Union Minister Sonowal unveils Rs 1500 crore infra, CSR projects in Mangaluru
Mangaluru(PTI): Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday unveiled 16 infrastructure and 113 CSR projects worth Rs 1,500 crore at the golden jubilee celebrations of the NMPA here.
Speaking at the event, Sonowal said the projects mark a major step in strengthening India’s maritime infrastructure under the government’s Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways added that New Mangalore Port Authority has signed MoUs worth Rs 52,000 crore as part of India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai, according to a press release.
Tracing the port’s five-decade journey since its commissioning in 1975, Sonowal said NMPA now handles over 46 million tonnes of cargo annually and aims to reach 100 million tonnes by 2047.
The port has achieved 92 per cent mechanisation and operates as India’s largest coffee exporter and second-largest LPG importer, the release said.
Sonowal also inaugurated the renovated Mangalore Marine College and Technology (MMCT) campus and a new Rs 9.51-crore office building of the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD).
He highlighted that the number of Indian seafarers has risen from 1.08 lakh in 2014 to over 3.2 lakh now, projecting that one in every five global seafarers will be Indian by 2030, the release added.
The minister said NMPA has transitioned to 100 per cent solar power and adopted green cargo policies.
Karnataka has 32 ongoing Sagarmala projects worth Rs 6,526 crore to boost port-led industrial and coastal development, he added.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, MP Brijesh Chowta, former MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLAs Dr Bharath Shetty and D Vedavyasa Kamath, and senior port and shipping officials were present.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
