Central Government

"Precautionary Covid vaccine dose will be the same vaccine as has been given to them previously as primary dose. Those who have received Covaxin as primarily dose will receive the same as precautionary dose, and those who received Covishield as primary dose will receive Covishield now," said V.K. Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog, at a press briefing here on Wednesday.

As per the new guidelines, the patient under home isolation will stand discharged and end isolation after at least 7 days have passed from testing positive and no fever for 3 successive days and they shall continue wearing masks. There is no need for re-testing after the home isolation period is over. Asymptomatic contacts of infected individuals need not undergo Covid test and monitor health in home quarantine as per the new guidelines.

According to the notification of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, former Punjab Chief Secretary, Vini Mahajan will be the new Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Jal Shakti Ministry while Sanjay Kumar Singh will be the new Secretary, Steel. At present he is Secretary, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Pensions and Pensioners, and the post will now be held by V. Srinivas, currently Special Secretary in the Department.

The Union government has pointed out  that the Omicron variant is three times more transmissible than Delta and therefore,  has asked the states/UT governments to "activate war rooms", impose night curfews, boost vaccination, and keep analyzing trends and surges. In the letter, the ministry has mentioned a series of prevention and containment measures to be taken to curb the virus. Currently the country has registered over 200 cases of Omicron variant.

It is believed that less working hours brings more productivity and ensures a good healthy environment. In order to improve working conditions, India Parliament had given its nod to four new labour codes last year, but labour is a concurrent subject and so requires both the Centre and state governments to frame laws and rules. India is expected to implement its four new labour codes in FY 2022-23. Through these laws it is expected that employment and work culture might change - including working hours, in-hand salary, number of weekdays.

While calling off the protest he also said that farmers will take out victory marches on December11, the day when all farmers will be returning to their homes. Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said that if their demands are not met till January 15, then they may take a call on resuming the protest.

The government is seeing it as an endeavour to provide a big boost to self-reliance in defence manufacturing in India.The project, worth Rs 5,100 crore, is in partnership with Russia. Sources said that this endeavour reflects the deepening ties between the two countries in the defence sector. The project will provide business opportunities to various MSMEs and other defence industries for supply of raw material and components, which will lead to generation of new employment opportunities.

A question was asked by Kesineni Srinivas, an MP from Vijayawada parliamentary constituency, about the procurement undertaken by FCI in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the last three years. To this question, the Ministry said that since 2018, 160.06 LMT of paddy/rice was procured to Andhra Pradesh and 220.97 LMT to Telangana. Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are DCP states wherein procurement is undertaken by the state government through its agencies, it added. In both the states, there is no wheat procurement and only paddy/rice is procured.

The scheme envisages five kg grain per person per month free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) (Antyodaya Anna Yojana & Priority Households), including those covered under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, while announcing the cabinet decision on Wednesday, claimed that India is perhaps the only country in the world that provided free food grains for 15 months to 80 crore people.

The Bill will be introduced to repeal the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Lok Sabha Bulletin on Tuesday had already listed 'The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021'.