Catalysing entry into the formal workforce
Recently cleared by the Union cabinet, the scheme aims at skilling young Indians and providing them fresh opportunities, apart from formalising more of the workforce and bolstering social security. The goal is to create over 3.5 crore formal jobs over two years, of which nearly 2 crore will be entrants to the workforce. Among these first-timers, employees will be eligible to get up to ₹15,000 deposited in their provident fund accounts. On the other side, employers will be given incentives for up to two years for generating additional jobs, with the benefits extended for another two years for the manufacturing sector.
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Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Express View: For India, is BRICS worth it?
The 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ended over the weekend with a wide-ranging declaration on global and regional issues. But few outside the hapless desk officers in various foreign offices around the world and policy wonks in think tanks would want to pore over the 126-paragraph, 47-page, over-16,000-word declaration. With such familiar phrases as 'multipolar world', 'Global South', 'inclusive', 'sustainable' and 'global governance', it will certainly impress the enthusiasts who see BRICS as a powerful instrument to upend the global order. Many in the West do fear BRICS for the same reason. There is no reason to believe that US President Donald Trump would have had the time to read the long declaration, but he has repeated his earlier claim that BRICS is 'anti-American' and threatened to impose additional tariffs on members of the forum. But the hopes and fears of BRICS engineering a global transformation are misplaced. For, the forum is riddled with several contradictions of its own and its grasp has always been larger than its reach. As irony would have it, if anyone is trying to build a 'post-American order', it is Trump. In less than six months, he has overturned many traditional assumptions about US global policies and is seeking to radically overhaul the international system that Washington built after World War II and that was modified by it at the turn of the 1990s. Consider, for example, the BRICS talk about reforming the Bretton Woods system; Trump is doing precisely that by pressing for change at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The BRICS call to save the World Trade Organisation is a sad (and hypocritical) cry in the wilderness with Trump well on his way to demolishing the rule-maker for world commerce. Even more damaging is that leading members of BRICS have been queuing up in Washington to negotiate bilateral deals with Trump holding a gun to their heads. They are not saving the WTO but protecting their own national trade with America by looking for bilateral deals. China has cut a limited deal. Vietnam, another communist country, announced a trade deal of its own. India hopes that its intensive trade negotiations with Trump's Washington in the past few months will bear fruit this week. Equally far-fetched is the idea that members of BRICS can submerge their bilateral differences to collectively blunt American dominance. For India, the economic and security challenges presented by China are much bigger than those posed by American hegemony. Two BRICS states — Saudi Arabia and the UAE — are as worried as Israel and the US about the nuclear weapons programme of a third member, Iran. But here is the rub. Trump's actions to overhaul the global economic, financial, and security order have produced great global churn. The Rio declaration has no answers, only hot air, in response to the Trump challenge. The circumstances that persuaded India to found BRICS and promote it for three decades are no longer present. Yet the political groupthink in Delhi is so entrenched that no questions are asked about the virtue of India investing so much political and diplomatic capital in a forum that does little to serve the country's current interests. With India taking over the chair of BRICS, the time to ask those questions is now.
Hans India
14 minutes ago
- Hans India
Andhra's mango procurement sets model for other states
Tirupati/Chittoor: After chilli and tobacco farmers, mango growers are now in focus as YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy looks to raise the political heat in the state. A bumper mango yield this year has brought little joy to farmers, who are struggling with falling prices. Despite the state government's swift action, announcing subsidies and deploying officials to assist distressed farmers, the issue has turned political. Looking to capitalise on the unrest, Jagan will visit Bangarupalem market yard on July 9 to console mango farmers. In fact, the government claims that Andhra Pradesh's proactive, farmer-centric approach to supporting Totapuri mango growers is emerging as a model for other states. It has stepped in not just with aid, but with reassurance, encouraging farmers and helping them cope with the current crisis. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu met with the farmers and pulp units' representatives in Kuppam during his recent visit and created confidence among them. He categorically told the pulp units that the government will provide whatever help they needed and even wrote to the centre to reduce the GST on pulp products. Tirupati and Chittoor collectors Dr S Venkateswar and Sumit Kumar have assured that procurement is in full swing and that the promised subsidy will be provided without any cap on quantity or time. Totapuri mango cultivation is a major agricultural activity in the state, with mango crops grown across 3.98 lakh hectares, yielding an estimated 49.85 lakh metric tonnes (MT) and a productivity rate of 12.5 MT per hectare. The erstwhile Chittoor district — now divided into Chittoor, Tirupati, and Annamayya — is a key production hub for Totapuri mangoes, with around 80,000 hectares under cultivation and nearly 76,700 farmers engaged in the activity. Tirupati district alone accounts for 14,582 hectares with a projected yield of 1.45 lakh MT this season. Following multiple review meetings held in May at both district and state levels, on June 6, the Chief Minister announced a subsidy of Rs 4 per kilogram for Totapuri mangoes. This brought the total procurement price to Rs 12 per kilogram, with Rs 8 to be paid by processors or traders. It is worth noting that while the neighbouring state of Karnataka limits its procurement to just one month, Andhra Pradesh has committed to continue the process until the last fruit is procured in July and August. Moreover, Karnataka has capped procurement at 4 MT per hectare, whereas Andhra Pradesh has imposed no such restrictions. A proposal has also been submitted to the Union minister for agriculture, seeking the release of Rs 130 crore under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) to further stabilise the market. The Collectors said that these steps are aimed at shielding farmers from global and national market fluctuations beyond their control. Procurement of Totapuri mangoes began on June 9. As of July 5, 67,980 MT of mangoes have been procured from 10,046 farmers in Tirupati district, while Chittoor district saw procurement of 2.23 lakh MT from 38,706 farmers. The Collectors said that every effort is being made to ensure that no farmer is left behind and that all produce is procured without any problem. Meanwhile, the police imposed restrictions on Jagan's visit, permitting only 500 people inside the market and 30 at the helipad due to space limitations. However, YSRCP leaders have claimed that around 10,000 party workers are expected to attend the event and have urged the police to make necessary arrangements accordingly.
Hans India
16 minutes ago
- Hans India
Defence investments will help economy, says Rajnath
New Delhi: Highlighting the economic benefits of investment in the Defence sector, Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday stressed judicious utilisation of the Budget by spending at the right time for the right objective, underscoring the need for efficient use of the taxpayers' money. Speaking at the Controllers' Conference 2025 of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD), the Minister said, 'We need to be responsible in utilising the Budget as it comes from the hard-earned money of the public. The Budget should be used optimally – for the right purpose, at the right time.' He also highlighted the fact that the country's Defence Budget is bigger than the GDP of some countries. Defence Minister Singh pointed out that gone were the days when expenditure in the Defence sector was only considered necessary and never viewed as an economic catalyst. 'Now, it is being seen as a spending which has a multiplier impact on the economy,' he said. 'Earlier, there was no assessment of the economic impact of expenditure on security, but things have changed now when investment in re-armament is rising exponentially. We need to pay special attention to Defence economics,' said Defence Minister Singh. He also praised the measures taken by the Defence Acquisition Council for starting procurement from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). He also called for measures to serve veterans better and appreciated steps like introduction of centralised database management. The conference inaugurated by the Defence Minister will foster discussions on policy dialogue, strategic review and institutional innovation and serve as a platform for shaping the future of India's Defence financial architecture. The conference that will be held till July 9, aims to bring together top leadership from DAD, civil services, academia, think-tanks, and stakeholders across the Defence and finance sectors. 'It serves as a vital platform for evaluating challenges, initiating reform, and advancing the role of financial governance in Defence preparedness,' said the Defence Ministry in a statement.
