NGOs received Rs55k cr foreign funds between ’19-20 & ’21-22

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the country received foreign contributions worth Rs 55,647 crore between 2019-20 and 2021-22 but utilised over Rs 79,000 crore over the same period, the Home ministry informedRajya Sabhaon Wednesday. This, incidentally, is the period that witnessed a crackdown

on NGOs allegedly violating provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, with the Act itself being made more stringent.

Junior home ministerNityanand Raitold Rajya Sabha that foreign funding of NGOs across the country has steadily risen from Rs 16,359 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 17,166 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 22,122 crore in 2021-22, notwithstanding the cancellation of registration of 1,828 NGOs under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act since 2020.

India’s defence ministry signs 10 contracts worth Rs 5,498 cr with Bharat Electronics

The Ministry of DEFENCE (MoD) has signed 10 contracts totalling Rs 5,498 crore with state-owned aerospace and defence electronics companyBharat ElectronicsLimited (Bel) for Indian armed forces, the Psu said in a regulatory filing to the .

For Indian Air Force, a contract was signed to supply 90 units of Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite Equipment for Medium Lift Helicopter.

For the Indian Army, contracts for Automated Air Defence Control and Reporting System (Project Akashteer) and Instant Fire Detection and Supressing System IFDSS for T 72 were signed.

Further, forIndian Navy, contracts for Software Defined Radio (1,265 units), HDVLF HF Receiver(1,178 units), and Sarang (12 units), were signed.

FSSAI accepts states’ ‘nahi’ to ‘dahi’

Drawing flak from the southern states, the issued a revised notification to say that food business operators may use the term “curd”along with any other prevalentcommonname in a regional language, such as “thayir”, “mosaru”, “zaamut daud” or “dahi”, in brackets on the labels

of curd packets sold in those states.

The revision follows astrong backlash from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Keralato a notification issued on January 11 on Fssai‘s conditions regarding the labelling of curd in Hindi. It had asked state agencies, including Aavin of Tamil Nadu and Nandini of Karnataka, to use “dahi” instead of “thayir” or “mosaru” on curd packets.

India will not follow WHO TB reporting model

Learning from theCovidpandemic, when the WHO had claimed that the fatality figure was much higher than that reported by the government, thehealth ministryhas said that it has decided to follow its own system to record TB cases.

“WHO estimates are based on modelling studies

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whereas our TB reporting is based on actual numbers recorded on theNikshayportal, and therefore more reliable,” said a ministry official.
She added the WHO estimated that 29.5 lakh were diagnosed with TB in India in 2021 and 4.9 lakh died due to the disease.

Amit Shah inaugurated Vedic Heritage portal in New Delhi

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Vedic Heritage portal in New Delhi. The primary aim of the portal is to communicate the messages enshrined in the and make it more accessible to the common people

The portal will act

as a one-stop solution for anyone who wants to search for information about the Vedic heritage, making it easier for them to understand the messages and teachings of the Vedas

Saudi Arabia becomes Shanghai Cooperation Organization dialogue partner

The Saudi Arabian government has taken a significant step towards joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional alliance dominated by China and Russia. During a cabinet meeting presided over by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, a memorandum was approved to initiate dialogue with the SCO.

The decision to pursue membership was reportedly raised during a visit to Saudi Arabia by Chinese President Xi Jinping in December of last year.

Centre extends ethanol subsidy scheme till March 2023

The government has given in-principle approval for 95 more ethanol projects under the new window of Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes. The decision is expected to add an annual ethanol production capacity of around 480 crore liters in the country.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution said, out of these projects, 68 are grain-based, 20 are molasses based, and seven projects are based on dual feedstock. These projects have the potential to bring an of about 12,000usand crore rupees and will create hundreds of EMPLOYMENT opportunities in rural India.

The National Health Authority (NHA) under its flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has achieved another milestone in building a digitally connected healthcare ecosystem. Over 25 crore health records of individuals have been linked to their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account).

These records can be easily accessed and managed by the individuals using any of the ABDM-enabled health apps. The digitally available health records will enable the ABHA holders in availing paper-less health Services across the ABDM Network.

India to spend 75% of defence capital on procurement from local industries: Rajnath Singh

In a boost to the governments plans to achieve greater self-reliance in DEFENCE, India will spend 75 per cent of its defence capital

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in 2023-24 on procurement from the domestic , up from 68 per cent in 2022-23, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The announcement was made at the Bandhan ceremony on the sidelines of the five-day Aero India, 2023. As many as 266 partnerships were forged during the event, including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, nine product launches and three Transfers of Technology, worth around Rs 80,000 crore, the Defence Ministry said.

The overall Defence budget earmarked for 2023-24 is Rs 5.94 lakh crore, including pensions of Rs 1.38 lakh crore, up by 12.9 per cent from Rs 5.25 lakh crore allocated in the previous (2022-23) fiscal. This is 13.18 per cent of the total Budget outlay of Rs 45,03,097 crore.

PM Modi inauguratesAadi Mahotsavtribal festival

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the TRIFEDsAadi Mahotsavtribal festival in New Delhi, saying that the coming together of the diverse tribal cultures of India at an event such as this one was giving new heights to unity in diversity.

Inaugurating the nearly two-week-long showcase and exhibition of tribal artefacts, handicrafts, handlooms and other products at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, the Prime Minister first paid floral tributes to a statue of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda along with Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, before taking a walk through the stalls set up by over 1,000 tribal artisans

and craftspeople, from all over the country.

India ranks 47thin OECDs service trade restrictiveness index

Due to Russia-Ukraine war, Russia slipped to 48th position in the index. The report highlighted the privatisation of Air India, elimination of pricing guidelines for transfers of between residents and non residents, and restriction of foreign participation in certain Services sectors.

Reflecting presence of huge market barriers in

the country, India stood at 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index(STRI) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the year 2022. However, there was an improvement from last year’s ranking by one position.