(HT) Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on equity in health care delivery while chairing the 48th meeting of PRAGATI on Wednesday, according to a press and information bureau (PIB) statement. The ICT-enabled, multi-modal platform is aimed at fostering Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), by seamlessly integrating efforts of the central and state governments. PM Modi also reviewed the progress made under Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission. “During a review of Prime Minister-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), the prime minister urged all states to accelerate the development of health infrastructure, with a special focus on Aspirational Districts, as well as…
Author: Aruna Sharma
(HT) The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) holdings of Indian government securities climbed to a record in absolute terms following aggressive debt purchases, but analysts anticipate a reduction as the year progresses. The RBI’s bond holdings rose to 12.78% of the outstanding issuances as of March-end from 10.55% at December-end, according to central bank data released on Wednesday. In absolute terms, this amounts to approximately 14.88 trillion rupees ($173.55 billion), a record high, marking an increase of ₹2.83 lakh crore in the January-March quarter. The central bank had purchased bonds worth ₹2.45 lakh crore via open market operations (OMOs) and…
(ET) Renewable energy minister Pralhad Joshi Thursday met with power minister Manohar Lal to discuss key challenges in the renewable energy sector. The discussions focused on renewable consumption obligation mandate, inter-state transmission system-related concerns, pending power purchase agreements, connectivity issues and wind energy matters, among others, Joshi posted on X. While the renewable energy sector has achieved many milestones, it is still grappling with issues such as transmission capacity delays and projects that do not have power purchase pacts. Transmission system as well as renewable consumption obligation come under the purview of the power ministry. Joshi had earlier said he…
(The New Indian Express) The Parsa East and Kanta Basan (PEKB) coal mine, operated by the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd in Ambikapur district, about 330 km north of Raipur, has taken a significant step towards ‘sustainable’ mining with the operationalisation of a 9-MW solar power plant. This is the first direct application of renewable energy in India’s coal mining sector. PEKB is a crucial source of coal for electricity generation for nearly 80 million consumers in Rajasthan. Developed by Mundra Solar PV Limited, the 9-MW solar facility established within the mine premises is expected to reduce nearly 400,000…
(The New Indian Express) Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, on Thursday asserted that Hindi is not in conflict with any Indian language, declaring that “Hindi is the friend of all Indian languages.” Speaking as the chief guest at the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Department of Official Language, Shah emphasised the central role of language in shaping a nation’s identity and progress. Describing language as the “soul of a nation,” Shah remarked that it is more than just a means of communication it embodies the very spirit of the country. “Hindi cannot be inimical to any…
(PTI) Search and rescue operation by joint teams of national and state disaster response forces, police and home guards to look for six missing people following cloudbursts and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh resumed on Friday morning, officials said. These people are feared to have been swept away following cloudbursts and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra and Kullu districts on Wednesday. So far, five bodies have been recovered from a hydro project site in the Kangra district that was hit by flash floods on Wednesday while the search for three missing people is on. The teams are also searching…
(PTI) Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said ONGC has successfully capped the blowout of its crude oil well in Assam’s Sivasagar district after 16 days of gas leakage from there. He said the capping was done without any injury, casualty or fire. “ONGC has successfully capped the blowout of well RDS#147A at 1115 hours hrs today. This blowout started on 12th June and has been capped successfully within shortest possible time following all the best practices,” Puri said in a post on X.
(TOI) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Wednesday achieved a critical milestone in its effort to control the ongoing blowout at the Rudrasagar well in Sivasagar, which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for 14 days since the incident began on June 12. In a step forward, an extra-long boom crane and a 40-tonne crane worked in tandem to remove 42 tubing stands from the derrick, clearing the way for the safe extraction of the rig base from the wellhead. With the rig base now removed, ONGC will proceed to dismantle the blowout preventer and install a capping stack —…
(FE) In its bid to expand the country’s renewable energy portfolio, the ministry of new and renewable energy may seek to exploit abandoned oil wells to leverage geothermal energy, official sources told FE. The government in collaboration with IIT Chennai, is studying the potential of harnessing geothermal energy in three abandoned oil wells in Bikaner, Rajasthan. The pilot project includes setting up a 450 kilowatt facility in the oil wells to see the commercial feasibility of tapping geothermal energy. “If that is successful, then we will think of scaling up geothermal energy. Critically, geothermal energy has huge potential but we…
(Mint) State-owned CIL’s coking coal production dropped by 8.7 per cent to 4.53 million tonne in May, even as the government aims to increase the output to reduce dependency on imports. Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) coking coal production was 4.96 MT in May 2024. The government under its ‘Mission Coking Coal’ aims to increase domestic coking coal production to 140 million tonne (MT) by 2029-30, thereby reducing dependency on its imports for the steel sector. Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is essential for steel production. The company’s coking coal production also dropped by 3.4 per cent to 9.36…