INDIA OVERTAKES UK

 

NO PROPOSAL FROM TELENGANA FOR MEDICAL COLLEGE

 

HEALTH INSURANCE

 

NEW DELI

 

FIRST PAGE HINDU NEWS PAPER 15 TH AUGUST 1947

 

MINISTRY OF FINANCE ADVERTISEMENT

 

THE 15TH PRESIDENT

 

PRESIDENT ELECTION

 

DENIAL OF TOURIST VISAS

 

 

CAN TAP FOREIGN FUNDS

Govt restores FCRA licence as MoC rectifies violations

---

Bharti Jain & SubhroNiyogi TNN

09.01.2022

New Delhi/Kolkata: The Union home ministry has restored the registration of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (MoC) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, after the charity rectified the accounts-related violations that had been flagged while rejecting its application for renewal of the licence to receive funds from abroad. The Kolkata-based NGO also informed the ministry that it had terminated the services of a staffer accused of child trafficking in Jharkhand.

The MHA’s move reopens the option of foreign funding for MoC, besides enabling it to utilise the money already lying in its FCRA account. “The power of love and service has won. We thank God for touching the hearts of the authorities and showing them thetruth. We thank the authorities for seeing the truth. Our beloved saint, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, continues to guide and lead her congregation in serving the poorest of the poor,” Catholic Association of Bengal president Angelina Mantosh Jasnani said.

Sources told TOI that soon after its licence-renew-al plea was rejected by the MHA on December 25 on grounds of “adverse inputs”, MoC functionaries met ministry officials to clarify that they had rectified the FCRA violations for which legal notices had been served. These included violations for which the charity had paid penalties, an officer said. The violations mainly pertained to transfer of FCRA funds between various accounts, besides purchase of a vehicle.

Another adverse input against MoC was related to the child trafficking case registered in Jharkhand, naming an office-bearer of the charity as one of the accused. The organisation informed the MHA through an affidavit that the staffer had been sacked. It disowned two other accused in the case, saying they were not its office-bearers. Proceedings in the case are underway.

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

TNN | Jan 3, 2022, 09.41 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the government on Monday re-introduced restrictions across all Central government offices, including cutting physical attendance of employees below the level of under-secretary to 50% with the other 50% working from home.

Biometric attendance, which was resumed in November 2021 after nearly one-and-a-half years, has also been discontinued in all Central government offices with immediate effect and until further notice, as per an order issued by the department of personnel and training on Monday.

Officers of the level of under-secretary and above, however, must attend office on a regular basis.

The fresh DoPT order exempts persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees from attending office, though they shall be required to work from home.

Staggered timings – from 9 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 6.30 pm -- have been introduced once again in the Central government offices to avoid over-crowding. Government employees working from home must be available at all times on the telephone and email.

Officers and staff residing in areas marked as containment zones shall be exempted from coming to offices till such zones are de-notified.

Meetings, as per DoPT order, must be conducted via video-conferencing as far as possible and personal meetings and visitors, unless absolutely necessary, avoided.

Frequent sanitisation of workplace and wearing of masks, regular washing and sanitisation of hands and maintenance of social distancing by staff across all Central government offices has also been sought.

13.7L files cleared out, 8L sq ft space freed

GOVT OFFICES

13.7L files cleared out, 8L sq ft space freed

New Delhi:  02.11.2021

In a massive weeding exercise, over 13.73 lakh files were cleared out and almost 8 lakh square feet of space freed in central government offices over the past month, as part of a special campaign for disposal of pendency from the government of India.

Minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh, who on Monday reviewed the outcome of the special campaign launched on October 2, said that the government earned Rs 40 crore through disposal of scrap during this period. At the review meeting with top officials of department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) on outcome of the campaign here on Monday, Singh noted with satisfaction that more than 13.73 lakh files were weeded out of 15.23 lakh files identified for the purpose. Similarly, against the target of 3.28 lakh public grievances, 2.91 lakh were redressed within 30 days.

Out of 11,057 references from MPs, 8,282 were resolved. Moreover, 685 out of 834 identified rules and processes were simplified during the said period. Singh said the special campaign on disposal of pendency in government was conducted on the directions of the PM and the progress will be presented to him this week. He informed that during this campaign, files of temporary nature were identified and weeded out.

Biometric entry for central staff to resume from November 8

Biometric entry for central staff to resume from November 8

New Delhi:02.11.2021

With Covid cases on the decline, the Union government on Monday ordered resumption of biometric attendance for all its employees from November 8.

Biometric attendance, which involves pressing one’s fingers on a scanner, was discontinued across central government offices since last year, as a precautionary measure against Covid. Attendance was instead being maintained through physical registers.

An order issued by the department of personnel and training said the matter had been reviewed and “it has been decided to resume biometric attendance for all levels of employees”, with effect from next Monday. It added that the heads of departments would be responsible for ensuring sanitisers next to biometric machines. Also, physical distance of six feet must be maintained by all employees while marking attendance and if need be, additional biometric attendance machines may be installed to avoid overcrowding.

Asking all employees to wear masks at all times, including while waiting to mark their attendance, DoPT said designated personnel should be deployed near biometric stations to clean/wipe the touchpad/ scanner areas of biometric scanners frequently. TNN

Biometric attendance to resume from Nov 8

Biometric attendance to resume from Nov 8

New Delhi:02.11.2021

With Covid-19 cases on the decline, the central government on Monday ordered resumption of biometric attendance for all levels of its employees from November 8 onwards.

Biometric attendance, which involves pressing one’s finger on the scanner of a biometric machine, was discontinued across all central government offices since last year, as a precautionary measure against spread of Covid-19. Attendance was instead being maintained through physical registers. TNN

Govt defends ₹8 lakh income limit for EWS quota in SC

Govt defends ₹8 lakh income limit for EWS quota in SC

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:27.10.2021

Facing questions from the Supreme Court on the rationale for fixing income limit of ₹8 lakh for EWS (economically weaker sections) quota, which is similar to that of OBCs, the Centre said the determination cannot be a mathematical formula, and the matter be left to the government.

Stating that the income criteria was on the basis of the Maj Gen Sinho commission report which had in 2010 suggested that creamy layer benchmark for OBCs be adopted for EWS, the Centre said setting different income limits for regions on the basis of cost of living and per capita income was simply not feasible.

₹8 lakh criteria for EWS rational: Affidavit

Allaying the apprehension that ₹8 lakh limit is too high for people from general category — which does not suffer from social and educational backwardness that are grounds for OBC reservation — and would result in over-inclusiveness, the Centre said there are other checks to ensure only needy people avail of the EWS benefits in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions.

Responding to court’s query on why the same income limit be applied across the country despite a rural-urban divide and different per capita income in different states, the government indicated that a certain subjectivity might be inevitable and said, “The determination has to be made on broad probabilities and it is impossible to achieve perfection/mathematical precision”.

“It is submitted that the principle of fixation of ₹8 lakh as a criteria for determination of EWS as also for determination of creamy lawyer in the OBC category is rational and in keeping with Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The exercise conducted to determine the creamy layer for the purpose of OBC reservation would be equally applicable for determination of EWS category since the fundamental premise is that if a person/his family have a substantial economic standing, he/she may not require the benefits of reservation at the cost of others....In any event, the office memorandum provides further exclusionary criteria,” the affidavit said.

“To provide further check as to ensure that that only the needy get the benefit of the reservation , the office memorandum provides further exclusions which are not applicable for determination of creamy lawyer for OBCs,” the affidavit said and mentioned that a person would not be entitled to EWS quota if along with her family she owns 5 acres of agriculture land or a residential flat of 1,000 sq ft or a residential plot of 100 sq yard or 200 sq yard in notified municipalities.

Full report on www.toi.in

PM CARES isn’t GoI fund, PMO tells HC

PM CARES isn’t GoI fund, PMO tells HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:24.09.2021

The PM CARES Fund is not a government of India fund and the amount collected by it does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India, the Centre has informed the Delhi HC. An affidavit filed by an undersecretary at the PMO attached to the PM Cares Trust on an honorary basis says the trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by a chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The affidavit was filed in response to a plea seeking direction to declare the PM CARES Fund a “State”’ under the Constitution to ensure transparency in its functioning.

‘Trust functions on principles of transparency’

“To ensure transparency, the audited report is put on the official website of the trust along with the details of utilisation of funds received by the trust,” says the affidavit filed by Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, undersecretary at the PMO.

Irrespective of whether the trust is a “State” or other authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution, or whether it is a “public authority” within the meaning of provisions of the Right to Information Act (RTI), it is not permissible to disclose third-party information, the affidavit states.

It added that all donations received by the trust are received via online payments, cheques or demand drafts, and the amount received is audited. The audited report and the expenditure of the trust fund is displayed on the website, it said.

“The trust functions on the principles of transparency and public good in larger public interest, like any other charitable trust and, therefore, cannot have any objection in uploading all its resolutions on its website to ensure transparency,” it said.

The court was hearing a PIL that claimed the PM CARES Fund is a “State”’ as it was formed by the Prime Minister on March 27, 2020 to extend assistance to the citizens of India in the wake of a public health emergency — the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

To ensure transparency and accountability, the plea had sought a direction for periodic auditing of the PM CARES website and the disclosure of details of donations received by it.

The only man whose photo hangs inside the Lok Sabha

PEOPLE WHO SHAPED PARLIAMENT

The only man whose photo hangs inside the Lok Sabha

Chakshu Roy

15.08.2021

In August of 1925, there was excitement in Simla. Members of the legislative assembly were in town to participate in the session of the national legislature. The session’s highlight was the election for the presiding officer of the assembly. The Government of India Act of 1919 had set up the 141-member assembly and appointed its first presiding officer (the President which is the equivalent of the modernday Speaker) for a four-year term. For the first time, there was going to be an election for the position of President.

The candidate opposing the government nominee was Vithalbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, the elder brother of Vallabhbhai Patel. He was a lawyer who had frustrated the government with his interventions in provincial and national legislatures. In a closely contested election, Vithalbhai won with a margin of two votes a month before his 52nd birthday. Over the next five years, he would lay the foundation on which legislatures in India would function and flourish after independence.

When he assumed office, President Patel continued wearing his usual dress of khadi and dhoti. His biographer recounts that he went ahead with the parliamentary tradition of wearing a wig and a robe but made of khadi. His robe was fashioned out of a black khadi silk saree presented by Sarojini Naidu. The first task before Vithalbhai was to secure respect for the office of the presiding officer.

The prevailing tradition was that when the Viceroy came to deliver his annual address to the legislature, the presiding officer vacated the chair and sat with the assembly members. The implication being that even in the legislature, the Viceroy was supreme. Vithalbhai put an end to this practice, and at the following annual address, he conducted the Viceroy to a dais and kept his chair.

He also ensured that assembly members had an adequate opportunity to hold the government to account. In his five-year tenure, he allowed discussion of 20-plus adjournment motions. He would also brook no disrespect of the legislature. When the Commander in Chief was absent from the House during a debate on his speech, Vithalbhai observed that it was highly discourteous to the House, prompting the commander to explain his absence to Vithalbhai.

In the President’s chair, Vithalbhai was unbiased and upheld parliamentary conventions. His ruling on the government’s repressive Public Safety bill (which gave the government power to detain suspects without trial) is one such example. When the first bill came up in the assembly, there was an equality of votes. President Patel had the casting vote, and he exercised it to defeat the bill. He followed the parliamentary tradition that the presiding officer vote to favour the status quo.

Smarting from the defeat, the government again brought the bill to the assembly. This time a member objected that the government had filed cases against 31 individuals and discussing cases pending before the court was not permissible under the rules. Vithalbhai ruled that discussion on the bill would violate the sub judice rule, and he could not allow such a violation. The venue for these discussions was the current Lok Sabha chamber.

Bhagat Singh expressed public resentment about this bill by throwing two bombs from the visitor’s gallery into the assembly chamber. After this incident, without consulting President Patel, the government made security arrangements in the assembly complex. Vithalbhai believed that whatever happened in the precincts of the assembly should be done with the approval of the presiding officer.

The deadlock and subsequent conversations on this issue between President Patel and the Viceroy led to the Watch and Ward service, which transformed into the Parliament Security Service. Vithalbhai was also instrumental in setting up the independent parliamentary secretariat. He believed that an independent and impartial administration responsible to the presiding officer was a requirement for the functioning of the legislature.

When Vithalbhai became the president of the central assembly, he declared, “From this moment I cease to be a party man. I belong to no party. I belong to all parties.” His is the only portrait that adorns the Lok Sabha chamber facing the chair of the Speaker. His presence should constantly remind our parliamentarians about their responsibility to the constitution and people.

Roy is head of outreach PRS Legislative Research

From this moment on, I belong to no party. I belong to all parties

— VITHALBHAI PATEL

After being elected first president of the central legislative assembly

Oppn may use ‘OBC bill’ to seek 50% quota cap removal

Oppn may use ‘OBC bill’ to seek 50% quota cap removal

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 09.08.2021 

The opposition may use the 127th constitutional amendment bill in Parliament, intended to restore power of states to maintain “state list” of OBCs, to demand that the government make a provision to remove the 50% cap on reservations.

While the removal of 50% cap on quota is an old demand of OBC outfits, there is an indication that even Congress may join the bandwagon as part of the 127 th amendment bill. The convergence of views emerged as part of a discussion held between Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Congress and NCP leaders on Sunday night. The bill seeks to undo the May 5 Supreme Court judgement, which was delivered in the Maratha quota issue where the quota provision was rejected because of the 50% cap that it breached.

The Modi government is set to introduce the 127th amendment bill in Lok Sabha on Monday and it will come up for discussion in the two Houses during the week.

As the opposition is demanding that a discussion on Pegasus be held before any other agenda, a meeting of floor leaders of opposition parties called by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will take a final call on whether to join the debate on OBC bill and make a break in the blockade of Parliament. There is a view in the opposition that they can join the debate as it’s their issue, while pushing for their agenda of 50%, thereby holding the blockade temporarily.

The demand for 50% cap waiver is an issue the BJP government will have to negotiate. The discussion between Maharashtra parties and Congress showed “that there was little benefit in restoring the power of states to identify state list of OBCs if the cap on reservation stayed”. It was said that 27 states have pending issues of reservation hampered by the 50% ceiling.

While the opposition parties, which comprises many regional outfits, are for the bill, it is also seen as a government ploy to break the blockade over Pegasus.

While the removal of the 50% cap on quota is an old demand of OBC outfits, there is an indication that even Congress may join the bandwagon

PM to interact with CMs on ramping up of vaccination drive

PM to interact with CMs on ramping up of vaccination drive

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:16.03.2021 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers on the Covid-19 situation and the ongoing vaccination drive on Wednesday as the Centre plans to ramp up the inoculation exercise amid a rise in infection in some states, official sources said.

PM will hold the meeting with CMs through a video conference to discuss the issues, an exercise which he has been holding regularly since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The meeting also assumes significance in the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases in many states.

Modi’s last interaction with chief ministers was in January before the vaccination roll-out.

He had announced that the Centre will bear the expenses of vaccinating nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first round and suggested that public representatives, a reference to politicians, should not be part of this initial exercise.

The meeting with CMs which will be held through a video conference assumes significance in the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases in many states

Govt to spend ₹37,000cr, give sops to spur festive demand

Govt to spend ₹37,000cr, give sops to spur festive demand

Cash-For-LTC & ₹10K Advance For Central Staffers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:13.10.2020

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced additional allocation of Rs 37,000 crore towards capital expenditure, and put money into the pockets of government employees ahead of the festival season, hoping to trigger demand of Rs 1 lakh crore in her latest bid to revive economic activity.

The much-awaited “stimulus”, however, did not have measures to address the lack of demand in sectors such as hospitality and tourism.

PM Modi consulted his top economic advisers in July on boosting spending on core sector projects in a bid to spur demand for cement, steel and other inputs, which culminated in this announcements.

Centre hopes states, pvt cos too will offer LTA scheme

The additional capex and leave travel concession and festival loan benefits for central government employees come with riders, and the impact will depend on how many employees opt for this scheme. For instance, the Rs 25,000 crore allocation for additional capex by Marchend will be made for defence infrastructure, roads, water supply and urban development, provided the equipment is manufactured locally.

There was another Rs 12,000 crore support to the states, which is to be provided in the form of interest-free loans for 50 years. But the rider is that the money has to be spent by March and there is a Rs 2,000 crore allocation for states which meet three of the reform criteria announced earlier such as power sector reforms or one-nation one ration card related initiatives.

Similarly, those availing of the LTC benefit need to spend three times their entitlement in purchasing cars, fridge, mixers or vacuum cleaners. The measures marked the government’s fresh efforts to revive sentiment and give some push to the economy which has been battered by the Covid-19 induced lockdown and growth has plunged nearly 24% in the June quarter and full year GDP contraction is estmated at 9.5% in the current fiscal year.

Along with the conditions, Sitharaman has placed a lot of reliance on state governments and the private sector taking a cue from the Centre and come up with similar schemes.

Full report on www.toi.in

•Retail inflation at 8-mth high, IIP contracts, P 13

•Food delivery back to near pre-Covid levels, P 13

•Demand for CAs up 37%, pay also rises, P 13