Cabinet nod for metro in Patna
THE FIRST METRO RAIL NETWORK IN BIHAR, IT WILL COME UP AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF ₹13,411.24 CRORE, SAID PIYUSH GOYAL
NEWDELHI: Bihar’s capital Patna is set to get its own metro train system by 2024. The Union cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the project comprising two corridors.
The first 26.94 km stretch would connect Danapur to Mithapur while the second stretch would cover 14.45 kilometres, linking Patna Junction to New Inter-state Bus Terminus, Union minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.
The first metro rail network in Bihar, it will come up at an estimated cost of ₹13,411.24 crore, he said.
In another significant decision, the cabinet committee on economic affairs also hiked the minimum support price (MSP) for raw jute for the 2019-20 season to ₹3,950 from ₹3,700 per quintal.
The cabinet also gave its “postfacto” approval to the introduction of a bill in the Rajya Sabha which aims to help women who have been cheated by Non-resident Indian (NRI) husbands.
“The bill provides for the amendment of the legal framework to act as a deterrent to erring NRI spouses and creating more accountability and offer protection against exploitation of Indian citizens married to them,” a government statement said.
Once the bill is passed, marriages performed by NRIS would be registered in India or Indian missions or posts abroad. Necessary changes in the legal framework would be carried out to address the issue which affects several states including Punjab, Goyal said.
The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal for leasing 1.61 acres of land in north Delhi’s Alipur for the setting up a Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium for establishing a Kisan Mandi, Goyal said. This land belongs to Delhi Milk Scheme, the minister said.
Goyal said another decision taken by the cabinet was to extend the tenure of the National Commission of Safai Karamcharis beyond March 2019 for three years.
An umbrella programme for the development of scheduled tribes was also extended for another three years with an outlay of ₹2,900 crore, he said. NEW DELHI: India and Russia are expected to set up a joint venture to manufacture more than seven lakh AK-103 assault rifles in India, an official said on Wednesday. The two countries are likely to enter into an inter-governmental agreement involving Concern Kalashnikov JSC and India’s Ordnance Factory Board to take the project forward., he added
The move comes a day after the defence ministry inked a contract for buying 72,400 Sig Sauer assault rifles from the US under the fast track procedure. These assault rifles are likely to cost around Rs 700 crore. The contract was signed invoking a key clause in India’s arms buying rules that governs speeding up purchases to meet “urgent operational requirements.”