Big News: Ministry of Health (MoH) releases its draft Drug, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Bill 2022; Arunachal Pradesh and Assam sign ‘Namsai Declaration’; CAQM formulates policy for overall amelioration of air quality in Delhi-NCR region; Kerala kickstarts KFON scheme becoming the first state to have own internet service; and more.

Industrial Policy & Business Regulations

Madhya Pradesh amends its Madhya Pradesh Minor Mineral Rules, 1996. The amendment grants allotment of mining lease separately from e-tendering. At present, the procedure for grant of mining lease through e-tendering is prescribed in the rules.

Source: Hitavada; In detail: Cabinet decisions, Policy

Tripura approves rules to ban unregulated deposit schemes from operating in the state on the basis of Centre’s The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Scheme Act 2019.

Source: The Print; In detail: Scheme Details

Land Acquisition & Labor Regulations

Madhya Pradesh amends its Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Land and Building Management Rules 2019 for management of developed, under developed, and undeveloped land. The amendment includes e-bidding process in place of first come first serve, along with free and transparent allocation of land or building in industrial areas.

Source: Hitavada; In detail: Cabinet decisions, Policy

Jharkhand provides 75 per cent reservation for jobs for locals in the private sector.

Source: India Today; In detail: Cabinet decisions (In Hindi)

Infrastructure & Governance

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu Road new rail line at an estimated cost of $351 million for improving mobility of the people in the region. The project aims to generate direct employment during construction for about 40 lakh workdays.

Source: Swarajya; In Detail: Press Release

Maharashtra approves renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively.

Source: NDTV; In detail: CMO’s Twitter (In Hindi)

Arunachal Pradesh and Assam signs ‘Namsai Declaration’ agreement to minimize the border dispute between the two states by restricting the number of contested villages to 86 instead of 123.

Source: NDTV; In Detail: Press Release

Jammu and Kashmir launches its ‘Unified, Integrated, Accessible and Transparent (e-UNNAT) services’ portal. The portal provides a single sign-on to allow access to all government services on a single platform.

Source: Daily Excelsior; In Detail: Press Release; Portal

Kerala kick-starts its Kerala Fiber Optic Network (KFON) 2021 scheme with Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd. receiving the Internet Service Provider (ISP) license from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The scheme aims to make internet accessible to everyone in the state.

Source: Deccan Herald; In Detail: Press Release (In Malayalam), KFON

Meghalaya launches its ‘Integrated Web Portal of the Meghalaya State Public Services Delivery Commission’ as part of the steps taken to ensure that the concept of citizen centric governance is followed at every department. Initially 188 services will be made available on the portal.

Source: Economic Times; In Detail: Press Release; Portal

Climate Change

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) formulates policy to abate the challenge of air pollution in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The policy aims for overall amelioration of the air quality of the NCR through differentiated geographical approach and actionable timelines.

Source: The Statesman; In Detail: CAQM Policy

Tamil Nadu establishes ‘District Climate Change Missions’ in all 38 districts. The missions will help strengthen the government’s climate response at the grassroots.

Source: The Hindu; In detail: Government Order (Twitter)

Oil & Gas

Nothing Critical to report this week

Water & Sanitation

Nothing critical to report this week

Power & Renewable Energy

Nagaland Electricity Regularity Commission (NERC) notifies new electricity tariff for all categories of consumers as per the Tariff Schedule FY 2022-23 effective from July 1, 2022.

Source: Morung Express; In detail: Tariff order

Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) issues order for revision of power tariff in Chandigarh for 2022-23 for one slab 0-150 kWh in the domestic category. The order will come into force from July 1.

Source: Economic Times; In detail: Tariff order

Health

Ministry of Health releases its draft Drug, Medical Devices, and Cosmetics Bill 2022 that separately defines medical devices, makes provision for constitution of a separate expert group on medical devices, and calls for setting up of central and state medical device-testing laboratories on the lines of the network of drug-testing laboratories.

Source: Indian Express; In detail: Draft bill

Madhya Pradesh grants approval for continuation of State Haemoglobinopathy Mission Scheme. The scheme formed in 2021 will be expanded to all 89 tribal development blocks of the state.

Source: Hitavada; In detail: Cabinet decisions

Business Negative Reforms

Nothing critical to report this week

Any Other

Andhra Pradesh re-joins the ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ (PMFBY), ensuring crop insurance of more than 4 million farmers of the state in case of natural calamity.

Source: Web India; In detail: Press release

Telangana announces ‘Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture’ (DiCRA) as the latest addition to its ‘Digital Public Goods Registry.’ Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), the platform is geared towards strengthening food systems and food security in the state.

Source: Telangana Today; In detail: Press release

Chhattisgarh approves its Chhattisgarh Ground Water (Management and Regulation) Bill-2022.

Source: Hindustan Times; In detail: Cabinet decisions, Cabinet decisions (Alternate)

Goa approves an amendment to its Goa Provision of Water Supply Act 2003. The amendment decriminalises a part of the act by removing the six month imprisonment and also increases fines to $125 for domestic consumers and $626 for commercial consumers.

Source: Times of India

Center – State Relations

Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB) releases ‘Natural Resource Accounting’ (NRA) for tracking and maintaining the natural resources of India.

Source: Business Standard; In detail: Guidelines