Steps to Prevent Smuggling on Indo-Bangladesh Border

Total 24 persons have been arrested and Rs. 71.45 crore worth smuggled goods seized on Indo-Bangladesh border in 2011-12. The contraband smuggled includes Fake Indian Currency Notes, readymade garments, food grains, cattle, cigarettes and medicines, narcotics (including phensedyl syrup). This was stated by Shri Mullappally Ramachandran, Minister of State of Home Affairs in written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

The Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach for effective domination and to check illegal activities including infiltration on Indo-Bangladesh border. The steps taken in this regard inter-alia includes:

·         Effective domination of the border by carrying out round the clock surveillance of the borders by patrolling nakas (border ambushes) and by deploying observation posts all along the International Border.  Riverine segments of IB are being patrolled and dominated with the help of water crafts/speed boats/floating Border Out Posts (BOPs) of BSF water wings.

·         Construction of fencing, patrol roads, floodlighting and additional Border Out Posts.

·         Induction of force multipliers and Hi-Tech surveillance.  Constant efforts are being made to procure the latest surveillance equipments for further enhancing the border domination.

·         Up-gradation of intelligence network and co-ordination with sister agencies.  Conduct of special operations along with border.  

There are reports of Bangladeshi nationals having entered into India without valid travel documents.  As entry of such Bangladeshi nationals into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to have a correct estimate of such illegal immigrants living in different states in the country, he said.

Promotion of Folk Arts

The Minister for Culture and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the Government has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) for preservation, promotion and dissemination of the traditional folk arts and culture in the country. The ZCCs have been carrying out various activities and organizing programmes at the national, zonal and local levels in accordance with their aims and objectives.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today she said, Government of India, Ministry of Culture provides financial assistance to artists, including folk artistes, in indigent circumstances under the scheme of “Financial Assistance to Persons distinguished in Letters, Arts and such other walks of life who may be in indigent circumstances and their dependents”. Assistance of Rs. 4000/- per month is given to those benefitted under Central Quota and of Rs. 3500/- per month to those covered under Central-State Quota and receiving an assistance of Rs. 500/- per month from the concerned State Government.

The Minister said, in addition, financial assistance is also provided to promising/outstanding artistes, including folk artistes, under the following Schemes:

(i) “Scholarships to Young Artistes in Different Cultural Fields”. Under this Scheme 400 scholarships of the value of Rs. 5000/-each p.m. are provided every year for a period of two years.

(ii) “Fellowships to Outstanding persons in the field of Culture”. Under this scheme 200 senior fellowships of the value of Rs. 20,000/- each per month and 200 junior fellowships of the value of Rs. 10,000/- each per month are provided every year for a period of two years.

There is a proposal to set up a Cultural Centre for Gujjars, Bakarwals and Pahari Speaking Communities of Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister added.

Accidents of Merchant Ships

During the last three years 93 merchant ships accidents  registered, 23 lives have been reported to be lost in these accidents.
As per the accidents reported to the Directorate General of Shipping, 19 Ships of the Shipping Corporation of India were involved in these accidents.

All accidents falling within the meaning of casualty are investigated under the provisions of section 359 of MS Act, 1958, as amended. Subsequently, DG Shipping issues Marine Casualty Circulars, highlighting the causes of accidents and lessons learnt. Also stringent Flag State Inspections (FSI) are being undertaken to ensure compliance of all International & National Safety and environment protection requirements. An Emergency Towage Vessel manned by specialized crew has been positioned from last year on the West Coast of India for tackling Marine Emergencies during the monsoons.

All efforts are made to facilitate recovery of charges, consequent to incidents of casualty from the ship owners or their insurance companies.

The above information was given by the Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

New Website of Inter State Council Secretariat

Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram launched the new website of the Inter State Council Secretariat (ISCS) today. The new website developed in house by the Secretariat provides a wealth of information on the genesis, constitution, procedure and meetings of the Inter State Council and Zonal Councils, the evolution of Indian States and various issues of Centre State and Inter State Relations.

Indian Community Welfare Fund

 The Government of India provides budgetary support for the setting up of the fund in Indian Missions with allocations ranging from Rs.5-15 lakh So far as the corpus of such fund is concerned. The Ministry’s contribution is initially for a period of 3 years or till the period the fund becomes self sustaining whichever is earlier. The amount is released annually and is limited to meet the deficit in the financial resources of the Missions, with due regard to the utilization of the amount released during previous years. Funds raised by the Indian Missions by levying a service charge on Consular Services and voluntary contributions by the Indian community.

Funds for Training for London Olympic

Operation Excellence for London Olympics 2012 (OPEX) was launched specially for preparing the Indian Team for participating in the Olympic 2012. The funds are being provided under the Scheme “Assistance to NSF” and National Sports Development Fund. This was stated by Shri Ajay Maken, Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs & Sports, in the Rajya Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Shri Ambeth Rajan.

The Minister further stated under “Assistance to National Sports Federations, Rs.100 crore for 2011-2012 and Rs. 110 crore for 2012-2013 have been allocated. In addition, under “National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), Rs. 5.52 crore has been released for customized training of the identified core probables. Under the ‘Operation Excellence for London Olympic (OPEX) 2012, 732 players were initially selected for the purpose and the number of players was later pruned to 509. Around 218 trainers including 129 Indian coaches, 21 foreign coaches/experts and 68 supporting staff have been engaged for training of these players, the Minister added.

New Policy Focuses on Greater Involvement of Regional Channels

I&B Ministry Issues New Guidelines for Empanelment of Private C&S TV Channels for Government Advertisements

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting today announced new policy guidelines for empanelment of private cable and satellite TV channels for government advertisements released by Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP). The primary objective of these guidelines is to empanel C&S Channels and fix their telecast/broadcast rates. It is expected that the new guidelines would obtain the widest possible coverage for the media campaigns released by DAVP on behalf of Central government ministries/ departments.

The existing criterion of 0.02% all India channel share for empanelment with DAVP has been done away with under the new guidelines. This will ensure large number of regional channels to be part of DAVP’s panel. Another key aspect of the new guidelines is the focus on reaching out to regional channels in media campaigns. The policy stipulates that out of the total annual budget allocation for Television Media Campaign, 40% shall be exclusively earmarked for regional channels. The policy mentions that while finalizing the media plan , it has to be ensured that bottom up approach is adopted, i.e., channels in that region should be first widely covered, followed by other mainstream channels. A regional channel, satisfying the criterion for empanelment at any point of time in the year, can apply to DAVP for empanelment without waiting for the annual schedule, and, DAVP, after scrutinizing the applications and verification of laid down criteria may include the channel in the panel.

The new rates have increased rates substantially.

Under the new policy guidelines the rate structures are as under:-

• Rs.23000/- shall be adopted as CPRP i.e., cost per one percent rating point and Rs.150/- as constant (a) to calculate the rates in terms of the above formula.

• Unit Rate - The unit rate for Government Spot shall be for 10 second duration.

• Time Bands - There shall be six time bands - i.e. 7 AM to 9 AM, 9 AM to 12 Noon, 12 Noon to 7 PM, 7 PM to 8 PM, 8 PM to 10 PM and 10 PM to 11 PM.

• In case of advertisement of 15, 25, 35, 45 seconds or any other duration which is in multiple of 5 seconds, the same will be payable on proportionate basis.

• For second year and third year, increase of CPRP and constant element shall be done with the prior approval of the Ministry.

• There shall be no rate for ticker/scroll, as running of scrolls etc. using lower part of the screen apparently contravenes the Rule 10 of the Cable Television Network Rules 1994.

• Under the new guidelines there will be separate rates for Live cricket matches.

No rate has been fixed for sponsored programmes. However, DAVP for any specific requirement, will call for rates for a particular time band from the channels having similar TVRs in a given genre. The channel quoting the lowest CPRP may be offered the rate for telecasting the programme. A rate may only be offered provided DAVP receives quotes from a minimum of four channels. The rate so fixed by DAVP shall apply to DAVP as well as to all AAs.

The policy also stipulates that there shall be a ceiling of 2% on allocation of annual advertisement budget for Groups/Companies owning 1 to 3 channels and 5% for Groups/Companies owning 4 or more channels. This provision shall be scrupulously adhered to by DAVP and the Advertising Agencies.

For the empanelment of agencies with DAVP certain criterion will have to be met at the time of application. This includes : a minimum telecast period of one year of commercial broadcast with atleast 16 hours telecast per day i.e. 7:00 a.m. to 11 p.m., the Government permission to the company for up-linking and down-linking and sufficient evidence of such operation, a certificate by either EMMC or any other reputed agency that a channel is continuously being aired, the programme scheduling, i.e. Fixed Point Chart (FPC) for the previous 12 months from 7 AM to 11 PM, during which the companies operated; a certificate from the Teleport operator through which the channel uplinks its programmes regarding the average time of operation of the channel, certificate duly signed by the Auditor/Company Secretary for the prescribed revenue details, latest profit & loss accounts, balance sheet and actual tax payment including service tax for previous financial year and the amount of advertisement revenue generated by the channel during the previous financial year.

The policy stipulates that all applications seeking empanelment shall be placed before a panel advisory committee constituted for taking a final decision. The policy stipulates that a channel once empanelled shall remain on the panel of DAVP for a period of three years.

Education of Women/Girls

The government has initiated a number of schemes to promote education among girls in the country. Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the States are encouraged to recruit 50% women teachers. Each district is provided with an ‘innovation fund’ which can inter alia be utilized for need based interventions such as free textbooks and uniforms up to class VIII, separate toilets for girls to ensure better attendance and retention of girls.

3439 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) are operational and benefit 3,35 lakh SC, ST, OBC, BPL and minority girls at upper primary level. 1925 hostels have been sanctioned for running of girls’ hostels for students of secondary and higher secondary schools. Under the scheme for Construction of Women’s Hostels in Polytechnics, financial assistance have been provided to 487 polytechnics amounting to Rs. 219.45 upto 31/03/2012.

This information was given by Dr. D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Overseas India Tourism Offices

There are 14 Overseas India Tourism Offices located in thirteen countries under the Ministry of Tourism for undertaking activities to promote Indian tourism destinations and products and showcasing India’s tourism potential in overseas markets in order to boost inbound tourism to the country.  The details of these overseas offices and the expenditure incurred on their maintenance during the last three years and the current year, year-wise is given. The foreign tourist arrivals to India have increased from 2.38 million in the year 2002 to 6.29 million (provisional) in the year 2011.

The overseas offices NewYork       Los Angeles,Toronto,London,Frankfurt,Paris,Amsterdam,Milan,Sydney,Singapore,Dubai,Johannesburg,

 Tokyo,Beijing

National Florence Nightingale Nurses Awards 2012

The President of India, Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today presented National Florence Nightingale Nurses Awards 2012 to 36 meritorious nursing personnel on the occasion of International Nurses Day. This year for the first time the Florence Nightingale Awards were given posthumously to two nurses, namely Late Vineetha P.K. and Late Remya Rajappan from Kerala who sacrificed their lives to save patients under their care during the AMRI hospital fire incident on 9th December, 2011 in Kolkata

“The award, consisting of Rs. 50,000/- cash prize, certificate and medal, is a rare honour in recognition of selfless hard work, commitment and extra-ordinary perseverance in the course of performance of duties by the nurses.

The names of the awardees who were bestowed with the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2012 are Naw Lachu Ahtee, Bonam Esther Hemanalini, Kum Chalana J. Rathod, Sunita R. Dhonde, Harbans Batra, Agrawal Dinesh Satish Kumar, Suresh Kumari, Rehana Akhter, Aruna Kumari Sinha, Basamma T. Hanchinal, Radhamani P.G., V.G. Padmini, Sujata P. Lokhande, Usha Dinkar Talele, Lourembam Kamala Devi, S. Hoikholhing, Udasi Sahu, Sheela, R. Geetha, Petsy R. Massey, R. Sakila, Sanjoy Saha, Subrata Das, Bhawani Dev, Sujatha Surendran, Daisy Mathews, Jayasri Maiti, Lalita Jana, Brig. Tshering Khendo Bhutia, Satwant Kaur, D. Padmavathy, Sudarsa K, Jayakumari C H and Suresh T.P. 

Science Education Promotion

NCERT has undertaken a number of steps to improve quality of science education of school level namely development of activity based textbooks, laboratory manuals, exemplar problems, science kits, source books on assessment etc. NCERT has also been organizing several teacher training programmes on the use of these materials.

The CBSE affiliated schools are directed  to provide facilities of well-equipped science laboratories for conduct of practical work in the schools, apart from appointment of qualified teachers for teaching the science subject. It advised to take  enrichment activities like science Olympiad and science Exhibitions are conducted to make teaching/learning of Science subjects more interesting and enjoyable.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Dr. D. Purandeswari, in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today on 25th April

Higher Education for Poor Students

            The Central Government is implementing Means-cum-Merit Scholarship to meritorious students.  Similarly the University Grants Commission (UGC) is also providing scholarships and fellowships to SC, ST, Minorities and other meritorious candidates.  The Central Government has launched a new Central Scheme to provide full interest subsidy during the period of moratorium on educational loans for students belonging to economically weaker sections (with parental family income from all sources up to Rs. 4.5 lakh annually) from Scheduled Banks under the Educational Loan Scheme of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for pursuing courses of studies in professional/technical streams from recognized institutions in India.  The scheme is effective from the academic year 2009-2010.  The Scheme is based solely on income criteria and not social background.  The details of the Scheme are available on this Ministry’s website at www.education.nic.in.  The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) implements the scheme on “Tuition Fee Waiver scheme for Women.  Economically Backward and Physically Handicapped Meritorious Students” under which, tuition fee waiver is provided to women, economically backward and physically handicapped meritorious students pursuing degree/diploma level technical education.  Details of the scheme are available at http://www.aicte-india.org/tefwhws.htm

            Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, every child in the age group of 6-14 years is provided eight years of elementary education.  The Act requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the State).  The Central Government is also implementing National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education.  Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reported that it is implementing Merit Scholarship Scheme for Single Girls Students for 10^th pass students.  The UGC has introduced the scheme of PG Indira Gandhi Scholarship for Single Girl Child which seeks to promote girls education through scholarships to such girls who happen to be the only child in their family.  During XI Plan, UGC has strengthened the Women’s Studies Centres by establishing them as Statutory Departments in the University system to promote and expand women’s studies in teaching, research and field action.  The UGC has also introduced a scheme for Construction of Women’s Hostels to provide hostel facilities to women and incentivise  them to pursue higher education.

Measures to address Indian emigrants issues

The Indian workers migrate to Gulf Countries, with lot expectation to earn more and  support their families in India. After landing in Gulf Countries suffer from ill treatment and harassment or non payment of their salaries as per agreement contractual violations, refusal of leave or expire-entry permits, withholding of passports. etc..As of now, nearly 55 lac people working in Gulf Countries.Total 18,995  such cases reported from 2009 to 2011.

In order to address these people problem Government of India  taken several steps to help them . 

Organise Nation-wide awareness campaigns through the media to educate intending emigrants about legal emigration procedures, the risk of illegal migration and precautions to be taken during emigration.

The Government has established an Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) which is a 24 hour telephone helpline in eight languages to provide authentic information to emigrants as well as intending emigrants on all aspects of emigration.

The Government has established Indian Community Welfare Funds (ICWF) in all Indian Missions to provide onsite support to the affected emigrants. 

Government has established an Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) in the UAE.

The Government has signed MOUs with seven major labour receiving countries to lay down a framework for bilateral cooperation for the protection and welfare of workers. 

The Ministry revised the Emigration (Amendment) Rules, 2009 w.e.f 9th July, 2009 revising the eligibility criteria for Recruiting Agents (RAs).

In case, the involvement of a recruiting agent to cheat and exploit the worker is reported, then action under Emigration Act, 1983 is taken.  Besides, the blacklisting of recalcitrant employers is also resorted to.

   Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) is a compulsory Insurance Scheme for the protection of emigrant workers.

   Some missions hold awareness camps and medical camps and visit Jails, hospital and labour camps. The missions also operate shelter homes for women emigrants/ runaway maids.