New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The Centre on Monday said that recognised startups have reported to have generated more than 15.5 lakh direct jobs to date, as it detailed various initiatives taken by ministries and departments to help create even more jobs and nurture young entrepreneurs in years to come.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised 1,40,803 entities as startups (as of June 30), said Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Jayant Chaudhary, in a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to assist entrepreneurs in setting up new enterprises in the non-farm sector.

It aims to provide employment opportunities to traditional artisans/ rural and urban unemployed youth at their doorstep.

Since inception, more than 9.69 lakh micro enterprises have been assisted with a Margin Money subsidy of more than Rs 25,500 crore, providing employment to an estimated 79 lakh people (both direct and indirect).

During the next two years (FY 2024-25 to FY 2025-26), the Ministry has a target to set up 1.6 lakh new enterprises with employment generation potential for 12.8 lakh people.

Similarly, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has implemented the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM).

The Startup Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) is a sub-component of DAY-NRLM.

It is expected that the supported enterprises of 3,02,825 under SVEP have created an approximate employment of 6,26,848.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched several schemes for startups, like the ‘Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs’ (TIDE) 2.0 Scheme. The TIDE 2.0 Scheme has supported 1,235 startups, generating 8,556 jobs.

Over 55 regulatory reforms have been undertaken by the government since 2016 to enhance ease of doing business, ease of raising capital and reduce compliance burden for the startup ecosystem, informed the minister.

In the Union Budget 2024-2025, the Centre has abolished the angel tax on startups, paving the way for more foreign capital to be pumped into the ecosystem and further easing the funding winter.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday spoke about the recent incident in Old Rajinder Nagar, in which a UPSC aspirant from Kerala and two other students lost their lives, and said that there is “rampant violation of basic norms” in the national capital.

On Saturday evening, three aspiring civil servants died in the flooded basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle due to flood and waterlogging there owing to heavy rainfall. One male and two female UPSC aspirants died while 17 others were trapped for several hours after water suddenly entered the basement of the coaching centre which had just one exit.

The basement functioned as the library which, as has emerged, existed in violation of the rules since the space is allowed to be used only for parking and storage.

Tharoor described the incident as “shocking” and emphasised the devastating impact on the families involved, noting that “no compensation can be enough for the tragic loss of life of a young man cut short in his prime.”

“I have to say that when you have the brilliant student, all the dreams of serving the nation have been shattered, along with the hopes of the family,” he added.

Highlighting the need to address these serious issues he said, “There is sadly rampant violation of basic norms when it comes to building codes, fire safety, flood safety and so on in the national capital.”

Criticising the Municipal Corporation for its role, the Lok Sabha MP pointed out, “The corporation also has a responsibility for this. I have seen, in the hands of a journalist, a certificate of clearance issued on July 9 by the corporation allowing these people to be doing what they are doing. This kind of thing will have to be corrected.”

At the same time, drains have to be cleaned,” he added.

“The most important issue, and I say this on behalf of the family also, is to prevent such future tragedies. For this, there has to be a comprehensive enquiry, but there also has to be very specific steps taken to ensure that no other parents coming to the national capital from various parts of the country suffer this kind of loss and tragedies,” Tharoor said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday fixed August 5 for hearing the bail pleas filed by senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the alleged liquor policy case.

A bench presided over by Justice BR Gavai decided to adjourn the proceedings after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju sought more time to file a reply on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

ASG Raju said that the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has already filed its response in connection with the corruption case but the same has not come on record.

In the previous hearing, the top court had issued notice and asked the central agencies to file their reply to Sisodia’s bail pleas

“Issue notice returnable on July 29. We will have this on Monday after two weeks,” it said on July 16.

Sisodia’s counsel argued that the senior AAP leader had been incarcerated for 16 months and the trial remained at the same stage as it was in October 2023.

In its judgment delivered on October 30 last year, the SC had denied bail to the former Deputy CM but said that if the trial proceeds slowly in the next three months, he may apply for bail afresh.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court had on April 30, refused to grant bail to Sisodia who was seeking regular bail a second time. Denying bail, the trial court order noted that delays in the case proceedings were largely due to actions attributable to Sisodia himself, dismissing his claims of undue delay.

Subsequently, the Delhi High Court denied bail to Sisodia, saying that he failed to pass the triple test for grant of bail in the corruption case and the twin conditions required under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Challenging this, the former Deputy CM filed special leave petitions before the Supreme Court. Last month, the apex court had disposed of the former Deputy CM’s pleas seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases after Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta made an undertaking that the final charge sheet/complaint in the liquor policy case would be filed by July 3.

Meanwhile, a Delhi court last week extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till July 31. He was produced through video conferencing from Tihar Jail upon expiry of the previously granted judicial custody.

–IANS

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Chennai, July 29 (IANS) The Left parties in Tamil Nadu will hold a rail blockade on August 1, protesting against the lack of funds allocated to the state in the Union Budget 2024-25.

CPI (M) leader and party MP from Madurai, Su Venkatesan said in a statement on Monday that the protest will be held at Madurai, Ottakadi, Thirumangalam, and Usulampatti railway stations.

He added that the Budget has led to major protests across the country as the BJP had announced special schemes for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar only.

Venkatesan in the statement also said that the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allocated Rs 21,000 crore for flood control in the Kosi river in Bihar but only a few funds were allocated to Tamil Nadu even as Chennai, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi also received heavy rainfall and faced severe floods.

He also alleged that the Union government had not released funds for the Chennai Metro rail project or the Madurai Metro project.

The CPI(M) leader also said that the BJP government had opened up foreign capital to a great extent and affected domestic entrepreneurs and MSMEs.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 29 (IANS) Rajasthan BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya has said that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) should be taken up and implemented as early as possible.

Even though various BJP leaders and state Ministers have been talking about the UCC, the Rajasthan government has yet to take up the issue. Some time ago, state Minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary said that the state government was planning to introduce the UCC Bill in the Assembly much like Uttarakhand. However, no step has been taken by the Bhajanlal government so far.

Acharya, the BJP MLA, who is known for taking up issues concerning the majority community, demanded that ‘one country and one law’ should be implemented soon. “We have been demanding ‘one country and one law’ and am confident it will be implemented soon. I have raised this demand before the Central government also on my behalf.”

While speaking to the media here on alleged reports that Kanwariyas in Jhunjhunu were beaten by police, he said that any kind of indecent behaviour with Kanwariyas will not be tolerated.

He said that the matter would be investigated without any bias, and if any officers were involved, they would also be suspended.

The police reportedly attacked Kanwariyas with sticks on Sunday night as there was a heavy rush in Lohargal Dham.

Acharya said that he had received a video on social media regarding this incident. “However, such acts will not be tolerated. At this point, things are not yet clear on the case,” he added.

The BJP MLA further said that the mafias were flourishing during the Congress rule. But as soon as the BJP came to power, their actions were checked. “Now, the rule of mafias is over, and that’s why they are threatening the Chief Minister. Our CM has ended the rule of the mafia who were flourishing in the state under Congress’ rule. So now those inside jails are frightened and hence they are threatening the CM,” he said

It needs to be mentioned here that the CM Bhajanlal Sharma on Sunday was threatened by miscreants from jail on Sunday.

The BJP MLA further said that their threats are not going to have any effect.

Balmukund Acharya further praised the inclusion of the dates marking the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and observing the Savarkar Jayanti in Rajasthan schools.

–IANS

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