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Thursday,
December 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Govt purchases to be
online
Beneficiaries of Antodaya scheme identified New Delhi, December 18 As many as 71,700 families in Punjab , which have been identified by the state under the Antodaya Anna Yojna have been allocated 2.51 thousand tonnes of wheat for the month of January 2003, Minister of State for Rural Development told the Rajya Sabha today.
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Parliament okays
Highways Bill
LS okays Bill on
SC/ST lists Service tax to be on Union list Party account audit move rejected India committed
to SAARC Samata threatens to
end support George’s boycott continues Withdraw MFN status to
Pakistan: BJP
Polaris chief’s
release sought Cong attacks Centre
on fiscal reforms Brigadier held
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Govt purchases to be
online New Delhi, December 18 Mr S. Lakshminarayanan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology and Communication, told the concluding session of the E-Trade Bridge Programme here today that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) would be the digital signature repository of the new electronic signature system being introduced in the government. He said the digital signature certifying cell in NIC would be formally inaugurated on December 25, the birthday of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. For making the electronic authentication system popular the government had already authorised six signature certifying bodies, including some digital service providers in the private sector. Mr Laxminaryanan said electronic commerce in the country would pick up fast with the authorisation of the digital signature system. Mr R. Badrinath, Director, Division of Trade Support Services (DTSS), International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, a technical organisation of the UN, said e-trade meant not only new technology but efficiency and profitability for its users. Its advantages in terms of cut in costs, time saving and overall efficacy of the system are tremendous. India had world’s largest pool of scientific and technical manpower and a world leader in computer software development. These factors only make it easier for India’s small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) to change over to the new technology, he said. It is significant that Indian government is planning an ambitious Rs.40, 000-crore e-governance project for implementation during the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) across the country for all business/citizen-government interfaces As per a NASSCOM survey the total volume of e-commerce transactions in India was about Rs 450 crore in 1999-2000. Mr J. Vasudevan, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation, said the ITPO had identified a cluster of small-scale industries spread over different states for orientation towards e-trade practices. The E-Trade Bridge Programme for SMEs in India was organised by the International Trade Centre (ITC), a technical organisation of the UN and its country partner India Trade Promotion organisation (ITPO). |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 18 The House was told that 1,11838 families in Haryana, 78,700 families in HP and 1,12,900 families in Jammu and Kashmir have been identified. The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Digvijay Singh, told the Lok Sabha that the Haj quota allocated by Saudi Arabia for the Indian Haj Pilgrims was 1,47,000 in 2002. Providing details regarding the sick textile mills in the country, Minister of State for textiles Mr Basanagouda R. Patil told the house that the number of sick textile mills registered with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) was 27 in Punjab, one in Chandigarh, 28 in Haryana and one in HP. The number of beneficiaries under the National Service Volunteer Scheme (NSVS), which is aimed at providing opportunities to rural youth, was 139 in Punjab, seven in Chandigarh, 134 in Haryana, 66 in HP and 113 in Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2001-02, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Mr Ponnu Radhakrishnan informed the House. The Central Council of Homeopathy sanctioned one undergraduate homeopathy college (with seating capacity for 50) in Punjab and two colleges in HP with a seating capacity of 135, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, Health and Family Welfare Minister told the Lok Sabha. The Minister of State for Telecommunications and Information Technology informed that as on October 31,2002, the number of telephone subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh was 26,85,228 against 2,08,294 subscribers in 1991. There were 12,05,610 subscribers in Haryana; 4,86,811 subscribers in HP and 2,43,698 subscribers in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Parliament okays
Highways Bill New Delhi, December 18 The Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday, was cleared by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha after several members expressed concern over unauthorised constructions along the National Highways. The Bill, moved by Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways B.C. Khanduri, seeks to control access points to National Highways and to regulate traffic on them, besides establishment of Highway Administrations to enforce the law and setting up of Tribunals to hear appeals against their orders. The Bill also seeks to control use of road land for public utilities and drains. Mr Khanduri assured the members that all repairs on highways would be completed by 2004 to enable smooth flow of traffic. Earlier participating in a discussion, members wanted intensified patrolling to check growing crimes on the National Highways. |
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LS okays Bill on
SC/ST lists New Delhi, December 18 Winding up a discussion on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said of the 981 cases needing modifications in the SC-ST lists, 502 are pending with various state governments for their opinion. As soon as the states’ approval is obtained, cases would be referred to the Registrar-General and SC and ST Commission, before Cabinet clearance, he said. On members’ concern over the non-inclusion of “Konch
Rajvanshi” of Assam in the ST list, Mr Oram said the required clearance from the Registrar-General was received only eight days back and now it would be placed before the Cabinet for approval.
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Service tax to be on Union list New Delhi, December 18 Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj said the proposed amendment would provide for levy of tax on services by the Centre and collection and appropriation of the proceeds by both Centre and states. The proposed amendment Bill is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha during the next Budget session, she said, adding that “after the proposed constitutional amendment comes into effect, the proposed legislation on service tax will be processed for introduction.” The decision would amend the Union list of the seventh Schedule to add this new entry on services, insert a new Article (Article 268A) in, and make a consequential amendment to Article 270 of the Constitution to enable levy of service tax. The government is levying and collecting service tax at 5 per cent by virtue of Entry 97 of the Union list which gives power to the Centre to levy and collect any tax not mentioned in either of the other two lists, with the approval of Parliament.
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Party account audit move rejected New Delhi, December 18 In the 97th report tabled in Parliament today by the Standing Committee on Home Affairs it recommended deletion of the provision under the proposed Bill and held that accounting by CAG-approved auditors could be discriminatory in the name of transparency. The 35-member committee, headed by Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said in its report that the proposed move, if implemented, would negate the autonomy of political parties as it tantamounted to submission of accounts of money not given from the public exchequer. The committee was in favour of bringing about a comprehensive legislation on electoral reforms instead of adopting piecemeal approach. It also rejected the proposed provision that political parties maintain separate accounts under various heads of their income on grounds of practicality. As it was difficult to maintain details of small individual donors, the committee suggested that a ceiling be fixed and agreed with the Legislative Department that parties would have to maintain accounts of donations above Rs 20,000. |
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India committed
to SAARC New Delhi, December 18 “On December 9, Pakistan, which was supposed to host the SAARC summit, unilaterally announced its postponement for reasons that can only be described as specious”, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told the Lok Sabha during zero hour today. “We did not say no to the summit. We are still fully committed to the SAARC process,” he said, adding that India was hopeful of fresh dates being announced. Mr Sinha was responding to the issue raised by Congress chief whip P.R. Dasmunsi, who had sought a clarification on the Government’s position on SAARC and whether India was going to participate. |
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Samata threatens to
end support New Delhi, December 18 While the Shiv Sena and the Samata Party took the government to task on the selling of profit-making PSUs, TDP wanted greater transparency in the disinvestment process and the Trinamool Congress criticised Samata member Prabhunath Singh’s threat. The leader of the Shiv Sena in the House, Mr Chandrakant Khaire, demanded a CBI probe into the sale and re-sale of Centaur Hotel. Criticising the Samata party leader for threatening withdrawal of support, Trinamool Congress MP Nitish Sengupta demanded that NDA leadership should treat the matter seriously. |
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George’s boycott continues New Delhi, December 18 As Congress member Raju Parmar refused to put forward his question Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat gave an assurance that he would make efforts to resolve the impasse. Mr Shekhawat’s intervention came after Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani sought to bring the issue to his notice. As he asked Raju Parmar to put his question to the minister, the member refused to ask his question. “My conscience does not permit me to put the question to the minister,” Mr Parmar said. |
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Withdraw MFN status to Pakistan: BJP New Delhi, December 18 “Though under the SAARC agreement, Pakistan is being given the MFN status, we want this to be withdrawn as that country is not reciprocating,” party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra told newspersons here. He said even the US policy towards Pakistan was not of any help in checking terrorism and American Ambassador Robert Blackwill’s remarks condemning the terrorist attack on Parliament appeared to be only lip service. |
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Gere opens Naz AIDS
care home New Delhi, December 18 Sporting the traditional red “tilak” on his forehead, the matinee idol inaugurated an AIDS care home here and earnestly put across his message to Indians to wake up before the disease assumed epidemic proportions. The 20-bed centre has been set up by the non-governmental Naz Foundation and Gere’s Initiatives Foundation. It will provide a safe and supportive environment for those orphaned or abandoned by their families after contacting the virus.
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Polaris chief’s
release sought New Delhi, December 18 India has also assured the Indonesian authorities that Mr Jain and Mr Rajiv Malhotra would be available for questioning if required in connection with the case.
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Cong attacks Centre
on fiscal reforms New Delhi, December 18 Leader of the Opposition Manmohan Singh regretted the debunking of Kelkar’s recommendations on tax reforms. |
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Brigadier held New Delhi, December 18 Brig R.P. Singh was accused of chasing and harassing a final year student of Ram Lal College near Dhaula Kuan today.
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