Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 6 (ANI): Work for the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail that began recently is progressing at a fast pace and will introduce driverless trains that will be run solely on signals, an official said.

New Delhi [India], July 19 (ANI): India has a total of 13.34 lakh electric vehicles while the number of non-electric vehicles stood at 27.81 crore, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said on Tuesday.

New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from Rajasthan Rajya Vidhyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL), a mining company and others on a plea seeking a stay on the operations of the mining in Phase-II in Parsa East and Kente Basan (PEKB) mine alleging that due to which RRVUNL is proceeding to cut about 5 lakh trees.

New Delhi Mar 26 PTI The Modi government on Saturday extended the scheme to provide 5 kg offoodgrains free of cost to the poor by six months till September 30 at a cost of Rs 80000 crore as it looks to continue providing support to vulnerable amid a rebound in the COVID-19 pandemic The scheme which started when India went into stringent lockdown two years back was to end on March 31 In the last two years around Rs 26 lakh crore has already been spent under this scheme and it will cost another Rs 80000 crore with the extension of six months In March 2020 the Centre had launched the scheme -- Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana PM-GKAY -- to provide free 5 kg foodgrains per person per month to over 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act NFSA to reduce the hardships of people during the COVID pandemic In keeping with the concern and sensitivity towards poor and vulnerable sections of society the Union Cabinethas extended thePM-GKAY scheme for another six months ie till September 2022 Phase VI an official statement said The Phase-V of PM-GKAY scheme was to end in March 2022 The government has spent approximately Rs 260 lakh crore so far and another Rs 80000 crore will be spent over the next six months till September 2022 taking the total expenditure under PM-GKAY to nearly Rs 340 lakh crore the statement said The extension of the scheme shows the Modi governments sensitivity towards poor Food Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted The additional free grains are over and above the normal quota provided under the NFSA at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly abated and economic activities are gathering momentum this PM-GKAY extension would ensure that no poor household goes to bed without food during this time of recovery the statement said Under the extended PM-GKAY each beneficiary will get additional 5 kg free ration per person per month in addition to his normal quota of foodgrains under the NFSA This means that every poor household would get nearly double the normal quantity of ration the statement said The government had allocated about 759 lakh tonnes of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY till Phase V With another 244 lakh tonnes of free foodgrains under this extension Phase VI the aggregate allocation of free foodgrains under the PM-GKAY now stand at 1003 lakh tonnes of foodgrains it added The benefit of free ration can be availed through portability by any migrant labour or beneficiary under One Nation One Ration Card ONORC plan from nearly 5 lakh ration shops across the country So far over 61 crore portability transactions have benefitted the beneficiaries away from their homes This has been made possible due to the highest ever procurement despite the centurys worst pandemic with the highest ever payment to farmers by the government the food ministry said For this record production in the agricultural fields Indian farmers Annadata deserves to be complimented it added This scheme has been extended several times with the recent one until March 2022 Initially in 2020-21 the PMGKAY scheme was announced only for a period of three months of April May and June 2020 Phase-I Later the government extended the scheme from July to November 2020 Phase-II With the COVID crisis continuing in 2021-22 the Centre in April 2021 had re-introduced the scheme for a period of two months of May and June 2021 Phase-III and extended it for another five months from July to November 2021 Phase-IV The scheme was again extended from December 2021 to March 2022 Phase-V In the beginning the government had also distributed 1 kg of pulses under this scheme but it was discontinued later PTI MJH ANZ MR

New Delhi [India], March 21 (ANI/PNN): BSE (560961) & NSE (VIKASECO) listed Vikas Ecotech Ltd. an emerging player in the global arena of the high end specialty chemicals players, offering eco-friendly and technologically superior products to the world has announced that on persistence and support extended by the promoters of the Company, it has paid back Rs 60 million today, taking the total amount of bank-debt reduced in the Phase-II to Rs 360 million and the overall bank-debt reduction to Rs 580 million till date.

Kochi Mar 20 PTI Amid the havoc created by the pandemic for the past two years the Infopark here reported an increase in software exports by an impressive 21 per cent in financial year 2020-21 and created over 2000 job opportunities In the last financial year a total of 88 new companies started operations in the IT park with an allotment of 157602 square feet space Kerala State IT Parks CEO John M Thomas said adding that the strength of the workforce increased by eight per cent Software export revenue of Infopark Kochi and associated satellite parks last financial year stood at Rs 6310 crore as against Rs 5200 crore in the year before a 21 per cent increase Interestingly the export revenue had a steady increase even while there was a minor dip in the total number of companies due to the exit of small scale companies with remote working Infopark said in a statement Currently allotment of 50000 sq ft space to 13 more new companies are under process and this is expected to create over 400 new job opportunities in the immediate future Infopark said The park houses 55000 IT professionals in 412 companies with a total built-up space of 92 million sq ft which is rapidly expanding Thomas said Infopark has continued to attract new companies and investment to the state thereby generating net new employment opportunities during the pandemic The support from the government has helped in both bolstering the IT infrastructure at Infopark and attracting investments from global and Indian IT majors he said Catering to the increasing demand for IT built-up space the park has come forward with expansion plans The Geo Group has recently announced its plan to invest Rs 160 crore on a new project the IBS Kochi campus is nearing completion with a built-up space of 65 million sq ft and completion of Media Systems India project in Phase-II is projected to generate innumerable fresh opportunities Infopark an IT park established in 2004 by the Kerala government plans to develop 165 acres of denotified land in Phase-I PTI RRT RRT HDA HDA

Punjab [Pakistan], February 26 (ANI): Many farmers in Gujrat city of Pakistan's Punjab province have lodged a strong protest on Friday saying that the government is trying to "snatch" their fertile lands for industrial purposes.

New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): The Modi Government has approved the implementation of the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project by the Ministry of Home Affairs at a total cost of Rs. 3,375 crore during the period from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Mumbai, February 13: The Indian Coast Guard is inviting applications for recruitment to the posts of Foreman of Stores, General Central Service, Group ‘B’, Non- Gazetted, Non-Ministerial Posts. Interested candidates are advised to check the official site of Coast Guard Recruitment at indiancoastguard.gov.in. Indian Coast Guard Recruitment 2022: Vacancy For 11 Group B Posts; Check […]

New Delhi Jan 31 PTI As many as 96 cities across the country have witnessed an improvement in the air quality with the government taking a host of measures including steps to curtail vehicular emissions Economic Survey 2021-22 said on Monday The government has approved Phase-II of FAME scheme with an outlay of Rs 10000 crore for a period of five years commencing from April 1 2019 as part of its efforts to promote electric vehicle adoption and reduce air pollution the Survey noted Out of total budgetary support about 86 per cent of fund has been allocated for demand incentive so as to create demand for electric vehicles EVs in the country it added This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7090 e-buses 5 lakh e-3 wheelers 55000 e-4 wheeler passenger cars including strong hybrid and 10 lakh e-2 wheelers the Economic Survey stated Permit requirement for electric vehicles has been removed it added As a result of these initiatives 96 cities showed a decreasing trend of PM10 concentration in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20 The number of cities within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standard PM10 less than 60 gm3 also increased from 18 in 2019-20 to 27 in 2020-21 it noted However air pollution remains a major concern with 36 cities showing an increasing trend in PM10 concentration in 2020-2021 as compared to 2019-2020 it added Listing other measures taken to curtail vehicular emissions the Survey noted that the country has leapfrogged from BS-IV to BS-VI norms for fuel and vehicles since April 2020 Besides metro rail networks for public transport have been enhanced and more cities covered it added Cleaneralternate fuels like CNG LPG and ethanol blending in petrol have been introduced the Economic Survey stated The government has also brought in stringent emission norms for coal-based thermal power plants it stated Besides there is ban on use of imported pet coke in the country since July 2018 with exception for permitted processes it said Online continuous emission monitoring devices have been installed in highly polluting industries and brick kilns have been shifted to zig-zag technology to reduce pollution the Survey noted The government has also also notified six waste management rules covering solid waste plastic waste e-waste bio-medical waste construction and demolition waste and hazardous waste it said Besides extended producer responsibility for plastic and e-waste management has been introduced it added Also burning of biomassgarbage has been banned the Survey noted PTI MSS MSS ANU ANU