Cabinet gives green light to Rs 8,000-cr rural LPG scheme
New Delhi, March 10 (PTI): The Cabinet today approved a Rs 8,000-crore scheme to provide cooking gas (LPG) connections free of cost to women members of poor households. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana with an outlay of Rs 8,000 crore for three years, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI here. The scheme aims to provide on a war footing LPG connections to women members of BPL families. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget for 2016-17, had announced the plan, saying the poor do not have access to cooking gas. “Women of India have faced the curse of smoke during the process of cooking. According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour. The time has come to remedy this situation,” he said said in his Budget speech. He had stated that the government has decided to embark on a massive mission to provide LPG connections in names of women members of poor households. “I have set aside a sum of Rs 2,000 crore in this year’s Budget to meet the initial cost of providing these LPG connections. This will benefit about 1 crore 50 lakh households below the poverty line in 2016-17,” he had said. “The Scheme will be continued for at least two more years to cover a total of 5 crore BPL households. This will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.” The move is aimed at empowering women and protecting their health, Pradhan stressed.
Honda begins sale of zero-emissions car
Tokyo, March 10 (IANS): Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Co. on Thursday began the sale of its new Clarity Fuel Cell, the world’s first five-passenger sedan-type fuel cell vehicle (FCV) which has zero carbon emissions as it runs on hydrogen. The Clarity vehicle features a cruising range of around 750 km, meaning a driver can drive for up to that distance on a full tank, which marks an increase of about 30 percent compared to the previous FCV model, the company announced. That range puts Clarity in the top class cruising range among zero-emissions vehicles, and its hydrogen tank takes about three minutes to refill, EFE news reported. Its priced in Japan at $67,510 and for the first year of Clarity’s launch, the company will aim for lease sales mostly to local government organizations or businesses Honda has earlier worked with in trying to popularise FCVs. Honda plans to begin selling the new vehicle in Europe and the US before the end of the year.
Kuwait puts ban on Indian poultry products import
New Delhi, March 10 (PTI): Kuwait has banned imports of poultry products from India in the wake of incidents of bird flu virus in some states. In October only the gulf nation’s Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAFR) had lifted the ban on import of live birds, hatching eggs, one-year-old chicks for the egg laying hens and flesh hens from India. “In the wake of incidence of Outbreak of H5N1 virus in Tripura... Govt of Kuwait has imposed a ban on import of poultry products from India,” said an official notice. According to experts, as India mainly exports poultry products to the Middle East, this decision may impact exports prospects in the coming days.
In 2014-15, Kuwait imported 24.2 tonnes of poultry products, valued at USD 120,000. India’s poultry products export during April-December period of the current financial year increased to Rs 584 crore from Rs 484 crore in the same period last year. Egg production was around 78.48 billion eggs in 2014-15, while poultry meat production was estimated at 3.04 million tonnes.
RS approves Real Estate Bill
New Delhi, March 10 (IANS): The Real Estate Bill, proposing a Real Estate Regulatory Authority, was on Thursday approved by India’s upper house of parliament after the government accepted as many as 20 amendments to the measure as proposed by a Rajya Sabha Select Committee. The Bill, pending before parliament since 2013, aims to protect the interests of property buyers from unscrupulous promoters and regulate the real estate sector. The legislative measure will now go to the Lok Sabha for its approval.
