Parliament

Parliament on Wednesday passed the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to decriminalise the offences committed in carrying out coastal aquaculture activities and ensure ease of doing business.
The bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote on Wednesday. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on August 7.
Replying to a debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said that India has benefitted from green revolution and white revolution.
"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India will have blue revolution which will take the fisherman community ahead," Rupala said.
The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill also seeks to expand the scope, remove regulatory gaps and reduce the compliance burden without diluting environmental protection rules in the coastal areas.
To decriminalise the offences, the bill seeks to remove the jail term of up to three years and impose only a .

Shrimp

India has demanded the European Union to provide permission to newly-listed fishery companies for the export of farmed shrimps and reduce the sampling frequency at the EU border inspection post from the current level of 50 per cent.
These issues were flagged by Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala in a meeting with the EU delegation led by Virginijus Sinkevicius, European Commissioner for Environment, Ocean and Fisheries here on Thursday.
"Various bilateral issues on fisheries and aquaculture were discussed" in the meeting, an official statement said.
In the meeting, Rupala requested the EU to reduce sampling frequency for inspection of Indian farmed shrimps at border inspection post of the EU from the current level of 50 per cent to the previous level of 10 per cent.
He also requested for re-listing of de-listed fishery establishments, and granting permission to the newly listed fishery companies for export of aquaculture shrimps from India 

personal finance

Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) will launch products for the livestock, aquaculture and sericulture sectors for which it has already obtained the licence from IRDAI, a top company official said on Wednesday.
AIC already has a 50 per cent market share in the crop insurance market under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bimal Yojana (PMFBY) scheme which is run by the Centre and state governments.
"We have got the license for introducing insurance products for the livestock, aquaculture and sericulture sectors from the regulator IRDAI in last May. We will launch the products after developing them", CMD of AIC Girija Subramanian told reporters on the sidelines of an ASSOCHAM event here.
Formed in 2000, AIC has a capital base of Rs 200 crore, contributed jointly by GIC Re at 35 per cent, Nabard at 35 per cent and the balance by the four public general insurers, National Insurance, United India Insurance, New India Assurance and Oriental Insurance.
To a query, she said there is no immedi

chart

"During 2011-12 to 2020-21, there has been a steady growth in the real output of 'fruits and vegetables'

GM crops

The workshop highlighted that the introduction of GM crops in the aqua-feed sector would also help reduce the mounting pressure on fishmeal and fish oil and maintain a sustainable aquaculture industry

Image via Shutterstock

The annual census of dolphins began in Odisha's Bhitarkanika national park and Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, officials said on Thursday.
Over 100 wildlife experts were conducting the headcount in a three-day exercise, which began on Wednesday, they said.
Each team is equipped with binoculars, GPS sets, rangefinders and data recording sheets for a foolproof headcount of the dolphins, officials of the Chilika Development Authority said.
The exercise was being conducted using the 'Transact Survey Method', followed worldwide, they said.
The Odisha coast has emerged as an ideal habitat for dolphins with an impressive rise of 33 per cent in their population, officials said, quoting the last census.
A total of 726 dolphins were sighted during the census conducted in the last December-January season in the five coastal divisions in Chilika lagoon, they said.
Six species of dolphins -- Irrawaddy, Bottlenose, Humpback, Striped, Finless and Spinner -- were recorded during the last census, th

fundraising

Aquaconnect, an aquaculture platform, has raised USD 15 million (about Rs 120 crore) from investors to expand its business.
The company raised this amount in a Series A funding round led by Lok Capital, with participation from Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures and Suneight Investment. Existing investors also participated in the round.
Aquaconnect will use the fund to strengthen its portfolio of scalable solutions that use AI and satellite remote sensing and widen its service offerings in both the pre-harvest and post-harvest aquaculture value chain to input retailers, seafood buyers and other stakeholders, a company statement said.
Currently, the company has a network of over 500 rural entrepreneurs, who provide last-mile assistance, serving over 90,000 fish and shrimp farmers.
In July last year, Aquaconnect raised USD 4 million in a pre-Series A round.
Aquaconnect uses satellite remote sensing and artificial intelligence to enable aquaculture farmers, retailers, and seafood buyers t

Tilapia

Rising demand, export potential, ease of production have turned the focus on the humble tilapia

Assessment units too large in size and too few in number to present micro-level picture, they say

Liberalised FDI policy to boost fish processing industry

The government to also allocate additional Rs 1500 crore under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) to give boost to exports of marine products

The 100% FDI in aquaculture and pisciculture is likely to open up the sector to new avenues of financing and access to advanced international aquaculture &amp; cage culture technology

Collection in H1 over 50% of BE of Rs 27,625 cr

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have been coordinating in recent months on these projects

PM Gatishakti: 3 upcoming airports on fast track to get rail connectivity

airport

India has told Canada that if any of these diplomats stay after October 10, their diplomatic immunity will be revoked

Justin Trudeau

The run-up in the markets in these last few months, analysts at HSBC said, has made investors nervous about the markets amid multiple headwinds

markets

What the data suggests, however, is that India's numbers are unsustainable. They're driven by debt-fueled household consumption and government investment

Rupee, Indian Rupee, Indian currency

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the country forward on the path of progress in the last two months

Amit Shah

The Union government gave a nine-month extension in service "on contract basis" to CBDT Chairperson Nitin Gupta on Saturday, the day of his scheduled retirement.
Gupta (60), a 1986-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Income-tax department, was appointed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) head in June last year.
He was scheduled to retire on September 30.
The government order said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the re-appointment of Gupta as the CBDT Chairman on a contract basis, with effect from 1.10.2023 till 30.06.2024, or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in relaxation of the recruitment rules, on usual terms and conditions applicable to re-employed central government officers.
The CBDT is the apex policy-making body for the Income-tax department. It is headed by a chairman and can have six members who are in the rank of special secretary.

Nitin Gupta, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Aspirational Districts Programme that brought change in 112 districts will form the basis of a programme to uplift aspirational blocks, adding that he will be back next year to review its success.
Addressing a programme here to launch the 'Sankalp Saptaah', linked to the implementation of the Aspirational Blocks Programme, the prime minister said the Aspirational Districts Programme has changed the lives of more than 25 crore people in 112 districts.
These aspirational districts have now become "inspirational districts", he said.
"Similarly, in the next one year, out of the 500 aspirational blocks, at least 100 will become inspirational blocks," the prime minister said as he urged officials of several ministries to pick 100 blocks that are lagging behind in their respective departments and bring them above the national average on various parameters.
"I am sure, in 2024, we will meet again in October-November ... and evaluate the ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PM Modi

To encourage farmers to diversify from traditional paddy cultivation to commercially viable farming, the Bihar government has come out with several incentives and subsidies for planting aromatic and medicinal plants in the state.
The state agriculture department has come out with several incentives for farmers to promote cultivation of 'lemongrass', 'palmarosa', 'shatavari', 'tulsi', mulberry', 'khas', 'gooseberry', 'bael', 'tamarind', 'jackfruit', and lemon plants.
Bihar Agriculture Minister Kumar Sarvjeet told PTI on Saturday that, "The government is coming out with several incentives and subsidies to farmers to help cultivate aromatic and medicinal plants in the state. The growing health awareness has created a lot of opportunities for innovation in the agriculture sector and the government is helping farmers to exploit this opportunity. This is the time Bihar farmers must opt from traditional paddy cultivation to commercially viable farming".
This scheme will be implemented main

farmers, agriculture, farm

The US is on the brink of a federal government shutdown after hard-right Republicans in Congress rejected a longshot effort to keep offices open as they fight for steep spending cuts and strict border security measures that Democrats and the White House say are too extreme.
Come midnight Saturday with no deal in place, federal workers will face furloughs, more than 2 million active duty and reserve military troops will work without pay and programs and services that Americans rely on from coast to coast will begin to face shutdown disruptions.
The Senate will be in for a rare Saturday session to advance its own bipartisan package that is supported by Democrats and Republicans and would fund the government for the short-term, through Nov. 17.
But even if the Senate can rush to wrap up its work this weekend to pass the bill, which also includes money for Ukraine aid and U.S. disaster assistance, it won't prevent an almost certain shutdown amid the chaos in the House. On Friday, a ...

US Fed Reserve, Fed Reserve

The combined market valuation of five of the top 10 most valued firms declined by Rs 62,586.88 crore last week, with IT majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys taking the biggest hit, amid an overall bearish trends in equities.
Last week, the BSE benchmark fell 180.74 points or 0.27 per cent, and the Nifty declined 35.95 points or 0.18 per cent.
The market valuation of TCS plunged Rs 26,308.58 crore to Rs 12,91,919.56 crore.
Infosys witnessed an erosion of Rs 25,296.43 crore from its valuation which was at Rs 5,95,597.10 crore.
The market valuation of Reliance Industries fell by Rs 5,108.05 crore to Rs 15,87,553.37 crore and that of Hindustan Unilever declined by Rs 3,865.08 crore to Rs 5,79,373.96 crore.
The market capitalisation (mcap) of HDFC Bank dipped Rs 2,008.74 crore to Rs 11,57,145.86 crore.
However, the mcap of Bajaj Finance jumped Rs 20,413.41 crore to Rs 4,73,186.41 crore.
Bharti Airtel added Rs 8,520.13 crore to Rs 5,19,279.14 crore in its valuation while

Even if generative artificial intelligence has been overhyped, it's safe to assume that ChatGPT-type bots will only get better at routine tasks like writing computer software

jobs, IT jobs, IT industry, AI

Half of India's population between the age of 30-55 years believes 59 years should be the age of retirement and thirty-two years is when one should ideally start retirement planning,

investment,saving, money, retirement, rupee

As the festival season approaches, followed by elections, state and national, there will be pressure on liquidity since cash with the public will rise

Banks credit growth

Bidhuri may be a small fry in the larger calculus of the party. Yet, in his blundering and uncultured way, he was voicing in Parliament what has already been normalised on the streets

Bidhuri

Experienced striker Vandana Katariya, vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka and Deepika slammed a hat-trick each as India stormed into the semifinals of the women's hockey competition at the Asian Games with a 13-0 drubbing of Hong Kong in their final pool match here on Tuesday.
Vandana (2nd, 16th, 48th minutes) scored three field goals, while Deep Grace (11th, 34th, 42nd) converted three penalty corners for India. Deepika (4th, 54th, 58th) was not to be left behind as she also emulated the feat of her senior teammates in India's rout of Hong Kong.
Sangita Kumari (27th, 55th), Monika (7th) and Navneet Kaur (58th) also registered their names on the scoresheet.
India are on top of Pool A with 10 points from four games and have much superior goal difference than second-placed side South Korea who have seven points with a match in hand. South Korea take on Malaysia in their final group league match later on Tuesday.
Two teams from each pool qualify for the semifinals.
It was a complete dominat

India women's hockey team

The Indian men's kabaddi team, who are a record seven-time champions, began their campaign with an emphatic 55-18 win over Bangladesh in a group fixture at the Asian Games here on Tuesday.
In their bid to regain the Asian Games gold medal, the Indians, who slipped to a bronze at the 2018 edition, took a 24-9 lead at the half-time.
Naveen Kumar Goyat and Arjun Deshwal spearheaded their raids in style to inflict the first all-out in the 12th minute.
Bangladesh managed to inflict two supertackles in the first half on Pawan Sehrawat and then on Goyat but that proved insufficient as India took 12-point lead inside 20 minutes.
Bangladesh faltered in their raids as the Indians extended their lead in the second-half and sealed the issue.
The women's kabaddi team, who were the last edition's silver medallist, endured a disappointing start after being held to an unexpected 34-34 draw by Chinese Taipei on Monday.
In the men's event India find themselves clubbed with Bangladesh, Chinese Taip

Asian Games India Kabaddi full schedule 2023

With Chromebook Plus, Google promises doubles down on the performance and introduces artificial intelligence capabilities

Google, Chromebook, Google chromebook plus, chrome book plus, chromebook laptops, chromebook plus laptop

Reigning world champion Ojas Deotale blazed his way to the final with a perfect score of 150, while veteran Abhishek Verma also shone bright to set up an all-Indian gold medal clash and assure the county of a top-two finish in the men's individual compound archery at the Asian Games, here on Tuesday.
Seasoned Jyothi Surekha Vennam also advanced into the women's individual final at the expense of world champion Aditi Swami, as the compound archers led India's charge at the continental showpiece.
India have thus confirmed three medals in archery, matching their best-ever feat of 2014 Asian Games in Incheon where they have won one gold, one silver and one bronze.
The Indian archers also remained in the hunt for a podium finish in seven more events across recurve and compound sections.
Fresh from winning the senior World Championship crown in Berlin two months back, Deotale was up against South Korean seventh-seed Yang Jaewon.
But the 21-year-old Indian did not give his rival any chan

Ojas Deotale reaches final fo the men's compound archery final at the Asian Games 2023. Photo: X

Ojas Deotale

World champion Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) locked an Olympic quota for herself by moving to the final while young Indian boxer Preeti Pawar (54kg) signed off with a bronze medal at the Asian Games here on Tuesday.
Borgohain, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, cleverly managed her bout against Asian Championship silver medallist Baison Manikon of Thailand to take a unanimous decision win and book her ticket for next year's Paris Games
Preeti, on the other hand, put up a good show but lost 0-5 to reigning flyweight champion China's Chang Yuan. She has already secured an Olympic quota.
Both Southpaw boxers showcased their high skill and ring IQs in the opening three minutes. While Preeti looked to poke and peck with a right hook, the Chinese kept landing right hooks.
At one point, the 19-year-old Indian landed a double  jab, followed by two right hooks and two body shots to score crucial points. But Chang replied aggressively with a right cross and a flurry of jabs.
The Chinese boxer w

Lovlina Borgohain, who secured a bronze, in her semi-final bout against Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey.

Aquaculture

Bill to decriminalise offences in coastal aquaculture activities passed

India seeks EU nod for export of farmed shrimps by newly listed firms

AIC to launch insurance products for livestock, aquaculture, sericulture

Livestock, fishing see highest decadal gross value of output growth

Experts deliberate on scope of genetically modified crops in aquaculture

Annual census of dolphins begins at Odisha's Bhitarkanika, Gahirmatha

Aquaculture startup Aquaconnect raises $15 million to expand business

Is tilapia the next big idea for boosting India's aquaculture sector?

Groundwater report waters down aquifer-level data, say experts

Govt to set up agencies for aquaculture and fisheries in coastal states

Liberalised FDI policy to boost fish processing industry