Latest news with #MihirKumar
Time of India
08-08-2025
- Business
- Time of India
GeM to open doors for global bidders
The government's public procurement arm Government e-Market ( GeM ) on Friday said it will add a global tender enquiry feature in its portal this year, which would help increase competition in the bidding process. The addition of this functionality is important as India is gradually opening its public procurement sector under its free trade agreements (FTA). It has done so in its trade pacts with the UAE and the UK, to facilitate procurement from international vendors , enabling ministries and departments to access a wider range of goods and services. "We are adding the global tender enquiry feature... (as) a lot of trade talks are happening, so this functionality is relevant," said GeM CEO Mihir Kumar. Productivity Tool Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide By Metla Sudha Sekhar View Program Finance Introduction to Technical Analysis & Candlestick Theory By Dinesh Nagpal View Program Finance Financial Literacy i e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By CA Rahul Gupta View Program Digital Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel By Neil Patel View Program Finance Technical Analysis Demystified- A Complete Guide to Trading By Kunal Patel View Program Productivity Tool Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide By Study at home View Program Artificial Intelligence AI For Business Professionals Batch 2 By Ansh Mehra View Program GeM is a portal for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments. In FY25, it recorded transactions worth ₹5.4 lakh crore in gross merchandise value (GMV). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Undo Kumar also said the portal will reach out to more states for its greater adoption.
Mint
08-08-2025
- Business
- Mint
Government e Marketplace records ₹5.4 trillion in gross merchandise value in FY25
New Delhi: The Government e Marketplace (GeM) marked its ninth Foundation Day this month with a record ₹ 5.4 trillion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in FY25, cementing its position as India's flagship public procurement platform, the commerce ministry said on Friday. GeM crossed ₹ 4 trillion in GMV in FY24. Since its launch, GeM has onboarded 150,000 women-led enterprises along with startups, self-help groups (SHGs), artisans and micro and small enterprises (MSEs), the ministry said. Started in 2016 to drive transparent, efficient and inclusive procurement, GeM has become a digital bridge linking women entrepreneurs, startups, MSEs, artisans, self-help groups and persons with disabilities with government buyers across the country. GeM has introduced technology-driven processes for faster, more cost-effective transactions, expanded into new service verticals such as insurance, manpower and mine development & operations, and provided training and onboarding support to state governments, public sector undertakings and local bodies, it added. 'These reforms demonstrate our intent to make GeM even more inclusive and accessible,' said Mihir Kumar, chief executive officer of GeM. 'Our focus remains on ensuring every enterprise, from tribal artisans to tech-driven startups, can easily access public procurement opportunities." GeM offers sellers direct access to all government departments, creating a single platform for marketing and bidding with minimal effort. Sellers benefit from dynamic pricing linked to market conditions, freedom from rigid product specifications, and assured, time-bound payments, with interest provisions for delays, alongside a dashboard to track sales, supplies and receivables. For buyers, GeM ensures transparency by eliminating the human interface in procurement, while offering an intuitive dashboard to search, compare and purchase goods and services, monitor deliveries, and track payments. Features such as direct purchase options for smaller orders, bidding and reverse auction tools for larger contracts, online grievance redressal and integration with payment systems make the process faster, fairer and fully digital.
News18
08-08-2025
- Business
- News18
GeM celebrates nine years of transforming public procurement in India
New Delhi [India], August 8 (ANI): Government e Marketplace (GeM) has marked its 9th Foundation Day, celebrating nearly a decade of transforming public procurement in India. Launched in August 2016, GeM has evolved into a cornerstone of transparent, inclusive and efficient governance, delivering on the Prime Minister's vision of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance." In just nine years, GeM has become India's most trusted digital procurement platform, empowering sellers and service providers across the nation, including women entrepreneurs, startups, MSEs, artisans, SHGs and Divyangjans. With Rs 5.4 lakh crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2024-25 alone, GeM has not only streamlined procurement but redefined access, equity and empowerment in year's Foundation Day celebrations centre around the theme Ease, Access, and Inclusion, underscoring GeM's continued commitment to making public procurement more accessible and equitable. Key reforms introduced include the elimination of caution money for sellers, rationalisation of vendor assessment fees, and a significant reduction in transaction charges, resulting in 97 per cent of orders being exempt. These initiatives are supported by stronger assistance for first-time sellers and small enterprises. Together, they strengthen GeM's identity as an inclusive platform. GeM connects even remote and underserved entrepreneurs to government buyers. It brings them into the mainstream procurement system. GeM truly celebrates inclusivity in every sense.'These reforms demonstrate our intent to make GeM even more inclusive and accessible," said Mihir Kumar, CEO, GeM. 'Our focus remains on ensuring every enterprise, from tribal artisans to tech-driven startups, can easily access public procurement opportunities."A GeM Seller Samvad event held on August 6, 2025, at the GeM office in New Delhi brought together a dynamic cross-section of India's entrepreneurial ecosystem to mark GeM's 9 Years of celebrations. GeM Manthan, a collaborative dialogue programme that turns ideas into actionable pathways for a more inclusive and future-ready procurement ecosystem, was also held at GeM premises. From enabling paperless, real-time transactions to facilitating multi-crore contracts in health, mining and insurance, GeM has bridged the divide between policymaking and grassroots participation. As it steps into its 10th year, GeM officials vow they remain committed to transforming public procurement into a citizen-centric, data-driven and inclusive ecosystem.'GeM has become the backbone of India's procurement landscape, merging transparency with transformation," said the CEO of GeM. 'This 9th Foundation Day is not just a celebration of numbers, but of people, those who make governance more accessible, inclusive and impactful." (ANI)
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The off-Broadway play imagining Prince George as gay
Last Saturday, Prince George cut a dignified figure as he joined the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour ceremony. But, across the Atlantic, a very different picture is being painted of the future king in a controversial new off-Broadway play with a gasp-inducing title: Prince Faggot. Canadian writer Jordan Tannahill 's highly speculative royal romp, which this week premiered at Playwrights Horizons, is set in 2032 and sees 18-year-old Oxford student Prince George, nicknamed 'Tips' (played by British actor John McCrea), return home to introduce his Indian boyfriend Dev (Mihir Kumar) to the Prince and Princess of Wales (African-American actor K. Todd Freeman and transgender actress Rachel Crowl). Dev is nervous, quipping that George's parents might fear 'We've got another Meghan'; Prince Andrew also gets a name-check in the context of the royal family's fraught history. Tannahill's juicy drama then envisions the tabloid feeding frenzy that follows their relationship going public (including fury from Piers Morgan), and internet comments such as 'Glad someone's adding some spice to that Yorkshire pudding'. Audiences at Prince Faggot must place their phones in lockable Yondr pouches to prevent anyone taking pictures or videos. The reason for that soon becomes apparent: McCrea and Kumar appear naked during graphic sex scenes. They experiment with poppers, acid and S&M fetish: Prince George appears in bondage and shares a kinky fantasy of being walked like a puppy. Prince George also imagines communing with the ghosts of former allegedly gay monarchs: Edward II, Queen Anne, James I, and Richard the Lionheart. Tannahill wraps in postcolonial angst too, with Dev fretting: 'Getting f---ed by the Prince of England? My ancestors would never forgive me.' N'yome Allure Stewart plays a feisty Princess Charlotte (Prince Louis doesn't appear). When her father, concerned about Prince George's explosive fling, says 'Our job is to serve, not to make spectacles of ourselves', she shoots back that they already make a spectacle 'with capes and crowns and motorcades'. Tannahill, an experimental, gay writer, frequently has his 'queer and trans' cast break the fourth wall, refracting their own life experiences through this provocative premise. Stewart talks about earning her version of a royal title at a New York drag ball, and there is discussion around those in power versus marginalised communities. Earnest explorations aside, this is the latest example of a peculiarly pervasive trend: Americans turning our royal family into an explicitly gay soap opera. The jumping-off point for the play is the viral 2017 photograph of the real four-year-old Prince George visiting a military helicopter in Hamburg. The young prince gasped in delight when he spied the chopper and struck a dramatic pose with his hands clasped to his face. Addressing the Prince Faggot audience, actor Mihir Kumar compares the image to a fey photo of himself as a boy, stating: 'We know one of our own when we see one because we ourselves were once queer children.' Internet commentators were certainly gripped by the 'Sassy Prince George' phenomenon. Posts on Twitter (now X) included: 'Prince George is already a bigger gay icon to me than Boy George', 'Do we have our first openly gay royal?', and 'Guys what if Prince George is gay and it causes a constitutional crisis?'. American writer Gary Janetti, who worked on TV shows like Will & Grace and Family Guy, went viral with his spoof Instagram posts imagining Prince George delivering catty zingers to his family – especially Meghan Markle. In one post, 'George' responds to a news story about Meghan doing her make-up in the back of an Uber by sneering 'Does she get dressed in the back of an Uber, too? Because that would explain a lot.' Janetti's work grew so popular that HBO turned it into an animated sitcom called The Prince in 2021, starring Orlando Bloom, Alan Cumming, Sophie Turner and Dan Stevens. Two years later, streamer Amazon Prime Video premiered the film adaptation of non-binary author Casey McQuiston's steamy novel Red, White & Royal Blue, about a gay romance between a closeted British prince and the son of the female President of the United States. Nicholas Galitzine starred as Prince Henry, who bears a physical resemblance to Prince William, but, as the rebellious 'spare' in a contentious relationship, is more obviously inspired by Prince Harry. Perhaps it's the Montecito exile who has turbo-charged this American fascination with royal figures who both benefit from and chafe against their hereditary privilege. Putting a queer spin on our princes allows these writers to indulge in the fantasy of regal luxury – a sort of real-life Disney fairy tale, or a more refined version of their celebrity culture – while also rebelling against it by introducing a transgressive element, and comparing the stuffy Brits unfavourably with the enlightened Americans. In Red, White & Royal Blue, Prince Henry's lover Alex accuses him of being a conformist snob, and the prince eventually confesses that he feels trapped by tradition. Indeed, the disapproving King, Henry's grandfather (played by Stephen Fry), thunders: 'The nation simply will not accept a prince who is homosexual.' In contrast, Uma Thurman's liberal President warmly welcomes her son's coming out, cheerily asking: 'So are you gay? Bi? Fluid? Pan? Queer?', and offering to help him get on the HIV-prevention drug Truvada. Amazon also gifted viewers the bizarre historical fantasy series My Lady Jane in 2024, featuring a gay King Edward VI, plus characters who turn into animals and are 'othered' by society, in another clunky marginalisation metaphor. This trend arguably reached its apotheosis with the horrifically kitsch musical Diana, about the late Princess of Wales, which (dis)graced Broadway in 2021. Although none of the characters were gay, it is unarguably camp trash. Are all of these depictions a grave insult to the institution? Not really. When the material is this navel-gazing, fluffy or downright dumb, it's hard to take it seriously. If anything, it's an odd compliment: a sign that the Americans still can't get enough of our royals, even if they have to view them through a fictionalised, flamboyantly queer modern lens to justify their enduring obsession.
Mint
20-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
With India-UK FTA talks concluded, India to introduce global tendering for public procurement
New Delhi: India is preparing to roll out global tendering features on the government's digital commerce portal that will allow British firms as well as all other global firms to bid for government tenders, a senior official said. The move on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal follows the successful conclusion of negotiations for the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA). These features are currently unavailable on the platform, used by state and central government departments agencies to buy and sell goods and services. Once introduced, they will enable British and other foreign suppliers to participate in tenders floated by Indian government buyers. The global tendering feature will open the platform to international suppliers, while a 'rate contract' option will allow government buyers to purchase goods and services at pre-approved prices for a fixed duration—ranging from three months to a year—reducing the need for repeated bidding, according to GeM chief executive officer (CEO) Mihir Kumar. 'We are working on it, and these features will be added to the GeM portal in the coming months,' said Kumar. He did not specify a timeline for the rollout. At present, procurement of global goods and services by the government is carried out directly by individual departments, which enter contracts with overseas suppliers on their own. These transactions are done outside the GeM portal, as the platform currently does not support global tendering. According to a policy paper from the UK government, India has granted 'legally guaranteed access' to its vast government procurement market under the FTA. This will enable British businesses to bid for around 40,000 Indian government tenders annually, valued at an estimated £38 billion. However, economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has cautioned that allowing UK firms to participate in India's central government procurement tenders could potentially crowd out Indian micro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which depend heavily on preferential access to such contracts. The UK move follows a similar agreement with the UAE. 'Under the deal, British firms can bid for Indian tenders, and those with at least 20% UK content will be classified as class 2 local suppliers under India's Make in India policy. This effectively extends preferential treatment, originally intended for domestic firms, to foreign suppliers,' said Ajay Srivastava, co-founder of GTRI. A rate contract is an agreement between a buyer and a seller to supply goods or services at a fixed price for a specified period. Once the contract is in place, the seller has to deliver the items at the agreed rate, even if market prices rise during the contract period. Procurement through the GeM portal is mandatory for all central government ministries and departments. The platform is targeting transactions worth ₹ 7 trillion in 2025-26, up from ₹ 5.42 trillion in 2024-25. Currently, 40-50% of annual government procurement is conducted through GeM. 'We will focus on states this year. We have to increase the footprint of states,' Kumar said, adding that the platform now has over 164,000 primary buyers and 42,000 active sellers, offering more than 10,000 product categories and over 330 services. He said GeM is looking at some large-scale tenders, including ₹ 5,000 crore worth of equipment for the Akash Missile System to ₹ 5,085 crore for vaccines. The platform also supports specialized services such as drone-as-a-service for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), geographic information systems and insurance solutions covering over 13 million lives, as well as wet leasing of chartered flights and CT scanners—demonstrating its adaptability in handling complex, mission-critical procurements.
