Addressing an event to mark 'Passport Seva Divas', the minister said the ministry has integrated 174 Indian embassies and consulates abroad with the passport service programme.
The PDP leader had applied for a fresh passport in December 2019, but the application has not been cleared till date in the absence of a police verification report.
The current heightened interest among US citizens for a second passport predates the coronavirus pandemic, but the crisis has helped turbo-charge demand.
The govt was responding to opposition members alleging that the move was a "further saffronisation" attempt by the Modi govt, given that the lotus is BJP's election symbol.
Passengers arriving at participating airports will already have their identity data encrypted and stored on their mobile phone, instead of on a passport microchip.
The e-passport will contain a 64 KB chip that will have all details of the passport-holder. The move will help crack down on trafficking and fake passports.
Research paper, however, finds lowest indebtedness level among Muslims at 12.3% & highest among Hindus at 14.9%. Overall national financial inclusion level at 87.2%, indebtedness at 14.7%.
Fresh details of operation conducted by IAF, Army have come out in gazette notification giving citations of those who were awarded Vir Chakra for their bravery.
On 21 Oct, a buzz went up that the govt had released full list of gallantry award recipients along with Op Sindoor citations. I put an AI caddy on the job. It took me into a never-ending rabbit hole.
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