Central Government

The reshuffle came at a time when the government is aiming for efficient implementation of the Centre's policies and flagship schemes even as the Opposition parties step up the heat on the BJP, including the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. As per the order issued on Thursday evening by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Arun Singhal, lAS (UP, 1987), has been appointed Secretary in the Department of Fertilisers. Earlier, he was with the FSSAI.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Mehta submitted that some development has taken place in the matter related to AIFF and requested the court to hear the matter on Wednesday. The bench told Mehta that the case is listed as first item on Wednesday. Mehta did not mention the suspension of AIFF specifically before the court, but submitted that he will circulate the FIFA press release, which is already in public domain, so that the bench gets an idea about the development.

The AoN is the first step towards any defence procurement, which is followed by tendering and contracting. "In the period 2020-21 to 2022-23 (till June 30, 2022), 59 AoNs amounting to Rs 1,83,778.34 crore have been accorded and 91 contracts amounting to Rs 1,19,045.3 crore have been concluded," Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said while replying to a question in Lok Sabha on Friday.

The government said, "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence, responded to a request for information received from Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in February 2019 for LCA class aircraft. The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacturing of defence equipment in the country, thereby expanding production.

"The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was deliberated in great detail by the Joint Committee of Parliament. 81 amendments were proposed and 12 recommendations were made towards a comprehensive legal framework on the digital ecosystem," Vaishnaw said in a statement. The earlier bill drew intense scrutiny from privacy advocates, industry stakeholders and tech companies.

Moreover, the total number of candidates recommended by recruiting agencies for appointment in different Central government departments has shown a decline over the last few years, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. During 2019-20, a total 1,47,096 persons were appointed in the different government departments. However, the number came down to 78,555 in 2020-21 and 38,850 in 2021-22.

The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka took to Twitter and rejected such claims being published by several media outlets and also assured that India will continue to stand with the people of the distressed island nation, the Daily Mirror reported.

Solicitor General mentioned the plea before a vacation bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala assailing Tripura High Court's decision to entertain a PIL challenging the security provided by the Maharashtra government after evaluation of threat perception by the Centre to Mukesh Ambani and his family. Mehta submitted, "We pointed out to the high court that the Bombay High Court rejected a similar petition...."

Agnitpath scheme will allow both men and women to become soldiers for a brief period of 4 years. Selected candidates under the scheme will be known as 'Agniveers' . Agnipath scheme, approved by the PM-led cabinet committee on security, will recruit youth of India aged between 17.5 to 21 years.  However, the complete selection process, written and physical test, aren’t out yet.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in an affidavit, said: "It is submitted that in cases like the present wherein the matter concerning national security is involved, the petitioner company cannot insist upon strict compliance with principles of natural justice and the respondent is not bound to disclose the reasons for denial of security clearance to the petitioner company."