NEW DELHI, Feb 2:  The chairperson and members of anti-corruption body Lokpal may be appointed by this month-end as government has decided not to withdraw the advertisement seeking nominations for these posts despite a demand from BJP.

Government will not withdraw advertisement and accept applications for Lokpal till Friday, the last date for receiving nominations, a senior official of Ministry of Personnel said.

The advertisement was put out following all procedures. After scrutiny, the names of shortlisted candidates will be put up before selection committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, “The selection may be completed by this month-end,” the official said.

The Ministry of Personnel had last month put out an advertisement in newspapers calling applications from eligible candidates for chairperson and eight members of Lokpal by February 7.

Following this, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley questioned its legality and asked the government to withdraw it.

The Prime Minister rejected Jaitley’s contention and said that the advertisement was within the prescribed rules notified recently by the government.

“May I, at the outset, assure you that the advertisement issued in this regard is strictly in terms of the provisions of the (Lokpal) Act and the rules framed thereunder,” Singh had said in his letter to Jaitley.

The prime minister’s reply prompted Jaitley to write again to him contesting the government’s claim.

“I seriously contest the position on basis of which you have been advised…. I would, therefore, urge you to kindly reconsider the position that the government has taken in this regard. How these positions are to be filed up is a discretion only of the Selection Committee and not the Search Committee,” he said in his recent letter.

Of the advertised posts for members in the Lokpal, four are for judicial and the remaining for non-judicial.

The PM-led selection committee has as members Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him and an eminent jurist, who could be nominated by the President or any of the members.

The chairperson and members shall be appointed by the President after obtaining the recommendations of the selection committee.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, provides for the establishment of a Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries.

President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill on January 1 this year.

The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 17, 2013, and by the Lok Sabha the next day. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 2:  The idea of ‘re-shoring’ jobs back to the developed world might be gaining momentum, but the country’s employment market is unlikely to see short-term impact, feel experts.

In recent times, there have been instances of some developed nations, including the UK, saying that there are opportunities to bring back millions of jobs from low-cost countries like India.

From a political and economic stand point, experts said, the idea of “re-shoring” might be an ideal situation to have for an economy. However, in terms of business, to remain competitive, companies need to do what is realistic and prudent, they said.

India is a preferred destination for business process outsourcing activities and thousands of people are employed in this segment.

Cost competitiveness and a large talent pool are among the key drivers for the country for remaining an attractive hub of off-shore work.

Job portal Naukri.Com’s Business Head V Suresh said that domestic companies need to wait and watch to understand how the trend plays out.

“I don’t sense the possibility of any knee-jerk response to this (re-shoring),” he noted.

“Off-shoring is a long-term business strategy and companies who decide to off-shore do it for multiple reasons. Hence, a sudden policy change may not have any short-term implications on the Indian labour market,” he added.

Even though re-shoring moves could have an effect on the Indian job market, experts felt that off-shoring jobs cannot be completely eliminated mainly due to cost-competitiveness.

Executive search firm Unison International MD Udit Mittal said that against the backdrop of recessionary conditions, companies in the West are “preferring a home-bound approach to promote their own workforce”.

“Countries can cut down on off-shoring but they cannot eliminate it as there is a huge difference in cost of using own manpower vis a vis off-shore ones,” Mittal noted.

Reflecting the changing sentiment in the developed world, British Prime Minister David Cameron recently had said that Europe should capitalise on opportunities to bring back millions of jobs from low-cost nations like India.

“Re-shoring jobs from India and China etc back to UK and USA will definitely have an impact… However, the extent of impact would be hugely dependent on the type of jobs (that would be re-shored),” recruitment consultancy TeamLease Services Co-Founder Mohit Gupta said.

Apart from India, China and the Phillipines are also considered as attractive destinations for off-shoring jobs.

There have been rising clamour from many developed economies about the need to create more jobs locally, especially in the wake of sluggish economic growth.

Notwithstanding concerns of many jobs going back to the developed world, some Indian firms, especially in the IT sector, are already recruiting more number of local talent in the wake of stringent employment conditions for overseas employees.

“These can be called non-tariff barriers imposed by those countries to safeguard employment within their country,” Gupta said.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meet last month, Cameron had also emphasised that the West cannot afford to be “starry eyed” about globalisation.

According to him, there is the emerging trend of re-shoring — where some jobs that were once offshored are coming back — from East to West.

Cameron had said Britain was determined to capitalise on its economic reforms and open markets to be a “reshore nation”.

Some companies are planning to shift manufacturing jobs from other countries to Britain and the employee costs are also becoming competitive, he added.

“There is a chance for Britain to become the re-shore nation. Europe needs to act now to seize the opportunities of re-shoring,” he had said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 2:  The chairperson and members of anti-corruption body Lokpal may be appointed by this month-end as government has decided not to withdraw the advertisement seeking nominations for these posts despite a demand from BJP.

Government will not withdraw advertisement and accept applications for Lokpal till Friday, the last date for receiving nominations, a senior official of Ministry of Personnel said.

The advertisement was put out following all procedures. After scrutiny, the names of shortlisted candidates will be put up before selection committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, “The selection may be completed by this month-end,” the official said.

The Ministry of Personnel had last month put out an advertisement in newspapers calling applications from eligible candidates for chairperson and eight members of Lokpal by February 7.

Following this, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley questioned its legality and asked the government to withdraw it.

The Prime Minister rejected Jaitley’s contention and said that the advertisement was within the prescribed rules notified recently by the government.

“May I, at the outset, assure you that the advertisement issued in this regard is strictly in terms of the provisions of the (Lokpal) Act and the rules framed thereunder,” Singh had said in his letter to Jaitley.

The prime minister’s reply prompted Jaitley to write again to him contesting the government’s claim.

“I seriously contest the position on basis of which you have been advised…. I would, therefore, urge you to kindly reconsider the position that the government has taken in this regard. How these positions are to be filed up is a discretion only of the Selection Committee and not the Search Committee,” he said in his recent letter.

Of the advertised posts for members in the Lokpal, four are for judicial and the remaining for non-judicial.

The PM-led selection committee has as members Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him and an eminent jurist, who could be nominated by the President or any of the members.

The chairperson and members shall be appointed by the President after obtaining the recommendations of the selection committee.

The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, provides for the establishment of a Lokpal for the Union and Lokayuktas for the states to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries.

President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill on January 1 this year.

The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on December 17, 2013, and by the Lok Sabha the next day. (AGENCIES)

NEW delhi, Feb 2:  A parliamentary panel has asked the government to explain whether public interest was being served by the private-public partnership in the development and running of Delhi’s IGI airport.

The Public Accounts Committee, in a latest report, virtually charged the government with enabling a private party (GMR) to benefit out of its partnership with state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop and manage the airport.

It asked the government to furnish the total earnings of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and that of the AAI to show “whether public interest was substantially sub- served” by the agreement with GMR-led DIAL.

The 22-member PAC, headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, also questioned the “unilateral right” of DIAL to extend the concession period for 30 more years and manage the airport for 60 years.

It sought to know “how this joint venture would pave the way for future airport development and modernisation in this country”.

The report of the PAC, which reviewed the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on ‘Implementation of Public Private Partnership — Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi’, would be tabled in Parliament in the upcoming session starting next week.

When contacted, a DIAL spokesperson said, “Since we are not privy to the report, we have no comments to offer.”

The Committee attacked the government for allowing the private partner to garner post-contractual benefits in contravention of the provisions of the ‘Operation, Management and Development Agreement’ (OMDA) with AAI.

The PAC criticised the government for allowing the private developer to charge a development fee from passengers “in contravention” of the provisions of OMDA.

It pointed towards discrepancies between the OMDA and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act on issues like treating ground handling and cargo handling services as non-aeronautical services, on the basis of which revenue was shared between the AAI and DIAL.

The panel has asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to provide details of the financial impact on the exchequer by this concession agreement between GMR and AAI.

It also sought details of total revenue earned by AAI from DIAL after taking over the Delhi airport and also the projected revenue share in the next three years.

While reviewing the revenue-sharing agreements, it said the committee is of the “considered view that all sub- contractors are bound to pay 45.99 per cent of the revenue generated to DIAL in terms of Audit Report 11.1.2 of the Operations, Maintenance and Development Agreement (OMDA) and therefore recommend that all such sub-contractors are bound to pay 45.99 per cent of the revenue generated of DIAL”.

Sources in the panel said several members sought a thorough probe into the drafting of the OMDA and its implementation.

It also expressed concern over the absence of proper land records of the land of the airport and said public land was transferred to DIAL without any proper physical survey.

During its sittings lasting almost two years, the panel heard representatives of the Ministry, AAI, DIAL and GMR. (PTI)

KOLHAPUR (Mah), Feb 2:  Sharad Pawar today said there was no need for a debate once courts had ruled on Narendra Modi’s role during the 2002 riots, days after similar remarks by his party colleague Praful Patel led to suggestions that NCP was going soft on the BJP PM candidate.

The party, however, insisted that it had “fundamental ideological” difference with Modi and ruled out alliance with BJP.

Responding to a query during a press conference here, the NCP chief and Union Minister Pawar said, “If courts have given their verdict, then the question of holding a debate on it does not arise. We accept the court’s order and there won’t be any debate on it.”

Pawar was asked about Patel’s recent statement that any judicial pronouncement on Modi’s alleged involvement in the post-Godhra riots should be accepted.

“….Judicial system is the final recourse for getting justice on any issue or to bring finality to any controversy, and if the judicial system has given any pronouncement, we ought to respect it. We will not question it further,” Patel had said.

A report in a Marathi daily earlier this week had said that Pawar had met Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, last month in New Delhi. However later Pawar refuted the report.

Meanwhile, NCP leader Tariq Anwar said that they have ideological difference with Modi and there was no question of alliance with him.

“We have a fundamental ideological with Narendra Modi. It is not about a particular individual. NCP is always with secular forces and continue to remain with them. We can’t afford to tie up with communal forces.

“We stated this since the first day of the formation of our party. So there is no question of forming any political alliance with Modi and BJP,” Anwar said.

“Technically, the court has given him (Modi) a clean chit but he is still under suspicion. People don’t seem to agree with the fact that whatever was happened in 2002 was without his consent or support,” he said, adding, “that’s why US, UK and European Union don’t permit visa to him.” (PTI)