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Appointment of Additional Solicitors General
The Government of India has appointed Shri Vivek K.Tankha, as Additional Solicitors General of India (Direct Taxes) in the Supreme Court of India.
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Implementation of reservation for students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes to Jirania in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, Tripura in regard to Central Educational Institutions situated therein.
The Union Cabinet today approved the Implementation of reservation for students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes to Jirania in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, Tripura in regard to Central Educational Institutions situated therein.
The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 (CEI Act, 2006) was notified on 4th January 2007. Section 3 of the CEI Act, 2006 provides for reservation of seats in Central Educational Institutions, according to which, 15% seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes 7.5% for the Scheduled Tribes and 27% for the Other Backward Classes.
Section 4 (a) of the CEI Act, 2006 provides that the provisions of Section 3 of the Act shall not apply to a Central Educational Institution established in the tribal areas referred to in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) located at Jirania in the Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council, Agartala was unable to extend the benefit of reservation to students belonging to OBC category in view of the non-applicability of the CEI Act, under Section 4 (a).
Several writ petitions were filed in Guwahati High Court, Agartala and High Court,
A notification was issued with the approval of the President under Paragraph 12AA(c) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India on 13.7.2009 to the effect that provisions of Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act shall apply to Jirania in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council in respect of Central Educational Institutions situated therein namely NIT, Agartala subject to modifications of Section 3, 4 and 6 of the CEI Act, 2006.
It benefits Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other socially and educationally Backward Classes of students.
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Railway revenue earnings up by 13.34 per cent during the period 11th – 20th August 2009
The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during the period 11th Augut – 20th August 2009 were Rs. 2173.34 crore compared to Rs.1917.52 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 13.34 per cent.
The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 1272.95 crore during 11th August – 20th August 2008 to Rs. 1503.01 crore during 11th August – 20th August 2009, showing an increase of 18.07 per cent. The total passenger revenue earnings during the period 11th to 20th August 2009 were Rs. 596.68 crore compared to Rs. 584.74 crore during the same period last year, reflecting an increase of 2.04 per cent. The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 56.18 crore during this period compared to Rs. 44.58 crore during the same period last year, showing an increase of 26.02 per cent.
The total approximate number of passengers booked during the period 11th to 20th August 2009 were 197.98 million compared to 198.94 million during the same period last year, showing a decrease of 0.48 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number of passengers booked during 11–20 August 2009 were 104.65 million and 93.33 million compared to 108.32 million and 90.62 million during the same period last year, registering a decrease of 3.39 per cent and an increase of 2.99 per cent respectively.
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Continuation of
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure today approved the continuation of Remote Village Electrification Programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy during the remaining period of the 11th Plan.
The Programme aims to provide renewable energy based lighting/basic electricity facilities with 90% Central Financial Assistance to those unelectrified villages and hamlets which are not going to be covered under RGGVY due to infeasibility of grid extension.
The Ministry has so far provided support for coverage of around 9300 villages and hamlets in 25 States.
A variety of renewable energy technologies are being deployed for electrification of remote villages. These include small hydro, wind, biomass and solar energy based options. The decision to use a particular technology is taken by the State implementing agencies after examination of the technical feasibility and resource availability. The most commonly used option by the States so far has been solar photovoltaic homelighting systems with 2 lamps for each household.
The Programme will be implemented by the State governments through their notified implementing agencies. The Programme is expected to cover 10,000 remote, unelectrified villages and hamlets and benefit around 1 million households.
Availability of lighting/basic electricity to the remote villages and hamlets is expected to lead to improvement in the quality of life of the people, including better health and education.
The total outlay for the programme has been estimated at Rs.867.89 crores during the current Plan period.
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Patent regime poses new challanges for health agenda: Shri Dinesh Trivedi
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Dinesh Trivedi has emphasized the need to take a hard look at the entire issue of intellectual property rights, innovation, development of new drugs, affordability and accessibility from an entirely new perspective in the new era of product patent regime. Speaking at the Life Science Conclave here today, Shri Trivedi expressed concern that "while there is a substantial unfinished agenda on the health in terms of providing adequate health care in the developing countries, new and formidable challenges have been thrown up by international trade regimes like the TRIPS."
Praising the Indian pharma industry for "its skills to design, develop, test, manufacture generics at a fraction of global prices and even export to other poor countries", the minister cited its contribution in bringing down the prices of HIV-AIDS drug cocktail from US$ 10400 to US$ 300. This price efficiency has made the Indian drugs the key component of global fight against the HIV-AIDS. The Minister expressed apprehension that this may change due to new patent regime. While expressing the hope to tackle the situation to a certain extent through legislation by categorizing some drug as essential, international, the Minister emphasized "impact needs to be debated and solutions are to found."
In reference to the current pandemic of H1N1 the Minister underscored the underscored the need for preparedness in terms of quick and reliable diagnostics, drugs like Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) as also a vaccine. As part of this preparedness, the domestic industry needs to be strengthened for the development of affordable diagnostics, vaccine as also drug, The Minister added.
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Meghalaya Annual Plan 2009-10 finalized
The Annual Plan for Meghalaya for the year 2009-10 was finalized here today at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr. D.D. Lapang. The Plan size was agreed at Rs.2100 crores.
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia appreciated the efforts being made by the State Government to improve social and physical infrastructure in the State. He said public/private partnership in development of infrastructure should be encouraged to accelerate pace of development. He appreciated the State initiatives in promoting floriculture and horticulture. Mr. Ahluwalia said road development was necessary for accelerating economic activities and providing health cover to the people.
Mr. Ahluwalia said that Planning Commission was working on the mid-term appraisal of Eleventh Plan and would be shortly holding discussions at the regional levels. He said State government should not only flag areas of concern but also point out initiatives which can improve productivity of the Plan during remaining period.
The Chief Minister briefed the Commission on the initiatives and programmes aimed at improving the socio-economic development of the State. He said there has been substantial improvement in the social sector indices and pointed out that health and education has shown remarkable increase. He also briefed the Commission on the efforts being made to improve road network in the State and initiatives taken in the health sector in partnership with the private sector. He said transport would get top priority in the plan for the current year. Social services and energy would also get more than 20 per cent of budget outlay.
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Airliner Flying without Squawking IFF code prompts swift AIR Defence reaction by IAF
On 27 August 2009 at approximately 0610 hrs IST one aircraft was picked up by IAF radars, Southeast of Amritsar in the Northern Sector. The aircraft was flying at a flight level of 37,000 feet and entered Indian airspace on an established border entry point on ATS route. The aircraft was not in communication and also the secondary radar response code (Identification Friendly or Foe) i.e. Squawk code of the aircraft, was not correct and the aircraft was identified as 'Unknown'. Immediately an IAF, MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept and investigate the identity of the 'unknown' aircraft. It was only later that the aircraft started transmitting correct secondary radar response code and was picked up and identified by AD radar as civil airliner(A-343)of Air France(AFR-164).The flight was from Paris to Bangkok. The MiG-29 fighter aircraft was given instructions to break off and return to base. A formal report of the incident has been forwarded to AAI.
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Pacific Army Chiefs Conference VI and the Pacific Armies Management Seminar XXXIII Concludes
Chief of Army Staff equivalents from 26 countries and senior staff officers from 31 countries around the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions participated in Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference VI and the Pacific Armies Management Seminar XXXIII in
PAMS is a multinational military seminar that provides a forum for senior-level officers from the Asia Pacific's regional ground forces to exchange views and ideas. It provided an opportunity for the future leaders of the region's armies to establish and cultivate a set of strong interpersonal relationships. Catastrophic disasters are currently a major security threat in the Asia-Pacific region, where 40 percent of the world's disasters have occurred in the last 30 years. This year's PACC and PAMS was co-hosted by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force and U.S. Army. The theme for both conferences is Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief in natural and human-induced disasters. The three day conferences facilitated discussion and exchange of ideas to promote peace and stability in the region. Civil-military and interagency cooperation in disaster relief operations, and ways to increase multilateral military cooperation was also discussed.
Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor had bilateral meetings with the Chiefs of countries of Indian Ocean Region namely
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Focus of poverty is shifting to cities, leading to a phenomenon of urbanization of poverty: Selja
The Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Tourism Kumari Selja has said that what is striking in the trends of urbanization in developing countries is that urban poverty is increasingly becoming a pervasive feature in cities. Addressing the meeting of Board of Governors at
Here is the full text of Minister's speech:-
"Distinguished dignitaries on the dais, participants on the Board of Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen. At the outset I thank the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
My address today will cover three aspects. First I would refer to the trends and patterns of urbanization in the developing world. Second, I would highlight the Indian urbanization scenario and the key initiatives of the Government of India to address the urban problems. Third, I would dwell upon some key policy issues relating to urban poverty and slums confronting the developing countries so that ways can be found to address them meaningfully through debate, discussions, international public opinion and cross-learning.
As regards the world urban scenario, the 21st Century would be an urban century with a massive urbanization witnessed by the developing countries. The global urban population was estimated by the United Nations at 3.2 billion in 2005, nearly 4 times the number in 1950. This figure represented 49 per cent of the world's total population.
As regards the urbanization in Asia, about 50 per cent of the urban residents of the world numbering 1553 million lived in
What is striking in the trends of urbanization in developing countries is that urban poverty is increasingly becoming a pervasive feature in cities. The focus of poverty is shifting to cities, leading to a phenomenon of urbanization of poverty. Rural poverty has long been the world's most common face of destitution. But urban poverty, closely linked with the mushrooming of slums and squatter settlements, is emerging as an intense, dehumanizing and life-threatening phenomenon. The city governments are not able to provide basic services to their rapidly growing urban population, especially the slum-dwellers and the urban poor. These services include safe drinking water, sanitation, solid waste management, affordable housing and public transportation. Even if the rate of urbanization is modest, the massive increase in the absolute number of urban residents, has led many Governments to hold the view that their urbanization is too rapid to cope with. Some embarked in the past on policies to control migration and spatial distribution of population. Such policies have failed miserably. Moreover, they are not warranted as migration is an exercise in free choice and further, urbanization has been the engine of growth across the globe.
As regards
Globally, 715 million people lived in slums in 1990. The figure is estimated to have gone up to 912 million by 2000 and 998 million by 2005. At present, one of three urban residents is considered to be living in slums. If the current trends continue the number of slum dwellers would increase up to 1.4 billion by 2020. Many of them live in hazardous locations with few or non-existent basic services. They remain highly vulnerable to natural disasters like floods and landslides. A large proportion of the urban poor also face social burdens and health problems worse than their non-slum and rural counterparts. The problems of urban poverty and slums are so huge and so pervasive, that it is impossible for the national and provincial governments to address them in totality. Thus, there is a case of empowered city governments to address the issues of urban poverty and slums, with focus on inter-governmental and public-private partnerships. The principle of subsidiarity, which has been adopted by many countries, including the European Union, also suggests that functions like slum development and upgradation are best handled at the local body level. Of course, the national and provincial governments ought to support the efforts of municipalities as the resources and capacities of these local bodies drastically fall short of what is needed.
On the issue of national strategies to address urban issues, including those of poverty and slums, I would like to highlight three major initiatives that the Government of India has taken. The first is the enactment of the Constitution 74th Amendment Act 1992. This accorded a Constitutional status to the Municipalities as the third tier of government. The 74th Amendment envisages a legal-institutional framework for democratic decentralization. It reserves one-third of the seats in municipal councils for women and provides for reservation for weaker sections of society. It provides for a list of 18 functions as belonging to the legitimate domain of the municipalities. The Act also suggests a framework for fiscal empowerment and devolution of resources to the urban local bodies. As regards urban and regional planning, the 74th Amendment envisages a critical role for elected local bodies in the preparation and implementation of spatial and socio-economic plans for the integrated development of both urban and rural areas.
Following the 74th Amendment, most cities and towns in the country now have democratically elected and representative local self-governments. However, the progress in the devolution of functions, finances and functionaries to municipalities by State Governments is tardy. In particular, how to enable the municipalities to undertake functions such as slum development and urban poverty alleviation is a key issue that remains to be settled.
The second major initiative that the Government of India has championed is the launching of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission on 3rd December 2005. JNNURM is the single largest initiative ever launched nationally to address the problems of infrastructure and basic services to the poor in cities and towns in a holistic manner. The
Governance reforms are central to JNNURM. Linked to Government of India's support to States, they are based on an enabling strategy aimed at improving urban governance for sustained provision of urban infrastructure and basic amenities to the poor. Accordingly, a series of reforms at the State and local levels are envisaged to address the key urban issues including planning, financing and governing cities.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Mission is in the 5th year of its implementation. It is expected that it would usher in vibrant cities and an era of good civic governance. As regards housing the urban poor, it is hoped that with support from JNNURM, more than 1.5 million houses would be built for the urban poor in the next two to three years. The beneficiaries would be provided all the basic civic amenities. Title to land or housing is to be in the name of women beneficiaries or jointly in the names of women and their husbands both.
The third major initiative that
One key area that the Urban Poor Fund International may address, in addition to mobilizing and organizing the poor, is to address the glaring failure of urban and regional planning. The city Master Plans suffer from many infirmities. They are based on a model which has driven the urban poor out of formal land markets. In the presence of sky-rocketing land prices, absence of affordable housing, hostile Master Plans that have not provided space to the poor, slums have been the only homes to these disadvantaged sections. These can be regarded as the market solution by the slum-dwellers to a problem of failure of the formal system of city planning. That is why our new scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana proposes to create the enabling conditions that encourage the states to tackle the problem of slums in a definitive way. The scheme aims at bringing the existing slums within the formal system, providing property rights to people living in slum areas, and enabling them to avail of the same amenities as the rest of the town. The scheme will also try to redress the failures of the formal system that lies behind the creation of slums. It will focus on tackling the shortages of urban land and housing that keep shelter and housing out of reach of the poor and force them to resort to extralegal solutions in a bid to retain their sources of livelihood and employment. It will adopt a state-led strategy – preventive, curative and promotive. Ownership of the vision and programme will be by the states, so that a slum free
As the goals and the objectives of the Urban Poor Fund International are strengthen the organization of the poor and make them the central actors in urban development and poverty eradication, I feel that the organization could be of immense assistance to our government in the effective implementation of Rajiv Awas Yojana. I would also urge the organization to facilitate an international forum for policy debate and cross-learning on sum development and upgrading. This may be spearheaded by the Slum Dwellers International and Urban Poor Funds International together so that adequate international opinion is garnered to focus national attention in developing countries on the critical issues of slums and urban poverty. These problems if not tackled constructively will weaken the very foundations of cities as the engines of economic growth. I may inform that my Government would extend support as needed by the proposed forum.
I wish the UPFI and Board of Governors and Slum Dwellers International all success. We would eagerly look forward to the Fund's activities in
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Induction of Super-Critical Units through Bulk Tendering
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved the proposals for induction of supercritical technology through bulk ordering of 11 units of 660 MW (totalling 7260 MW) by NTPC Ltd for itself and on behalf of its JV Companies, and on behalf of DVC. The most important condition of this approval is the development of phased indigenous manufacturing of supercritical equipments in the country.
In order to achieve the objective of rapid capacity addition in the country, transfer of Supercritical technology and development of indigenous manufacturing capacity, it has been decided to go for the bulk tendering of super-critical units with emphasis on development of indigenous manufacturing facility as per a phased manufacturing programme so that domestic manufacturing capacity of super-critical units is established in the country with new manufacturer(s) in addition to BHEL. The bulk tenders for eleven units of 660 MW (total 7260 MW) would be invited by NTPC for the following five power projects:
| S.No. | Location | Sponsoring Agency | No. of 660 MW Units |
| 1 | Nabinagar STPP (erstwhile New Nabinagar) | JV project of NTPC and Bihar State Electricity Board (50% equity by NTPC) | 3 |
| 2 | Meja | JV project of NTPC and U.P. Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (50% equity by NTPC) | 2 |
| 3 | Mouda Extension | NTPC | 2 |
| 4 | Solapur | NTPC | 2 |
| 5 | Koderma Phase-II | | 2 |
It has been decided to invite separate international competitive bids (ICBs) for the boiler and the steam turbine generator (STG) islands, i.e. one bulk package for all the boilers and another bulk package for all the STGs, instead of a single common boiler turbine generator (BTG) bulk package, as there are limited manufacturers who manufacture both boilers and STGs.
In order to sustain economic growth rate of around 8 to 10 per cent
Following the approval of Government of India, NTPC would go for NIT of bulk tendering of 11 units as stated above within 45 days. All the supercritical projects would come up during 12th Five Year Plan. Parallel with the projects, indigenous manufacturing facilities will also be developed in the country during the same period.
As per present assessment, there are three (3) prospective bidders for the Boiler package: BHEL-Alstom, L&T-Mitshubishi and GB Engg.—Ansaldo, and four (4) for the STG package:BHEL-Siemens, L&T-Mitshubishi, Bharat Forge-Alstom and Toshiba-JSW.
Major Impact : Rapid capacity addition in the country, transfer of supercritical technology and development of indigenous manufacturing capacity.
Expenditure Involved: Approx. Rs. 40,000 crore
Although the proposed projects are situated in the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and
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