New Delhi, March 1: India has emerged as a major automobile producer and exporter and a similar transformation has been observed in electronics manufacturing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Saturday.

Speaking at a media event here, PM Modi said that India is manufacturing everything — from semiconductors to aircraft carriers — and that the world wants to learn about India’s success in detail.

“India’s leadership in various sectors is the result of years of hard work and systematic policy decisions”, said PM Modi, highlighting the progress made over the past 10 years, where incomplete bridges and stalled roads have now transformed into dreams moving forward at a new pace with good roads and excellent expressways.

The Prime Minister emphasised that reduced travel time and costs have provided the industry with an opportunity to decrease logistics turnaround time, benefiting the automobile sector significantly. He noted the increased demand for vehicles and the encouragement of EV production, adding that today, India has emerged as a major automobile producer and exporter.

“India is not only providing products to the world but is also becoming a trusted and reliable partner in the global supply chain”, PM Modi noted.

Over the past decade, electricity has reached more than 2.5 crore families for the first time, leading to increased demand and production of electronic equipment.

PM Modi highlighted that affordable data has boosted the demand for mobile phones, and the increased availability of services on mobile phones has led to higher consumption of digital devices.

Programmes like PLI schemes have turned this demand into an opportunity, making India a major electronics exporter.

Stressing that not only millets but also India’s turmeric has gone from local to global, with India supplying over 60 per cent of the world’s turmeric, PM Modi remarked that India’s coffee has also achieved global recognition, making India the seventh-largest coffee exporter in the world. The Prime Minister also emphasised that India’s mobile phones, electronic products, and medicines are gaining global recognition.

New Delhi, March 1: Out of the 1,200 central and state government schemes, 1,100 are now under the ambit of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.

FM Sitharaman said that this ensures that funds are directly transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts, eliminating middlemen and reducing delays.

“Everything is going via direct payment, so there are no middlemen, no unborn children getting allowances,” the minister said, while speaking at the 49th Civil Accounts Day celebrations in the national capital.

The Finance Minister added that everybody who receives the fund has a biometric-verified account into which the money goes.

“The Public Financial Management System (PFMS) has played a crucial role in streamlining DBT,” she stated, noting that the system enables the government to ensure that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries without any irregularities.

FM Sitharaman further stated that PFMS currently serves around 60 crore beneficiaries, making it the largest financial management system of its kind in the world. Its end-to-end digitalisation feature has strengthened financial governance and enhanced accountability in fund distribution.

The PFMS interacts with over 250 external systems, including the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), PM Kisan, and the Tax Information Network (TIN 2.0). This integration allows smooth financial transactions and supports the government’s vision of cooperative federalism, the Finance Minister said.

In addition, PFMS has connected financial systems across states, working with 31 state treasuries and over 40 lakh programme implementing agencies.

“With its extensive network, the system plays a key role in ensuring that government funds are utilised effectively and reach those who need them the most,” Sitharaman said.

“When we talk about PFMS integrating systems. What better example can there be of cooperative federalism if only we recognise, all 31 state treasuries and over 40 lakh programme implementing agencies enabling unified financial management across states,” she said.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday raised concerns over the “cut, copy, paste manner” in which banks pass orders declaring accounts as `defaulter’ or `fraud’, and asked industrialist Anil Ambani to approach the RBI against an order of the Union Bank of India declaring his loan account as `fraud’.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale was hearing a petition filed by Anil Ambani challenging the October 10, 2024 order passed by the Union Bank of India.

He was not granted any hearing before the order was passed, he claimed, challenging two show-cause notices issued by the bank. He had also asked for copies of the documents on which the bank had relied before passing the order, but no documents were furnished, the petition claimed.

During Friday’s hearing, the court said it was repeatedly coming across cases where banks declare accounts as `fraud’ or `willful defaulter’ without following the guidelines laid down by the Reserve Bank of India.

“There cannot be such cut, copy and paste orders. There has to be some application of mind. Ultimately this is public money. We cannot have such orders passed in such a casual manner. There has to be some mechanism put in place,” the bench said.

Banks have to be mindful of the fact that guidelines, published in the RBI’s `master circulars’, are in place, the HC said.

Such orders will continue to be passed unless the RBI takes action against bank officials, and it was advisable that the RBI put in place some mechanism, the court said.

“We feel this is being done deliberately. There has to be some checks and balances, otherwise this will go on,” it said.

Senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for the RBI, said any aggrieved person can lodge an online complaint with the RBI if they feel that a bank order violated the principles of natural justice.

Advocate Dhond, however, clarified that the RBI will not go into the merits of the case after a complaint is filed, but only see if mandatory procedures were followed before passing the order.

The court accepted his statement, and asked Anil Ambani to lodge a complaint with the RBI.

“Let the petitioner upload his complaint. Let us start with that,” the HC said.

The court also directed the Union Bank of India to file its affidavit in response to Ambani’s petition, and posted the matter for further hearing on March 13.