logo
Indian Ports Bill 2025 passed by Lok Sabha

Indian Ports Bill 2025 passed by Lok Sabha

Economic Times2 days ago
The Indian Ports Bill, 2025 was passed by Lok Sabha Tuesday. An official statement said the Bill seeks to promote integrated planning and strategic development of ports through a robust consultative framework between the Centre and States.
The statement said this Bill seeks to statutorily establish the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC). This will be a recommendatory body empowered to advise the Central and State Governments on various matters, to facilitate collaborative and long-term planning of all ports.
'MSDC will promote collaborative, data-driven planning across all ports, including formulation of a National Perspective Plan for maritime infrastructure,' the statement said while adding ports will share real-time data (cargo volumes, vessel traffic, capacity, hinterland connectivity and traffic pattern data) enabling MSDC to offer evidence-based, regionally balanced recommendations.This Bill also encourages coastal states to formally notify State Maritime Boards, empowered with uniform administrative and managerial functions, the statement added.
State-level Dispute Resolution Committees are also being introduced to adjudicate certain port-related disputes at ports other than major ports. 'The Committees can hear matters between port authorities, concessionaires, and users, with appeals directed to the respective High Courts, creating sector-specific jurisprudence,' the statement said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Defamation case: Perjury plea filed against Rahul in defamation case
Defamation case: Perjury plea filed against Rahul in defamation case

Hindustan Times

time6 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Defamation case: Perjury plea filed against Rahul in defamation case

In the ongoing defamation case against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's grand-nephew Satyaki Savarkar, the complainant's counsel, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, on Wednesday said they have filed a perjury application against the Congress leader for allegedly misleading the court. The reply from Gandhi's advocate is expected on September 10. (HT FILE) Kolhatkar, who represents complainant Satyaki Savarkar and moved the application before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde on Wednesday, said Gandhi's legal team had earlier been provided with all relevant documents in the case. 'We had supplied the relevant copies to Rahul Gandhi's advocate Milind Pawar. He received them and signed before the court. Yet, Gandhi through his lawyer has blatantly denied receiving any such material from us. Gandhi is misleading the court. Since he holds a constitutional post as the Leader of the Opposition, we have strictly demanded that action be initiated against him,' he said. The reply from Gandhi's advocate is expected on September 10. The defamation case, filed by Savarkar — the grand-nephew of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar — pertains to remarks made by Gandhi in March 2023 in London, which the complainant alleges are false. Kolhatkar also commented on the recent 'pursis' filed by Gandhi's lawyer in a Pune court, which cited a threat to Gandhi's life from followers of Savarkar. Gandhi's legal team later said the filing had been made without his consent and would be withdrawn. 'A pursis is not an application; it is merely information given to the court. No court takes cognisance of it, but it becomes part of the record. At least from our side, in the Pune court, there is no threat. Such filings are a misuse of freedom and waste the court's time,' Kolhatkar said. The case is pending before a Pune court, where Gandhi has already been granted bail.

Plea about ‘threat' to Rahul Gandhi filed without his consent, to be withdrawn: lawyer
Plea about ‘threat' to Rahul Gandhi filed without his consent, to be withdrawn: lawyer

Hindustan Times

time36 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Plea about ‘threat' to Rahul Gandhi filed without his consent, to be withdrawn: lawyer

Just hours after a plea was submitted in a Pune court citing a possible threat to Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi from those following the ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, his lawyer clarified that it had been filed without Gandhi's approval, and would be withdrawn. The Pune court has already granted bail to Gandhi in the defamation case, and the trial is yet to start. (HT FILE) Advocate Milind Pawar, who represents Gandhi in a defamation case filed by Savarkar's grand-nephew Satyaki Savarkar, said on Wednesday evening that a fresh application for withdrawal would be moved before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde on Thursday. Pawar said that the earlier submission, made during the regular hearing in the afternoon and known in court procedure as a 'Pursis', had been drafted without prior discussion with Gandhi. 'The contents of the 'pursis' were drafted by me without consulting my client Shri Rahul Gandhi. My client has taken strong exception to the filing, and expressed disagreement with its contents,' the lawyer said in a press statement issued late in the evening. The application filed before magistrate Shinde had claimed that Satyaki Savarkar had acknowledged being maternally related to Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, both principal accused in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination. It also referred to Rahul Gandhi's role as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, recent press conferences alleging electoral malpractice by the Election Commission of India, and a heated parliamentary exchange between Gandhi and the Prime Minister on the subject of Hindutva. Against this backdrop, the application indicated that individuals connected with Savarkar's ideology or lineage might bear hostility towards Gandhi, creating a 'reasonable apprehension' of harm, wrongful implication, or other targeting. 'In light of the documented history of violent and anti-constitutional tendencies linked to the complainant's lineage, and considering the prevailing political climate, there exists a clear, reasonable, and substantial apprehension that Rahul Gandhi may face harm, wrongful implication, or other forms of targeting by persons subscribing to the ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,' the application stated. The Pune court has already granted bail to Gandhi in the defamation matter, and the trial is yet to start. The case stems from Satyaki Savarkar's allegation that Gandhi, in a March 2023 speech in London, falsely attributed to VD Savarkar an account in which he claimed to have assaulted a Muslim man and felt pleased about it. Calling the plea a delaying tactic, Satyaki Savarkar's counsel, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, questioned why it had been filed in the first place. 'This is nothing but an attempt to stall proceedings by making frivolous claims,' he said.

From Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and Odisha, states push small reforms to boost business
From Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and Odisha, states push small reforms to boost business

Indian Express

timean hour ago

  • Indian Express

From Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and Odisha, states push small reforms to boost business

OVER THE LAST few months, Rajasthan eased restrictions on night shifts for women, Odisha spruced up building bye-laws so that small enterprises can use space more efficiently, and Tamil Nadu increased the number of industries for which entrepreneurs need not knock at the pollution control boards. Across India, states are advancing small, targeted reforms to cut red tape. While sweeping national reforms inch forward despite renewed calls for bold reforms amid tariff tensions, states are increasingly leading the way, recalibrating business rules on the ground, pointed out government officials. The Centre is helping nudge them towards deregulation, but states seem to be on board with the perceived benefits of these steps. The trend reflects a growing view at the highest levels of the Central government that progressive, state-level tweaks—faster to implement and with broader impact—should be prioritised for now. The Rajasthan Labour Department had, in a July 8 notification, allowed commercial establishments to employ women during night hours. Officials said this not only provided operational flexibility to enterprises but also was a step towards gender-inclusive employment. Delhi did the same on July 30, after having scrapped the requirement for restaurants and hotels to seek police approval the previous month on June 19. Odisha modernised building bye-laws in June to let MSMEs and IT/ITeS firms use space more efficiently. The state's Department of Housing and Urban Development of Odisha has introduced major amendments to both the Odisha Town Planning and Improvement Trust (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2021 and the Odisha Development Authorities (Planning and Building Standards) Rules, 2020, which are designed to streamline regulations and ease the compliance burden. For instance, parking requirements for industrial buildings have been reduced to 8 per cent from 30 per cent of the total built-up area to allow more productive use of space. Tamil Nadu, which is among the pioneering industrial states in the country, expanded the list of 'white category' industries from 37 to 609 in June this year. This exempts many non-polluting businesses from obtaining Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate from the State Pollution Control Board. Privately, many foreign investors flag India's cumbersome bureaucracy, varying state laws, and heavy compliance burden as hurdles that create uncertainty and hinder investment. With states set on the reform path, some of those concerns could be addressed. On the ground, these tweaks by state governments are finding currency. Sandeep Anand Goyle, the Delhi chapter head of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), told The Indian Express that establishments such as hotels, eateries, discotheques, amusement parks, and auditoriums in the capital, which no longer need to register with Delhi Police to run their operations, are expected to generate significant revenue for the Delhi government. 'Many major domestic and international chains had previously avoided investing in Delhi—preferring Gurugram or Noida instead—due to cumbersome licensing norms, particularly the eating house registration from the police via the MCD's (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) unified portal for licensing,' Goyle said. 'We were spending six to eight months each year just following up on licence renewals. Even when our documents met the portal's requirements, the follow-ups were constant. It became a choice between focusing on the business or chasing licences,' he said. While the Centre is now pushing for reforms at the state level, a newly-formed Deregulation Cell in the Cabinet Secretariat is also targeting select national regulations. On May 27, it set up an inter-ministerial group to review quality control orders (QCOs) that could enable 'unfair trade practices' or hurt MSMEs. In June, it clarified that the National Building Code, 2016 is 'not legally binding' but a 'voluntary code of reference,' offering relief to the construction industry. Earlier, in February, the Economic Survey 2024-25 called for state-led deregulation to liberalise standards and controls, such as lifting restrictions on women's participation in factories and rationalising parking norms. It urged states to review regulations on administration, land, building and construction, labour, utilities, transport, logistics, local trade, environment, and sector-specific rules. 'The logic for staying small often is to remain under the regulatory radar and steer clear of the rules and labour and safety laws. Ironically, the biggest casualties are employment generation and labour welfare, which most regulations were originally designed to encourage and protect, respectively,' the Economic Survey 2024-25 said. 'Unburdened by licensing, inspection and compliance requirements, the people and small enterprises of India, with their high aspirations and intrinsic inventiveness, will find answers to the pressing challenges of growth, employment and development,' it said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store