Releases...........pt3

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs  

MOIA begins Annual Consultation Meeting with State Governments

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

Shri. K. Mohandas, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) inaugurated the 2nd Annual Consultation Meeting with the State Governments here today. The two-day Consultation Meeting is aimed to discuss how the Ministry can partner with the State Governments to provide the required support in effectively addressing the problems of Overseas Indians. Addressing the state representatives, Shri Mohandas said that a Nodal Department should be set up by all states for welfare of Overseas Indians and promotion of legal migration from the States. He said that state governments can play active role in implementation of various schemes and programmes of the Ministry.  He further said the skill up-gradation and pre-departure Orientation Training Programme for potential emigrants, creation of database of skilled manpower and facilitating their overseas employment, migration of students for study abroad and their registration and Know India Programme are the focus areas where the Ministry and State governments can work together for welfare of NRIs, PIOs and Overseas Indian Workers.

 

The Consultation Meeting serves as a platform to enable the State Governments to make suggestions recommendations to the Government of India in the matter of overseas Indians. The Meeting focuses on various Emigration and Diaspora related issues. This includes the following:

 

·          Creation of Nodal Department for welfare of Overseas Indians by all State Governments and promoting legal migration from the States.

·          Promotion of overseas employment opportunities by the State Governments.

·          Skill Up gradation and Pre-departure Orientation Training and creation of awareness to the potential emigrants by the States.

·          Action against unregistered Recruiting Agents (RAs) and Travel Agents by the State Governments.

·          Emigration Management Bill.

·          E-Governance Project.

·          Legal migration and preventing exploitation of women.

·          Migration of Students for study abroad and their Registration.

·          Programs/schemes operated by the States for the benefit of NRIs / PIOs.

·          Giving effect to benefits conferred on registered OCIs by   notifications issued by MHA, MOIA, UGC, AICTE, etc.

·          Problems relating to NRI Marriages and providing Legal Assistance to deserted wives.

·          Quick Redressal of property related grievances of NRIs.

 

An important Workshop on the theme 'Prevention of illegal Migration: Drawing up an Action Plan' would be organized on the second day of the Consultation Meeting. The Workshop would equip capacity building of all the Stakeholders involved in the process. The Consultation Meeting is being attended by senior officials from 16 State Governments and representatives of the Central Government Ministries including Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Labour. The recommendations of the two day Consultation Meeting would serve as guidance to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the State Governments for addressing the concerns of the overseas Indians, especially the Overseas Indian Workers.

 

dnm/pkm/dk/kol/17:43 hrs.

 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Shipping  

CSL declares dividend for 2008-09

 

REGISTERS A PROFIT OF 70% OVER PREVIOUS YEAR

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), the largest shipbuilding and ship repair yard of India declared a dividend of Rs.19,66,79,000/- (Rs.19.66 Crores). The Chairman cum Managing Director of CSL, Cmde M. Jitendran presented a cheque of this amount to the Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G. K. Vasan here today. The dividend consists of Re.1 per Equity Share on the 11,32,80,000 fully paid equity shares of Rs.10 each amounting to Rs.11,32,80,000 (Rs.11.32 Crores) and Rs.70 per 11,91,420 fully paid 7% Non Cumulative Preference Shares of Rs.1,000/- each amounting to Rs.8,33,99,000/-(Rs.8.34 Crores).

 

Cochin Shipyard which attained Category-I Miniratna status in July 2008, achieved a landmark performance during 2008-09 with an increase of 70% in its profit after tax over previous year. Profit in 2008-09 was Rs.160.07 Crores as compared to Rs.93.85 in 2007-08. Continued profitability of the yard has resulted in an increase in net worth from Rs.429.42 Crores in 2007-08 to Rs.566.49 crores in 2008-09. The company achieved a total shipbuilding income of Rs.986 crores during 2008-09 as against Rs.582 crores during 2007-08, an increase of 70%. Ship repair turnover during the year was Rs.270 crores as compared to Rs.252 crores in the previous year.

 

Cochin Shipyard also redeemed two installments of Preference Share Capital amounting to Rs.40 Crores, today.

 

sp/as/dk/kol/17:43 hrs. 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Communications & Information Technology  

Software tools, fonts for six Indian languages releasedthe first phase of National roll out initiative over

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

Development of IT tools for Indian Official Languages will go a long way in safeguarding the rich cultural heritage and in enriching the future growth of nation by making larger population of the country participate in the economic development of the society. This was stated by Shri A. Raja, the Union Minister for Communication and IT while releasing a set of Software Tools and Fonts for six Indian languages here today. Underlining the importance of language technologies, the minister said, language diversity is essential to human heritage as every language embodies unique cultural wisdom of people. The loss of any language in fact is a loss for humanity, he added.

The six languages for which the CDs were presented today to their representatives in Sahitya Academy by Shri R. Chandra Shekhar, the Secretary DIT are Bangla, Konkani, Kashmiri, Manipuri, Santhali and Sindhi. For sixteen other languages namely Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Urdu, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Nepali CDs were released earlier and are being used.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Rajan T. Joseph, Director General, C-DAC thanked the DIT for having faith in C-DAC's competency and for giving the opportunity to implement the huge national initiative. Mr. Joseph further said that making IT available in local languages is imperative to ensure that benefit of this revolution reaches the common man. Anticipating widespread adoption of applications through desk-top, laptops and internet, he hoped, that this unique programme will offer enormous social and transformational impact on the daily lives of the common man.

Under TDIL programme, DIT is working towards developing local language technology so as not only to bridge the digital divide but also to overcome the English barrier. The National Roll Out initiative is a first step in this direction. With release of IT Tools and Fonts for all the 22 Indian Official Languages, the first phase of the National Roll Out initiative is over. The total number of downloaded and shipped CDs in sixteen languages is approximately 48 lakhs so far. Tens of thousands of these CDs are also being shipped to NRIs, which shows the capabilities and usefulness of the tools provided. It is expected to boost interest penetrating Indian languages, catalyze and complement the growth of e-Governance.

The next stage of National Roll out Plan is to address simultaneously enhancement of the language CDs to keep pace with the changing technologies as well as the upcoming source Software versions. Now the project has to go beyond technology development goal and couple it with initiatives of other Ministries and State Governments in percolating the use of these tools to the diverse user community.

The IT tools were released for free public distribution at a function jointly organized by the Technology Development for Indian languages (TDIL) programme of DIT and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). Among others present on the occasion were Dr. Debesh Das Hon'ble Minister In charge DIT Government of West Bengal, the Secretary DIT, Shri R. Chandra Shekhar and Director TDIL, Smt. Swarna Lata, Shri N. Ravi Shanker, JS DIT.

A Society under the Government of West Bengal- SNLTR also released a CD Baisakhi Linux, an operating system developed by it. Dr. Debesh Das Chief Patron of SNLTR expressed the hope that the initiative will accelerate the adoption of Information Technology among masses and is sure to provide boost to Indian Language Literature. These CDs are Unicode compliant and easy to use which will have multiplying effect on the creation of multilingual websites.

 

bv/at/pb/dk/kol/17:43 hrs. 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Railways  

Railway revenue earnings up by 6.09 per cent during April- August 2009

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during 1st April – 31st August 2009 were Rs. 34280.81 crore compared to Rs. 32313.85 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 6.09 per cent.

The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 22026.54 crore during 1st April – 31st August 2008 to Rs. 23124.58 crore during 1st April – 31st August 2009, an increase of 4.99 per cent.

The total passenger revenue earnings during first five months of the financial year 2009-10 were Rs. 9716.06 crore compared to Rs. 9054.71 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 7.30 per cent.

The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 935.84 crore during April-August 2009 compared to Rs. 813.95 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 14.98 per cent.

The total approximate numbers of passengers booked during April-August 2009 were 3074.97 million compared to 2939.95 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 4.59 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the numbers of passengers booked during April-August 2009 were 1565.36 million and 1509.61 million compared to 1556.91 million and 1383.04 million during the same period last year, an increase of 0.54 per cent and 9.15 per cent respectively.

 

aks/hk/lk/tr/dk/kol/17:44 hrs. 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Labour & Employment  

Mallikarjun Kharge to inaugurate National Seminar on Report to the People on Employment tomorrow

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

The Union Minister of Labour & Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge will inaugurate the "National Seminar on Report to the People on Employment" here tomorrow. The seminar is being organized in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

It may be recalled that the President of India, in her address to the Joint Session of the Parliament earlier this year, had announced that the Government would initiate action for bringing out five reports to the people on education, health, employment, environment and infrastructure within the first 100 days. The Ministry of Labour & Employment has been entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the report on the employment.

                The day long National Seminar tomorrow, is the first major step towards the preparation of the report. The seminar is being organized to elicit the views and suggestions of experts as well as various stakeholders in the area of employment.

                The proposed Report to the People provides an excellent opportunity to place before citizens the main challenges of employment – both in terms of quantity and quality facing the country. This National Seminar is intended to discuss issues that need to be highlighted and placed before the people.

                Shri. Harish Rawat, Minister of State for Labour & Employment will address the Valedictory Session of the National Seminar.

 

vba/rs/dk/kol/17:44 hrs. 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Ministry of Finance  

Govt determined to revert to the path of fiscal consolidation at the earliest: FM

 

EARLY GREEN SHOOTS OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY VISIBLE: FM

 

FM EXHORTS CBEC TO ADOPT INNOVATIVE AND DYNAMIC WAYS TO MEET REVENUE SHORTFALL

 

FM INAUGURATES ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF CHIEF COMMISSIONERS & DIRECTORS GENERAL OF CUSTOMS AND CENTRAL EXCISE

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the two-day Annual Conference of the Directors General/Chief Commissioners of Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax here today. Following is the text of Finance Minister's speech delivered on the occasion:

"Minister of State for Finance, Sh S.S. Palanimanickam, Revenue Secretary, Chairman & Members of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Ladies and gentlemen.

I am very happy to be with you all on this important annual event. The conference is an occasion to take stock and to put the Department's collective wisdom to the task of improving the functioning and the image of the indirect tax set up under the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

This Conference is being held at a crucial time. While we see a gradual thaw in the winter of economic crisis and the early green shoots of economic recovery, the situation is still far from normal. India's export to its major traditional markets in the developed economies has contracted in the last ten months. In order to combat the downturn in economy, the Government has announced a slew of measures, including reduction in indirect taxes, to put more money into the hands of the consumers. In this year's Budget, in tune with the Government's commitment towards inclusive growth, there have been larger financial outlays in social sectors like health, education and for improvement of rural and urban infrastructure. The deficient monsoon has raised a spectre of drought in large parts of India. The Government has to be prepared to take all ameliorative measures which will also have significant financial implications. The fiscal deficit is presently on the higher side and the Government is determined to revert to the path of fiscal consolidation at the earliest.

In this sombre backdrop, I need not emphasize the crucial role of the officers of Central Board of Excise and Customs in shoring up our economy. I note with satisfaction that the tax base of the indirect taxes has grown steadily and as a share of GDP has gone up from 9.2 % in 2003-04 to 12.6 % in 2007-08. However, a matter of worry is that indirect tax receipts during 2009-10 (upto July 2009) have shown a negative growth of 28% as compared to the last year. No doubt, this trend reflects the overall slowdown of the economy and the effect of stimulus measures through reduction of Central Excise duty rate. But my expectation is that despite such limitations, the Central Board of Excise and Customs will adopt innovative and dynamic ways of meeting the revenue shortfall.

As we rapidly integrate with the global economy, the role of Customs and Central Excise officers has to be redefined. They are as much facilitators of trade as tax collectors. CBEC's role is multi-faceted. It is one of the largest contributors to the central government revenues. While Central Excise continues to be the bulwark of indirect tax collection, Service tax is the new sunrise area for widening the tax base and improving revenue collection. The role of Customs as revenue generator has diminished, but its role in facilitation of international trade continues to grow. We need to focus on continuous reduction in dwell time and transaction cost for export and import so that the Indian industry gains an extra edge to compete in the world market. Further, it not only has to meet its traditional challenges of combating smuggling and commercial fraud, but has to respond to new challenges in areas as diverse as environment protection, transborder movement of goods having a bearing on national security and international negotiations in multilateral and bilateral fora.

Needless to say, such a multidimensional professional demand requires a paradigm shift in the way the Department functions. In this regard, I am very glad to note the large-scale use of Information Technology in the Department's day–to-day functioning. Equally heartening to note is the use of modern gadgets like container scanners and baggage scanners at ports and airports to detect smuggling in a more non-intrusive and real time basis. All this not only reduces public interface but also provides more efficient and scientific basis for improving tax compliance and enforcement measures. I believe, the introduction of Risk Management System at main customs stations has considerably reduced dwell time of goods at ports and airports. In this regard, I congratulate the Department, and the officers of the Directorate General of Systems, for winning the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2007-08 for 'Implementation of Risk Management System in Customs.'

Notwithstanding the laudable achievements of the department, there is scope to do much more. The officers at all levels need to be sensitized to the fact that they are facilitators and not just regulators. The tax payers need to be treated with dignity and dealt with in a fair and transparent manner. To this end, I look forward to meaningful implementation of the key components of 'Sevottam', namely the Citizen's Charter and the Public Grievance Redressal Mechanism. It is also important to ensure that the ongoing programmes concerning use of Information Technology and acquisition of modern equipments are completed as per schedule. It is also my expectation that the Department will play its rightful role in enhancing border security to curb the menace of smuggling, particularly of Fake Indian Currency Notes. With better availability of data, I also hope that the senior officers of the Department will be able to monitor the performance of the field formations more effectively and also provide more qualitative inputs with regard to administrative and policy initiatives.

As you are aware, I have announced in my Budget speech that we intend to introduce a dual GST- for Centre and State separately by 1st April, 2010. The contours of administering GST will be known to you soon. I am sure CBEC will be well prepared to meet the challenges arising out of introduction of GST. I expect the Chief Commissioners to rise to the occasion and ensure its smooth implementation.

Equally important is the need to create a system of administration which is transparent, fair and conducive to realisation of the full potential of the officers at all levels. In order to improve professional efficiency, regular training of officers at every level needs to be given high priority. While corrupt elements should be dealt with sternly, the process of vigilance enquiry should not itself take the form of punishment. Such inquiries must be disposed of in a time bound manner. CBEC is one of the biggest litigants in the courts. Steps need to be taken to reverse this trend – this should start from the point of departmental adjudication and at every stage, emphasis should be on judicious decision making.

I am confident that you will all rise up to the challenges ahead. I hope that you have fruitful deliberations over the next two days and at the end, your combined wisdom and experience will result in distilling out actionable points to improve the performance of the department on all its parameters. I wish you all the best."

 

bsc/by-325/09/dk/kol/17:45 hrs. 

 

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

* * * * * *

Prime Minister's Office  

PM congratulates Pankaj Advani

New Delhi: September 8, 2009

 

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has congratulated Pankaj Advani on becoming the World Billiards Champion. Following is the text of the message:

"On behalf of all Indians, I congratulate Pankaj Advani on winning the World Professional Billiards championship, the highest achievement in the game. Advani's talent and determination epitomize the true spirit of sportsmanship.

I am sure that Advani's victory will be an inspiration to youth in the country to take up sport and strive for excellence.

I wish him all success in his future endeavours."

 

akt/hs/cs/dk/kol/17:45 hrs.