18K banks, post offices have Aadhaar facility: UIDAI

Agencies
June 20, 2018

New Delhi, Jun 20: Less than a year after banks and post offices were asked to set up Aadhaar facility on their premises, as many as 18,000 centres have come up for enrolment and updation of the biometric ID at such locations, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey has said.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had in July last year asked private as well as public sector banks to set up Aadhaar facility in at least one out of 10 branches.

"Aadhaar centres are being set up in banks and post offices. So far, about 18,000 centres have been set up in their premises and in the remaining places also, centres will be set up," Pandey told PTI.

Overall, about 26,000 centres are slated to come up at banks and post offices.

The 'Bank Aadhaar Kendras' are being set up with a view to making the Aadhaar verification process of bank accounts convenient for people and to ensure that the enrolment takes place in a secure and supervised environment.

About 10,000 branches of private and public sector banks have set up Aadhaar enrolment and updation centres on their premises, compared to over 13,800 branches that need to do so.

"About 8,000 such centres have come up in post offices out of 13,000 that are targeted," Pandey pointed out.

The UIDAI Chief declined to specify the timeline for achieving the targets set, but emphasised that the process of establishing the remaining centres is underway.

"The fact is that in the last few months they have set up as many as 18,000 centres...banks and post offices have worked very hard for this. In order to bolster security and confidence of people, Aadhaar centres are being shifted to this credible environment where people can get quality service in a secure manner," he said.

Offering a major breather to banks about a fortnight back, the UIDAI had reduced by half, the daily minimum Aadhaar enrolment or updation targets for the stipulated bank branches.

It said that the bank premises with Aadhaar facility will have to ensure at least eight enrolments or updations in each branch daily from July 1, 2018 - a bar that will be raised to a minimum of 12 transactions per day per branch from October 1, and to 16 from January 1, 2019 onwards.

The banks were, so far, facing a target of logging 16 daily enrolments or updations in each of these branches.

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Agencies
June 14,2020

New Delhi, Jun 14: Petrol price on Sunday was hiked by a record 62 paise per litre and that of diesel by 64 paise as oil companies for the eighth day in a row adjusted retail rates in line with cost since ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 75.78 per litre from Rs 75.16 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 74.03 a litre from Rs 73.39, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

The 62 paise a litre increase in petrol and 64 paise hike in diesel price is the highest surge in rates since the daily price revision was started in June 2017.

This is the eighth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In eight hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 4.52 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.64 -- a record increase in rates in any eight days since the daily price revision was introduced.

The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers, adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of international oil prices falling to two-decade lows.

The government had first raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each on March 14 and then again on May 5 by a record Rs 10 per litre in case of petrol and Rs 13 on diesel. The two hikes gave the government Rs 2 lakh crore in additional tax revenues.

State-owned fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL had frozen petrol and diesel prices since March 16, as if anticipating the government move and set off gains they accrued from continuing drop in international oil prices against the excise duty hike.

They, however, promptly passed the increase in local sales tax or VAT by state governments such as Rs 1.67 increase in VAT on petrol and Rs 7.10 in diesel by the Delhi government on May 4.

The total incidence of excise duty on petrol has risen to Rs 32.98 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 31.83. The excise tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre when the Narendra Modi government took office in 2014 and that on diesel was Rs 3.56 a litre.

The government had between November 2014 and January 2016 raised excise duty on petrol and diesel on nine occasions to take away gains arising from plummeting global oil prices.

In all, duty on petrol rate was hiked by Rs 11.77 per litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in those 15 months that helped government's excise mop up more than double to Rs 2,42,000 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 99,000 crore in 2014-15.

It cut excise duty by Rs 2 in October 2017 and by Rs 1.50 a year later. But it raised excise duty by Rs 2 per litre in July 2019.

It again raised excise duty on March 14 by Rs 3 per litre.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

The government suspended all the India-bound air travel from China and has declared all visas 'invalid', on Monday, due to the rapid escalation of cases of novel coronavirus outbreak which originated in Wuhan.

"Embassy and our Consulates have been receiving several queries from Chinese citizens as well as other foreign nationals, who are based out of China or visited China in the last 2 weeks, as to whether they can use their valid single/multiple entry visas to travel to India," tweeted the Embassy of India in Beijing, China.

"It is clarified that existing visas are no longer valid. Intending visitors to India should contact the Indian Embassy in Beijing ([email protected]) or the Consulates in Shanghai ([email protected]) and Guangzhou ([email protected]) to apply afresh for an Indian visa," it said.

Further, regarding the validity of visas, the embassy said, "Indian Visa Application Centres (http://blsindia-china.com) in these cities may also be contacted in this regard. Visa Section of the Embassy/Consulates of India in China can be contacted to ascertain the validity of visa before undertaking any visit to India."

"All those who are already in India (with regular or e-visa) and had traveled from China after January 15 are requested to contact the hotline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India (+91-11-23978046 and email: [email protected])," the embassy said.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.

The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.

"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.

The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".

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