Amitav Ranjan

Government officials associated with the approval of the deal said Israel has been informed about the contract being abandoned in favour of DRDO, which claimed that it was developing a similar missile at a lower price in partnership with VEM Technologies Ltd.

These provisions would also kick in for government agencies whose annual procurement of iron and steel products for various projects is Rs 25 crore or more.

The G-2-G pact was pending since December 4, 2018, when Nepal submitted the first draft of the proposed memorandum of understanding. It was resubmitted on May 2 after a meeting of officials of both nations last January.

Sources said that on June 3, Secretary (Personnel) asked officials of his Department of Personnel & Training to prepare a formal proposal for inducting an estimated 400 domain experts from the private sector to fill DS/Director posts in the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS).

Sources said the Prime Minister’s Office has shot down requests from at least six ministers for approval to continue with their PS and OSD from the previous NDA tenure.

“The views/approval of ONGC, holding company of HPCL, on the proposal for grant of Maharatna status to HPCL is not available in the proposal,” said the DPE Letter.

So much so that the PMO has directed all department heads of various ministries to prepare a “Plan of Action” for the first 100 days of the new government, taking into account promises made in the manifesto released by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

ASG observed it would become ‘a binding direction’, hamper auction.

The private companies had touched a peak of 26.8 BCM in 2010-11.

“The number of jobs created under the Mudra scheme will be released after the polls as the Expert Committee found anomalies in the methodology used by the Bureau in arriving at the findings,” sources said.

Sources said that the Ministry official was “not immediately agreeable”, but rescinded after being warned that the NDMC would complain to the Election Commission of the violation.

The proposal comes six years after the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was implemented in November 2012. Setting up of special courts was an essential mandate of the POCSO Act under Section 28 (1).

Findings of the Labour Bureau’s survey on jobs created under MUDRA scheme will be used to laud its achievement on this front.

The ACC, on February 12, approved the “filling up of the post of OVL managing director on deputation basis in exemption from the ‘rule of immediate absorption’ through the search-cum-selection committee mode”.

The GoM pact follows a meeting taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 12 where it was suggested that smaller fields be handed over to private firms allowing NOCs to concentrate on big ones.

While recommending more autonomy for the DGH, the IMC has suggested that the “government may examine whether an independent upstream regulator is to be created at this stage” to improve the ease of doing business in oil and gas sector.

While referring to the committee’s report, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in his Budget 2019 speech said that his Government was in the process of implementing these recommendations.

But the process got stalled after ONGC countered the DGH proposal for auctioning these fields to private firms saying it should also be allowed to participate in the auction with the same concessions as was being offered to private bidders.

The Defence Ministry has said that the duty be withdrawn as duty component was being paid out of the ministry’s budgetary allocation.