PM to interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awardees

 According to a press release by the Prime Minister’s Office, digital certificates will be conferred on PMRBP awardees for the years 2022 and 2021 using Blockchain Technology

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) awardees today at 12 noon via video conferencing. According to a press release by the Prime Minister’s Office, digital certificates will be conferred on PMRBP awardees for the years 2022 and 2021 using Blockchain Technology.

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is given as recognition to children residing in India, above the age of 5 years and not exceeding 18 years (as on August 31 of respective year) with exceptional abilities and outstanding achievement in 6 fields of innovation, scholastic achievements, sports, arts and culture, social service and bravery, which deserve recognition.

“This year, 29 children from across the country, under different categories of Bal Shakti Puraskar, have been selected for PMRBP-2022. The awardees also take part in the Republic day parade every year. Each awardee of PMRBP is given a medal, a cash prize of Rs 1 Lakh and a certificate. The cash prize will be transferred to the respective accounts of PMRBP 2022 winners,” said the press release..

India-Japan summit likely next month, to focus on boosting trade ties

The annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe is likely to take place early next month

The annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe is likely to take place early next month and its broad focus would be further expansion of the already close strategic and trade ties between the two countries, people familiar with the development said on Monday. Abe's visit to India for the annual summit in Guwahati in December last year was cancelled in the wake of massive protests rocking the capital city of Assam over the amended citizenship law.

The next month's summit will be a virtual one and preparations are underway for it, the people cited above said. In the India Japan summit, the two sides are expected to seal a military pact on reciprocal access to military bases for logistics support, they said.

The pact will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases and facilities for repair and replenishment of supplies besides facilitating scaling up of overall cooperation. In the summit, the two sides are expected to review the entire spectrum of bilateral defence ties, including the long-pending issue of supply of the US-2 amphibious aircraft by Japan to India.

Goyal lauds PM for ‘path breaking improvements’ in India’s biz environment

India has remarkably improved in ease of doing business, reported World Bank in its ease of doing business 2020 survey

After India jumped 14 positions to be ranked 63rd in the World Bank’s ease of doing business, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “path breaking improvements” in the country’s business environment.

“India has jumped from 77th to 63rd rank in the Ease of Doing Business Rankings released just now by the World Bank. Congratulations to PM @NarendraModi ji for the path breaking improvements in India’s business environment for nation’s prosperity and job creation,” he tweeted. India has remarkably improved in ease of doing business, reported World Bank in its ease of doing business 2020 survey. The country is placed in 63rd position among 190 countries.

According to the report issued by World Bank on Thursday, India appeared among the top 10 improvers for the third time in a row. The Bank lauded New Delhi for a “remarkable reform effort”. “In economies on the list of 10 top improvers, leaders of India and China adopted the Doing Business indicators as a core component of their reform strategies,” said the World Bank.

It also praised Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign which focused on attracting foreign investment, boosting the private sector, manufacturing in particular, and enhancing the country’s overall competitiveness…

Will leave no stone unturned to fulfil ‘housing for all’ dream: PM Modi

Modi had launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to provide affordable housing to the urban poor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government is committed to further improving urban infrastructure and will leave no stone unturned to fulfil the dream of housing for all.

Taking to Twitter, Modi said, “Four years ago, today we started important initiatives PM Awas Yojana (U), AMRUT, Smart Cities with the aim of #TransformingUrbanLandscape in India. These initiatives have not only helped usher in a new paradigm of urban development but have also transformed crores of lives.”

In another tweet, he said, “These initiatives have seen record investment, speed, use of technology and public participation. We are committed to further improving urban infrastructure. No stone will be left unturned to fulfil the dream of Housing for All, which will give wings to crores of aspirations.”

Modi had launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) to provide affordable housing to the urban poor. The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) aims at giving basic civic amenities such as water supply, sewerage, urban transport, parks to improve the quality of life for all especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Demonetisation greatest money-laundering scheme integrated by govt: Shourie

Modi govt is only about 300-feet statute, bullet trains: Arun Shourie

economy news: Banging the Narendra Modi authorities over sliding monetary development and increasing job deficits, former Union Minister Arun Shourie has likened demonetisation with suicide, saying these is too "a daring step".

He also called it the major money-laundering scheme.

"It was the major money-laundering scheme ever, conceived and implemented completely by the government, " It was an "idiotic jolt" this individual continued, "everyone who black color converted it into white, " he said.

"This is a government by 'ilhaam' (revelation). The Primary Minister has the 'ilhaam' one night that demonetisation should be done and he does it. In any case it was a bold step. Need to remind you suicide too is a bold step, " Shourie said within an interview with NDTV when asked why in his view, the authorities went in for demonetisation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs you, 000 currency notes on November 8 last season.

"Which argument (offered by the federal government in defence of demonetisation today survives? Black money? All of it converted white. Terrorism? Terrorists are still coming into India. At the end they have nothing to say, " he added.

Shourie also took a dig at BJP President Amit Shah who has said that current slowdown is "due to technical reasons", terming him "that famous economist? " and underscoring that official figures simply cannot be brushed under the carpet....READ MORE 

Modi to visit Varanasi today, will flag off Mahamana Express, 17 projects

The train, on its inaugural service, will be run as a special train departing from Vadodara today and reaching  Varanasi  tomorrow

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on Friday for a two-day visit during which he will inaugurate several projects covering sectors like infrastructure, railways, financial inclusion and sanitation.

Among the highlights will be the flagging off of the Mahamana Express train, which will connect Varanasi with Surat and Vadodara in Gujarat.

The Prime Minister said in a series of tweets:

Tomorrow I begin my Varanasi visit, during which various development works will be launched. https://t.co/RaV4lpUhi7 

— Narendraodi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2017 

Tomorrow the Mahamana Express will be flagged off, which connects Varanasi to Vadodara and Surat. 

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2017

Other projects to  Modi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2017 

The Deendayal Hastkala Sankul, a trade facilitation centre for handicrafts will be dedicated to the nation. 

— Narendra Mbe inaugurated include Utkarsh Bank, which specialises in micro finance, Jal Ambulance service and Jal Shav Vahan service. 

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 21, 2017

Mahamana Express train

The flag-off of the third Mahamana Express would be done via video conferencing at 3.30 pm Modi would be undertaking the flag-off during his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

ALSO READ: Modi's speech at BJP national executive may set tone for Parliament session

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal would be present in Vadodara in Gujarat, and Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha in Surat, the officials said....Read More 

July factory activity contracts to 9-yr low on confusion over GST implementation

July brought the biggest month-on-month decline since November 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial crisis

Factory activity plunged last month and had its deepest contraction in more than nine years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new tax policy severely hurt output and demand, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 47.9 in July from June's 50.9, its first reading below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since December and its lowest reading since February 2009.

A Reuters poll predicted a modest July dip to 50.8. But July brought the biggest month-on-month decline since November 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial crisis and brought on a global recession.

An output sub-index fell to 46.3, its lowest since early 2009, from 51.7 in June, while contractions were reported across all major sub-indexes in the survey, including new orders, purchasing activity and employment.

"The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) weighed heavily on the Indian manufacturing industry in July," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at IHS Markit.

"New orders and output decreased for the first time since the demonetisation-related downturn."

On Nov. 8, Modi stunned the country by ordering the removal of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes, which removed about 86 percent of the currency in circulation and put activity on the skids in a predominantly cash-reliant economy.

Another huge change in India has been implementation of a national GST, which took effect on July 1. While the near-term impact is expected to be negative, the economy should reap benefits in the medium to longer-term, many analysts say.

(Economy news)

In July, a lack of clarity among producers on the new tax system hurt output even though factories cuts prices for their goods.

Even though input costs rose, firms cut prices to try and stimulate weak demand, suggesting retail inflation - which fell to a five-year low in June - is likely to remain subdued in coming months, adding pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates on Wednesday.

"The weakening trend for demand, relatively muted cost inflationary pressures and discounted factory gate charges provide powerful tools for monetary policy easing," said De Lima.

Jan Dhan deposits touch Rs 64,564 cr; Rs 300 cr added during demonetisation

PSBs account for Rs 50,800 cr, rural banks for Rs 11,683 cr, private banks for Rs 2,080 cr

 

Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have touched a new high of Rs 64,564 crore, of which over Rs 300 crore came in the first seven months of demonetisation, according to government data.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet scheme, aims at bringing hitherto unbanked areas and people under a formal banking system. Bank accounts can be opened with a zero balance under the PMJDY.

Finance ministry data, accessed through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by a PTI correspondent, show that there were about 28.9 crore PMJDY accounts on June 14 this year.(economy policy)

Of these, 23.27 crore accounts were with public sector banks, 4.7 crore with regional rural banks and 92.7 lakh with private ones.

These accounts together have deposits of Rs 64,564 crore, the Finance Ministry data show. Public sector banks account for Rs 50,800 crore, regional rural banks for Rs 11,683.42 crore and private banks, Rs 2,080.62 crore.

On November 16, 2016, there were 25.58 crore PMJDY accounts with an aggregate deposit of Rs 64,252.15 crore, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar had told the Lok Sabha.

Thus, between November 16 last year and June 14 this year, Rs 311.93 crore had been added to Jan Dhan accounts.

The PM had on November 8 last year announced the demonetisation of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes.

Following reports of alleged misuse of Jan Dhan accounts to convert black money into white after the note ban, the government had warned people that they would be penalised if they indulged in such activities.

In a press release issued on November 18, the government had said, "There are some reports received that some people are using other persons' bank accounts to convert their black money into new denomination notes."

This, it had said, had also been reported in Jan Dhan accounts.

The government had said such activities could attract penalty if it was established that the amount deposited in the account did not belong to the account holder.

"Also the person who allows his or her account to be misused for this purpose can be prosecuted for abetment under the Income Tax Act," it had said.

Alongside other facilities, PMJDY accounts also allow an overdraft facility of up to Rs 5,000 in one account per household, preferably held by a woman member.