Punjab govt. moves to insure MLAs against ‘office of profit’ Act amendments will protect them from disqualification in additional categories

The Punjab government on Wednesday paved the way for legislators to hold several new categories of ‘office of profit’ by approving amendments to the Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1952. “The amendments will protect legislators from disqualification in certain additional cases of office of profit, apart from the ones included in the original Act,” said a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting here. Further amendments include incorporation of a new Section 1A to provide for the definitions of ‘compensatory allowance’, ‘statutory body’ and ‘non-statutory body’. Besides, insertions and additions have also been made to the categories of offices of profit

Nipah: Kerala to reward government employees

The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to reward all government employees, including doctors, for their exemplary service in providing medical treatment to those who were affected by Nipah in Kozhikode district. The reward is in the form of an advanced increment for the 61 government employees who performed their duties when Nipah was raging as a contagion. They include four assistant professors, 19 staff nurses, seven nursing assistants, 17 cleaning staff four hospital attenders, two health inspectors, four security personnel, one plumber and three lab technicians. In addition to this, 12 junior doctors and three senior resident doctors will be honoured with gold medals worth one sovereign each.

34 years on, compensation for Blue Star detainees, Punjab CM to hand over ₹4.5cr to 40 people who spent time in Jodhpur prison

The detainees who were arrested and kept in a Jodhpur prison following the Army operation to flowing the Army operation to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984 will finally get some relief with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh scheduled to hand over compensation money to them . Chief Minister will distribute cheques totalling ₹4.5 crore to 40 of the detainees here at a programme in the presence of all members of his Cabinet

Ujjwala revolution

With supplies ramping up and service improving, the adoption of LPG has received a boost Last month, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) completed two years of operation. During this time the number of LPG connections has crossed 4 crore, and LPG penetration in India has risen from 56% in 2014 to 80%. While distributing new connections is no mean feat, the greater challenge for the mission lies in refills It is worth considering the usage pattern of PMUY customers who have been in the system for a year or more and have been buying four or more cylinders a year. Data from the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), which has given out almost half of the Ujjwala connections, suggest that between May 2016 and April 2017, IOCL enrolled 85.47 lakh Ujjwala customers. From May 2016 to April 2018, the average cylinder consumption of these customers was 4.4 per year, including the installation cylinder. One in five Ujjwala customers who enrolled in May 2016 is using seven cylinders annually, thus matching the national per capita consumption of 6.8 cylinders in 2017-18. A total of 60% of those enrolled in May 2016 are on their eighth cylinder at present, implying an annual usage of four cylinders. A similar trend is also seen for those enrolled in March 2017: 20% using seven or more cylinders annually, and 56% on to their fourth cylinder. Studying the usage of gas by PMUY customers and visiting multiple villages across the country, the following features of the programme are evident. One, interactions with PMUY subscribers suggest that they focus on the value that LPG generates for them and not on its cost. Munesh from Uttar Pradesh says, “LPG is neither cheap nor expensive; it is just worth the price I pay for it.” She makes enough money through sale of cow dung manure to finance her LPG refills.

Two, the programme has also witnessed the emergence of a peer learning platform: the Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat. By sharing the vision of early adopters and ironing out service issues, the LPG Panchayats being held at village levels across India are helping more and more people appreciate the advantages of clean fuel. The adoption of LPG has received a boost with supplies

ramping up and service improving. In April 2014, there were 13,896 LPG distributors across India. This number is now 20,227. Another 3,750 distributorships will be commissioned in 2018-19. Similarly, the loan deferment policy, which has allowed the recovery of loan amounts from Ujjwalla customers, has been deferred for their next six refills starting April 1, 2018. This allows customers to avail of the subsidy during this period.

Bukhari’s killers being identified Police claim to have ‘vital clues’

The Jammu & Kashmir police have laid hands on “vital clues” in the assassination of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari in the Kashmir Valley.the three armed men riding a bike, captured on several CCTV cameras in the busy Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the day of assassination on June 14, were “being identified”

‘UDAN is transforming lives in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities’

Civil Aviation Minister says the scheme has helped connect these cities sooner; had it been left to market forces alone, it would have taken years for this to happen Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha speaks on the government’s passenger friendly announcements, the challenges in implementing its regional connectivity scheme and the road ahead for Air India The Ministry has proposed a slew of measures through the draft passenger charter such as free cancellation of tickets in the first 24 hours. Airlines are opposed to it and say that it will push up costs. Do you accept that rationale? How the marketplace is going to play out, what will happen with competitive dynamics is very hard for anyone to predict. Our sense is that this is a real pain point for our customers. Of course, passengers will have to pay a convenience fee and, therefore, they will think carefully before making a change. We think this is not going to result in too much fluctuation and volatility and instead those who have a genuine need to do it only will do so. While the government has been able to add several new airports through the regional connectivity scheme, or UDAN, what have been the roadblocks that have slowed down its implementation?

Cabinet okays ₹2,000cr. capital infusion for export guarantor across FY2017-20

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved a capital infusion of ₹2,000 crore into the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) to be infused over the three financial years 2017-20 The break-up of the infusion would be ₹50 crore in 2017-18, ₹1,450 crore in 2018-19, and ₹500 crore in 2019-20.

Govt. nod for adding 6.5 MMT oil reserves Move to ensure 12 more days of supply

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the establishment of strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) facilities at two locations —Chandikhol in Odisha, and Padur in Karnataka — with a total capacity of 6.5 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT), which works out to another 12 days of reserves. “The in principle approval is to take up the project under PPP model to reduce budgetary support,” Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a government owned special purpose vehicle, has already built underground rock caverns for storing a total 5.33 MMT of crude oil at Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Mangaluru (1.5 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT). “The total 5.33 MMT capacity under Phase-I of the SPR programme is estimated to supply approximately 10 days of India’s crude requirement, according to the consumption data for FY2016-17,” the Centre said. The “additional 6.5 MMT SPR facilities will provide an additional supply of 12 days and is expected to augment India’s energy security.”

HCL Tech to buy German firm H&D International

HCL Technologies has signed a defiitive agreement to acquire Wolfsburg-based IT and engineering services provider H&D International Group, the firm said in a statement. The acquisition is part of HCL’s long-term growth plan in Germany. The value of the deal was not disclosed. This deal will give HCL in country front office and delivery capabilities and enhance the company’s domain expertise in the global automotive sector.

Japanese mission reaches far off asteroid

A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million km away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three year voyage through deep space. The Hayabusa2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 20 km above the Ryugu asteroid.

 

 

Evaluate Yourself ClickHere

Sharing is caring