of the Bill.

The principles of data protection and privacy were discussed at length in the meeting and industry representatives requested the Minister to ensure that the Bill will have more clarity around classification of data and the manner of cross border flow of data. Commerce Minister assured that MeitY will address this concern too.

E-Commerce and tech companies also informed Piyush Goyal that the data free flow discussed in the recent G20 Ministerial Meeting on Trade and Digital Economywas a positive development for India in principle and India must participate in the discussions on digital trade but issues of concern for the country must be taken up as and when they arise during the G20 discussions.

Commerce Minister said that MeitY and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) may deal with the concerns of companies who build products in India and store their data in the country and the Billmust reflect this.

NASSCOM President, Debjani Ghosh, put forth before the Commerce Minister the necessity of harmony across all policies of all Ministries and RBI which deal with digital trade. She also said that this meeting is happening at an opportune time when India is emerging as a data powerhouse and innovative digital technology is bringing immense economic opportunities and disruptions and allowing Developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to leapfrog.

Commerce & Industry Minister said that this meeting will help the Ministries of Commerce and Industry,MeitY and RBI to work in synergy towards realizing the full use of digital technology together with trade and investment and also be mindful of our national needs priorities and sensitivities.

Apart from all the major e-Commerce and tech companies in India, the meeting was attended by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash, senior officers from Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Commerce & DPIIT. India’s Ambassador to the WTO, J.S. Deepak and President and CEO of Mastercard, Ajaypal Singh Bangaparticipated in the discussions via direct video link.

Senior Leader Shri JP Nadda was appointed as the national working president of the BJP at the party’s parliamentary board meeting on Monday.

Shri Amit Shah, who has entered the Shri Narendra Modi cabinet as the home minister, will continue to be BJP chief and will likely see the party through assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand elections later this year.

“The BJP won several elections under leadership of Amit Shah ji. But since PM appointed him home minister, Amit Shah ji himself said the responsibility of party president should be given to someone else. The BJP parliamentary board has selected JP Nadda as working president,” senior leader and defence minister Shri Rajnath Singh said.

Educated at St. Xaviers School in Patna, Nadda thereafter did his BA from Patna College, Patna University and LLB from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. He was three-time MLA in the Himachal assembly and came to the Upper House from Himachal Pradesh when he was appointed Union minister in 2014.

After being appointed working president, Shri Nadda, in a series of tweets, said Modi’s guidance has always been inspirational for him and under the prime minister’s leadership the party has got huge support from people of the country. “I will try to strengthen the party as its worker…serving the party is like worship for me,” Shri Nadda said.