GST Council decided to increase GST rates on mobile phones to 18% from 12% with effect from 1 April. Council also decided to slash GST on maintenance, repair and overhaul services for aircraft to 5% from 12% & handmade & machine-made matchsticks to 12%.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman Chaired the GST Council meet.
Minister of State (I/C) for Power & New & Renewable Energy & Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship R K Singh launched the new website of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Structured back end CMS is developed to manage the website.
CMS- Content Management System.
Minister Mansukh Lal Mandaviya inaugurated 5 projects at Jawaharlal Nehru Port. He also inaugurated Ro-Pax Terminal & Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel on March 15 at Mandwa, Maharashtra. Mandwa Port is one of the important passenger ports on the coast of Maharashtra.
Ro-Pax: JV of Mumbai Port Trust & Maharashtra Maritime Board.
Keeping pace with vision of "Digital India", HIL India Limited in association with Union Bank of India has launched Customer Payment Portal to collect the payment from its customers through various online modes for faster and smoother collection of dues.
HIL is a CPSE under the Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizers.
In the view of COVID-19 outbreak, Govt has notified an Order to declare masks & hand sanitizers as Essential Commodities up to 30 June 2020 by amending the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. It has also issued an advisory under the Legal Metrology Act.
Under the L.M. Act, States can ensure sale of items at MRP.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) recently organised a grand event in the national capital to mark the conclusion of its flagship programme ‘Ganga Amantran Abhiyan’. It was a pioneering exploratory open water rafting & kayaking expedition.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti- Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus pandemic in the country, Home Affairs Ministry decided to treat Covid-19 as a notified disaster. This will enable the states to spend funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to fight the pandemic.
Outlay should not exceed 25% of SDRF allocation for the year.
Expenditure under MNREGA almost doubled to Rs 1.83 lakh Cr during 2017-18 to 2019-20 as compared to 2011-12 to 2013-14 period, the Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala said. MNREGA provides at least 100 days of wage employment in a year.
Total number of districts covered under MNREGA is 691.
Blue Ray Aviation Pvt Limited has signed a MoU with Transport Aircraft Division, a division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, for deployment of two HAL made Dornier Do-228 aircraft. It is a 19-seater multi-role utility aircraft for various applications.
Blue Ray Aviation- Flight Training Organisation in Ahmedabad.
Union Government extended the deadline for submitting bids for buying 100% stake in Air India till 30th of April. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in a notification said that extension is due to the spread of corona virus.
The deadline was originally set at 17th of March.
SpiceJet has signed an Agreement to Lease with GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Limited (GHASL) to construct a facility for SpiceJet to carry out the warehousing, distribution and trading activity within the Free Trade Warehousing Zone of multi-product SEZ.
GHSAL is a 100% subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad Airport Ltd.
Yes Bank’s AT1 bonds worth Rs 8,415 Cr will be written down to zero, as per the globally accepted Basel-III norms that mandate writing down of such bonds in the wake of an emergency. SBI will have to at least keep a 26% stake in the bank for 3 years.
RBI had placed Yes Bank under a moratorium on 5 March.
Scientists from the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Hyderabad- an autonomous institution under the DST, have developed a cost-effective solar receiver tube technology for industrial process heat applications.
It exhibits high corrosion resistance fit for Indian weather.
The MSP for Fair Average Quality of milling copra has been increased to Rs. 9,960 /quintal for 2020 season from Rs. 9,521 /quintal in 2019 & the MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs. 10,300 /quintal for 2020 season from Rs. 9,920 /quintal in 2019.
This will accrue benefit of Rs 439/quintal in the milling copra.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft's board- company he co-founded in 1975 & built into the world’s largest software maker, to devote more time to philanthropy. He served as CEO of Microsoft until 2000. Current CEO is Satya Nadella.
His departure reduced the number of Microsoft directors to 12.
For the first time since 1962, the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund. RFI provides rapid financial assistance, which is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need.
RFI- Rapid Financial Instrument.
World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on the 15 March annually to raise global awareness about consumer rights and needs. Last year, the Centre has enacted the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 replacing the old 1986 Act to protect the interest of consumers.
2020 World Consumer Rights Day theme: The Sustainable Consumer.
The Census India-2021 will be conducted in 2 phases. The 1st phase will begin from the 1 April & will continue until the 30 September. The 2nd phase is Population Enumeration which will be conducted from 9 February- 28 February 2021 throughout the country.
First synchronous census in India was held in 1881.
‘BhoomiRashi Portal’ launched in March 2018 has significantly expedited the process of land acquisition for National Highways, said Ministry of the Road Transport & Highways, and the ministry also claims that the portal has made the process error-free.
Notifications at every stage is processed on a real-time basis.
Centre has established a new In vivo Evaluation facility at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum. The facility will test medical devices on animals. It was inaugurated by Dr. V.K. Saraswath, President of SCTIMST.
It has the capacity to host 40 adult pigs & 70 adult sheep.
Govt informed of the formation of a new board of directors for the crisis-hit Yes Bank. The current administrator of the Yes Bank- Prashant Kumar, has been appointed as the new MD & CEO and Sunil Mehta has been appointed as the non-executive Chairman
Sunil Mehta- Former chairman of the Punjab National Bank.