New Delhi: The government on Thursday announced new measures to ease rules for import of steel grades not covered under Quality Control Orders (QCOs), apart from approving extension of certain exemptions after reviewing the concerns submitted by industry participants. 

In order to streamline the regulatory framework governing steel imports and to facilitate ease of doing business, the Ministry of Steel undertook a review of the existing import-related requirements. It also reviewed the requirement for obtaining clarification or No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Steel for import of steel grades not covered under any QCO.

“Based on the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on Non-Financial Regulatory Reforms (HLC-NFRR), it has been decided that steel grades not covered by any Quality Control Order will no longer require clarification or NOC from the Ministry of Steel,” according to an official statement.

All steel grades not covered under any QCO — across all HSN Codes relating to the Ministry of Steel — have been mapped on the Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) Portal. Importers may directly generate SIMS numbers for such non-QCO grades through the Portal without seeking any reference or approval from the Ministry of Steel, the statement added.

As per the Quality Control Orders issued by the Ministry of Steel, all grades of steel covered under the Orders are required to be imported only from manufacturers holding valid and operative BIS licences for the relevant grades.

In cases where import of QCO-covered steel grades is proposed from manufacturers who do not possess BIS licences, an exemption mechanism is already in place and such applications are examined by the Committee constituted on May 14, 2020.

The Committee, comprising representatives from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and domain experts, will continue to examine applications and decide on granting exemptions for import of QCO-covered steel products manufactured by non-BIS licensee units, said the ministry.

Also, based on representations received from industry, the Ministry had earlier granted exemption from mandatory QCO compliance for specified Chapter 73 steel products for imports with Bill of Lading having shipped on board date on or before 31.10.2025.

“This exemption has now been extended to imports with Bill of Lading having shipped on board date on or before 31.03.2026,” according to the ministry. The ministry had earlier exempted three Indian Standards applicable to stainless steel flat products — IS 6911, IS 5522 and IS 15997 — for imports with Bill of Lading having shipped on board date on or before 31.12.2025.

“This exemption has now been extended to imports with Bill of Lading having shipped on board date on or before 31.03.2026,” it added.

Last Updated:November 20, 2025, 15:48 IST

After the news broke out, people began reacting to it. While some criticised the move, others turned it into a meme-fest, with some even suggesting solutions to the problem.

IT giant Cognizant is reportedly set to introduce a new monitoring system to track employee activity on company-issued laptops and PCs. The company has begun training select managers on using tracking tools such as ProHance, which will monitor mouse and keyboard usage to gauge productivity. It will flag users based on inactivity levels.

Employees may be marked “idle” after 300 seconds of inactivity and tagged “away from system” if their device remains inactive for 15 minutes. Such tracking tools generally reveal login times, open applications and time spent on tasks, offering a minute-level breakdown of the workday. The company has told staff the data will be used to understand workflows and improve utilisation, not to evaluate individual performance at this stage.

What Was The POV Of Cognizant?

A Cognizant spokesperson said, as quoted by the Mint, “We occasionally use various productivity measurement tools, a common industry practice, in select business process management or intuitive operations and automation projects, at the request of customers. The purpose is to help better understand the client process steps and related time metrics to assess process design inefficiencies.”

“Also, the tools are used only after obtaining the consent of employees and it is made clear that these are not used for performance evaluation. Additionally, these tools have no impact on the composition of teams engaged in these projects and any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect,“ they further mentioned.

And The Memefest Aftermath…

After the news broke out, people began reacting to it. While some criticised the move, others turned it into a meme-fest, with some even suggesting solutions to the problem.

One user shared a short clip, which showed the mouse tied to a table fan with a swing, and wrote, “My Dear @Cognizant bandhua Majdoors, here is a great Indian jugad to keep your mouse busy.”

A video recreated the ‘Arey Baap Re’ viral meme showing how the employees are getting reminded that they forgot to ‘show themselves’ active while having lunch.

The Internet also took a sly dig at Narayan Murthy, whose work-life balance comments had created a stir back in 2023, showing that, after all this time, he has found a worthy competitor.

Creativity went into another level when the Internet users were reminded of the ‘office hack’ scene of Vivek Oberoi from Grand Masti where he uses gram seeds and calls pigeons who come to his keyboard and start eating them. If not seen, one might feel that someone is typing on a keyboard constantly.

Amid all this, it will be interesting to see how the Cognizant employees settle with this new regime of work they will be going through in the upcoming days.

Do you think this is a good decision, or should authorities at the workplace be a little more lenient?

Buzz Staff

A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on what’s creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.

A team of writers at News18.com bring you stories on what’s creating the buzz on the Internet while exploring science, cricket, tech, gender, Bollywood, and culture.

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Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday thwarted an attempt by an Afghan national to travel to Europe using a forged residence card, intercepting the passenger at Islamabad Airport and taking him into custody.

According to FIA officials, the traveller identified as Janat Gul Niazi was scheduled to fly to France on flight PK-749 when immigration staff detected that he was carrying a fake Greek residence card.

Niazi, who hails from Afghanistan, was immediately offloaded from the flight after the document was found to be counterfeit.

The suspect has since been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Islamabad, where further investigation and legal proceedings are underway.