General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jan 19, 2021

PM Modi Launches Rs. 1,000-crore 'Startup India Seed Fund'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Rs. 1,000-crore 'Start-up India Seed Fund', while addressing the 'Prarambh: Start-up India International Summit' 2021. This initiative will help in setting up new start-ups and promote their growth.
The Start-up India Seed Fund would support start-ups in need of initial capital to start and grow their business and help budding entrepreneurs pursue innovative ideas.
The government has been implementing the Fund of Fund Scheme to help start-ups raise equity capital. Going forward, the government will also help start-ups in raising debt capital.

Jan 18, 2021

Iron Ore Policy 2021

The Ministry of Railways approved a new Iron Ore Policy. The policy is to come into effect on February 10, 2021. The Iron Ore Policy governs the allocation of rakes and transportation of iron-ore.
The rake allotment system module is to be updated by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
The policy will provide high priority to the movement of iron-ore for domestic manufacturing activity. Within the domestic movement, higher priority is to be provided to steel, sponge iron, pig iron, pellet or sinter plant owning customers with private sliding at loading and unloading ends. These customers will be followed by those with private sliding of their own and relying on public goods sheds.
The policy has categorized movement of iron ore based on the availability of railway infrastructure developed by customers. Also, the nature of movement will be in such a way to maximize iron-ore movement by rail.
Iron ore is the second most important stream of traffic of Indian Railways. Iron ore and steel together account for more than 17% of total freight loading of Indian Railways (2019-20 data). The total freight loading of Indian Railways is 1,210 tonnes. Of this, 153.35 million tonnes are of iron ore and 53.81 million tonnes are of steel.

Petroleum Ministry Launches 'SAKSHAM' Campaign

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched a month-long mass awareness campaign titled 'SAKSHAM' to spread awareness about green and clean energy. The campaign has been organised by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), to motivate consumers to switch to cleaner fuels and bring in behavioural change to use fossil fuel intelligently. The campaign will spread awareness about seven key drivers that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently mentioned.
SAKSHAM stands for Sanrakshan Kshamata Mahotsav.
The pan-India campaign would include various activities such as cyclotron, farmer workshops, seminars, painting competition, CNG vehicle driving contest, etc to spread awareness among masses about the advantages of using clean fuels.

Jan 13, 2021

New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026

Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that India's new Foreign Trade Policy 2021-2026, under formulation, will come into effect from April 1, 2021, for five years and will strive to make the country a leader in international trade.
The Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry held a meeting on the subject ''New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26''.
It was chaired by the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri, and attended by Members of Parliament (MPs) and senior officers of the ministry.
The Department of Commerce through the Regional Authorities of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has engaged with state/Union Territory governments to take forward this initiative in the districts and enable its implementation in a phased manner, with the objective of mobilizing the potential of each district of the country to achieve its potential as an export hub.

Jan 12, 2021

Punjab Cabinet Approves One-time Settlement Scheme for Traders

The Punjab cabinet approved a one-time settlement scheme for traders to clear their pending arrears. The scheme will be implemented across the state from February 1 and the state exchequer would bear a financial burden of Rs. 121.06 crore.
All dealers whose assessments have been framed up to December 31, 2020 could apply for the benefit under the scheme till April 30.
Various trade associations had urged the state government to introduce a one-time scheme (OTS) for the clearance and settlement of outstanding arrears under the Punjab Value Added tax Act, 2005 and Central Sales tax Act, 1956.

Jan 11, 2021

Gujarat's Amendment to Industrial Disputes Act Gets Presidential Nod

Gujarat's amendment to the Industrial Disputes Act that seeks to increase ease of business by reducing the compliance burden on industries in terms of lay-offs, retrenchment and compensation has received the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind.
The Industrial Disputes (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2020, which was passed in the state Assembly in September 2020.
Vipul Mittra, Additional Chief Secretary, state Labour and Employment department, said the amendment aims at reforms to increase ease of doing business, and was carried out on the instructions of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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