Press Information Bureau

15.11.2017

Environment

Pre-ponement of introduction of BS -VI grade auto fuels in NCT Delhi

MANU/PIBU/1364/2017

The Government of India has been making concerted efforts in line with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's Commitment at COP 21, to reduce vehicular emissions and improve fuel efficiency with an aim to reduce the carbon footprints and keep a healthy environment. India has followed the regulatory pathway for fuel quality and vehicle emissions standards termed as Bharat Stage (BS).

The Ministry of Petroleum and natural Gas has successfully introduced the BS-IV grade transportation fuels across the country w.e.f April 1st 2017. With the launch of BS-IV grade fuel, a new era of clean transportation fuels has begun which will benefit all citizens of our country by substantially reducing pollution levels. Migration to BS-IV grade fuels shows India's resolve to cut down emissions.

As a next step in this direction, Government in consultation with stakeholders has decided to meet international best practices by leapfrogging directly from BS-IV to BS-VI grade by 1st April, 2020, skipping BS-V altogether. Oil refining companies are making huge investments in fuel up gradation projects to produce the BS-VI grade fuels.

Taking into account the serious pollution levels in Delhi and adjoining areas, Petroleum Ministry in consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies has decided for preponement of BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi w.e.f 01.04.2018 instead of 01.04.2020. OMCs have also been asked to examine the possibility of introduction of BS-VI auto fuels in the whole of NCR area w.e.f 01.04.2019. This measure is expected to help mitigate the problem of air pollution in NCT of Delhi and surrounding areas.

Tags : Introduction BS -VI grade Auto fuels Delhi

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Press Information Bureau

15.11.2017

Labour and Industrial

Services in 'Manufacturing of Alumina and Aluminium' and 'Mining of Bauxite' declared as Public Utility Service for a further period of six months

MANU/PIBU/1365/2017

The Services in industry 'Manufacturing of Alumina and Aluminium' and 'Mining of Bauxite' which is covered by item 30 and 31 of the First Schedule to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947) have been declared to be a Public Utility Service for a further period of six months with effect from November 16, 2017. Earlier these services were declared as Public Utility Service for a period of six month with effect from May 16, 2017.

Tags : Services declaration Public Utility Service

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Ministry of Finance 

15.11.2017

Indirect Taxation

Integrated Goods and Services Tax Amendment Rules, 2017

MANU/IGST/0013/2017

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub section (14) of section 12 read with section 22 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act , 2017 (13 of 2017), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules to amend the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement.-

(1) These rules may be called the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Amendment Rules, 2017.

(2) They shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of July, 2017.

2. In the said rules, after rule 2, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

"3. The proportion of value attributable to different States or Union territories, in the case of supply of advertisement services to the Central Government, a State Government, a statutory body or a local authority, under sub-section (14) of section 12 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, in the absence of any contract between the supplier of service and recipient of services, shall be determined in the following manner namely:-

(a) In the case of newspapers and publications, the amount payable for publishing an advertisement in all the editions of a newspaper or publication, which are published in a State or Union territory, as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service attributable to the dissemination in such State or Union territory.

Illustration: ABC is a government agency which deals with the all the advertisement and publicity of the Government. It has various wings dealing with various types of publicity. In furtherance thereof it issues release orders to various agencies and entities. These agencies and entities thereafter provide the service and then issue invoices to ABC indicating the amount to be paid by them. ABC issues a release order to a newspaper for an advertisement on Teti bachao beti padhao', to be published in the newspaper DEF (whose head office is in Delhi) for the editions of Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow and Jaipur. The release order will have details of the newspaper like the periodicity, language, size of the advertisement and the amount to be paid to such a newspaper. The place of supply of this service shall be in the Union territory of Delhi, and the States of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The amounts payable to the Pune and Mumbai editions would constitute the proportion of value for the state of Maharashtra which is attributable to the dissemination in Maharashtra. Likewise the amount payable to the Delhi, Lucknow and Jaipur editions would constitute the proportion of value attributable to the dissemination in the Union territory of Delhi and States of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively. DEF should issue separate State wise and Union territory wise invoices based on the editions.

(b) in the case of printed material like pamphlets, leaflets, diaries, calendars, T shirts etc, the amount payable for the distribution of a specific number of such material in a particular State or Union territory is the value of advertisement service attributable to the dissemination in such State or Union territory, as the case may be.

Illustration: As a part of the campaign 'Swachh Bharat ABC has engaged a company GH for printing of one lakh pamphlets (at a total cost of one lakh rupees) to be distributed in the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In such a case, ABC should ascertain the breakup of the pamphlets to be distributed in each of the three States i.e. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, from the Ministry or department concerned at the time of giving the print order. Let us assume that this breakup is twenty thousand, fifty thousand and thirty thousand respectively. This breakup should be indicated in the print order. The place of supply of this service is in Haryana , Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The ratio of this breakup i.e 2:5:3 will form the basis of value attributable to the dissemination in each of the three States. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise by GH to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State i.e twenty thousand rupees- Haryana, fifty thousand rupees- Uttar Pradesh and thirty thousand rupees-Rajasthan.

(c) (i) in the case of hoardings other than those on trains , the amount payable for the hoardings located in each State or Union territory, as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service attributable to the dissemination in each such State or Union territory, as the case may be.

Illustration: ABC as part of the campaign Saakshar Bharat' has engaged a firm IJ for putting up hoardings near the Airports in the four metros i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata . The release order issued by ABC to IJ will have the city wise, location wise breakup of the amount payable for such hoardings. The place of supply of this service is in the Union territory of Delhi and the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In such a case, the amount actually paid to IJ for the hoardings in each of the four metros will constitute the value attributable to the dissemination in the Union territory of Delhi and the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by IJ to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State or Union territory.

(ii) in the case of advertisements placed on trains, the breakup, calculated on the basis of the ratio of the length of the railway track in each State for that train, of the amount payable for such advertisements is the value of advertisement service attributable to the dissemination in such State or Union territory, as the case may be.

Illustration: ABC places an order on KL for advertisements to be placed on a train with regard to the "Janani Suraksha Yojana". The length of a track in a state will vary from train to train. Thus for advertisements to be placed on the Hazrat Nizamuddin Vasco Da Gama Goa Express which runs through Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, KL may ascertain the total length of the track from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Vasco Da Gama as well as the length of the track in each of these States and Union territory from the website www.indianrail.gov.in. The place of supply of this service is in the Union territory of Delhi and States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Karnataka and Goa. The value of the supply in each of these States and Union territory attributable to the dissemination in these States will be in the ratio of the length of the track in each of these States and Union territory. If this ratio works out to say 0.5:0.5: 2:2 :3:3:1 , and the amount to be paid to KL is one lakh twenty thousand rupees, then KL will have to calculate the State wise and Union territory wise breakup of the value of the service, which will be in the ratio of the length of the track in each State and Union territory. In the given example the State wise and Union territory wise breakup works out to Delhi (five thousand rupees), Haryana (five thousand rupees), Uttar Pradesh (twenty thousand rupees), Madhya Pradesh (twenty thousand rupees), Maharashtra (thirty thousand rupees), Karnataka (thirty thousand rupees) and Goa (ten thousand rupees). Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by KL to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State or Union territory.

(d) (i) in the case of advertisements on the back of utility bills of oil and gas companies etc, the amount payable for the advertisements on bills pertaining to consumers having billing addresses in such States or Union territory as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service attributable to dissemination in such State or Union territory.

(ii) in the case of advertisements on railway tickets, the breakup, calculated on the basis of the ratio of the number of Railway Stations in each State or Union territory, when applied to the amount payable for such advertisements, shall constitute the value of advertisement service attributable to the dissemination in such State or Union territory, as the case may be.

Illustration: ABC has issued a release order to MN for display of advertisements relating to the "Ujjwala" scheme on the railway tickets that are sold from all the Stations in the States of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. The place of supply of this service is in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. The value of advertisement service attributable to these two States will be in the ratio of the number of railway stations in each State as ascertained from the Railways or from the website . Let us assume that this ratio is 713 : 251 and the total bill is rupees nine thousand six hundred and forty. The breakup of the amount between Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh in this ratio of 713:251 works out to seven thousand one hundred and thirty rupees and two thousand five hundred and ten rupees respectively. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise by MN to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State.

e) in the case of advertisements over radio stations the amount payable to such radio station, which by virtue of its name is part of a State or Union territory, as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service attributable to dissemination in such State or Union terrritory, as the case may be.

Illustration: For an advertisement on 'Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana', to be broadcast on a FM radio station OP, for the radio stations of OP Kolkata, OP Bhubaneswar, OP Patna, OP Ranchi and OP Delhi, the release order issued by ABC will show the breakup of the amount which is to be paid to each of these radio stations. The place of supply of this service is in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar Jharkhand and Delhi. The place of supply of OP Delhi is in Delhi even though the studio may be physically, located in another state. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by MN to ABC based on the value pertaining to each State or Union territory.

(f) in the case of advertisement on television channels, the amount attributable to the value of advertisement service disseminated in a State shall be calculated on the basis of the viewership of such channel in such State, which in turn, shall be calculated in the following manner, namely: -

(i) the channel viewership figures for that channel for a State or Union territory shall be taken from the figures published in this regard by the Broadcast Audience Research Council;

(ii) the figures published for the last week of a given quarter shall be used for calculating viewership for the succeeding quarter and at the beginning, the figures for the quarter 1st July, 2017 to 30th September, 2017 shall be used for the succeeding quarter 1st October, 2017 to 31st December, 2017;

(iii) where such channel viewership figures relate to a region comprising of more than one State or Union territory, the viewership figures for a State or Union territory of that region, shall be calculated by applying the ratio of the populations of that State or Union territory, as determined in the latest Census, to such viewership figures;

(iv) the ratio of the viewership figures for each State or Union territory as so calculated, when applied to the amount payable for that service, shall represent the portion of the value attributable to the dissemination in that State or Union territory.

Illustration: ABC issues a release order with QR channel for telecasting an advertisement relating to the Pradhan "Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana" in the month of November, 2017. In the first phase, this will be telecast in the Union territory of Delhi, States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand The place of supply of this service is in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand. In order to calculate the value of supply attributable to Delhi , Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand, QR has to proceed as under-

I. QR will ascertain the viewership figures for their channel in the last week of September 2017 from the Broadcast Audience Research Council. Let us assume it is one lakh for Delhi and two lakhs for the region comprising of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and one lakh for the region comprising of Bihar and Jharkhand;

II. since the Broadcast Audience Research Council clubs Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand into one region and Bihar and Jharkhand into another region, QR will ascertain the population figures for Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand , Bihar and Jharkhand from the latest census;

III. by applying the ratio of the populations of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkhand, as so ascertained, to the Broadcast Audience Research Council viewership figures for their channel for this region, the viewership figures for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and consequently the ratio of these viewership figures can be calculated. Let us assume that the ratio of the populations of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand works out to 9: 1. When this ratio is applied to the viewership figures of two lakhs for this region, the viewership figures for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand work out to one lakh eighty thousand and twenty thousand respectively;

IV. in a similar manner the breakup of the viewership figures for Bihar and Jharkhand can be calculated. Let us assume that the ratio of populations is 4:1 and when this is applied to the viewership figure of one lakh for this region, the viewership figure for Bihar and Jharkhand works out to eighty thousand and twenty thousand respectively;

V. the viewership figure for each State works out to Delhi (one lakh), Uttar Pradesh (one lakh eighty thousand), Uttarakhand (twenty thousand), Bihar (eighty thousand) and Jharkhand (twenty thousand). The ratio is thus 10:18:2:8:2 or 5:9:1:4:1 (simplification).

VI. this ratio has to be applied when indicating the breakup of the amount pertaining to each State . Thus if the total amount payable to QR by ABC is twenty lakh rupees, the State wise breakup is five lakh rupees (Delhi), nine lakh rupees (Uttar Pradesh) one lakh rupees (Uttarakhand), four lakh rupees (Bihar) and one lakh rupees (Jharkhand). Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by QR to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State or Union territory.

(g) in the case of advertisements at cinema halls the amount payable to a cinema hall or screens in a multiplex, in a State or Union territory, as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service attributable to dissemination in such State or Union territory, as the case may be.

Illustration: ABC commissions ST for an advertisement on Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana' to be displayed in the cinema halls in Chennai and Hyderabad. The place of supply of this service is in the states of Tamil Nadu and Telengana . The amount actually paid to the cinema hall or screens in a multiplex, in Tamil Nadu and Telangana as the case may be, is the value of advertisement service in Tamil Nadu and Telangana respectively. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by ST to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State.

(h) in the case of advertisements over internet, the amount attributable to the value of advertisement service disseminated in a State or Union territory shall be calculated on the basis of the internet subscribers in such State or Union territory, which in turn, shall be calculated in the following manner, namely:-

(i) the internet subscriber figures for a State shall be taken from the figures published in this regard by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ;

(ii) the figures published for the last quarter of a given financial year shall be used for calculating the number of internet subscribers for the succeeding financial year and at the beginning, the figures for the last quarter of financial year 2016- 2017 shall be used for the succeeding financial year 2017-2018;

(iii) where such internet subscriber figures relate to a region comprising of more than one State or Union territory, the subscriber figures for a State or Union territory of that region, shall be calculated by applying the ratio of the populations of that State or Union territory , as determined in the latest census, to such subscriber figures;

(iv) the ratio of the subscriber figures for each State or Union territory as so calculated, when applied to the amount payable for this service, shall represent the portion of the value attributable to the dissemination in that State or Union territory.

Illustration: ABC issues a release order to WX for a campaign over internet regarding linking Aadhaar with one 's bank account and mobile number. WX runs this campaign over certain websites. In order to ascertain the statewise breakup of the value of this service which is to be reflected in the invoice issued by WX to ABC, WX has to first refer to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India figures for quarter ending March, 2017, as indicated on their website www.traigov.in. These figures show the service area wise internet subscribers . There are twenty two service areas. Some relate to individual States some to two or more States and some to part of one State and another complete State. Some of these areas are metropolitan areas. In order to calculate the State wise breakup, first the State wise breakup of the number of internet subscribers is arrived at. (In case figures of internet subscribers of one or more States are clubbed, the subscribers in each State is to be arrived at by applying the ratio of the respective populations of these States as per the latest census.). Once the actual number of subscribers for each State has been determined, the second step for WX involves calculating the State wise ratio of internet subscribers. Let us assume that this works out to 8: 1 : 2... and so on . for Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and so on. The third step for WX will be to apply these ratios to the total amount payable to WX so as to arrive at the value attributable to each State. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise and Union territory wise by WX to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State or Union territory.

(i) in the case of advertisements through short messaging service the amount attributable to the value of advertisement service disseminated in a State or Union territory shall be calculated on the basis of the telecommunication (herein after referred to as telecom) subscribers in such State or Union territory , which in turn, shall be calculated in the following manner, namely:-

(a) the number of telecom subscribers in a telecom circle shall be ascertained from the figures published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on its website.;

(b) the figures published for a given quarter, shall be used for calculating subscribers for the succeeding quarter and at the beginning , the figures for the quarter 1st July, 2017 to 30th September, 2017 shall be used for the succeeding quarter 1st October, 2017 to 31st December, 2017;

(c) where such figures relate to a telecom circle comprising of more than one State, or Union territory, the subscriber figures for that State or Union territory shall be calculated by applying the ratio of the populations of that State or Union territory, as determined in the latest census, to such subscriber figures.

Illustration-1: In the case of the telecom circle of Assam, the amount attributed to the telecom circle of Assam is the value of advertisement service in Assam.

Illustration-2: The telecom circle of North East covers the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura. The ratio of populations of each of these States in the latest census will have to be determined and this ratio applied to the total number of subscribers for this telecom circle so as to arrive at the State wise figures of telecom subscribers. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise by the service provider to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State.

Illustration-3: ABC commissions UV to send short messaging service to voters asking them to exercise their franchise in elections to be held in Maharashtra and Goa. The place of supply of this service is in Maharashtra and Goa. The telecom circle of Maharashtra consists of the area of the State of Maharashtra (excluding the areas covered by Mumbai which forms another circle) and the State of Goa. When calculating the number of subscribers pertaining to Maharashtra and Goa, UV has to--

I. obtain the subscriber figures for Maharashtra circle and Mumbai circle and add them to obtain a combined figure of subscribers;

II. obtain the figures of the population of Maharashtra and Goa from the latest census and derive the ratio of these two populations;

III. this ratio will then have to be applied to the combined figure of subscribers so as to arrive at the separate figures of subscribers pertaining to Maharashtra and Goa;

IV. the ratio of these subscribers when applied to the amount payable for the short messaging service in Maharashtra circle and Mumbai circle, will give breakup of the amount pertaining to Maharashtra and Goa. Separate invoices will have to be issued State wise by UV to ABC indicating the value pertaining to that State.

Illustration-4: The telecom circle of Andhra Pradesh consists of the areas of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam, an area of the Union territory of Puducherry. The subscribers attributable to Telangana and Yanam will have to be excluded when calculating the subscribers pertaining to Andhra Pradesh.

(d) the ratio of the subscriber figures for each State or Union territory as so calculated, when applied to the amount payable for that service, shall represent the portion of the value attributable to the dissemination in that State or Union territory.

Tags : Rules Amendment IGST

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Ministry of Finance 

15.11.2017

Indirect Taxation

Persons exempted from obtaining registration under Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

MANU/CGST/0066/2017

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 23 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) (hereafter in this notification referred to as the said Act), the Central Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby specifies the persons making supplies of services, other than supplies specified under subsection (5) of section 9 of the said Act through an electronic commerce operator who is required to collect tax at source under section 52 of the said Act, and having an aggregate turnover, to be computed on all India basis, not exceeding an amount of twenty lakh rupees in a financial year, as the category of persons exempted from obtaining registration under the said Act:

Provided that the aggregate value of such supplies, to be computed on all India basis, should not exceed an amount of ten lakh rupees in case of "special category States" as specified in sub-clause (g) of clause (4) of article 279A of the Constitution, other than the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

Tags : Services Supply Exemption

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Press Information Bureau

14.11.2017

Civil

India and Canada Technology Summit opens a new chapter of industrial research and innovation cooperation

MANU/PIBU/1359/2017

India and Canada opened a new chapter in their bilateral relationship with the start of a two-day India-Canada Technology Summit in New Delhi today. The Summit, organized jointly by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was inaugurated by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Mr. Navdeep Singh Bains.

In his inaugural address, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that "as partners in the 21st century knowledge economy, this Technology Summit reinforces our common belief in the power of science and technology in contributing to the present and future strategic Indo-Canadian partnership".

A new call for joint projects under the Indo-Canadian Industrial R&D programme was also announced on this occasion. Industry led joint R&D projects that have significant potential for commercialisation leading to product or process development in the areas of advanced manufacturing, clean technologies, smart cities and food and agro technologies will be supported by DST from India and the National Research Council of Canada.

The two Ministers also announced a new mobility based student internship program that will foster research and industrial linkages by promoting cross-border cooperation under support of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of DST and MITACS of Canada. The new phase of India Canada - IMPACTS program between DST and NSERC, Canada, was announced to promote multidisciplinary research partnerships aimed to deliver practical solutions through application of science and technology.

Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains is leading the large business delegation to participate at the event. The 175-member Canadian delegation also include Mr. Francois Champagne, Canadian Ministers of International Trade and Mr. Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, besides large number of industries and academic institutions.

Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Professor Ashutosh Sharma, and Dr. B. Mario Pinto, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), signed an MoU that will facilitate continued innovative partnerships between Canadian and Indian researchers.

The themes for the Technology Summit highlight a broad range of research and innovations areas where India and Canada have common interests. These cover, Advanced Manufacturing, Intelligent Transport Systems, Aviation, and Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, Data Sciences, Agricultural Technology, Clean Energy & Clean Technologies. A particular focus of the Summit is highlighting the role of women in science and business as well as promoting the start-up and incubator communities in India and Canada. The Canadian and Indian companies for the Tech Summit include world class innovators and technologies that have potential to forge new knowledge-market-economy connect at bilateral level. Sixty smart technologies were also showcased as a part of the exhibition.

Tags : Summit New chapter Innovation

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Press Information Bureau

14.11.2017

Civil

National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants Stakeholders discuss ways to realize full potential of Certification System

MANU/PIBU/1360/2017

Tissue Culture Industries, Farmers and Mission Directors of State Horticulture Mission/ Senior Officials of Horticulture Department in the State's dealing with tissue culture plants/quality planting material interacted at a Stakeholder Meet on "National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCS-TCP)" to identify the way forward to realize the full potential of this certification system which in unique, dynamic and comprehensive in nature.

Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology conducted the meet in New Delhi today to create awareness among all the Stakeholders particularly key Officials from Centre and State Government's Agriculture and Horticulture Departments.

In his keynote address, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Shri. S. K. Pattanayakstressed on a system in which all tissue culture material would be procured from accredited laboratories and the need for participation of states in such a system. He said that lndia is doing very well in tissue culture research and that scientific institutions of international repute is now open for Indian scientists for new research. He underlined the need for fund for popularization of tissue culture from the Ministry of Agriculture.

In his inaugural address, Secretary Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Professor K VijayRaghavan, highlighted the strong foundation of partnership between farmers and scientific community and added the need to have a well articulated project for new improved varieties for horticulture. Since India is the only country to develop this certification system, Professor VijayRaghavan pointed out that this progress can be used for building capacities in the neighbouring countries and that it would be an important step in science diplomacy.

Highlighting the structure and current status of NCS-TCP and the impact it has made on production of quality materials in different states, Dr RenuSwarup, Senior Advisor, DBT stressed on the need for popularising tissue culture plants across India by 2020 and enlisting the participation of the states in the process.

Government of India established the "National Certification System for Tissue Culture Raised Plants (NCS-TCP)" authorizing Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology as the Certification Agency vide the Gazette Notification dated 10th March 2006 under the "Seeds Act, 1966" for ensuring production and distribution of quality tissue culture planting materials.

With increasing demand for agricultural, forestry, plantation and horticulture crops, the demand for high quality, high yielding, disease free planting stock has been increased significantly over the last two decades. Conventional propagation method which includes sowing of seeds, propagation by cutting, layering etc suffers from the inherent limitations in the number that can be produced, non-uniformity of quality and incidence of diseases. Plant Tissue Culture has emerged as an important biotechnology and commercially viable tool to multiply elite varieties of high quality, disease free and high yielding plants rapidly in the laboratory irrespective of the season of the year. In India the tissue culture Industry is growing at a rate of 15% per annum.

The purpose of NCS-TCP is to ensure production and distribution of quality tissue culture planting materials. NCS-TCP isa unique quality management system, first of its kind in the world which ensures recognition of Tissue Culture Production Facility for the production of quality planting material and certification of end products.

NCS-TCP has made significant impact in the last one decade of its implementation. Currently, around 80 Companies are recognized. Two Referral Centre's and five Test Laboratories are accredited under this system. The recognized companies are eligible for getting their planting material certified from the Accredited Test Laboratories. So far, more than 275 million Tissue Culture plants have been certified through this system.

Tags : Tissue Culture Certification System Potential

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Press Information Bureau

14.11.2017

Capital Market

Government of India launched today the BHARAT-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund targeting an initial amount of about Rs.8,000 Crore

MANU/PIBU/1361/2017

The Government of India launched today the BHARAT-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund targeting an initial amount of about Rs.8,000 crore. This New Fund Offer is open till November 17, 2017. The Units of the Scheme will be allotted 25% to each category of investors. In this ETF, the Retirement Fund has been made separate category of Investors. In case of spill-over, additional portion will be allocated giving preference to retail and retirement funds. There is a 3% discount across the board.

The strength of this ETF lies in the specially created Index S&P BSE BHARAT-22 INDEX. This Index is a unique blend of shares of key CPSEs,Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and also the Government owned shares in blue chip private companies like Larsen & Tubro (L&T), Axis Bank and ITC. The shares of the Government companies represent 6 core sectors of the economy - Finance, Industry, Energy, Utilities, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Basic Materials. This combination makes the Index broad-based and diversified. The Sector and Stock exposure limits help in risk management and reduction of concentration, providing stability to the Index. The strength of the Index has been demonstrated in its performance from the time of its launch in August 2017 wherein it has out-performed the NIFTY-50 and Sensex.

The Index constituents include leading Maharatanas and Navratanas such as Coal India, GAIL, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bharat Petroleum, and National Aluminum Company (NALCO), three Public Sector Banks such as SBI, Bank of Baroda apart from the 3 private sector companies mentioned earlier.

The Government of India is undertaking a number of Key Economic Reforms which is driving growth in these sectors of economy. The major reforms such as mentioned below for which market expert believe will fuel the growth in the economy and may benefit the underlying stocks in ETF.

Finance: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, Digital and Cashless Economy, Listing of Insurance companies, Bank recapitalization and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Commerce: Liberalization of Foreign Director Investment (FDI) in India

Oil: Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG subsidies, Introduction of Daily Fuel pricing, Consolidation of Govt. run oil companies.

Energy: Revival package for electricity distribution companies of India (DISCOMs).

Through this instrument, the Government of India is divesting multiple stocks spread across various sectors in one bundled instrument thereby reducing over hang on individual stocks and maximizing sale proceed for the Government. This is expected to benefit long term and retail investors by providing an opportunity of participation in equity stocks of the Government run companies and earn stable returns.

Tags : Scheme ETF Launch

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Press Information Bureau

13.11.2017

Civil

Accepting of Unique Identity Number of Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations while making sales or supplies

MANU/PIBU/1358/2017

Various representations have been received from Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations regarding unwillingness of the vendors / suppliers to record the UIN (Unique Identify Number) while making sales to such Missions / Consulates or UN organizations. It may be noted that sale or supply to Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations is like any other Business to Consumer (B2C) sale and will not have any additional effect on the supplier's tax liability. Recording of UIN while making such sales will enable Foreign Diplomatic Missions / UN Organizations to claim refund of the taxes paid by them in India. Therefore, it is advised that under no circumstance any supplier should decline to record the UIN of the diplomat / official on the tax invoice.

Further, it may also be noted that the diplomats / consulate staff may quote the same UIN as allotted to their Missions / Consulates or UN organizations while making any purchases.

Unique Identification Number (UIN) is a 15-digit unique number allotted to any specialised agency of the United Nations Organisation or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organisation notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries. First two digits of the UIN denotes State code where the Diplomatic Mission/Consulate/ Embassy is located.

Search functionality for UIN is available on the GST Common Portal in "Search Taxpayer" option. On entering UIN and captcha, details of the Diplomatic Mission/Consulate/ Embassy will be available.

Tags : Identity Number Supply Foreign Missions

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