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Lapses in revenue collection cost the UP Government Rs 1546 crore LUCKNOW, Nov 9: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed but serious. .....more Godhra
probe team GODHRA, Nov 9: The high-powered technical team led by justice (retd) U C Banerjee, probing the Godhra train carnage......more Musharraf’s proposal courageous: Hashim Qureshi NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Terming as "bold and courageous" Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s recent de-militarisation . ....more YSR reacts to Naxals ultimatum positively HYDERABAD, Nov 9: In a positive response to the Naxalites’ demand for surplus land distribution among poor within two months, Andhra Pradesh .....more |
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Two LMT of paddy CHANDIGARH, Nov 9: The Haryana Government has so far contributed over two lakh metric tonnes of rice to the Central pool......more Congress
not SP AMETHI, Nov 9: Firing yet another salvo at the Samajwadi Party, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today said it was the ......more SC
quashes Stamp Act NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Putting a premium on the citizen’s right to privacy, the Supreme .....more Blueprint
for health NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Underlining the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government’s firm commitment to public......more |
Lapses in revenue collection cost the UP Government Rs 1546 crore LUCKNOW, Nov 9: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed but serious irregularities in revenue collection by various departments burdening the state exchequer with losses amounting to Rs 1546.48 crore during 2002-2003. A CAG report tabled today in the State Assembly indicated that during 2002-2003 both tax and non-tax revenue earned by the State Government amounted to Rs 14,697.30 crore. But the Government had raised only 53 per cent of its receipts while the remaining 47 per cent came from the Union Government. The percentage of revenue raised by the State Government was higher by five per cent as compared to 48 per cent in 2001-2002. During the year 2002-2003, the UP Government could not collect tax and non-tax revenue as per budget estimates for the year. During 2002-03 tax reveune and non-tax revenue registered an increase of 23.05 per cent and 7.07 per cent respectively over previous year levels. The report said a check of records pertaining to trade tax, state excise, taxes on vehicles, goods and passengers, stamp duty and registration fees, land revenue, electricity duty, forest receipts and other departmental receipts, conducted during 2002-03 revealed under assessment, short levy and loss of revenue amounting to Rs 2304.17 crore in 2629 cases. The concerned departments have accepted under-assessments and other shortcomings of Rs 10.97 crore in 305 cases of which 56 involving Rs 27.59 lakh had been pointed out in audit during 2002-03 and the rest in earlier years. In all 9308 inspection reports issued up to December 31, 2002 containing 15741 audit observations, with money value of Rs 2727.30 crore were not settled upto June 2003. A review of working of distilleries in State Excise Department revealed that the Government had to forego revenue of Rs 112.93 crore due to low yield of alcohol from Molasses, while it suffered a loss of another Rs 56.64 crore due to loss of sugar (trs) in transit. The excise duty of Rs 6.37 crore on wastage of hologram was also not realised. A review on assessment and collection of taxes and fees in transport department revealed additional tax under-assessment of Rs 2.96 crore, while additional tax of Rs 7.64 crore on public service buses was not levied at all. Penalty of Rs 65.61 crore for late payment of addiontal tax was also not recovered. The condition of the trade tax department was no better either. An irregular grant of eligibility certificate to new industrial units resulted in incorrect allowance of exemption or reduction of tax to the tune of Rs 1048.36 crore. Besides a Rs 44.71 crore tax exemption was allowed to inelligible units and non observance of prescribed registeration procedure, resulted in the Government being deprived of an aggregate revenue of Rs 87.20 crore. Application of incorrect tax rate led to non/short levy of Central sales tax amounting to Rs 14.68 crore. Incorrect valuation of land/buildings resulted in short/levy of stamp duty and registration fees amounting to Rs 44.26 lakh, while non levy of interest on belated electricity duty payments ended up in a revune loss of Rs 5.86 crore. The Forest Department also suffered a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 56.39 lakh due to non conduction of regular culture work on bamboos. (UNI) |
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Godhra probe team conducts second inspection GODHRA, Nov 9: The high-powered technical team led by justice (retd) U C Banerjee, probing the Godhra train carnage, today inspected for the second time the incident site and the charred S-6 coach. "One can see well with one eye and even better with two eyes...And that is why we have come for a second inspection," Justice Banerjee told reporters after the inspection. The team had to come for a second round of investigation to ‘corroborate’ with the statements of several witnesses who were cross examined by the committee in New Delhi recently, he said. As part of the exercise, the technical team, comprising fire and mechaninal experts of the railways, entered and inspected the S-6 and S-5 coaches thoroughly. The team also conducted dummy tests on a train regarding the chain pulling aspect and other factors that led to the S-6 coach twice stopping on the day of the incident. On asked if he was ‘prevented’ by the senior railway police official from entering the S-6 coach, banerjee said: "I was not prevented. I only asked them if any permission was required to enter it as it was a court property. The concerned official said that he would seek his superior’s permission...And in due course we were inside the coach." The team members also inspected the A-cabin area where the Sabarmati Express train had stopped for the second time on the day of the incident. Banerjee said that the committee had examined 12 witnesses in the train carnage case so far and were cross checking their statements and description of the incident. When asked if they were searching for anything ‘special’, Justice Banerjee said, "no there is nothing like that". On being asked when he would submit a report on the team’s findings, he said it would be done only after their work was complete. He did not give any time frame when the committee would submit its report. The other members of the high-powered technical team include Balakesariya, S K Khanna and S K Dehri. 59 Karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were charred to death inside the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express just outside Godhra Railway station on February 27, 2002. (PTI) |
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Musharraf’s proposal courageous: Hashim Qureshi NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Terming as "bold and courageous" Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s recent de-militarisation proposal, JKLF founder Hashim Qureshi today urged India not to reject outright and without discussion any such suggestion which seeks to help resolve the vexed Kashmir issue. "Gen Musharraf’s statement is a clear shift from Pakistan’s traditional position that a plebiscite is a must. It is a bold and courageous proposal. Both the countries should make efforts to resolve the issue so that lasting peace is established in the region," Mr Qureshi told UNI here. However, he said any division on the basis of either religion or region was highly unacceptable and the people of Jammu and Kashmir would give a befitting answer to those out to divide the State further on communal lines. "We will never accept any further division on the basis of religion or region," said Mr Qureshi, who was one of the hijackers of an Indian Airlines Fokker Friendship plane (Ganga) to Pakistan in 1971. The Indian Airlines flight that took off from Srinagar on January 30 morning for Delhi was hijacked and taken to Lahore by Hashim Qureshi and his cousin Ashraf Qureshi. Mr Qureshi, currently on bail, is facing charges in a Jammu and Kashmir Court of setting ablaze the Ganga plane after hatching a criminal conspiracy and with kidnapping and robbery under the Enemy Ordinance Act. He returned to India after 30 years in exile in the Netherlands on December 29, 2000. However, he denies the charge and maintained that the plane was set on fire by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Mr Qureshi, who is the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party (DLP), said a solution to the contentious Kashmir issue could only be found through a dialogue and not the "gun". Gen Musharraf had proposed identifying specific regions of Jammu and Kashmir, permanently demilitarising them and then changing their status. "In the whole of Kashmir, there are seven regions. Two of these regions are in Pakistan, five are in India. Identify a region, demilitarise it - troops out - and change its status," the General had proposed. "Peace needs to be restored in Jammu and Kashmir at any cost. Restoration of peace is of utmost importance in the subcontinent," he added. The DLP chief suggested a formula to resolve the problem. He said the Kashmir issue should be frozen for 20 years during which India and Pakistan resume their bilateral dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues. "Both the countries should send back their regulars and Paramilitary forces to the barracks in parts of Jammu and Kashmir under their control. All armed and unarmed foreign nationals should leave Jammu and Kashmir forthwith. A joint mechanism is needed to achieve this," he added. Mr Qureshi said viable steps should be taken to stop extremist religious groups on both sides from indulging in campaigns of communal hatred against one another. People in both countries should be provided with a very liberal and easy system of obtaining visas for visiting their relatives and friends on both sides, he added. "India and Pakistan should agree to give maximum autonomy for 20 years to people in Jammu and Kashmir under their respective control. Only defence, currency, foreign and communication should remain with the two states. Gilgit and Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir should be brought under the ambit of one constituent Assembly," he suggested. All political prisoners in Indian jails should be set free. Both the Governments should provide information to the relatives of the people whose whereabouts are not known. People implicated in acts of terrorism and murder should be brought to book, the DLP leader said. People who have been driven out of their homes on either side of the Line of Control during partition should be resettled at their places of origin in the State. In particular, Pandits, Sikhs and Muslims should be brought back to their respective places, rehabilitated and illegal occupation of their land and properties be immediately vacated, he added. The Muslims of the Valley should form local committees and help return Pandit neighbours in Jammu camps to their places of origin promising them the safety of their life and honour, Mr Qureshi said. People of Jammu and Kashmir should be extended full support to reconstruct their shattered economy and developmental programmes. They need help to rebuild modern educational institutions, he said. A panel of intellectuals, politicians, economists and social experts from India and Pakistan should invite proposals for a permanent solution of the crisis from the people, Mr Qureshi said. He welcomed Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s statement that any resolution of the Kashmir issue should be in accordance of the wishes and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, he disagreed with Muttahida Quami movement founder leader Altaf Hussain’s proposal to "temporarily" convert the Line of Control into an international border, saying it is a "non-workable suggestion." (UNI) YSR reacts to Naxals ultimatum positively HYDERABAD, Nov 9: In a positive response to the Naxalites’ demand for surplus land distribution among poor within two months, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has instructed revenue officials to identify one lakh acres for simultaneous distribution at different places on a single day at the earliest. The first round of talks saw land distribution as one point of agreement between the ultras and the Government even as the latter disagreed with the Naxals’ insistance to carry weapons. CPI (Maoist) state secretary Ramakrishna and CPI(ML) Janashakti state secretary Amar, in a joint statement, recently gave an ultimatum to the Government to set the process of land distribution in motion within two months. The Chief Minister, very particular that the Naxals must lay down weapons before coming to the discussion table for the next round of talks, appeared to have taken the ultimatum in the right spirit and ordered for identification of all available Government lands. According to revenue officials, the exercise of identification of surplus land as well as alienated land would be a continuous process and the Government was "as eager" as the ultras to see that all the eligible poor were provided with lands as well as house sites. The Government had already decided on taking up rural housing on a "never-heard-of" scale in the Ranga Reddy district. Arrangements had been made to distribute one lakh house sites to the poor against five lakhs applications. With a 5,000-acre land already identified for distribution among poor, officials said the land would be "sufficient" to give house sites to every applicant. Initially, a similar exercise was on in all the districts where the eligible poor were being identified. Congress sources said the re-identification exercise became "necessary" as the list prepared by the previous TDP Government "largely contained" the names of party activists. (UNI) |
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| Blueprint for health sector reform
submitted to Govt: Sonia NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Underlining the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government’s firm commitment to public investment in rural healthcare, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today said the National Advisory Council has submitted a blueprint to the Government for reform in the health sector. She said details of the proposed National Health Insurance Scheme were also being worked out. "Our Government is fully alive to the need of public investment in the rural health sector," Ms Gandhi said after inaugurating the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC)’s new health care initiative ‘spandan’ for rural women and children. She said that while India boasted of world class medical facilities in major cities, its small towns and villages lacked basic quality healthcare, which called for a major reform in the health sector. The proposed national health insurance scheme would be a major step in this direction, she added. In this context, she also called for public-private partnership in the healthcare sector. She said there have been incidents of suicide in villages of some states because the people who borrowed money for undergoing costly treatment could not repay the loan and ended their life out of frustration and tension. So the public-private partnership in this sector should aim at reducing the cost of treatment so that the poor could also avail of it. Recalling her husband late Rajiv Gandhi’s concern for taking out healthcare facilities to the poorest of the poor, Ms Gandhi lauded the EHIRC’s community outreach programme as a model to be replicated by others too. "It is a noteworthy step as such mobile vans would enable rural women and children to have an easy access to health care," she said. Ms Sonia Gandhi said her late husband Rajiv Gandhi took personal interest in the setting up of the escorts heart institute as it was his cherished desire to bring the most advanced medical facilities to the country. Expressing concern over the quality of the healthcare available in rural areas, she suggested to Dr Naresh Trehan, the Executive Director and Chief Cardiovascular Surgeon of the institute, to think about starting a programme for training health personnel in rural areas. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Naresh Trehan said he and his team were motivated to launch ‘Spandan’ as by their earlier community outreach programme they learnt that it is only men who mostly came out to avail the facility while women and children were left out. Through this programme, the institute will provide free health checkups to over a lakh of women and children in rural areas. Ms Gandhi flagged off a team of doctors and three vans to the villages of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. EHIRC has treated over two lakh patients since the beginning of its community outreach programme in 1996. ‘Spandan’ has been launched to mark EHIRC’s 16th anniversary. Dr Trehan said EHRIC’s community outreach programme provides cardiac care to the deprived and the underprivileged at their door step in the remote corners of the country. Also present at the function were Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Lt Governor B L Joshi Minister of State for Health Lakshmi Panabacka and Priyanka Vadra. (UNI) |
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Planning Commission to review tenth five year plan target KOLKATA, Nov 9: The tenth five year plan target would be reviewed as the economy in the last two years has not grow as expected, Planning Commission deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said. Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the regional consultation on mid-term apprisal of the plan here, Ahluwalia said, "it is natural to review the target. Two years have already passed and we are already in the third year now." The current momentum of the GDP growth would have to be reviewed, he said. To a specific query, he said that in the first two years of the plan period starting 2002, the actual GDP growth was six per cent against the targetted level of 8.2 per cent. The acceleration required to meet the target growth of just above nine per cent by the end of 2007, was next to impossible, he said. He said that on the basis of suggestions forwarded by different states, including West Bengal, the plan panel now deemed it feasible that the realistic growth target would be eight per cent at the end of 2007 if the policy changes were perfectly put in place. During the day, Ahluwalia held a regional consultation programme with the states of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. Ahluwalia said that the country would be able to meet the growth target as laid down in the CMP of the UPA Government. Earlier, he had held consultations with the states of the western and north-eastern region. Similar meetings were due with northern and southern states also. West Bengal was represented by Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen while Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik represented his state. Jharkhand was represented by Chief Minister Arjun Munda while Bihar was represented by Water Resources Minister Jagdanand Singh. Dasgupta told newsmen that the state requested the plan panel for lowering the interest rates on the Central debt burden from 11.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent. Ahluwalia said that the suggestion had some merit and the Planning Commission would look into it and added that the final decision would be taken once the 12th Finance Commission submitted its report. (PTI) |
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