The Union Cabinet has recommended imposition of President's rule in Andhra Pradesh. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Friday. The state has been without a Chief Minister after Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned from the post after the passage of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2013 in Parliament.
The Cabinet also hiked poll expenditure ceiling from the present 40 lakh to 70 lakh rupees for candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Cabinet approved additional dearness allowance, DA, of ten per cent, effective from 1st January. With this hike, DA will go upto 100 per cent. The hike will benefit 50 lakh Central government employees and 30 lakh pensioners.
The Cabinet also approved minimum pension of one thousand rupees per month under the Employees Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO. The decision will benefit 28 lakh pensioners covered under the EPFO.
The Cabinet approved setting up a new rail coach manufacturing unit at Kolar, in Karnataka to manufacture 500 coaches per annum. .
The Cabinet also approved financial support of 434 crore rupees for establishing four new National Institutes of Design at Jorhat , Bhopal, Vijayawada and Kurukshetra.
In an another decision, the Cabinet approved amendments to the Nalanda University (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to help speed up the project.
The Cabinet also approved the Mission document on the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem. The primary objective of the Mission is to develop in a time bound manner a sustainable national capacity to continuously assess the health status of the mountainous region.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, has approved the opening of 54 new Kendriya Vidyalayas, during the 12th Five Year Plan. The Vidyalayas will be located in 53 districts in 17 States. The new KVs when fully functional will provide quality education to approximately 54,000 students.
The CCEA also approved setting up of three thousand and five hundred model schools in backward districts in the country to provide quality education.
The CCEA also approved raising fixed cost of Urea by 350 rupees per tonne. Highly placed sources said in New Delhi, it would lead to increase in subsidy by 900 rupees per tonne. However, it would not have any impact on urea prices. The CCEA also approved modification in the new investment policy for the soil nutrient to boost its domestic production.
The CCEA has approved continuation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme in the 12th Plan, with enhanced financial norms. The nationwide scheme is meant for protection of children from abuse and exploitation.
The CCEA approved development of six laning of Eastern Peripheral Expressway of National Highway NE-II in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The total length of the road will be about 135 kilometres.
The CCEA has approved the proposal of the Department of Health Research for the central sector scheme of Human Resource Development for Health Research under the 12th Plan. The scheme is intended to create a pool of talented health research personnel in the country by upgrading skills of faculty of medical colleges, mid- career scientists, medical students through specialized training.
The CCEA also approved the proposal of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for continuation of Central Sector Scheme Export – Oriented Production, Export Development and Promotion of Spices of Spices Board in the 12th Plan. The main objective of the scheme is to enhance spices export from the country.
The Cabinet also approved signing of the Host Country Agreement between India and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, for establishing the IFAD Country Office in India. The opening of the office would expedite co-ordination, facilitation and supervision by the IFAD team as well as best practices dissemination in the country.
The CCEA also approved certain modifications and revision of cost norms in the Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for purchase, fitting of aids and appliances, effective from 1st April this year. It enhanced income eligibility ceiling from the existing 6500 rupees per month to 15,000 rupees per month.
