Smt. Kiran Bedi has been appointed Director General of the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D). She is a 1972-Batch IPS officer and belongs to AGMU Cadre.

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The decision of the Cabinet will pave the way for smooth closure of BGML

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The spokesman urged the US not to sell to Taiwan the fighter planes and refrain from causing serious damage to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits and to the China-US ties.

Taiwan separated from mainland China in 1949 at the end of a civil war but Beijing views it as a rebel province that must eventually be reunified, by force if necessary.

Despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the United States remains Taiwan's biggest arms supplier and main supporter.

The report of the sale of F-16s to Taiwan appeared during the high-profile visit of the Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, General Guo Boxiong to the US

Britain recorded its hottest July day on Saturday with a temperature of 36.3 degrees celsius south of London, breaking a record dating back nearly a century. The national meteorological office website said the mercury soared to 36.3 degrees celsius at Charlwood, by London Gatwick airport, at 2:32 pm (1902 IST).
The previous July record was 36 degrees celsius, set on 22nd July, 1911, at Epsom, southwest of London.
Britain's all-time record of 38.5 degrees celsius, recorded in August 2003, appeared set to stand.
The lowest temperature in Britain on Saturday was in a drizzly Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland islands in the far North of Scotland, where the thermometer stood at 13 degrees celsius at 2:00 pm (1830 IST).
Belfast, the main city in British-ruled Northern Ireland, recorded a temperature of 27 degrees celsius.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called for a massive, nationwide campaign for recharge of ground water by stressing that even as we develop strategies for regulating its use, we need strategies for augmenting this resource.
Inaugurating the first meeting of the Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Groundwater here today, Dr. Singh emphasized the need for effective coordination among various agencies dealing with this issue, adoption of a holistic approach and creation of institutional arrangements in the interests of livelihood and nutritional security.
Referring to National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Bharat Nirman, programmes for watershed, for afforestation, the Prime Minister urged the Advisory Council to find ways on how these can work for inclusive water secure futures in our country.
Dr. Singh observed that though the Government could take a number of initiatives in this regard, the artificial recharge movement is first and foremost a people’s movement. Stating that unless there is equity in water sharing, there will be no cooperation in water saving, Dr. Singh pointed out that water management strategies will need to be carefully designed so that they contribute to a more equitable growth process.
The Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, members of the Advisory Council, senior officials of the Ministry of Water resources and others participated in the meeting.
The following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“I am truly delighted to inaugurate this first meeting of the Advisory Council on Artificial Recharge of Groundwater. This is because, I sincerely believe that the management of water is going to be a key determinant of our ability to pursue such viable strategies for sustainable development in the twenty-first century. I am, therefore, very grateful to the members of this Advisory Council for sparing their time for this truly national duty. As I said, the issue of groundwater depletion and its recharge requires our utmost attention and urgent action. It is a matter truly of great national priority.
Groundwater irrigates the bulk of our farmers’ fields. It is also estimated that roughly 80-90 per cent of drinking water comes from groundwater sources. Therefore, the management of this resource will determine the sustainability of water use in our country and holds the key to our water security.
Every country has to evolve a viable and sustainable water policy suited to the needs of its people and its resource endowment. In our sub-continent, where water resources are scarce, the management of ground water is of critical importance. Good water conservation will determine our future. It will ensure the food and livelihood security of millions of our people, particularly, those who live on the edges of subsistence.
The challenges are truly manifold. We have to augment our water resources – build large and small reservoirs to store water. We have to minimise our water use – invest in science and technology to ensure that we can grow crops, which use less water. In other words, we have to find ways of valuing the crop per drop of water. We have to ensure that the available water is not degraded or polluted in processes of its use.
We must find new ways in which urban households use water and discharge wastewater in a more economical way. We have to tackle the problem of water-waste even as we improve the efficiency of water use. These are modern challenges for water engineers, scientists, agriculturists and people to work together on. As Dr. Swaminathan has rightly remarked we need a judicious combination of regulation, education and social mobilisation. Therefore, you have a very challenging task ahead of you. We need your guidance in each one of these three areas – how to get the country moving at a sufficient pace to meet this growing national challenge.
India, of course, has had a rich tradition of water harvesting to meet local needs. Some of these practices are more than two millennia old. We must revive the community based water management concepts, like Paani Panchayats. Unless there is equity in water sharing, there will be no cooperation in water saving.
The lack of institutional support for small and marginal farmers in augmenting rural infrastructure and their dependence on private finance is turning out to be a key cause of farmer indebtedness and poverty in many parts of our country particularly areas which suffer from acute water stress. We have seen in Vidharbha, for instance, that debt incurred by small and marginal farmers to dig wells and augment water supply for cash crops has often contributed to their indebtedness. Debt, in turn, has driven them to desperation.
Vast areas of our country remain without irrigation and probably we will never be able to educate more than 50 per cent of our cultivated areas. Therefore, the use and conservation of water that we have is of critical importance. Despite the huge investments made in irrigation, the country remains predominantly rainfed. Water availability for agriculture therefore, remains the most critical and perhaps the most limiting factor on its growth. Investment in surface irrigation systems has created islands of prosperity but they have done not enough to improve local food scarcity in many parts of our country.
The problem as I see it is less that of availability and more that of utilisation. Water management strategies will therefore need to be carefully designed so that they contribute to a more equitable and more inclusive growth process. We need new forms of institutional management of water that ensure more equitable access to it. Our government is setting up the National Rainfed Area Authority. I hope your Council will interact with this new body and come out with constructive guidelines for future management.
It is important to think of groundwater like a bank account – we need to live off its interest (that is the water we recharge) and not its capital (i,e the stored water). Currently, without adequate attention to recharge, we are in many areas of our country literally mining our groundwater reserves.
We know that groundwater levels across the country are declining alarmingly. The water level in 306 districts has fallen by over 4 metres during the past 20 years, with many blocks in these districts categorised as over exploited or in critical stages of resource development. Technology is allowing for deeper and deeper penetration and extraction. But not with unmixed blessings.
We need to regulate this use. But we also know that it is an enormous challenge, perhaps an impossible challenge, to control the use of groundwater. It would mean new forms of licensing and lead to more problems than solutions in the poorest regions of our country.
But we cannot get away from the problem of overuse and depletion. We therefore, need different policies and strategies to deal with the issue. We need location specific strategies to tackle this problem. On the one hand, we need to develop ways of restricting and regulating large users of groundwater, often found in our urban and industrial sectors. On the other, we need ways of providing state of the art knowledge about this hidden resource. This will help us target policies to critical regions and communities. Science and technology must make a greater contribution for promoting the cause of equitable and sustainable development.
But even as we develop strategies for regulating use, we need strategies for augmenting the resource, through a massive, nationwide campaign for recharge. The fact is that groundwater is a replenishable asset and what is needed is a comprehensive approach to recharge wells, so that the annual abstraction is limited to what is truly sustainable.
Recharge of groundwater is about the development of thousands, perhaps millions of disaggregated water structures across the country. It is of concern to us that minor irrigation systems – tanks, ponds and all other community-based and decentralised water harvesting systems have declined in importance over time. These systems played a critical role in the recharge of groundwater as they stored the monsoon rainwater, which in turn recharged underground aquifers.
These diverse community structures were the key to irrigation in the pre-British years. During Colonial rule, state policy neglected these structures. We therefore need to learn from our own past experience and from the global best practices today. Science and modernity must be used to tackle vital social and economic progress. Traditional water systems were designed to ensure that rainwater was stored in millions of disaggregated and diverse structures, which would in turn lead to local recharge of water into the ground. It is this distributed water harvesting that will build water security for all in the years to come.
In the campaign for water recharge we must therefore mobilise the inventiveness, knowledge, wisdom and experience and energy of our common people. The government must be an enabler. It can provide information about the state of the resource. It can inform people on the methods that are used to conserve water, to harvest rainwater and to do watershed development. It can provide financial resources. But the work belongs to people. The artificial recharge movement is first and foremost a people’s movement. If it is not, must become one to succeed.
Let me put forward two suggestions for your consideration:
One, since water is everybody’s business and various arms of the Government deal with water policy, we must create institutional arrangements to bring coherence into policies and practice. It is feared that this Council can play a role. It can deliberate on these inter-linkages and influence the programmes with its knowledge and insights about using water as the starting point for livelihood and national security for India’s teeming millions.
Two, we need ways to improve the assessment of groundwater and to ensure that this information truly reaches to the people in villages. Understanding of the availability of groundwater is linked critically to the formulation of an appropriate policy.
Our government has different key initiatives, which will impact on water. One, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has the potential to change the future of India. It will invest in the labour of people to build genuinely productive assets for social and economic change. The scheme has made water conservation the top priority. Your Council must help us to understand how we can do this task better and more effective.
We also have the Bharat Nirman Programme. We will invest in rural infrastructure for the poorest districts of our country. But we also know that water infrastructure will require new ways of thinking and new ways of working with rural communities. We know that this infrastructure is critical as even today the lack of clean water and sanitation lead to high rates of mortality in rural India. This is simply not acceptable.
We also have programmes for watershed, for afforestation, for tank renovation and for rainfed areas. I sincerely believe money is not the most important constraint on pushing the various programmes that we would like to see on the ground. What is missing and what is probably lacking is effective coordination, effective conceptualisation and the adoption of a holistic approach to deal with this big national task that lies ahead. Your Council can deliberate on ways in which these and other such initiatives can work for inclusive water secure future for our people.
Water, not oil, it is said will be the cause of future wars. I am sure this will not be the case if we learn from the traditional wisdom of our communities on how to value each drop of water and by using modern science to increase efficiency of utilization. Water then will be a cause not of conflict but of peaceful progress and prosperity. ”

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has instructed all the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to block only the specified website/webpages on the parent website. The DoT, in its letter issued to all the ISPs has mentioned that it had come to notice that in some cases the parent website had been blocked in contravention to what was stated in its earlier order dated 13th July 2006 whereby it ordered the ISPs to block certain websites/webpages.
As such the DoT has now directed all the ISPs to strictly comply with the order dated 13th July 2006 and provide unhindered access to Internet except for the websites/webpages which have been specifically mentioned in its orders issued from time to time.
The DoT has further sought explanation from the erring ISPs as to why action be not taken against them for blocking unintended websites/webpages.
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The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for making further Amendments in the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2005.
The urgent recommendations of the Tiger Task Force include strengthening of Project Tiger by giving it statutory as well as administrative powers, apart from creating a Wild Life Crime Control Bureau under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has several provisions, which include : appointment of Director and other officers (Section 3), powers to delegate (Section 5), powers of entry, search, arrest, detection, investigation, prosecution (Section 50), cognizance of offences (Section 55). However, there is no enabling provision for constituting a body / authority like Wild Life Crime Control Bureau to take measures for preventing and combating wildlife crimes. The proposed amendment provides enabling legal provisions in this regard.
The proposed amendments, interalia, envisage: constitution of Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau consisting of the Director, Additional Director, three Joint Directors and such other officers as may be appointed from amongst the officers covered under sections 3 and 4 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Further, it also specifies the following powers and functions of the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau, namely:- (i) to take measures with respect to collection and collation of intelligence related to wildlife crime, its dissemination to States and other enforcement agencies for immediate action; establishing a centralized wildlife crime data base, (ii) co-ordination of actions by various officers, State Governments and other authorities in connection with enforcement of the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 either directly or through regional and border units set up by the Bureau; (iii) implementation of obligations under various international conventions and protocols in force; (iv) assistance to concerned authorities in foreign countries and international organizations for facilitating universal action towards wildlife crime control; (v) developing infrastructure and capacity building for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes; assisting State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes; (vi) advising the Government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, suggesting changes required in relevant policy and laws from time to time; and (vii) exercising such powers as may be delegated to it under sub-section (1) of section 5, sub-sections (1) and (8) of section 50 and section 55 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, apart from other powers as may be prescribed.
This would strengthen the ongoing initiatives to conserve tiger and other endangered wild animals.

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ONGC Videsh Limited today signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU with PetroEcuador, the State Oil Company of Ecuador for cooperation in the energy sector with objective of developing and promoting petroleum, gas, electricity, petrochemical, external hydrocarbon commercialization, geological and petroleum research. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Murli Deora and Mr. Francisco Carrion Mena, Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Ecuador, who is on a state visit to India. On behalf of PetroEcuador, Dr. Carlos Abad, Ambassador of Ecuador to India signed the MoU and Mr. R.S. Butola, Managing Director, OVL signed from the Indian side.
PetroEcuador and OVL would collaborate in the area of exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Ecuador on mutually agreed terms. Such collaboration would include establishment joint ventures for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon in existing and new concessions with a view to increase production.
PetroEcuador would participate with OVL in the bidding of oil & gas blocks in Ecuador and other countries. OVL on the other hand will assist PetroEcuador on mutually agreed terms in areas of contract negotiation related to the exploration and hydrocarbon production and constitution of joint ventures companies.
OVL will train Ecuadorian nationals in research and development institutes of ONGC/OVL in areas of exploration, production, safety, environmental management, external petroleum commercialization etc.
In addition, OVL will study improvement options of the value chain of liquid natural gas in Ecuador.

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Consequent to a press release issued on 18 Jul 06 giving the status of the ;court of inquiry into alleged irregularities in Army Service Corps (ASC) purchases and related issues, several media reports have differently interpreted/ reported the disciplinary aspects of the case and in some cases even speculated on the likely punishment. In the subject case, a Court of Inquiry was ordered by GOC-in – C Western Command under the orders of the Army Headquarters to investigate into the matter after a number of complaints of irregularities in ASC procurements and related issues were received. All personnel whose character and military reputation came into question during investigations were given due opportunity to vindicate their position in terms of relevant Army rules. The Court of Inquiry has since submitted its report and GOC-in-C Western Command, the competent authority in the instant case, has ordered initiation of disciplinary proceedings against personnel found blameworthy by the Court of Inquiry. Now the legal course of recording the summary of evidence will follow and the further course of legal action will be taken against the individuals concerned based on merits of the evidence.

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SCHEDULE

 

 

Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution called upon the State Governments to implement the central package for poultry farmers and said that Government would have no hesitation in making improvement in the package in case of any practical difficulties. Addressing a conference of State Secretaries and Directors of Animal Husbandry on Avian Influenza, the Minister said though the poultry industry had suffered heavily because of the outbreak of bird flu this year, India would be in a position to declare the country free from this disease very soon. The State Governments should extend all possible help to poultry farmers to tide over their distress and implement the relief packages effectively; he said. Shri Pawar pointed out the need for taking necessary steps for containing outbreak of any poultry disease in future. The State Governments should promptly bring to the notice of central government any complex disease situation and should act as per the action plan provided by the central government to ensure that adverse impact to poultry industry is minimized. Effective awareness campaign should also be taken up to remove any misgivings in the minds of the people. India remained free from Avian Influenza till mid-February 2006. Avian Influenza has been circulating for centuries with four known outbreaks recorded in the last century itself. The present wave of Avian Influenza commenced in Hongkong in 1997. The first outbreak in India occurred in 2006 and was notified on February 18, 2006. In view of the global threat of outbreak of Avian Influenza and apprehensions of a human pandemic sounded by international organizations like World Health Organisation (WHO), World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE), and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) etc. it was necessary to take steps to ensure preparedness in case of an outbreak. As part of this preparedness the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Government of India (DADF) had prepared an Action Plan. The Draft Plan was discussed in a meeting held with the State Secretaries of Animal Husbandry under the chairpersonship of Secretary DADF in New Delhi on October 26, 2005 and thereafter circulated to the states.

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With the view to educate the people about the ill effects of smoking and tobacco products, the Government of India has notified “The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packing and Labelling) Rules, 2006 on 5^th July 2006. As per these Rules every package of cigarette or any other tobacco product shall contain the specified health warning as specified in the Schedule to these Rules. The specified health warning comprises of Skull and Bones Sign, a health warning (TOBACCO KILLS/SMOKING KILLS); a pictorial representation of ill-effects of tobacco use and a health message.These rules would come into effect from 1^st February, 2007, so as to allow the Trade & Industry to make the necessary changes in their Trade Practices.Section 20 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (Prohibition of Advertising and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, also provides for stringent penalty for non-compliance. Thus, any person who produces or manufactures cigarettes or tobacco products without the specified warning shall in the case of first conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both, and for the second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.Even the person who sells or distributes cigarettes or tobacco products without the specified warning shall be liable to punishment. This may be imprisonment for a term, which may extend to one year, or with fine, which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both, and for the second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to two years and with fine, which may extend to three thousand rupees.

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Spot prices of wheat declined by 6.3 per cent from Rs. 922 per quintal to Rs. 864 per quintal as on July 13, 2006 compared to that prevailed on February 1, 06, following the decision of the Government to import five lakh tonnes of wheat on February 2, this year. Retail prices declined by nine per cent at Delhi from Rs.11 per kg. to Rs. 10 per kg.
Retail prices of wheat remained steady during the last 10 days with a decline at Lucknow (2.11 per cent). During the last one-month wheat prices declined at Bangalore (3.33 per cent) and Lucknow (2.11 per cent) but increased at Bhopal (11.11 per cent), Mumbai (3.7 per cent) and Bhubaneshwar (4.35 per cent).
The spot prices of wheat are likely to soften further on physical arrival of the imported wheat while the futures prices will depend on the quality and prices of wheat being contracted for import by private trade at 5 per cent import duty.
On the sugar front, retail prices of sugar remained unchanged over the last ten days. Spot prices declined by 1.5 per cent as on July 13, 2006 as compared to the prices that prevailed prior to the decision of the Government on June 21 to import refined sugar at zero duty and ban exports till the end of the current financial year. Retail prices declined by one rupee per kg. over Delhi centre from Rs.22 per kg. to Rs. 21 per kg. Futures prices of sugar also declined in the range of one to seven per cent during this period.
During the last one-month, the retail prices of sugar have declined at Delhi and Bangalore (4.55 per cent), Shimla (2.17 per cent), Bhopal (2.33 per cent), Guwahati (4.35 per cent), Bhubaneshwar (2.27 per cent), and Chennai (2.50 per cent). Over the year, prices rose at all centres in the range of 4.76 per cent (Agartala) to 15.59 per cent (Lucknow and Guwahati).
The prices of all pulses declined during the week ending July 1, 2006 over the prices last year. In case of Tur dal spot price has declined by 13.8 per cent as on July 13 and futures prices by 15.2 per cent in comparison with the prices on June 7 this year. Spot prices of Gram Dal declined by 7 per cent while futures prices declined in the range of 14.3 to 16.7 per cent while the spot prices of Urad Dal declined by 2.1 per cent and that of Masoor Dal decreased by 6.5 per cent during the above period. The futures prices of both Urad Dal and Masoor Dal declined in the range of 1.5 per cent to 10.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent to 8.3 per cent respectively. The retail prices of most of these items remained steady during this period.

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The 37th India International Garment Fair was inaugurated here today. Speaking on the occasion, the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri Quaiser Shamim said that the fair is expected to generate business of around US$ 125 million. He said that the garment industry is a booming sector of our economy and a major contributor of foreign exchange earnings for the nation with exports of about US$ 8.2 billion during the year 2005-06 and the Government has set a target of textile exports of US $9.5 billion for the year 2006-07. Appreciating the active participation by a large number of buyers, he said that the garment exporters would excel in all departments and achieve a higher growth rate.
The three-day fair is being attended by around 400 exhibitors from all over the country. Over 500 buyers from 62 countries were registered for the fair. The major buyers registered are from USA, UK, Spain, Canada, Australia, France, Turkey, UAE, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Poland, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Other important countries are Mexico, Hungary, Brazil, Israel, Chile, and Panama.

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The Prime Minister during his recent visit to Vidarbha region of Maharashtra announced a series of measures to ameliorate the hardship of the farmers in the six debt ridden districts being worst affected by farmer’s suicide. Soon after the announcement, Ministries have been active in finalizing the Work Plan for operationalising the announcements with initial meetings having been convened by PMO to jump start the efforts towards implementation.
Instructions have been issued to the RBI/NABARD, Commercial Banks, RRBs and Cooperative Banks for providing debt relief to the farmers including interest waiver, and fresh flow of funds. Special teams of NABARD/ Lead Banks are being sent to the affected areas to expedite implementation.
The lead banks in the area have been asked to convene the State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) to bifurcate the target of the additional credit flow amongst various banks.
Ministry of Agriculture has initiated action for time bound implementation of the Seed Replacement Programme and has since revised the guidelines to provide benefits to farmers owning upto on hectare of land (instead of the existing limit of 0.5 acre).
A meeting is being convened by Ministry of Agriculture with NABARD on 19th July, 2006 for formalizing the action plan for implementation of the watershed programmes as announced in the package. Action would be initiated on:-
Construction of 500 check dams every year in each of the six affected districts of Maharashtra, over the next three years;
Treatment of 15,000 ha. per district per year under watershed development programme;
Rain water harvesting structures covering 1000 farmers in each districts for accelerated growth of irrigation potential to benefit SC/ST beneficiaries including small and marginal farmers.
Steps have been taken to include Buldhana in the list of National Horticulture Mission (NHM) covered districts as also to address the problems pertaining to citrus production/development in Vidarbha region.
Action plan to augment drip sprinkler irrigation system to cover over 50,000 ha. in six affected districts are underway.
All implementation measures will be monitored by State Level Committee, at the State level.
The States of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have also sent in their proposals which is in the process of finalization. Similar steps for operationalisation of the package will be adopted in these States too.

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A Pakistani-born multimillionaire businessman who owns at least two luxury homes in London, is suspected of fundraising for the terror group, which is said to have masterminded the Mumbai train bombings. According to news agency, the Times magazine in London said that the British security agencies had been warning that groups closely linked to al-Qaeda were planning to stage bomb attacks in India, using local sympathisers to carry out their operation. It also say that Indian intelligence officials accuse Britain of failing to act against a number of wealthy businessmen, who they claim are using bogus charities to funnel up to 8 million pounds a year to Kashmiri militants groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which remains the main suspect for orchestrating the synchronised bombings that killed over 182 people. Three years ago India had handed over a dossier identifying 14 men living in Britain and was assured the suspects would be investigated. However, the report quotes a senior Indian security official saying, ''Since then nothing has been done, and the money still coming from Britain helps the terrorist camps where we believe the bombers were trained and this atrocity was planned.'''Britain talks about the need for all nations to get tough together, but more money comes from the UK to Kashmiri terror groups than any other country,'' the official was quoted as saying.According to the report, the funding from overseas has helped terror groups to set up a string of new training camps in Bangladesh. Al-Qaeda-trained militants are reportedly running up to 13 camps, and MI6 and other Western intelligence agencies have been monitoring the traffic of young recruits to these centres, including a number of volunteers based in Britain, it gadded. Many Indian-based militants are alleged to have attended the al-Qaeda run camps near Bandarban and Chittagong. Security people believe that the mastermind behind the bombing on seven commuter trains used one of these camps in Bangladesh to finalise plans for the attack.

The strong trend in the number of new telephone subscribers continued in the month of June with a net addition of about 4.97 million phones - an average daily addition of 1.66 lakh lines. As a result, the total number of telephones in the country crossed 153.39 million, as against a total of 148.42 million as on May 31, 2006, i.e. a growth of 3.35%. The growth in June 2006 was 48.50% over that of June 2005. Almost the entire growth registered was in the mobile segment - with GSM contributing 3.19 million and CDMA contributing 1.66 million, respectively. The additions in the fixed line segment during the month was about 0.12 million. The overall teledensity improved further to 13.91% in June 2006 from 13.27% in May 2006 and from 9.37 % as on June 30, 2005. The North-East telecom circle continued to record the highest growth rate (10.10%) in the GSM segment, followed by Madhya Pradesh (9.22%) and Assam telecom circles (7.51%). In the CDMA segment, the total subscriber base registered a growth of 16% with a net addition of 1.66 million subscribers. Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra contributed the maximum to this addition. Andhra Pradesh alone added 4.07 lakh subscribers during the month.The growth of broadband connections improved further and at the end of May 2006, over 1.46 million broadband connections were provided and coverage of broadband connectivity by public sector service providers has reached 354 cities. Further, the total number of existing ISP licencees is 408. Under Bharat Nirman Programme, of the 66,822 villages remaining to be covered on November 2004, a total of 25870 Village Public Telephones (VPTs) have been provided. The remaining 40952 villages having more than 100 population and not lying in thick forest area etc. are to be covered by November 2007.

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The following is the text of the Statement adopted by the G-8, the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Chairman of the Council of the Heads of State of the CIS, Chairman of the African Union, and the Heads of the international organizations at St. Petersburg, Russia today at the G 8 Summit. “We are outraged by the barbaric terrorist acts, carried out on 11 July 2006 in Mumbai and other parts of India. We stand in solidarity with the Government and the people of India and express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families.
We are determined to continue the fight against terrorism by all legitimate means. We express our readiness to undertake all necessary measures to bring to justice perpetrators, organizers, sponsors of these and other terrorist acts, and those who incited the perpetrators to commit them. We shall do it in accordance with our obligations under international law, in particular international human rights law, refugee law and humanitarian law.
We are united with India in our resolve to intensify efforts to fight terrorism which constitutes a threat to each of our country, as well as to international peace and security.”

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The Government plans to raise the advertising share of small and medium newspapers to 50 per cent from the present 40 per cent. This was announced by Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Priyaranjan Dasmunsi at the Annual General Meeting of Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA) today. The Minister said that the revised Advertising Policy of Government of India, which took effect last month, has raised the share of small and medium newspapers in the Government Advertisements from 25 to 40 per cent. The eligibility requirement for receiving Government advertisement had been reduced to a circulation of 2000 copies to facilitate small/medium newspapers. Those with circulation of less than 75,000 have been exempted from ABC Certificate. The Minister said that in order to address the financial constraints of vernacular language newspapers, he would also urge the big corporate houses to route one third of their advertising through such papers.
The UPA Government is committed to promote language press as they are the real carriers of information /news to the people at large. At the same time, there is no intention on the part of the Government to erode English language press in the country, he added.
Shri Dasmunsi urged the Press to highlight both the pluses and minuses of the Government policies and programmes. He said that press has every right to criticise the Government but it must not completely ignore the positive and developmental steps/ policies initiated by the Government. He suggested that language press should give coverage to the developmental issues at least on one day each week.
Allaying apprehensions in the Media over the proposed Broadcast Bill, Shri Dasmunsi said that the Bill would be the most media friendly legislation ever. Asserting UPA Government's commitment to the freedom of the Press and journalistic expression, the Minister said that for true freedom of the press, the owners of media houses should also allow a free hand to journalistic expression and must not let only their vested interests dictate news/editorials. The Minister conveyed Government's appreciation of the Media in reporting the recent incidents in Mumbai and Srinagar and its efforts to promote the feeling of community and oneness in such circumstances.

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The American Cancer Society selected the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India for Luther L. Terry Award in the category of exemplary leadership by a Govt. Ministry in recognition of its consistent excellent performance in anti-tobacco advocacy.
Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, received the Award to a standing ovation welcome and applause, at a formal ceremony during the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Washington DC on Friday, the 14th July, 2006.
The award has been conferred on the Ministry for the progressive enthusiasm it showed since 1990 in enacting a National Tobacco Control Legislation and the unwavering leadership provided by the Indian Delegation at the Frame Work Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), in spite of strong opposition from the domestic and global tobacco industry.
India is the first country to propose a ban on the depiction of smoking scene in Films and Tele-serial despite strong opposition from Film Industry and the Media. In this connection, it is recalled that the Hon’ble Minister addressed an august gathering of distinguished persons in a Session on ‘Smoking in Movies at the said Conference in Washington on 13th July 2006, when he also made a Presentation on the subject i.e. “Smoking in Movies”.

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The Department of Health in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has issued a draft Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment) Rules published vide notification GSR 298 (E) dated 18.05.2006 in the Gazette of India, section 3, sub-section (i) Extraordinary dated 18.05.2006. The draft amendment is in respect of coating of fresh fruits with bees wax or carnauba wax under proper label declaration, prescribing limit of Mycotoxins in milk, apple juice, wheat, barley and rye and permitting use of Acesulfame Potassium (artificial sweetener) in cereal based beverages etc. The details of the notification are available on the website i.e. www.mohfw.nic.in/pfa.htm.

The draft rules are published for inviting public comments till expiry of a period of 60 days from the date of availability of the notification of the notification to the public. Comments if any, may be sent to Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi within the stipulated time period.

The draft PFA Amendment Rules pertain to following amendments and reason given:-

1. Coating of Fresh Fruits with Bees Wax (White and Yellow) or Carnauba Wax at GMP level subject to labeling of name of wax and best before date.

These food grade waxes are allowed in various countries and recommended by Codex/JECFA. The CCFS recommended these waxes for coating fresh fruits.

2. Limits of various Mycotoxins in milk, apple juice and apple juice ingredients in other beverages, wheat, barely and rye are based on available scientific literature on toxins in foods.

3. To permit use of Acesulfam Potassium (artificial sweetener) in cereal based beverages as per codex level subject to labeling conditions.

4. Amendments in standards of various food colours to align with BIS standards and JECFA specifications.

5. Bringing all Emulsifier and Stabilizer, antioxidant and preservative already permitted in flavours under different rules, under one entry in Table 3 of appendix C of PFA Rules

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The Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Health has issued a draft notification to amend PFA Rules, 1955 to insert a provision for establishment of Food Recall System under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955. With this provision, no person shall himself or by any person on his behalf, manufacture for the sale or store, sell, distribute or exhibit for sale any article of food which is pre-packed, unless he has in place a system and procedure to recall the article of food or any ingredient or any substance placed in the market which is adulterated or misbranded or injurious to health. The notification has been published in Part II, section 3, sub-section (i) of the Gazette of India Extraordinary vide GSR No. 355 (E) dated 9.6.06. The notification is also available on Website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare www.mohfw.nic.in. The comments, if any, on the draft rules may be sent to the Secretary Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi – 11001 within 60 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

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The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2006 (29 of 2006) has been enacted here today after receiving the assent of the President of India. The Act carries out amendments in the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Customs Act, 1962, and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 with the object of rationalizing and simplifying procedures, widening of tax base and plugging loopholes leading to leakage of revenue. The corresponding Act is being published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part II section 1, dated the 14th July, 2006 as Act No.29 of 2006. The Act makes amendments to the Income-tax Act so as to streamline the approval and monitoring process for certain charitable entities, scientific research associations etc., prescribe filing of return by certain charitable entities with aggregate annual receipts below one crore rupees and certain donee research institutions, require payment exceeding rupees twenty thousand by way of an account payee cheque or account payee bank draft, mandate TDS on renting of plant and machinery, equipment, royalty and non-compete fee and provide exemption to North-Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited with phased withdrawal over five years beginning assessment year 2006-2007. Further, amendments have been made to exclude any sum received from a charitable entity or a local authority without consideration from the ambit of ‘Income from other sources’, and to aggregate the said sums received without consideration, and to enhance the existing limit of twenty five thousand rupees to fifty thousand rupees for the purpose of inclusion as ‘Income from other sources’. Amendments have also been made to provide that in case of withdrawal of approval for certain donee entities, deduction to the donor shall not be denied. Besides, other amendments such as, disallowance of deduction for certain payments on which TDS not made, rounding off of demands or refunds to the nearest multiple of ten rupees, rectification of order in certain cases involving receipt of foreign exchange, empowering the Tax Recovery Officer to exercise limited powers of the Assessing Officer, allowing for revision of penalty orders on receipt of appellate orders regarding assessment and mandatory auditing of accounts of certain charitable entities etc., have been carried out.
The Act also makes amendments in the Customs Act, 1962, and Central Excise Act, 1944 which, inter-alia, provides an optional scheme for settlement of disputes at the earliest and encouraging voluntary payment of tax dues, simplified and time bound customs assessment in case of contrary claims by assessee by issue of speaking order within 15 days of assessment to provide certainty and room for appeal. Publication of names of tax evaders, provisional attachment of property during the pendency of proceedings have been introduced as measures to curb evasion of Customs and Central Excise duty and to facilitate recovery of amounts due as revenue to the government.
Taxpayers may note that some of the provisions come into effect from assessment year 2006-07 and some others become effective immediately.

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I pay tribute to all those who showed courage and humanism in responding to the cowardice of terrorists. Your resilience and resolve will triumph over the evil designs of the merchants of death and destruction.This is not the first time that the enemies of our nation have tried to undermine our peace and prosperity. These elements have not yet understood that we Indians can stand united. That we will stand united. They have not yet understood that we will never let them win.I salute the people of Mumbai and Srinagar for the speed with which they have returned to normal life today. This is living proof of our contempt for terrorism.I commend the good work done by the police, the security forces, railway staff, firemen, medical personnel, government officials and others in responding to the tragedy. I commend all our citizens for the concern they have shown in this hour of distress. My heart goes out to those who have lost their loved ones. We will do all that is possible to help each of the families in distress.

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The First meeting of the National Committee on `Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the First War of Independence- 1857’ will be held here, tomorrow under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Committee will chalk out various programmes for appropriately commemorating the 150th anniversary. It will also suggest and chalk out programmes for various related events, i.e. `Centenary Celebration of adoption of Vande Matram’, `75th Anniversary of the martyrdom and birth centenary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh’ and `Celebration of 60th Anniversary of Indian Independence’

A number of proposals will be considered during the meeting. These include: -

· Identification, restoration and beautification of all buildings and sites associated with First War of Independence.

· Publication of an authorized detailed account of the First War in all scheduled languages besides Hindi and English.

· An authoritative film on 1857 War of Independence.

· Coordinating the celebrations with the Governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as at the level of historians, artists and media of the three countries so as to provide an appropriate sub-continental dimension to the event. Setting up of a National Museum on the freedom movement reflecting various aspects of the freedom struggle covering the period from 1857 to 1947.Organizing various other events at the local, state and national levels with a view to enthuse public and inculcate in them, particularly among the younger generations adequate awareness and the spirit of patriotism.
A number of dignitaries including former Prime Ministers, S/Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, I.K. Gujral, Chandrasekhar, H.D. Deve Gowda, V.P. Singh, leader of opposition Shri L.K. Advani, Chairperson of UPA, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Union Ministers, Governors of various States, leaders of the various political parties and eminent personalities including S/Shri Shyam Benegal, Javed Akhtar, Alok Rai, Prafullah Bidwai, Saeed Naqvi, Shri Ram Chandra Guha, Prof. Romila Thapar and others are among the members of the National Committee.

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The Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee today said “we have to draw the correct lessons from the partial success” of the test launch of the Agni III Missile last Sunday from the Wheeler Island in Orissa. Addressing the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Defence here, he said that the first part of the launch was successful while in the second part there appeared to be a technical snag following which the missile fell into the Bay of Bengal. “Actual cause of the snag will be known after analysis of the detailed data obtained by DRDO”, he said. The Minister told the meeting that in a scientific experiment of this nature, there is nothing to feel disheartened about set backs as sometimes one has to be confronted with failure before achieving success. Today’s topic for discussion was “DRDO Programmes” Shri Mukherjee said that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has made significant achievements in several high-tech areas in spite of various constraints of denials and sanctions imposed by the technologically advanced countries. Listing some of the achievements of DRDO, he said that in the field of aeronautics, it has developed the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) – Tejas. Its two prototype vehicles and two technology demonstrators have successfully completed 543 test flights and the development of Naval version of LCA is also in progress. The first squadron of Tejas will fly with GE engine while the later aircraft will be fitted with the indigenously developed Kaveri Engine. The Defence Minister said that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - Nishant and Pilot-less Target Aircraft - Lakshya have been ordered by our Armed Forces. Army have evaluated the Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun and cleared it. “Production hiccups have been overcome and first lot of production is in progress”, Shri Mukherjee said. Cutting across party lines, the members complimented DRDO for its vision, mission and contributions to national security. They however, expressed concern at cost over runs and delay in the implementation of projects such as LCA and MBT. Some members also felt that DRDO should carry out an introspective review of its role in the context of contemporary global situation and redefine its strategy for future.

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Government has rationalized the FDI policy vide Press Note 4 (2006 series) dated 10.2.2006.  It has now been brought to the notice of the Government that the policy on FDI in Agriculture and Real estate requires further clarification.  It is hereby clarified that the existing policy with regard to Agriculture and Plantation sector is as under:

a)     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp; FDI up to 100% is permitted under the automatic route in the under-mentioned activities viz., floriculture, horticulture, development of seeds; animal husbandry; pisciculture; aqua-culture; cultivation of vegetables; mushrooms under controlled conditions and services related to agro and allied sectors.

 

 

b)     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp; FDI up to 100% with prior Government approval is permitted in Tea plantation subject to the conditions of divestment of 26% equity of the company in favour of an Indian partner/ Indian public within a period of five years; and prior approval of the State Government concerned in case of any future land use change.

 

 

c)     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp; Besides the above two, FDI is not allowed in any other agricultural sector/activity.

It is further clarified that that apart from the permitted activities indicated at Sl.No.11 of Section IV of the Annex to Press Note 4 (2006), FDI is not permitted in any other activity in the Real estate sector.

 

 

A suitable mechanism is needed to enable the urban street vendors earn their livelihood in a legal manner. Delivering the inaugural address on the National Seminar on Urban Street Vendors in New Delhi today the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja said that street vendors are often subjected to harassment by the police and the local authorities due to lack of regulated norms. She said that the street vending is not merely employment for urban poor but also a cheaper point of access for goods and services to the people. Kumari Selja said that street vendors form a very important component of the urban informal sector and add to the convenience and comforts of the residents by making available articles of daily use at their doorstep. Kumari Selja has said that her Ministry took up the issue related to street vendors with State Governments but their response was lukewarm. She said few states have responded but more efforts are required to achieve the desired objective. The Minister stated that positive and sensitive approach towards the street vendors is needed to include them as a part of the economic growth process of urban areas.

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The decision was announced by Patil after an hour-long emergency meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Race Course Road residence.

Background and Present Status

 

provisions of the existing policy. In short, some changes proposed by the NCEUS in their report/draft are as briefed below:-(a) The report of NCEUS recommends for construction of all town vending committee on ward-wise basis by the Municipal Authority. The existing policy has provision for ward-wise basis TVC for bigger town only. Further, there is no mention who will constitute the TVCs.(b) The report recommends revised constitution of TVC wherein market association; trader's association and RWA have no role to play. It is to be pointed out to here that associations of those of markets, RWA should remain in the TVC, as they will also be affected by the designation of the area as vending zone/no vending zone.(c) The report illustrates the function of TVCs by vesting powers of issuance of I-card prepared by the Municipal Authority and collection of revenue from the vendors. The Municipal Authority shall appoint a convener of the TVC who shall be responsible for implementation of its decision. In the existing policy the function of TVC was not so elaborated and there was no measures for implementation of the decision of the TVC.(d) The report recommends conducting survey of street vendors and their locations by competent professional institutions to be sponsored by the Ministry of UEPA/State Governments/ Municipal Authorities. In this regard, it is to be submitted that sponsoring of such survey by this Ministry will entail the provision of specific budget provision in the Ministry's grant (e) The report recommends that the Municipal Authority should regulate allocation of space based on previous occupancy. In case of no. of applicants exceeds the no. of space available, a transparent system such as lotteries should be favored. The existing policy recommends allocation by lottery wherein the market force would curtail the no. of vendors.This Ministry now proposes to take a comprehensive view on the draft report and recommendations of NCEUS in consultation with all the stakeholders. Accordingly, it has been decided to hold a one day National Seminar on Urban Street Vendors in Hall No. 3,  Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 12^th July, 2006.

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A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today between India and Pakistan, setting out the modalities for release of US $ 25 million, which the Government of India had pledged as humanitarian assistance for the victims of the earthquake of 8 October 2005. These funds would enable the Government of Pakistan to procure reconstruction material from India as per requirement. Foreign Secretary of India Shri Shyam Saran and the High Commissioner of Pakistan to India, H. E. Mr. Aziz Ahmad Khan, signed the MoU.
The Government of India hopes that this will assist the families who have been devastated by the earthquake on 8 October 2005 in rebuilding their lives. It may be recalled that the Government of India had sent relief material worth US$ 5 million for those affected by the earthquake in Pakistan. In addition, relief supplies valued at more than US$ 10.5 million were also donated from other government, semi-government and private sources. This includes relief material handed over across the Line of Control in J&K.
At the international donors’ conference organised by the UN Coordinator for Emergency Relief in Geneva in October last year, the Government of India had pledged an amount of US$ 25 million as humanitarian assistance for the victims of the earthquake of 8 October 2005. At the donors’ conference that followed in Islamabad in November 2005, Shri E. Ahamed, Minister of State for External Affairs, reaffirmed India’s commitment and requested the Government of Pakistan to source reconstruction material from India utilizing these funds.

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GSM and CDMA players have voiced different opinions over the allocation of particular frequency for third generation (3G) telecom mobile services, at a open house conducted by telecom regulator TRAI. While CDMA players said that sepctrum for 3G mobile service should be on the basis of 1900 Mhz band, the GSM operators led by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) maintained that this particular frequency was for them.Even on the pricing front, CDMA player Tatas differed with COAI with Tatas favouring one-time entry fee for 3G spectrum while COAI saying it should be allocated on the basis of subscriber base."We have collected inputs from all the stakeholders and analysing it... we hope to send our recommendations to Department of Telecom (DoT) by September," Rajinder Singh, Secretary, TRAI, said.It can be recalled that DoT had asked TRAI to rework on the spectrum allocation procedures for the 3G mobile services as the recommendations by TRAI earlier under the chairmanship of Pradip Baijal have not been considered by DoT.The TRAI had earlier recommended constitution of Group of Ministers (GoM) to sort out the contentious issue of spectrum looking at the divergent views by the two sets of players -- GSM and CDMA.The DoT had said earlier that terms of reference for GoM were limited to get spectrum vacated from the defence services and to fund the defence forces to switch over to other technology to vacate the spectrum

A Core Group has been constituted in the Ministry of Agriculture to identify base line data in the horticulture sector at the district / cluster level for evaluating the impact of programmes as well as for validating the existing estimates. The States will be equal partners in providing the required data input to complete this task; as disclosed to the participants of a National Workshop on Improvement in Agricultural Statistics held by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation which concluded here today. The other major highlights of the Workshop include: full harnessing of horticulture production performance; holding frequent meetings with the States for monitoring the growth and performance of agriculture sector; importance of Horticulture Directorate getting more consistency in data; use of space technology with ground truthing to be used on a larger scale; efforts to be made for online transfer of district level data on agriculture and emphasis on developing short duration varieties of wheat and postponing / advancing of sowing season to minimize the impact of untimely variations in temperature.
The Workshop recommended statistical legislation on the lines of Population Census and Industrial Statistics to conduct and complete the agriculture census and pointed out the need to have an Act of Parliament for its timely completion. Statutory powers are needed for the Agricultural Census Commissioner of India and State Agricultural Census Commissioners, the Workshop recommended. Inaugurating the Workshop, Smt. Radha Singh, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) emphasized the need for timely and reliable data on the agriculture sector, since important decisions relating to production, investment, procurement, imports and exports are taken based on these data. She referred to the importance of area and production estimates being brought out by Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad based on remote sensing and suggested that States should also make full use of this technology. Horticulture development has been accorded high priority in the 10th Five Year Plan. The National Horticulture Mission is one of the major initiatives taken by the Government in this regard. Therefore, for the year 2006-07 itself, DAC has provided Rs.1951 crore for Horticulture Development in the country, she said. States representatives held the view that although well laid out methodology and drill is adopted in collection and estimation, in the recent past sudden changes in temperature, specially in the case of wheat have played spoilsport with the estimates. To deal with the problem of decrease in yield levels of wheat due to untimely temperature variations, development of short duration varieties was suggested apart from advancing or postponing the sowing operations in the major wheat producing States.
The two-day National Workshop on Improvement of Agricultural Statistics was held by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation with focus on Improvement in Agricultural Statistics through improved methodology validation and timely reporting system. More than 150 participants from the State Governments, Central Organisations, namely Central Statistical Organisation, National Sample Survey Organisation, NCAP, Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute and Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad participated in the Workshop.

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The Ministry of Commerce & Industry is approaching the University Grants Commission (UGC) for grant of a Deemed University status to the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP). This was stated by Shri P.K. Dash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, at a curtain raiser press conference in connection with INDIAPACK 2006, here last evening.
While presenting his views on India’s packaging industry, Shri Dash said that the growth of retail sector in India would create a huge demand for the packaging industry. Further, this demand would generate vast job opportunities, he added.According to IIP, the Indian packaging industry is currently worth Rs.900 billion with an average growth rate of 15% against the global average growth of 4 to 5%. INDIAPACK 2006, an international packaging exhibition and conference, is scheduled to be inaugurated by Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, in Mumbai during 11-14 December, 2006.INDIAPACK 2006 is envisaged as a catalyst for the development of packaging machinery, materials, product packaging, labeling, conversion and allied sector of the packaging industry. It will also create a platform for entrepreneurs and senior management in the packaging industry an opportunity to interact on the subject of latest packaging technologies. Thus, INDIAPACK seeks to bring all stakeholders of this important industry under one roof.The events in Mumbai will also include Asian Packaging Federation programmes and the India Star Awards distribution ceremony to facilitate the winners of the National Packaging Awards. The theme of the conference in Mumbai is “Packaging for Tomorrow” highlighting the prospects of Asian region and also the latest developments and innovations in printing, conversion, system, testing and distribution to have overall knowledge to become globally competitive. INDIAPACK is organised by IIP which is a National Institute set up by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and works with the active support of the industry. The International Packaging Exhibition & Conference and other events are organised once in two years. The last INDIAPACK 2004 was held at Mumbai and 170 companies from 7 countries exhibited their products.

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The Government of Uttar Pradesh has, on the advice of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), withdrawn its circular of 7th January 2006 directing that cases of atrocities committed against Scheduled Castes would be investigated by Police Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors. The NCSC took a very serious view of it and even summoned the State Chief Secretary to discuss the issue. The Commission held that the State Government’s circular violated the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The NCSC said that the Rules framed for Protection of Civil Rights and Prevention of Atrocities clearly state that investigation of a case pertaining to atrocities committed on members of Scheduled Castes should be investigated by an officer of the level of Dy. Superintendent of Police. The Commission has said that vide the revised circular issued by the State Government all such cases where investigations have been entrusted to Inspectors/Sub-Inspectors would get automatically transferred to the Dy. Superintendents of Police. The Commission has also said that it is expected justice will be done in providing adequate safeguards in respect of atrocities committed on the members of the Scheduled Castes in Uttar Pradesh.
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The Department of Justice has taken up the computerization of 29 capital city courts in cooperation with the National Informatics Centre(NIC). The computerization project of the capital city courts in the States and UnionTerritories is a scheme with 100% Central funding.
Under the project all the 900 courts located in the State capitals and Union Territory headquarters will be linked by automated decision making and support systems being developed, delivered, installed and implemented by the NIC. This would help the judicial administration in strengthening its routine activities, reduce the pendency of cases by implementing appropriate automated process and provide an easy and transparent information access to the litigants. The systems would also provide the judges better access to legal and judicial databases.
The National Informatics Centre is providing necessary computer hardware and software. It is also establishing local area networks in the capital city courts. Depending upon the size of a city court complex, 2 to 4 high-end servers, desktop systems and printers are being provided. In each court two desk systems, one for the stenographer and the other for the court clerk, are being installed for maintaining records. In addition, computer systems are also being installed at the filing counter, query counter and administrative, cash and accounts sections.

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Government of India have announced the sale (re-issue) of “7.59 per cent Government Stock, 2016” for a notified amount of Rs.5,000 crore(nominal). Government of India have also announced the sale (re-issue) of “7.50 per cent Government Stock, 2034” for a notified amount of Rs.2,000 crore(nominal). Both the Government Stocks will be sold through price based auctions using uniform price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on July 11, 2006 (Tuesday).
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of both the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Bids in the prescribed form obtainable from the Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office (Public Debt Office), Fort, Mumbai-400 001 and RBI website www.rbi.org.in should be submitted to that Office on July 11, 2006. The NDS members should submit competitive as well as non-competitive bids in electronic format using Primary Market Operation (PMO) module of NDS. All bids should be submitted by 12.30 P.M.
The result of the auctions will be announced on July 11, 2006 and payment by successful bidders will be during banking hours on July 12, 2006 (Wednesday).
It may be recalled that as per the indicative calendar for issuance of Government securities the amounts and the tenure of the securities scheduled for auction during July 3-11, 2006 were Rs.6,000 crore for a security having 10-14 year tenure and Rs. 4,000 crore for a security having 20-year and above tenure. However, taking into account all relevant factors, the Government of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, have decided to reduce the size of auction for both the securities. Accordingly, the security having 10-14 year tenure will be auctioned for Rs. 5,000 crore instead of Rs. 6,000 crore and the security having 20 year and above tenure will be auctioned for Rs.2,000 crore instead of Rs. 4,000 crore.

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Prof. Mool Chand Sharma, Professor of Law at Delhi University has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC). Before taking over his new assignment, Prof. Sharma has been the Secretary of UGC and prior to that director of National Law University, Bhopal. Prof. Sharma known for his eminence in constitutional jurisprudence, human rights also possesses vast experience of educational policy making and higher education administration.
Prof. Mool Chand Sharma earned doctorate in juridical science from University of North West Chicago, has been recipient of numerous and prestigious scholarships such as Senior Fullbright Scholarship, Indo-US Research Fellowship and McSweeney Fellowship. He has been visiting Fellow and Teaching Fellow in number of universities abroad including University of Chicago, George town University, Washington, University of Lexington, University of Vermount and University of Leiden. Recognising his vast research, experience and academic accomplishment that he was invited as Research Advisor by National Human rights Commission for about 3 years. He was earlier National Consultant of UGC on Human Rights Education, Senior Research Advisor at Ford Foundation, Expert Legal Advisor with law Commission of India and was on the Advisory committee of National Commission for Women. Prof. Sharma has also worked in Supreme Court as Joint Registrar for Research for about 5 years.
Prof. Sharma has had publications including issues of poverty, development and human rights. His latest work of 2000 “Rule of Law, Democracy and Human Rights”, has been very widely acclaimed.
On the front of educational administration, apart from being Director, National Law University, Bhopal, Prof. Sharma has been Proctor of Delhi University for more than 5 years. He also had a small stint as Registrar of Delhi University and was Officer-on-Special Duty for Academic Affairs of Delhi University for more than 3 years. He was also Incharge of International Collaboration of Delhi University for about 2 years and occupied various other positions in Delhi University. It is significant that for the first time professor of law has been appointed on a key position like Vice Chairman of the UGC.

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The Government today gave its approval for 100 per cent compulsory packing for foodgrains and sugar in jute bags for the Jute Year 2006-07. Chairing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry, the Minister for Textiles, Shri Shankersinh Vaghela said this in New Delhi today. He said that this will fulfil one of the pronouncements made in the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government.
While expressing his concern on the deaths of farmers in various parts of the country, the Textiles Minister said that the UPA Government is also concerned about the welfare of the Handloom weavers. Shri Vaghela said that the Government is taking the rehabilitation work of NTC mill workers very seriously and the remaining mill workers will get their dues very soon.
The Textiles Minister informed the meeting that the powerlooms sector produces 62 per cent of the total cloth used in the country and it is also one of the largest employment generating sub-sector of the textiles industry. He said that out of 19.30 lakh powerlooms in the country, only about 35,000 are shuttleless looms. In comparison, China has 3.15 lakh powerlooms, of which 2.17 lakh are shuttleless. For the technological upgradation of the powerlooms sector the Government plans to install 90,000 shuttleless looms by 2010 at an additional investment of about Rs. 35,000 crore.
Shri Vaghela said that 25 integrated Textile Parks are to be set up in the country and the Ministry will provide 40 per cent of the infrastructure cost, subject to a maximum of Rs. 40 crore as grant to each integrated Park. He said the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) is already in progress for upgradation of the technology in the Textiles sector and it will in force upto March, 2007.
The Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Shri D.P.Singh informed the Committee that on the directions of Prime Minister, the Ministry of Textiles is in constant touch with the Ministry of Finance to consider the feasibility of extending the low interest facility provided for agricultural loans to handloom weavers as well. He informed the Committee that the problem of debts which is afflicting handloom cooperatives can be rescheduled else, the cooperatives can be recapitalised.
The Minister of State for Textiles, Shri E.V.K.S.Elangovan also attended the meeting. The Members of Parliament present were S/Shri D. Vittal Rao, Santasri Chatterjee, Mohan Ponnuswamy, Jai Prakash, Mohan Rawale, V. Balashowry

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The President has appointed Shri Ran Vijai Singh and Shri Pankaj Mithal as Additional Judges of the Allahabad High Court, in that order of seniority, for two years with effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices and also Shri Brahma Singh Verma as Additional Judge of the Uttaranchal High Court for two years with effect from July 15, 2006.

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The highest paid occupation for men in rural India is masonry among seven non-agricultural occupations. According to the "Wage Report in Rural India" brought out by the Labour Bureau for the agricultural year 2004-05 (July to June), the all-India average daily wage for a male mason ranged between Rs.121.32 to Rs.123.56. The masons in Kerala were even a better lot with an average daily wage of Rs.188.42 (July 2004). The masons in Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh also received an average daily wage of Rs. 182.78 and Rs.182.50 respectively. However, masons in Manipur and West Bengal had to content with an average daily wage of Rs. 83.89 (the lowest among states) and Rs.95.01 respectively.
After masonry, the other occupations having better wages are carpentry and blacksmithy. Carpenters received an average daily wage of Rs. 111.97 and blacksmiths were paid Rs.86.81. No female worker has been found employed as mason, carpenter, blacksmith, cobbler or tractor driver during 2004-05.
For women, sweeping has been found to be the highest paid non-agricultural occupation with an all-India average daily wage varying from Rs.47.35 to Rs.50.36. But for men this occupation was found the lowest paid job with an all-India average daily rate of Rs.50.92. Among women unskilled labourers were found to be lowest paid with an average daily wage of Rs.44.93.

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8)     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;  The judgment delivered by the Court in the case of plea-bargaining shall be final and no appeal shall lie in any court against such judgment

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The estimated production of major fertilizers during May 2006 was 17.15 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of urea and 3.71 lakh of MT of DAP as against the target of 17.42 lakh MT and 4.31 lakh MT respectively. Urea production in the same month was slightly less than the target due to the unscheduled shutdown in IFFCO’s Kalol and Phulpur II units and low production in FCF-Mangalore owing to equipment breakdowns and annual turnarounds. The overall availability of urea and other decontrolled fertilizers in the States was satisfactory.
The cumulative production of urea and DAP during Kharif 2006 upto May 31 this year was 31.56 lakh MT and 6.83 lakh MT against the target of 31.66 lakh MT and 8.47 lakh MT respectively.

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The Union Minister for Railways, Shri Lalu Prasad, on an official visit to several countries, visited Italy and met Government officials and other senior dignitaries in Rome yesterday. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed yesterday between Italian Railways and Ministry of Railways, Government of India.
The MOU envisages appointment of a Joint Working Group composed of three representatives from each party to identify projects of mutual interest. The MOU will provide an institutionalized and structured exchange of information in different areas of interest including a platform for Indian Railways to receive the latest technological advancements and information regarding ongoing research and development in various fields such as operation and maintenance of Railways, safety and security etc.
The Minister undertook a journey of 210 km from Rome to Naples by a high speed train with a speed of 310 km per hour. He also traveled in the engine of the train.
Shri Lalu Prasad also met the Italian Minister of Infrastructure, HE Mr Antonio Dietro this morning and briefed him about the turnaround in the Indian Railways including making profits without increasing fare or freight rates during the last two years and some other subjects like the Dedicated Freight Corridor. Shri Lalu Prasad extended an invitation to the Italian Minister to visit India at a convenient date.
The Railway Minister proposed that Italian companies should join hands with IRCON and RITES for joint bidding in the field of construction and consultancy in other countries. Shri Lalu Prasad also invited the Italian Railway Team to visit India in August 2006 to achieve further progress in implementing the MOU reached between the two countries. The Minister will be proceeding to Hanover, Germany today.

National Desk

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The issue of leviability of service tax on certain services such as money orders, operation of savings accounts, issue of postal orders which are in the nature of banking and other financial services provided by the Department of Posts has been brought to the notice of the Government. Government has examined the issue and clarified here today vide Circular No. 83/1/2006-ST dated 4th July, 2006, issued under F. No. 354/59/2006-TRU, that services such as transfer of money through money orders, operation of savings accounts, issue of postal orders which are in the nature of “banking and other financial services” defined under section 65(12) read with section 65(105)(zm) of the Finance Act, 1994 provided by the Department of Posts are not liable to service tax.
Banking and other financial services provided by a banking company or a financial institution or a non-banking financial company or any other service provider similar to a bank or a financial institution are liable to service tax under under section 65(105)(zm) read with section 65(12) of the Finance Act, 1994. Department of Posts is not considered as a service provider similar to a bank or a financial institution and therefore such services provided by Department of Posts are not liable to service tax.

National Desk

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Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has announced new advertisement policy today. Circulation check for small newspapers/journals claiming circulation upto 6,000 has been waived off w.e.f. 1st June 2006. More advertisements will now be released to newspapers with special emphasis on North-East, J&K and other remote areas. While releasing display advertisements balance is to be maintained between various categories of newspapers taking into account circulation, language, coverage, area etc. For the first time specific measures have been prescribed in the new Policy to achieve balance. The share of small and medium newspapers in display advertisements will be not less than 40% of the total amount spent from the current level of about 25%. Similarly, language newspapers are to be given sufficient coverage.
A newspaper/journal should have a minimum paid circulation of not less than 2000 copies for being considered eligible for empanelment. However, the new policy has special relief for newspapers/journals in Sanskrit, newspapers/journals published in backward border or remote areas or in tribal languages or those published in J&K, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and North-Eastern States need to have substantiated minimum paid circulation of only 500 copies per publishing day.
RNI’s role in circulation check has been replaced by statutory auditor and Charted Accountants. Publications will now be able to furnish authenticated figures of circulation of Cost Accountant/Statutory Auditor/Chartered Accountant in prescribed proforma when they claim circulation up to 75,000/-. For circulation of over 75,000 ABC Certificate would be required.
The new Advertisement Policy gives the newspapers 60 days from the date of publication of the advertisement to submit their advertisement bills. DAVP is to pay the advertisement bills within 60 days of the receipt of the bills. In order to cut delay in making payments to newspapers because of late receipt of funds by DAVP from clients, it has been provided in the new Policy that funds are to be released provisionally by client Ministries/Departments within 30 days of the issue of advertisements pending final settlement of bills. Fresh applications for empanelment can now be made twice a year in February and August.
The rate contracts will now be issued for a period of three years instead of one year. It is expected that the publications empanelled with DAVP will find the provision particularly beneficial. However, circulation shall be verified and changed, it required, every year based on the evidence as prescribed in the criteria for empanelment during the period of validity of the contract.
The new advertisement policy clearly states that all central Government advertisements will be routed through DAVP. All attached offices, autonomous organizations and PSUs under the Ministries/Departments will also route their advertisements through DAVP. All Ministries/Departments will have to pay for all types of advertisements including tender recruitment and display. It has also become more cost effective for Ministries/Departments with the Government decision that DAVP will not charge 13% departmental charges from the client Ministries/Departments.

 National Desk

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The Government will assume sweeping powers to take over control and management of private broadcasting channels in case of war or a natural calamity of national magnitude if a draft broadcast legislation becomes law. "In the event of war or a natural calamity of national magnitude, the Central Government may, in public interest, take over the control and management of any of the broadcasting services or any facility connected therewith, suspend its operation or entrust the public service broadcaster to manage it in the manner directed by the Government for such period as it deems fit," the draft bill, which is to be considered by the Union Cabinet, states.The Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2006, to regulate private broadcasting also provides for punishment like revocation of licence and fines to those who violate the proposed broadcast guidelines, including the new Content Code under preparation.The Bill provides that the Government may at any time direct the licensing authority (Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India) to suspend or revoke a broadcasting service's licence, if the service is "considered prejudicial to friendly relations with a foreign country, public order, communal harmony or security of the state." It provides for the setting up of a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) which apart from a Chairperson and six whole-time members, shall have a Government official, not less than the rank of Additional Secretary, as its CEO/Secretary.