Heena Sharma Blog

  India's exports of the COVID-19 vaccine stood at around Rs 338 crore till February 8, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The exports include grant of the vaccine doses to friendly countries and commercial shipments. Replying to supplementary questions in the House, Goyal said exports of the vaccine started in January. India is taking care of the domestic vaccine requirement first and based on that "giving vaccines to friendly countries," he said. "Total export is about Rs 338 crore worth of COVID vaccine," the minister said. Giving details, Goyal said export of Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Insitute of India, Pune as Government of India grant stood at 62.7 lakh doses with FoB (free on board) value of about Rs 125.4 crore. Read More

After almost two months of sitting idle, the railways' first Covid-19 care centre consisting of 10 modified coaches with 160 beds has been deployed in Delhi, officials said on Monday. These coaches have been stationed at the maintenance depot of the Shakur Basti railway station. In addition to the 10 non-AC coaches with 160 beds, the Covid-19 care centre will have an AC coach for healthcare staffers, including doctors, an official said. The coaches have been deployed on Sunday following a written request from the Delhi government. The national capital is among the worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country with nearly 20,000 cases. Read More

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday informed that Railways has successfully operated over 3,000 Shramik special trains to send migrant workers stranded in different parts of the country to their home states. "I am very happy to say that the Railways has successfully operated more than 3,000 Shramik special trains and transported migrant workers from different parts of the country to their home states," Goyal tweeted in Hindi. The Railways Minister urged the states to cooperate with his Ministry to help the workers. Read More

After a decision by the Congress party to bear the cost of train travel by the migrant workers, the Centre government is likely to come out with an announcement making the travel on Shramik Special trains free for migrant labourers. According to an official source close to the development, there are plans to make the journey free for migrant labourers. On Monday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a letter to the state units that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost of rail travel for every needy worker and migrant labourer. At present, labourers are being charged sleeper class fares and an additional Rs 50 for a pre-decided source to destination journey. Read More

More than 298,000 positions were vacant at Railways as on June 1 this year and recruitment process is going on for over 294,000 employees, according to the government. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that more than 461,000 lakh people were recruited in Railways over the last decade. Noting that filling up of vacancies is an ongoing process, Goyal said cadre strength is decided after taking into consideration various factors, including leave reserves and trainee reserves. "The number of employees were 16,54,985 in 1991 and 12,48,101 in 2019. However, this has not affected the service of Railways," Goyal said in a written reply. Vacancies are filled through Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and Railway Recruitment Cells (RRCs). As per data provided in the written reply, there were 2,98,574 vacancies across A, B, C and erstwhile D categories at the Railways as on June 1, 2019. The process for recruitment of 2,94,420 employees is g

Stressing that tax concessions have been provided with a view to help poor and middle-class people living on a tight budget, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that now individuals earning up to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape liability by taking advantage of saving schemes. Replying to the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha, the Minister said he did not propose any change in the tax rate but only provided few rebates which will boost spending and help the economy. The Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals, was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote, completing the budgetary process in the lower house. In a swipe at the Congress, the Minister said that unlike the previous UPA dispensation, the present Modi government in the interim budget did not reduce levies of SUVs which are used by rich persons. In the Finance Bill 2019, the Minister proposed to raise tax rebate for people having annual income up to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2,500 to Rs 12,500, which will e