EC censures Salman Khurshid’s Election promises of 9% quota

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2/11/2012 | 0 comments

Community certificate form in Tamil

It has been found that  the community certificate application form that are available in tamilnadu revenue department website (http://www.tn.gov.in/appforms/cert-community.pdf ) is an out date one so Kindly click the below  link to download the right community certificate application form, This form is in Tamil and applicable fro Tamilnadu only.

Click to download the right community certificate application form in Tamil

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2/11/2012 | 0 comments

At the doorsteps of the PM

The country has witnessed a lot of large scale scams in the recent years especially the ones during the UPA government. The UPA has been defending itself with PM as the shield. The UPA government has made some very wrong moves when it comes to prevention or curbing of legal protest by ordinary citizens against the corruption. The UPA  led government  has been projecting Prime Minister as the man of impeccable integrity.  may be he is a honest person but  is he a responsible Prime minister and doesn't he hold any moral responsibility for the scam that took place under his tenure as the prime minister or head of the government.

 

Appointment of Chief Vigilance commissioner:

The prime minister and the home minister went ahead to appoint Mr.P.J.Thomas as the Chief Vigilance commissioner of central vigilance Commission despite opposition from the leader of opposition. The matter was then taken to court and the court held that the appointment as null and void since there was a corruption case pending against Mr.P.J.Thomas. The Government first claim that there was no information provide to prime minister office and home ministry regarding the pending corruption case and claimed innocent but later in the parliament PM accept the responsibility for appointment.

 

2G Scam:

The 2G scam is a well know scam in the country, did the Prime minister act responsibly enough to prevent the loss of revenue to the government though he acted prudently during the issue of  3G licensing. The PM had several time defended Mr.Raja the then telecom minister. PM also act imprudently by not making a decision on sanction for the crime prosecution of Mr.A.Raja the then minister of his cabinet. PM could have denied sanction but his failure to take decision is what makes it be foul play. The PM has sought legal opinion and upon obtaining legal opinion he should have made a decision and should have communicated it to the petitioner/applicant.The whole story in nut shell is he failed to prevent the scam, later defended the licensing decision and Mr.Raja, failed decide on sanction for prosecution application  and no action was taken against the telecom company which benefitted from 2G licensing scam-

 

Devas – Antrix S-Band spectrum Contract:

Antrix , the marketing wing of ISRO gave way a rare spectrum at throw away price for a company called devas for a period of 20 year. What transpired this contract and who were all behind the deal is still under probe.  It’s to be noted that the Antrix is under the control of the PMO office  and murky deal right under the Prime ministers office  is yet an another failure of Prime minister.

 

Lack of leadership:

The Prime minster in case of the Lokpal protest by Shri.Anna hazare and anticorruption protest by Shri. Baba ram dev has show lack leadership. he has allowed other legally qualified ministers of his cabinet to handle such sensitive issue. Those ministers tried to tackle the issue insensitively by adopting legal solution to a political problem there by the country was brought to stand still for few days. The prime minister then promised to introduce and pass the bill during the winter session (2012) but failed to pass the bill. He clearly lacked the leadership in this particular case of Lokpal and anticorruption protest.

 

All the above mentioned scams and issue straight away lead to the doorsteps of the PM’s office. How can a prudent man after all these scams and incidents still believe that he is a responsible prime minister though Dr.Manmohan singh has very good personal record as an honest, hard working, straight forward and simple person but as prime minister of the country has he delivered, i leave it to you to decide ….

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2/06/2012 | 0 comments

AIADMK heading for a disastrous 2014 Elections

AIADMK  had won the 2011 state election by a huge and an unexpected margin. Thereafter coming to power with lot of promises and hopes, has so far let down the people of Tamilnadu. Some of  the  acts  and behaviours which is unpleasing and will certainly reduce the chance of winning the 2014 Parliament elections.  below are the list of unpleasing acts and behaviour,

Important issues that will affect the electoral prospects of AIADMK:

1. Electricity cuts : The electoral promise of providing uninterrupted electricity supply has so far not been met. In fact in recent past the electricity cuts as long as 6 to 7 hrs a day.
2. Hike in Bus fare and milk cost: This has hit very hard on the lower income and middle income class very badly. This single factor could led to very disastrous 2014 election results for AIADMK.
3. Lacks a clear stand on Kudamkulam nuclear power plant: The state government is not clear with its stand on the power plant. it neither opposes or

Important issues which has brought down the image of AIADMK:

1. Samacheer Kalvi: To start with The AIADMK’s stand on samacheer kalvi and legal battle will caused delay  in re-opening of the schools, especially class 10. The students and parents had lot of odd / unpleasant times due this.
2. Land crabbing cases – All most all ex-ministers of DMK has been arrested under the land grabbing charges. This is certainly an act of vengeance which certainly casts a bad shadow on the party.
3. Suspension of leader of opposition: Ugly spat with the leader of opposition and the former ally of AIADMK has certainly brought down the image and certainly makes AIADMK an unreliable ally. To make matters worst the leader of opposition was suspended for 10 days in a very hasty manner probably to the power of the AIADMK

One may still argue that 2014 election are quite a long time from now to predict the possible out comes, yes it’s quite little long from now but the recent activities show us that it’s quite very imminent that a marginal or huge defeat is waiting on AIADMK’S way unless there is a drastic change in it’s approach.

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2/06/2012 | 0 comments

Can Chidambaram escape the 2G trial

Today the Supreme court has pronounced a very important judgement in the 2G spectrum allocation case. It’s has given some sort for breathing time for Mr.Chidambaram. The supreme court in it’s order has cancelled 121 licenses issued to telecom companies under the UPA-1 regime. This is a big blow to the UPA and to Congress and DMK in particular. Now the question is will UPA yet again face another embarrassment, defending Mr.Raja back fired at them and now defending Mr.Chidambaram  may back fire at the UPA government. The supreme court has decided not decide on inclusion of Mr.Chidambaram in the 2G trial and left it to the CBI court to decide upon the matter. February 4th is the day on which CBI trial court is expected to deliver it’s judgement on Mr.Chidambaram inclusion in the 2G trial.

What are the possible scenario:

Scenario – I : Inclusion on Mr. P.Chidambaram: 

In this case the Mr.Chidambaram will be left with very few choice. He will for sure will appeal against the decision but there will be lot more chances of the appeal being dismissed rather than being allowed in the high court or in the supreme court.

Scenario – 2 : Non- Inclusion on Mr. P.Chidambaram: (Most likely scenario)

Well in this case there will be an appeal as against non inclusion of Mr.P.Chidambaram and the appeal will be most probably be allowed. The chances of succeeding the appeal is predicated based on today’s judgement on 2G case by supreme court. This scenario is the mostly likely because this would allow time to Mr.Chidambaram and lower court may try to put the ball in the superior courts to decide on this critical matter. It’s seems form today’s judgement that Mr.P.Chidambaram is most likely to face trial and likely to lose the Home Ministry.

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2/02/2012 | 0 comments

GoM recommendations on corruption

The Government has accepted the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Corruption in its First Report, aimed at fast-tracking of cases against public servants accused of corruption. The report was accepted on September 6, 2011.

The Government had, on 6th January. 2011. constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to consider measures that can be taken by the Government to tackle corruption, under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. The terms of reference of the GoM were as under:-

(i) To consider all measures, including legislative and administrative, to tackle corruption and improve transparency;

(ii) In particular, the GoM may consider and advise on the following:-

(a) State funding of elections:

(b) Fast tracking of all cases of public servants accused of corruption:

(c) Ensuring full transparency in public procurement and contracts. including enunciation of public procurement standards and a public procurement policy:

(d) Relinquishing discretionary powers enjoyed by Ministers at the Centre:

(e) Introduction of an open and competitive system of exploiting natural resources:

(f) Amendment to Article 311 of the Constitution to provide for summary proceedings in cases of grave misdemeanor or blatant corruption by public servants: and

(g) Consideration of relevance/need for section 6(A) of the Delhi Special Establishment Act, 1946.

The GOM has so far held five meetings on 21.1.2011, 14.2.2011, 16.3.2011, 16.06.201 1 and 06.09.2011. Based on the deliberations in its first three meetings, the Group of Ministers had submitted its First Report to the Government in April. 201 1. After due consideration by DoPT, Cabinet Secretariat and PMO, the Government has, on Tuesday, accepted the recommendations made by the GoM in its First Report with minor changes.

These decisions, which cover items (ii)(b), (ii)(f) and (ii)(g) of the term of reference (ToR) of the GOM, are as follows:-

(a) Dispensing with the Second Stage Advice of the Central Vigilance Commission. (However, in those cases where consultation with UPSC is not required under the extant rules, the second stage consultation with CVC should continue.)

(b) Departments/ Ministries should primarily use serving officers as Inquiry Officers (IDs) & Presenting Officers (POs) and in important cases, they may request CVC to appoint their Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (GDIs) as lOs. CVC to maintain a panel of lOs/POs from amongst retired Government officers after due process of screening and empanelment. These officers could be engaged on advice of the CVC.

(c) In all cases where the Investigating Agency has requested sanction for prosecution, it will be mandatory for the competent authority to take a decision within a period of 3 months from receipt of request, and pass a Speaking Order, giving reasons for the decision. In the event of refusal of sanction to prosecute, the competent authority will have to submit its order including reasons for refusal, to the next higher authority for information within 7 days. Wherever the Minister-in-charge of the Department is the competent authority and he decides to deny the permission, it would be incumbent on the Minister to submit, within 7 days of passing such order denying the permission, to the Prime Minister for information. Further, it will be the responsibility of the Secretary of each Department/Ministry to monitor all cases where a request has been made for permission to prosecute. Secretaries should submit a certificate every month to the Cabinet Secretary to the effect that no case is pending for more than 3 months and, in case any such request is pending, the reasons for such pendency and the level where it is pending may also be explained.

(d) Expediting the setting up of Special CBI Courts already sanctioned by Central Government, by actively pursuing the matter with the State Governments;

(e) Setting up of a Committee headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court and having as its Members, a retired CVC, retired Director of CBI and another person of impeccable reputation who could be drawn from the Civil Society, to look into old CBI cases which are pending for more than 10 years, particularly those under the Prevention of Corruption Act and suggest ways for their speedy disposal, including withdrawal, if need be.

(f) Strengthening of vigilance administration of Central Ministries/Departments and, in particular, the strengthening of vigilance wing of the Department of Personnel and Training, with requisite manpower to ensure effective monitoring of vigilance matters.

(g)Continuation of minor penalty proceedings against public servants even after retirement with provision for a ceiling of 10% cut in pension for a period not exceeding five years. Such cut in pension in minor penalty proceedings would, however, be non-mandatory.

(h)Change in the present penalty of 'compulsory retirement' (with full pension) to 'compulsory retirement with a cut in pension upto 20%".

Necessary follow up action for implementing these decisions, by way of amendment of rules, etc., is expected to be taken shortly.

As regards relinquishment of discretionary powers enjoyed by the Ministers at the Centre, the GoM had reviewed the information furnished by various Ministries/Departments and had observed that the exercise of such discretionary powers, such as nomination of members/experts to various boards, etc, were generally found to be governed by guidelines in most of the Ministries/Departments and has recommended that wherever such guidelines have not been framed, clear cut guidelines for exercise of these discretionary powers be framed by the concerned Ministry/Department and put in the public domain.

In another significant development, the GoM, in its meeting held on Tuesday, 06-09-2011, considered the recommendations made by a Committee of Secretaries on the Report submitted by an Expert Committee on "Public Procurement" and accepted the recommendations of the COS to come out with an all encompassing "Public Procurement Bill" in the Parliament by the end of the current year, as promised by the Hon'ble Prime Minister from the ramparts of Red Fort on 15^th August, 2011.

The GoM further recommended that the Law may contain the broad principles governing public procurements, ensuring transparency and accountability but at same time providing for due independence and flexibility for the procuring agencies. The GoM further suggested that the rule making exercise may be undertaken in parallel with the drafting of the proposed legislation covering different aspects of procurement of goods, services, pharma drugs and works. The GoM also suggested that the exercise of framing of rules and standardisation of documents for PPP projects may also be undertaken concurrently, so that the system is in readiness and is prepared for implementation of the new legislation without any loss of time.

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RS/-

(Release ID :75965)

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9/14/2011 | 0 comments

Prime minister’s Speech on Corruption

“PRIME MINISTER : Hon. Speaker Madam, I am very happy that at long last, the House had a debate on the issue of corruption. I thank all the Members who participated in this debate.
Madam, that corruption is a major national issue is something a matter about which there is unanimity in the country. That we should collectively work to find credible approaches, credible solutions to deal with this scourge is also a matter, which unites all sections of thinking public opinion in our country.
Madam, I share that perception; and on behalf of our Government, I would like to assure this august House that in the two and A half years of period that is left to us, we will do everything in our power to clean the system of this country.
Madam, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi is not here. Yesterday, he made a powerful speech and he turned into a personal attack on me as if I am the fountain head of corruption and that I have knowingly connived at corruptions of some of my colleagues.… (Interruptions)
MADAM SPEAKER: Nothing else will go on record.
PRIME MINISTER : Madam, I consider it beneath my dignity to enter into an argument on issues which are before the PAC, issues which are in our courts. In my seven years as Prime Minister even when the Opposition Members have accused me of many crimes, I have never used harsh language in describing the conduct of any Member of this House.
Madam, I would like to assert before this House that I have a public life in the service of this country for nearly 41 years. In these 41 years of my public life, 20 years in Parliament I have tried to serve this country to the best of my ability.
I, as Finance Minister, inherited an economy with bankrupt treasury, with foreign exchange reserves totally exhausted, with credit worthiness of our country seriously in doubt. We turned around that economy. We have ensured that this economy, the bankrupt economy that we inherited, has become one of the fastest growing economies of the world.
Madam, whatever the Members of the Opposition may say, the fact is that India is respected all over the world. I think that is because of the inherent strength of our economy, of our polity, of our democratic system but at the margin, in these seven years or as earlier as Finance Minister, I did make a small contribution in my own way to enhance the prestige of this country, and therefore, while charges are leveled against me, it hurts but I am not going to convert this forum into a forum for accusation one way or the other. All I can say is that if any wrongdoing has been done by me, I invite the Leader of the Opposition to look at my property which I may have accumulated in the last 41 years, my members of my family … (Interruptions)
I would accept the verdict of the Leader of the Opposition if they find that I have used public office to amass wealth for myself or for any member of my family.
Madam, in the course of seven years as Prime Minister, I may have made mistakes. Who is above making mistakes? To err is human but to accuse me of evil intentions, of conniving at corruption is a charge I firmly repudiate.
Madam, this is not an occasion to trade allegations to and fro and I am not going to deal with this matter as the matter is before the court or before the various Committees of Parliament and they will come with their own conclusions. I would, however, like to say that corruption is a multifaceted problem. Therefore, we, as a nation, have to find practical, pragmatic means but effective means to tackle it, and this is not merely the responsibility of the Central Government. The State Governments are responsible for over 50 per cent of the total national spending and the conduct of the State Governments, which is the one way people come in contact with Government, is essentially the responsibility of the States. There is anger in the country. There is anger about the misuse of public offices.
Therefore, both at the Centre and the States, it is our obligation to clean up the system of governance to reforming and to ensure that we leave behind for our children and grand children a system of public administration which is capable of meeting the challenge of the 21st Century. I commit our Government to doing precisely that. In my address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, I listed a number of areas where in the next couple of months I would like our Government to take initiative and I stand committed to whatever I promised from the ramparts of the Red fort.
Madam, corruption sources are numerous. Until the early 90s, the biggest single source of corruption was the licensing system, the industrial licensing system, the import controls and the foreign exchange controls. The liberalisation that we brought about has ended that part of this corruption story.
Another major part of corruption was the rates of taxation which were so exorbitant that people were tempted to enter into corrupt practices to reduce their tax liabilities. We have, I venture to suggest, ourselves and the successor Governments worked hard to simplify to streamline the taxation system and on balance there is less scope for corruption as far as taxation matters are concerned. Even though I recognise that a residual element is still there and we have to work together through various mechanisms, including goods and services tax which is now in public domain and, which is, I believe, an obligation which our country must fulfil if it wants to move forward. But, there are many other areas where corruption still persists. We have to tackle this problem from various angles.
There are Central Government programmes administered by the State Governments but there are leakages. Therefore, we must find ways and means of reforming the system of public administration so that these leakages can be plucked. Malfunctioning of public distribution has been widely commented upon. We must, therefore, devise new methodologies to ensure that Public Distribution System will be free of malpractices. This is an obligation which we can discharge only with full collaboration with the State Governments and discharge we must. But I would like this House to endorse the reform of the Public Distribution System, where the ordinary people come in contact with Government machinery or meeting the basic needs of existence of livelihood, is cleaned up.
Madam, yet another source is, where Government contracts are given in a manner which creates suspicion that something is going wrong. Therefore, we need a Public Procurement Act, as some other countries have, to streamline our contracting mechanisms in a manner in which there will be less scope for corruption in future.
Madam, in certain areas, greater competition itself will reduce the scope for corruption. But, we still know that there are areas of infrastructure where competition can at best be only limited. There is scope for regulation. We have, in the last couple of years, put in place regulatory mechanisms, but the functioning of these regulatory mechanisms, especially with regard to the management of the infrastructure, is something which requires attention. That is yet another area where we must find ways and means to streamline the regulatory system, so that there is less scope for corruption.
I could go on. But I do not want to repeat what I said from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The House has my assurance that we will work in full public glare to fulfil what we have promised. I have set up a group under Shri Pranab Mukherjee to look at the scope for reducing the amount of discretion that ministers have at the Centre. This group has made some important suggestions. They will be considered by the Cabinet and we will put in place a mechanism to reduce the scope for misuse of discretionary power or to eliminate discretionary power wherever it can be done without detriment to public interest or achievement of public good.
Madam, it is in the context of corruption that the last few weeks have seen momentous developments. Shri Anna Hazare has gone on fast. His plea is that we should adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill that has been drafted by them. The background of this whole exercise is well known to this august House. We have sittings together with the five representatives of Shri Anna Hazare, including himself, who met with our five representatives and a large measure of agreement was reached with regard to the shape of the Lokpal Bill that we should have. On certain matters there was disagreement and that disagreement could not be resolved and therefore we have referred that matter for consideration of the All Parties Committee and the said consensus was that the Government should come with its own version of the Bill and various Parties would then reflect on what to do with that Bill. We discharged that obligation. We submitted that Bill to Parliament. It has now been referred to the Standing Committee.
This Standing Committee can consider all options and we can find ways and means of ensuring that the Bill that has been prepared by Shri Anna Hazare is given due consideration by this Committee. Also, along with this, there are other ideas. There is Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan’s group which produced a Bill; there are ideas which have been mentioned in a paper by Shrimati Aruna Roy. All these matters can be discussed, debated and a consensus can be built up in the Standing Committee. We are open to all suggestions. We will work with all sections of this House to have a Lokpal, who is strong, who is effective and about which there is a national consensus.
We have produced a Bill which reflects the thinking of our Government. But we are open to persuasion and we have an open mind and when we discuss this Bill, whether in Parliament or in the Standing Committee, we will work with a single minded devotion to ensure that we leave behind for posterity a Lokpal Bill which does credit to our concerns for meeting the challenge of corruption.
Madam, yesterday there was a very good meeting of all political parties. All political parties agreed that we should request Shri Anna Hazare to give up his fast and that we should find ways and means to ensure that ideas reflected in the Jan Lokpal Bill are given adequate consideration in parliamentary processes and that we should come forward with a strong, effective Bill which has the broad support of the country as a whole. I commit our Government to working with all sections of the House to realise this dream. Therefore, I urge all Members of the House to join me in making an appeal to Shri Anna Hazare that he has made his point. It has been registered with us. I respect his idealism. I respect him as an individual. He has become the embodiment of our people’s disgust and concern about tackling corruption. I applaud him, I salute him. His life is much too precious and therefore, I would urge Shri Anna Hazare to end his fast.
We will find effective ways and means of discussing the Jan Lokpal Bill along with the Government version of the Bill along with Shrimati Aruna Roy’s Bill, along with the ideas in the paper that Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has submitted. All ideas should be discussed, debated so that we have a Bill which is the best possible Bill, which will help us to deal with the problem of corruption.
Madam, it has been mentioned to me that Shri Anna Hazare and his colleagues are very keen that their Bill should be discussed in the Parliament. I have not thought over this matter in great depth, but a thought comes to me that perhaps we could have a debate in this House on all the Bills that are in the public domain and have a discussion what are the weak points of various Bills and what are the strong points of various Bills and at the end of that debate, send the whole record for consideration of the Standing Committee of the Parliament. I have a feeling that this will meet the point that Shri Anna Hazare and his colleagues have been making that Parliament must have a chance to give its views on their Bill before sending it to the Standing Committee and therefore, I submit to this august House that this is one via media which will respect the parliamentary supremacy and, at the same time, enable Parliament to take on board ideas contained in the Lokpal Bill drafted by Shri Anna Hazare and his colleagues.
Madam, I conclude by appealing to all sections of the House to join in appeal that I have made to Shri Anna Hazare that his life is much too precious.
We would like him to live a long life and a happy life in the service of our people.
He has registered his point. Therefore, we respectfully request him to end his fast. I think that if we do it, then this would be a befitting finale to this very constructive debate on corruption and in tackling it that has taken place in this House since yesterday.”

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8/25/2011 | 0 comments

Mobile Towers Transmission Level for India

The Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Shri Milind Deora today informed Lok Sabha in written reply to a question that World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that ‘National authorities should adopt international standards to protect their citizens against adverse levels of RF transmission from mobile towers. WHO has referred to the International Exposure Guidelines developed by International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has adopted the reference levels of Electromagnetic radiation for Mobile towers, prescribed by ICNIRP, and incorporated the requirement in Access Service Licenses vide amendment dated 4 November 2008, as given below:

Frequency Range	E-Field Streng( Volt/Meter (V/m))	H-Field Strength(Amp/Meter (A/m))	Power Density Watt/Sq.Meter (W/Sq.m))
400MHz to 2000MHz	1.375f ½	0.0037f ½	f/200
2GHz to 300GHz	61	0.16	10

(f is the frequency of operation in MHz)

In India, the cellular Global Services for Mobile Communication (GSM) services are being operated in 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency band. For 900 MHz band, Permissible Power Density is 4.6 W/Sqm, whereas for 1800 MHz band, Permissible Power Density is 9.2 W/Sqm.

Further, vide letter dated 8th April 2010, DoT has directed all Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS)/Unified Access Service (UAS) licensees for compliance of the reference limits/ levels prescribed by ICNIRP by way of self certification of their Base Transmitting Station (BTS) for meeting the Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) radiations norms.

Most of the countries are following the emission levels of mobile towers prescribed by ICNIRP. However, certain countries in the world have specified their own radiation level keeping in view the environmental and physiological factors. Some of them are given below:

Name of the Country	Exposure limits for RF fields (1800 MHz band)
USA, Canada and Japan	12 W/m2
ICNIRP and EU recommendation 1998 Adopted in India	9.2 W/m2
Australia	9 W/m2
Belgium	2.4 W/m2
Italy, Israel	1.0 W/m2
Auckland, New Zealand	0.5 W/m2
Luxembourg	0.45 W/m2
China	0.4 W/m2
Russia (since 1970), Bulgaria	0.2 W/m2
Poland, Paris, Hungary	0.1 W/m2

All the mobile operators in India are following the ICNIRP norms and submitting the self certification for each tower for compliance of radiation norms. All new BTS sites start radiating only after self certificate has been submitted to relevant Telecom Enforcement, Resource & Monitoring (TERM) Cells of DoT.

The TERM Cell tests up to 10% of new BTS sites randomly at its discretion. Additionally, the BTS sites against which there are public complaints, are also being tested by TERM Cell. If a site fails to meet the Electro Magnetic Radiation criterion, there is a provision of levy of a penalty of Rs. 5 lakh per BTS. Service providers must meet the criterion within one month of the report of TERM cell in such cases, after which the site is to be shut down. The self-certifications have been submitted by the telecom service providers for more than 6,50,400 BTSs certifying that the radiation levels are within the prescribed norms. TERM Cells have already started the testing of BTS radiation and so far more than 4100 BTSs have been checked and found to be radiating within the prescribed levels.

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SP/AT

(Release ID :74996)

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8/24/2011 | 0 comments

New guidelines for coal block allocation

Even after a huge scam in allocation of 2G spectrum, government has not learned any lessons and still have not formulated any guidelines on coal block allocation. here is the answer in parliament to the question on allocation on coal blocks,

 

“ With a view to bring in more transparency in the allocation of coal blocks, a system of allocation of coal blocks for specified end uses through auction by competitive bidding has been introduced by way of amendment of the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957. New guidelines for allocation of coal blocks have not been formulated by the Government so far. “

This information was given by the Minister of Coal, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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NCJ/kd
(Release ID :74927)

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8/24/2011 | 0 comments

Committee report on expediting disciplinary proceedings

The Government is considering a set of proposals to cut the time taken to penalise delinquent Government officials including sacking of officials found to be involved in corruption.

The Government had appointed a three member Committee of Experts to examine and suggest measures to expedite the process involved in Disciplinary/Vigilance Proceedings. The Committee has made a number of recommendations aimed at reducing time taken in conducting and concluding disciplinary proceedings against government servants. In its Report, the Committee has recommended :

· Creation of panels of Inquiry Officers from amongst both serving and retired government servants and enhancement of remuneration for conducting inquiries;

· Prescribing a time limit of two months for completion of minor penalty disciplinary inquiries and 12 months for major penalty disciplinary inquiries;

· Dispensing with second stage consultation with CVC;

· Dispensing with consultation with UPSC in minor penalty disciplinary cases;

· Setting up of Vigilance Commissions with statutory status in the States;

· Introduction of Plea-Bargaining in major penalty disciplinary inquiries;

· Major penalty of compulsory retirement to include cut in pension/gratuity;

· Amendment of Article 311 of the Constitution to provide for dismissal from service on charges of corrupt practices after beginning of trial in a competent court;

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8/24/2011 | 0 comments

List of black listed NGO’s

The Women & Child Development Ministry has blacklisted certain NGOs for their unwarranted activities.  The Minister of Women & Child Development Smt. Krishna Tirath recently stated in Lok Sabha that once blacklisted, an NGO is not eligible for any financial assistance from the Ministry and the Ministry does not maintain details of welfare activities undertaken by such NGOs.

 

            The list of blacklisted NGOs is as follows:-

 

LIST OF NGO`S BLACK LISTED BY  MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Name of Implementing Agency / Address	Scheme	Remarks
D.N. Memorial Sewa Samiti, 76/338, Kuli Bazaar, Kanpur (UP)	Min. of WCD Ujjawala	Order Attached
Assocation of Tribals Welfare Development Dimapur, Nagaland Reg. No. : RS2522 Dt. 14/01/1994	STEP
Rural Development Organisation Thanga Awang Laikai, Bishnupur, District Manipur	Swawlamban	Min. of Home Affairs (NE Division) has indicated that both the Organisations indulged in undesirable activities and misutilized Government funds.
Loktak Khangpok Fisherman Welfare Assocation Thanga, Bishnupur District Manipur	Swawlamban
Hira Moti Garmodaya sansthan Ahuja Bazaar, Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh	Swawlamban	The govt. of UP has intimated that the organization could not produce any document/records for inspection.  Hence, the functioning of the organization cannot be rated as genuine.
Bhartiya Bal Evam, Mahila Kalyan Samiti 320, Chander Nagar, Near Washing Line Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh	Swawlamban	The District Magistrate, Raebareli has responded saying that neither of the two organizations are genuine and as such have not been recommended for financial assistance
Mahila Kalyan Evam Bal Vikas Samiti Moh. Raipur, P.O. Ahiyapur District - Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh	Swawlamban
Late Bansilal Rathod Educational Society Nasik Maharashtra	Swawlamban	Mahila Arthik VIkas Mahamandal (MAVIM), Mumbai has intimated that the performance of the organization has not been satisfactory as it charged Rs. 500/- from each beneficiary towards training fees and also did not disburse stipened amount to the trainees.  The Corporation has further recommended black -listing of the said organization.
Vedic Shiksha Samiti 621/21 Azad Garh , Behind Bmal Hospital, Near Bus Stand Delhi Bye Pass Rohtak, Haryana	Swawlamban	The Haryana Women Development Corporation has black Listed both these organizations vide their letter No. WDCII-2004/2692/2794 dated 5.8 .2004 and No. WDCII- 2004/2058-2958 dated 9.8.22004 on account of misutilization and embezzlement of funds released to them.
Community Development Society 621/21 Azad Ghar, Behind Bmal Hospital, Near Bus Stand Delhi Bye Pass Rohtak, Haryana	Swawlamban
The Society for Professionals Initiative in Development Patna	Min. Of Labour	Not Submitted the Project Report. the office/ where about of the NGO is not traceable. The NGO Corr. Address - Dr. Rakesh C Jha, Secretary Society for Professionals and Initiative in Development, 4 Anand Apartment , Bailey Road Patna - 800 023, Bihar Phone : 0612-283138
Mata Balak Pratishthan, Nasik Maharashtra	Min. of WCD Swawlamban	The MAVIM , Mumbai has intimated that the performance of the organization has not been satisfactory in as much as it has charged Rs. 500/- from each beneficiary towards training fees and has also not disbursed stipned amount to the trainees.

 

This information is also available on Ministry’s website i.e. http://www.wcd.nic.in.

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8/24/2011 | 0 comments

Election Commission on Paid news during elections

The Election Commission has been receiving various complaints/references regarding “Paid News” and advertisements on TV/Cable Channels networks owned by political parties or their functionaries/office bearers during the process of elections, thus disturbing the level playing field, as these are not reflected in the candidate’s election expenses account. The Commission vide its guidelines issued on 8th June 201o, 23rd September 2010 and 18th March, 2011 has already put in place a mechanism to deal with the problems of “Paid News”.
However, in order to bring better uniformity in dealing with such instances even when no consideration of cash and kind is involved in extending campaign publicity to candidates, the Commission has issued guidelines to the Chief Electoral Officers of all the States/UTs on 16th August 2011, for dealing with candidates’ advertisements on TV/Cable channels owned by political parties or their functionaries/office bearers during elections.
The guidelines are available on the Commission’s website www.eci.nic.in under hyperlink http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/index.asp. These will have immediate effect.
Election Commission of India
New Delhi , 19th August , 2011

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8/23/2011 | 0 comments

only 2324 Train accident claims during last decade

During April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2011, a total of 2324 claims for compensation for death/injury in train accidents under Section 124 of the Railways Act, 189 have been decreed by the Railway Claims Tribunal and paid by the Railways and 594 claims are pending for want of award of decree. Compensation is given after a claim filed by the claimant in the Railway Claims Tribunal is decreed by the Tribunal in favour of the claimant. Compensation in the remaining cases will be paid by the Railways after these cases are decreed by the Tribunal and decree so awarded is satisfied by the Railways. Extant instructions do not provide for giving employment to the dependents of those deceased in Railway accidents.
However, Railways in exception to the rules, purely as a humanitarian gesture, have provided employment in Group ‘D’ categories only in such cases. As per available information up to August 16, 2011, a total of 264 persons have been provided employment in cases of accidents connected with the Railways and a total of 112 cases are pending as on August 16, 2011 for employment on account of verification of credentials, disputed cases etc. Employment can be given only after proper verification of claimants and settlement of disputes etc.

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8/23/2011 | 0 comments

Mobile tower radiation status in India

The Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Shri Milind Deora today informed Rajya Sabha in written reply to a question that the recent study report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer under WHO, released in May-June 2011, has established a relation between mobile radiation and glioma, a malignant form of cancer.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of World Health Organization (WHO), in its press release dated 31st May 2011 has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use.
Subsequently, WHO in its Fact Sheet No. 193 of June 2011, has stated that there are some indications of an increased risk of glioma for those who reported the highest 10% of cumulative hours of cell phone use, although there was no consistent trend of increasing risk with greater duration of use. The researchers concluded that biases and errors limit the strength of these conclusions and prevent a causal interpretation. Based largely on these data, IARC has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), a category used when a casual association is considered credible, but when chance, bias or confounding cannot be ruled out with reasonable confidence.
WHO has further stated that a large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use. WHO will conduct a formal risk assessment of all studied health outcomes from radiofrequency fields exposure by 2012.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has initiated a prospective cohort study in Delhi & National Capital Region to examine whether use of mobile phone is associated with neurological disorders, reproductive dysfunctions and promote cancer in Indian population.
DoT has adopted the International Commission on Non-ionization Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for limiting reference levels of Electromagnetic radiation from Mobile towers and incorporated the requirement in Access Service Licenses vide amendment dated 4 November 2008.
DoT, vide letter dated 8th April 2010, has directed all Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS)/Unified Access Service (UAS) licensees for compliance of the reference limits/ levels prescribed by ICNIRP by way of self certification of their Base Transmitting Station (BTS) for meeting the Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) radiations norms. All new BTS sites start radiating only after self certificate has been submitted to relevant Telecom Enforcement, Resource & Monitoring (TERM) Cells of Dot.
The TERM Cell tests up to 10% of new BTS sites randomly at its discretion. Additionally, the BTS sites against which there are public complaints, are also being tested by TERM Cell. If a site fails to meet the Electro Magnetic Radiation criterion, there is a provision of levy of a penalty of Rs.5 lakh per BTS. Service providers must meet the criterion within one month of the report of TERM cell in such cases, after which the site is to be shut down. The self-certifications have been submitted by the telecom service providers for more than 6,50,400 BTSs certifying that the radiation levels are within the prescribed norms. TERM Cells have already started the testing of BTS radiation and so far more than 4100 BTSs have been checked and found to be radiating within the prescribed levels.
With regard to mobile handsets, DoT has also adopted ICNIRP guidelines imposing basic restrictions in terms of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) value limiting to 2W/Kg (averaged over 10g tissue) in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 10 GHz and have taken following steps for compliance of SAR value for mobile phones:
• Indigenous manufacturers of mobile handsets have been instructed to comply with ICNIRP guidelines and furnish self-certificate.
• Mobile handsets manufacturers have been instructed to indicate the level of radiation on the product itself and to clearly communicate the potential danger of mobile phone radiation and exposure.
• To regulate indigenous as well as imported mobile phone, Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has been requested to frame standards for all mobile phones under BIS Act 1986.
All major manufacturers publish the SAR value for mobile phones in the user manual and on its company website. No cases have been reported to DoT regarding mobile handsets having radiation more than the limits prescribed by ICNIRP.

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SP/AT
(Release ID :74835)

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8/23/2011 | 0 comments

Kisan Call Centres

Kisan Call Centres function from 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM on all days throughout the year. They receive calls through the toll-free number 1800-180-1551. Call Centre agents reply farmers’ queries instantaneously by using their own expertise as well as by referring to reference material available with them. They also browse Kisan Knowledge Management System data base for answering farmers’ queries in local language. If some of the queries cannot be answered by the Call Centre agents, such calls are referred to experts. Call Centre agents record the details of every call in terms of farmer’s details, query asked, reply given etc.
Funds for organising sensitisation programmes for Kisan Call Centre agents are being provided to respective Nodal Agencies. Each Nodal Agency is required to organise 6 programmes of one day duration each in a year involving all the call centre agents as well as the experts. The State Governments have been requested to get directly involved in a big way in implementation of this scheme. Detailed instructions in this regard have been issued.
This information was given by Shri Harish Rawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

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8/23/2011 | 0 comments

Naxal Violence has reduced comparatively

The level of Naxal violence and attack on security forces have declined this year. The year 2011 (up to August 15) has recorded 1128 incidents of naxal violence and killing of 93 security personnel compared to 1429 incidents of violence and killing of 218 security personnel during the corresponding period of 2010.
No operation codenamed ‘Operation Greenhorn’ has been launched by Government of India. However, anti-naxal operations are carried out by the security forces in the Naxal affected states on a continuous basis. At present, 71 Battalions of Central Armed Police Forces, 01 Nagaland India Reserve Battalion and 09 Commando Battalion for Resolute Action(CoBRA) have been deployed in Naxal affected states to assist state forces in anti-Naxal operations. Drones are not likely to be deployed in anti-Maoist operations.

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8/23/2011 | 0 comments