Latest news with #MHA
South China Morning Post
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Singapore bans Wild Rice's theatre performance for ‘glamorising' drug abuse
The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Friday it had banned a performance by theatre company Wild Rice for undermining Singapore 's anti-drug policy and public confidence in the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). A revised script for a dramatised reading, titled 'Homepar', was submitted on June 5, with IMDA assessing it to be in breach of the Arts Entertainment Classification Code (AECC). This was done in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it added. IMDA noted that the revised script had 'substantially changed' from the version that was submitted on April 21. 'The new material depicts and glamorises drug abuse and portrays an undercover CNB officer shielding abusers from detection,' it said. 'It undermines Singapore's anti-drug policy, our drug rehabilitation regime, and public confidence in the CNB. Performances that undermine Singapore's national interest are not permitted under the AECC.' IMDA said it had previously informed Wild Rice that the earlier script submitted met classification requirements and could be staged under an R18 rating.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
MHA persuades Kuki-Zo groups to relocate seven Suspension of Operations camps near Meitei-dominated areas
NEW DELHI: Officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) held a meeting with insurgent Kuki-Zo groups and persuaded them to relocate and shut down seven designated camps under the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement that are located near Meitei-dominated areas, sources said. They added that the MHA officials also stressed the recovery of looted weapons and the reopening of National Highways. Notably, security agencies on the ground in Manipur had earlier proposed the closure of seven out of 14 existing camps situated close to Meitei-inhabited areas in the Valley, the sources said. A source familiar with the talks said, 'The second round of talks was held earlier this week, where the two sides reached an understanding on the closure and relocation of at least seven SoO camps located close to Meitei-populated zones.' He, however, clarified that there was no discussion on the extension of the SoO agreement, as the talks primarily focused on revising the ground rules, which is seen as a more immediate priority.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Shah-led panel approves Rs 2K crore to rebuild Himachal after flood damage
NEW DELHI: In a significant move aimed at rebuilding disaster-affected regions in Himachal Pradesh, a high-level committee, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday approved Rs 2,006.40 crore as central assistance to the state, officials said. According to them the financial assistance is given for the recovery and reconstruction activities in the wake of the devastating floods, landslides, and cloudbursts that struck the state in 2023. The committee, composed of the Finance Minister, the Agriculture Minister and the Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members considered the proposal for financial assistance to the state under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), the officials said. A senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official said, 'The high-powered panel has approved the recovery plan of Rs 2,006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh, which will help the state in carrying out recovery and reconstruction activities, arisen due to damage and destruction that occurred in 2023 monsoon due to floods, cloudbursts and landslides.' According to him the sanctioned fund will comprise of Rs 1,504.80 crore as Central share from recovery and reconstruction funding window under the NDRF. 'Earlier, on December 12, 2023, the MHA had approved additional financial assistance of Rs 633.73 crore from the NDRF for the state, which was affected by this disaster,' he said.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Ministry of home affairs to facilitate career progression of ex-Agniveers
NEW DELHI: Home ministry has officially been tasked with coordinating activities for further progression of ex-Agniveers with other central departments as well as with states. A gazette notification issued by Cabinet secretariat Monday amended Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, to add a new entry no 19, 'coordinating activities for further progression of ex-Agniveers', under sub-heading 'department of states' and heading 'ministry of home affairs'. "MHA will now coordinate with various ministries and departments of govt and also with state/UT govts to facilitate career progression of Agniveers," said an MHA official. A dedicated online portal will be set up for the purpose. Agniveers are signed up by defence forces for a four-year stint, after which 25% of them are absorbed and the remaining 75% demobilised. It is a conscious move on part of Centre and states to incentivise youths to choose a short career in the armed forces by offering them a long-term, follow-up career. Hiring ex-Agniveers will benefit CAPFs and state forces since they will get trained personnel.
The Print
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Caste census without economic indicators is of little value, says Congress leader Sachin Pilot
Though the Socio-Economic and Education Survey was carried out in the previous term of Siddaramaiah as the CM, its findings were never officially released. However, earlier this year, certain portions of the report were leaked, triggering protests by Vokkaligas and Lingayats. The party's articulation of this position comes at a time when its Karnataka unit is under pressure from the politically dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, who are upset over being 'undercounted' in a survey commissioned by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2015. New Delhi: The Congress Tuesday said a caste census that merely records caste identities would hold little value, stressing that the exercise should aim to assess people's living standards and the impact of government welfare schemes on their lives. A cornered Congress has attempted to wriggle out of the situation by ordering a re-enumeration of castes in Karnataka within the next three months. And, that is why its latest underlining that a caste census must go beyond enumeration of caste identities is significant. 'The objective of the exercise is not just to get the name and the caste of a person, that I don't think has that much value. The real value is that you understand in what condition they are living, how successful the schemes have been so far, are the targeted budgets and policy programmes reaching the ones that we are intending for,' Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot said at a press conference at the party's new headquarters in Delhi's Kotla Marg. The former Rajasthan deputy chief minister said Rahul Gandhi's pitch for a nation-wide caste census was always about carrying out an 'x-ray' of the country, rather than simply counting castes. 'When we said, we wanted a caste census, the objective was to know exactly in what conditions people of India are living, those who are being deprived, who are not in the mainstream, how much have they got education, how much access they have to government schemes and policy programs, in what economic condition are they living, what is an expanding, household incomes, all that is required for us to do better policy combination,' he said.. The idea, he added, is not just to collect data of an individual's caste or a household's caste. 'The objective is to know exactly in what condition these families are living and how we can better curate our policies to substantially help the livelihood of those people. Unless we have tangible data, no state government and no central government can actually do targeted interventions and that is what we wanted to do.' On 30 April, the Centre had announced that caste enumeration would be included in the next population census. And on Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a notification saying that the next census will be held in 2027. While the Congress has questioned the absence of the term census in the notification, the Centre has dismissed the contention, pointing out that the MHA has already announced in multiple press statements that caste will be counted as part of the next exercise. Pilot highlighted the issue even on Tuesday, adding that the allocation of Rs 570 crore for conducting census in the annual budget also raises questions on the Centre's intentions. 'Given the BJP government's track record of backtracking, use of distraction tactics in times of its failures and its affinity to hypocrisy, we won't be surprised if it quietly shelves the caste census once again. Also, while the census would cost about Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore, the government had allocated a meagre Rs 570 crore for the purpose, which clearly shows its intentions,' he alleged. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Manish Tewari on Congress's Narender Surrender jibe—'nature of politics, back-channel talks nothing new'
