NEW DELHI:
Parliament canteens serving to Members of Parliament got a total subsidy of Rs 60.7 crore during last five years with items like ‘puri sabji’ being sold at 88 per cent subsidised rates, an RTI reply shows.
The item list received under the Right to Information Act reveals that Parliamentarians, earning over Rs 1.4 lakh with perks, are relishing items like ‘fish fried with chips’ at Rs 25, mutton cutlet at Rs 18, oiled vegetables at Rs 5, mutton curry with bone at Rs 20 and masala dosa at Rs 6 with rates subsidised by 63 per cent, 65 per cent, 83 per cent, 67 per cent and 75 per cent respectively.
The cost for procuring raw items of dish like stew vegetables comes to about Rs 41.25 while the MPs are getting it for Rs 4 which is a subsidy of about 90 per cent.
For the non-veg meal raw items are procured at Rs 99.05 while the prepared dish is served at Rs 33 to MPs with 66 per cent subsidy, the reply provided to RTI activist Subhash Agrawal shows, adding that the present rates of dishes have not been revised from December 20, 2010.
‘Papad’ costs Rs 1.98 but sold at Rs 1 in these canteens with a subsidy of almost 50 percent.
The RTI response shows that the canteens in Parliament serve 76 mouth watering dishes ranging from simple boiled egg to various mutton and chicken dishes which have been subsidised from over 150 per cent to about 63 per cent.
The only item which is sold for a marginal profit is ‘roti’ for which raw items cost 77 paisa while sold at Rs one, it said while ‘khomani ka meetha’ being served at market price of Rs 15 for piece of three, it says. (AGENCIES)

SRINAGAR: The Government today appointed Jehangir Iqbal Ganaie as the new Advocate General of the State following resignation by incumbent Reyaz Jan.
Ganaie assumed charge as Advocate General after the Law department issued a notification to this effect today, an official spokesman said.
He said Advocate Reyaz Jan, who was appointed as Advocate General on March 15, 2015, submitted his resignation to the Government.
The Government also ordered appointment of seven new Additional Advocates General, eight Deputy Advocates General and eight Government Advocates.
The Government has, on the initiative of the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Syed Basharat Bukhari, also ordered a massive hike in the remuneration for the Advocate General and the Government Advocates to ensure effective disposal of Government cases, the spokesman said. (PTI)

KARACHI:
Nearly 700 people have been killed in Karachi due to Pakistan’s worst heatwave in decades as the Government today shut down all educational institutions and its offices and roped in the army to deal with the crisis.
The heatwave, sweeping across Sindh province, has been going on since the start of Ramzan on Friday, wreaking havoc and triggering an emergency situation in major hospitals of the province.
The death toll in worst-hit Karachi has topped 692 with another eight to 10 people dead in other parts of southern Sindh as a result of soaring temperatures, a senior health official was quoted as saying by media reports.
Three major state-owned hospitals confirmed a combined death toll of 341 until yesterday. Hospitals reported deaths due to heat stroke, exhaustion and low blood pressure.
Temperatures of 44 to 45 degrees Celsius have been recorded in Karachi since Friday with the scorching heat continuing till today although the met office has forecast a break in the heatwave by this evening.
“We had until yesterday evening nearly 200 deaths from this heatwave,” said Seemi Jamali, medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital.
“These 200 include dead bodies we have got from the scorching heatwave and those who passed away in the hospital while under treatment for heatstroke and dehydration,” she said. (AGENCIES)