Rail union demands parity in compensation with frontline workers in case of death on duty during COVID

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Demanding compensation on a par with frontline workers, the largest union of the Railways said that railwaymen losing their lives while working during the coronavirus crisis deserved Rs 50 lakh as compensation. In a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, general secretary of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation Shiva Gopal Mishra said around 1,500 railway … Read more

Punjab farmers to get money directly in accounts, Centre rejects state’s plea to route through arhtiyas

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Farmers in Punjab will get direct payment in their bank accounts against the procurement of wheat from this season. The centre has rejected state’s demand to continue with the existing system of payment of minimum support price routed through arhtiyas. A delegation of ministers from Punjab met union food minister Piyush Goyal, who turned down … Read more

Need of the hour is to reduce logistics cost: Piyush Goyal

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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the need of the hour is to reduce logistics cost in the country as India cannot be competitive if this cost remains high. He also said the investments in the Sagarmala project will boost the country’s maritime infrastructure, expand freight corridors, make freight more cost-effective and … Read more

Centre ready to resume talks but farmer unions should first respond to government proposal: Tomar

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Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday reiterated that the government is ready to resume talks with protesting farmers but first the unions should respond to its offer to put the three contentious farm laws on hold for one-and-a-half years and set up a joint committee to find solutions. The government and unions have … Read more

SCALE committee working to up localisation, component manufacturing, says Piyush Goyal

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NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the SCALE committee (Steering Committee for Advancing Local Value-Add and Exports), a joint government-industry panel has been setup and is looking at ways to increase localisation, component manufacturing and employment in the country’s toy industry. The panel is tasked with fast-tracking growth of the … Read more

UP may give ‘denotified MBC tribes’ SC/ST status

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Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government is looking to speed up discussions on sub-categorising ‘other backwards classes’ and is also weighing the option of giving reservation as available to SC/STs to ‘denotified tribes’ within ‘most backward classes’, state backward classes minister Anil Rajbhar has said. The move is seen as a bid by the BJP-led government … Read more

PM Modi to inaugurate 306-km stretch of WDFC on Jan 7: PMO

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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 306-km New Rewari-New Madar section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) via video-conferencing on January 7, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Tuesday. Modi will also flag off the world’s first double-stack long-haul 1.5-km-long container train hauled by electric traction from … Read more

Govt-farmers talks inconclusive; next meeting on January 8

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The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as the farmer leaders insisted on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws right from the beginning, even as the government listed various benefits from the Acts. The next meeting will take place on January 8, farmer leaders … Read more

Farmers’ hunger strike accompanied by political side-show

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New Delhi: The day-long fast by 40 farmer leaders at three borders of Delhi on Monday was accompanied by a political side-show by the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which also held protest dharnas against the three new farm laws, with the Punjab assembly election just a year away. … Read more

Union ministers, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, meet PM ahead of farmer-government meeting

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New Delhi: Ahead of the crucial meeting with protesting farmer organisations, Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliberate over proposals likely to be made to the agitating groups, sources said on Saturday. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal were also present in the … Read more