Union Cabinet Approvals – October 27 2016

Union Cabinet lead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved several agreements , MoUs and Projects between different countries and institutions on October 27 2016.

Cabinet approves 2% DA hike for central Govt. employees

• The Union Cabinet has cleared 2 percent hike in dearness allowance (DA). The hike will be effective from July 2016.
• Ahead of Diwali, this move is likely to bring some cheers to around 50 lakh employees working with the central government as well as 58 lakh more pensioners.
• Provision of dearness allowance and dearness relief is made to the employees and pensioners so as to neutralize the effect of price rise on their salary and saving
• The 2 per cent DA will result in annual burden of Rs 5,622.10 crore, though for period of 8 months (July-February in 2016-17), it would be Rs 3,748.06 crore.
• It is noted that the increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. 

Cabinet approves establishment of National Academic Depository

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the establishment and operationalisation of a National Academic Depository (NAD), which is aimed at bringing another dimension and enhancement of the vision of Digital India.
• NAD would be established and operationalised within the next three months and would be rolled out throughout the country in 2017-18.
• The NAD would be operationalised by NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures, Limited (CVL) – two of the wholly owned subsidiaries of the Depositories registered under Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, 1992.
• The NAD will register educational institutions/boards/eligibility assessment bodies, students and other users/verifying entities like banks, employer companies, government agencies and academic institutions.
• It will provide digital or a printed copy of the academic award with security features to the students or other authorized users. NAD will verify academic awards online on the same day of request initiated by any authorized user.

Cabinet approves the new Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit between India and Bhutan

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved an agreement on trade, commerce and transit between India and Bhutan.
• The bilateral trade relations between India and Bhutan are governed by the Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit between the Government of India and Bhutan.
• The Agreement provides for a free trade regime between two countries. The Agreement also provides for duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries.
• The traditionally unique bilateral relations characterized by trust and understanding between India and Bhutan have matured over the years and would be further strengthened by execution of the proposed agreement on trade, commerce and transit agreement.

Cabinet gives in-principle nod for strategic sale of PSUs

• The cabinet gave in-principle approval to strategic stake sales in some state-owned companies on the recommendations of the government think tank NITI Aayog.
• The recommendations of the NITI Aayog with regard to both disinvestment and strategic sale came up for consideration. In principle the Cabinet has approved the recommendations with regard to some of the units.
• The strategic sale will involve a management control transfer as the shareholding of the government would come down to below 50 per cent.
• It is noted that Indian Petrochemicals Corp Ltd (IPCL) was sold to Reliance Industries for Rs 1,490.84 crore, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd to Tata Group firm for Rs 1,439.25 crore and Hindustan Zinc Ltd to Vedanta Group for a total consideration of Rs 768.88 crore.