President accepts Honorary Doctorate Degree at Istanbul University

Inaugurats Indian culture festival

Updated on : 06-10-2013 09:13 AM

President Pranab Mukherjee accepted his Honorary Doctorate Degree at the Istanbul University and inaugurated a four-month long Indian culture festival. He is in Turkey on the second leg of his two nation tour.

President Mukherjee will be participating in a host of events including visit to historical monuments in Istanbul on Sunday.  He is in Turkey on the second leg of his week long two nation tour.  President Mukherjee was on Saturday conferred with a Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Istanbul University in Turkey.  In his acceptance speech, President Mukherjee said that he was privileged to receive the honour from the University. He also said that the Indian democracy is an inspiration to the forces of liberty around the world.  Both India and Turkey live in extremely difficult geography and they are aware of the great challenges to their internal as well as external security.  On Monday, President Mukherjee will hold talks with the top leadership in Turkish capital Ankara.

Bopanna-Edouard pair lifts Japan Open

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Updated on : 06-10-2013 11:17 AM

Rohan Bopanna ended his long wait for the second title of the season as he lifted the Japan Open trophy with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, sailing past Jamie Murray and John Peers, in Tokyo on Sunday.

The fourth seeded Indo-French pair emerged winners with a 7-6 (5) 6-4 scoreline against the Briton-Australian combo in one hour and 17 minutes in the summit clash of the USD 1,297,000 ATP 500 tournament.  Bopanna had won his first title of the 2013 season in February when he triumphed at ATP 250 event in Marseille, France with British partner Colin Fleming. He had also reached the final of Rome Masters with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi but ended runners-up. It was a tough battle out there for Bopanna and his partner as the two teams fought tooth and nail, not allowing a single break in the opening set. The fourth seeds had five break chances but Murray and Peers saved all to stretch the issue to a tie-breaker. In the second set, Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin finally converted a break chance to get a lead, which they maintained to emerge winners

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WORLD HABITAT DAY CELEBRATIONS

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Dear Sir/Madam

           

            You are invited to cover the following event.

Media Event	:	Dr. (Ms.) Girija Vyas, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will preside over the function of      World Habitat Day 2013. Shri Arun Kumar Misra, Secretary, will also grace the occasion.
Day & Date	:	Monday, 07th October 2013.
Time	:	11.15 A.M.
Venue	:	Silver Oak Hall,   Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi  Road, New Delhi

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7% Gujarat Housing JNNURM Projects Ready

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7% Gujarat Housing JNNURM Projects Ready – 22% India
October05, 2013

As per CAG report between 2005-1012 Gujarat could complete only 5 out
of 72 Housing Projects funded by JNNURM this just 7% against three
times 3X better performance in other but less resourceful states.

Even these were Corrupted works were awarded to second lowest, there
were delays in land acquisitions and 26 were not even started as 6
were abandoned.

Gujarat also didn’t reserve 20% to 25% flats for poor.

GoG wanted to allocate just 10% flats for poor which means in
financial terms between 3% to 5% of Funds allocated for Urban Poor.

There were thus Deficiencies at every step – No Good Governance.

Ravinder Singh
Progressindia008@yahoo.com

‘Only 7% JNNURM housing projects finished in Gujarat’
Avinash Nair Posted online:
Sat Oct 05 2013

Gandhinagar : During the last seven years, just 7% of the 72 housing
projects, sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM) for the urban poor, were completed in Gujarat, said a
report from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Of the total housing projects worth over Rs 2,500 crore sanctioned
under JNNURM between 2005-12 in Gujarat, 45 projects (worth over Rs
530 crore) were under Integrated Housing and Slum Development
Programme (IHSDP) and 27 projects (worth over Rs 2,000 crore) were
under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP).

“Out of the 72 housing projects sanctioned (consisting of over 1.46
lakh dwelling units or houses), only five projects were completed, six
were abandoned and 26 projects were not even started,” stated CAG in
its latest report on Local Bodies that was tabled in the Gujarat State
Legislative Assembly.

The rap from CAG comes at a time when the state government has
promised to build 50 lakh affordable homes – including those for urban
and rural poor – within a five-year period.

These 72 projects were undertaken under BSUP in cities of Ahmedabad,
Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara and under IHSDP in other cities
with the objective of providing housing to urban poor with basic
infrastructure amenities.

“Despite the availability of funds, housing projects with an estimated
cost of Rs 155 crore of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and
housing projects with estimated cost of Rs 53 crore of Surat Municipal
Corporation (SMC) were not taken up due to non-availability of land
and transit accommodation,” states the report. SMC also could not
complete 1,776 houses after incurring an expenditure of Rs 6.72 crore
due to non-availability of clear titles of land.

The auditor also noticed cost over-runs of Rs 37 crore and loss of an
additional Rs 12 crore as central assistance due to “deficient
planning” in these housing projects in Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad.
In Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and Jamnagar Municipal
Corporation, work orders were awarded to the second lowest bidders.
AMC also incurred an “avoidable expenditure” of Rs 3.25 crore due to
“injudicious rejection” of tenders.

CAG also found flaws in the implementation of urban reforms in
Gujarat. “Earmarking at least 20-25% of developed land in all housing
projects for Economical Weaker Sections/Low Income Group was not
done,” the report stated.

When pointed out, the state government in its reply stated that “it
was difficult to earmark 20-25% land for urban poor, however, Gujarat
Town Planning and Urban Development Act, 1976, provides for
reservation of plots to the extent of 10 per cent”.

Only 22 of 1,517 housing projects completed under JNNURM: CAG PTI

The Hindu The CAG report said that in some cases, there were
deficiencies in selection of beneficiaries of houses for urban poor
which led to risks of ineligible beneficiaries getting the benefit.

Only 22 of the 1,517 housing projects approved under Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission were completed by the due date of March
2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General has stated, while noting
that the ministries of central government were “not equipped” to
monitor a project of this magnitude.
The report, which was tabled in the Parliament on Thursday, also
observed that a crucial objective of bringing about reforms in the
governance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) could not be achieved through
the scheme.

“We observed that a total of 1,517 and 1,998 housing and
infrastructure projects respectively were approved for implementation
between 2005 and 2011.

However, as on 31 March 2011, in respect of the housing projects, only
22 of the 1,517 approved projects were completed,” the CAG report
said.

“The status of dwelling units within these housing projects was only
marginally better but remained low as only 26 per cent of approved
dwelling units had been completed. In respect of urban infrastructure
projects, we observed that out of the 1,298 projects approved, only
231 projects (18 per cent) were completed,” the report stated.

The JNNURM is a central government scheme which is implemented by the
ministries of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
with an aim to improve infrastructure and governance in Indian cities.

In the report, the CAG stated that the ministries of the central
government were not equipped to monitor a project of JNNURM’s
magnitude.

Only 11 out of 216 sample projects selected by it for the period
2005-06 to 2010-11 had been completed and also referred to “various
deficiencies” that it found in the implementation of these projects,
the report stated.

“This included deficient preparation and appraisal of detailed
projects, non availability of land, escalation in costs, change in
design and scope etc. In the housing projects many dwelling units
remained incomplete primarily for want of land,” it said.

The report said that against an allocation of Rs 66,084.66 crore by
the Planning Commission, the Government of India had only made an
allocation of Rs 37,070.15 crore of which only Rs 32,934.59 crore had
been released by March 31, 2011.

The CAG report also said that in some cases, there were deficiencies
in selection of beneficiaries of houses for urban poor which led to
risks of ineligible beneficiaries getting the benefit.

“A few cases of unauthorised and irregular expenditure and even
instances of undue favours to contractors came to light. Due to delays
in implementation of the projects, there were many cases of blockade
of funds due to purchase of machinery/ equipment which was not put to
use,” the CAG said.

The CAG said that the JNNURM guidelines had been deficient in giving
adequate advisory to states regarding parking of funds and there was
no uniformity in utilising interest earned on parked funds.

It said that the Urban Development Ministry’s web-enabled programme
for monitoring and evaluation had proved to be unsuccessful.

The report said that in some states and Union Territories, mandatory
and optional reforms had not been carried out as per the commitments
made between state and central governments.

“Thus, the objective to bring about reform in financial,
institutional, and structural governance structure of the ULBs to make
them efficient, accountable and transparent could not be achieved as
had been envisaged,” the report said.

In its report, the CAG has recommended that the central government
should give incentives to those states which implement the reforms
envisaged under JNNURM. It also suggests that delays should be
monitored and timely implementation of projects be given due
importance.

Giving wide publicity to schemes to generate awareness among eligible
beneficiaries was another recommendation made by the CAG.

The report said that the government should monitor the execution of
projects so that there are no diversions to ineligible beneficiaries.

The CAG has also suggested that the Ministry of Urban Development and
the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation should introduce
a “zero tolerance policy” at all levels in respect of irregular
expenditure and diversion of funds by the way of a greater financial
discipline.

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Naresh — It’s been an intense few days,

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Naresh – It’s been an intense few days, but I want to take a step back and point something out: No matter how many times some Republicans in Washington tried to stop it — and despite the fact that John Boehner has taken us all the way to a government shutdown over it — Obamacare is here to stay, and the insurance marketplace is open for business. Starting this week, millions of uninsured Americans will have access to affordable health coverage — many for the first time. That’s a big reason to be proud of the team you’re on. President Obama took a few minutes to record a personal message for OFA supporters — and I want you to see it. Watch the President’s video, and then join Team Obamacare, the people working to make sure the law is a success. It took decades to make health care reform a reality — but now that Congress has passed it, the President signed it, and the Supreme Court upheld it, we can finally celebrate this historic progress. So, whether you’ve been working toward this for years, or you’re just now signing up to help fight the lies and scare tactics trying to prevent people from getting health insurance — we need you on the team: http://my.barackobama.com/Message-from-the-President Now, let’s finish the job we started — go Obamacare! Thanks, Jon Jon Carson Executive Director Organizing for Action —————- The other side will spend millions to maintain the status quo. We’re fighting for change – chip in $5 or more to support OFA today.

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दिल्ली का पचास हजारी मेला संपन्न

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प्रशासनिक उदासीनता के बावजूद दिल्ली का पचास हजारी मेला संपन्न

विहिप के वरिष्ठ पदाधिकारी भी पहुंचे बाबा समेराम के मन्दिर

नई दिल्ली, अक्टूबर 4, 2013। भारत के सर्वाधिक प्रतिष्ठित इंदिरा गांधी अंतर्राष्ट्रीय हवाई अड्डे के ठीक सामने व पांच तारा होटल सेन्टूर के पास तीन और चार अक्टूबर की रात्रि को पचास हजार से अधिक श्रद्धालु आ कर अपने आराध्य की अर्चना कर चले गए और दिल्ली में किसी को कानों कान खबर तक नहीं हुई। और अधिक आश्चर्य की बात तो यह है कि इतने बडे वार्षिक मेले के लिए न दिल्ली की सरकार और न ही दिल्ली हवाई अड्डा लि और न ही जीएमआर(जिनकी तानाशाही में कैद इन विशाल मन्दिरों की श्रंखला है, जहां मेला लगता है) ने सुविधा की बात तो दूर वहां कोई बिजली, पानी, शौचालय, सडक या सुरक्षा की भी कोई चिन्ता नहीं की। राजधानी ही नहीं देश के सर्वाधिक सुरक्षित वैभवशाली टर्मीनल-3 के ठीक सामने स्थित इन मन्दिरों और इनमें पहुंचे पचास हजार से अधिक श्रद्धालुओं की सुरक्षार्थ मुश्किल से 25 दिल्ली पुलिस के जबान तैनात थे और यात्री अंधेरे, ऊबड-खाबड रास्ते तथा अन्य सुविधाओं के अभाव से जूझते साफ़ नजर आ रहे थे। कई वृद्ध व बच्चे रास्ते के गड्ढों में गिरते-सम्भलते चल रहे थे। इतना सब कुछ होते हुए भी अगाध श्रद्धा के चलते किसी भी यात्री ने कोई शिकायत तक नहीं की और मेला आज सायं शान्ति पूर्ण सम्पन्न हो गया। विहिप दिल्ली के अध्यक्ष श्री स्वदेश पाल गुप्ता, उपाध्यक्ष श्री दीपक कुमार, मंत्री श्री राम पाल सिंह सहित अनेक गणमान्य लोगों ने पितरों के तर्पण हेतु कनागती अमावस्या की रात्रि को भरे इस ऐतिहासिक वार्षिक मेले में पहुंच कर पूजा अर्चना की तथा वस्तु स्थिति का अवलोकन किया।  

मेले की विस्तृत जानकारी देते हुए विहिप दिल्ली के मीडिया प्रमुख श्री विनोद बंसल ने बताया कि लगभग पांच सौ वर्षों से लगातार लगने वाले इस ऐतिहासिक मेले की तैयारी नांगल देवत विकास समिति ने तो अपनी सामर्थ्यानुसार पूरी की ही थी किन्तु गत अनेक वर्षों से मन्दिर जीएमआर कम्पनी के कब्जे में होने के कारण मूलभूत सुविधाओं के अकाल से बुरी तरह से जूझ रहा है। विश्व हिन्दू परिषद ने इस संबन्ध में एक पत्र भी जीएमआर को लिखा था किन्तु व्यवस्था के नाम पर वहां अंधेरा ही अंधेरा पसरा था। पानी, बिजली, सफ़ाई, सुरक्षा व मार्ग की अव्यवस्था से श्रद्धालु पिछले अनेक वर्षों से जूझते आ रहे हैं। एक ओर मेले स्थल से मात्र आधा किलोमीटर की दूरी पर टी-3 टर्मीनल पर इतना प्रकाश की सुई में धागा भी बिना चश्मे के डाल लो तो वहीं मेला क्षेत्र में दुर्भाग्य से देश के दूर दराज से आए श्रद्धालुओं को जमीन पर पैर जमाने की जगह भी नहीं दिख रही थी और अनेक यात्री गड्ढों में गिरते हुए एक दूसरे को संभाल रहे थे। समिति के संयुक्त सचिव श्री हंसराज सहरावत ने बताया कि हमने जीएमआर, दिल्ली पुलिस व सभी सम्बन्धित विभागों को पत्र लिख कर मेले तथा उसमें आने वाले श्रद्धालुओं की संख्या के बारे में समय से सूचित कर दिया था किन्तु उनकी ओर से व्यवस्था की बात तो दूर जमीन समतलीकरण व रास्ते के कांटों की सफ़ाई हेतु जो जेसीबी समिति ने ग्राम वासियों के सहयोग से मंगाई थी पुलिस ने उसे भी जब्त कर लिया और मन्दिर आने वाले सभी मार्गों को सील कर दिया था। विहिप ने मेले के प्रति प्रशासन की घोर उपेक्षा तथा व्यवस्थाओं में अडंगा डालने की घोर निन्दा करते हुए कहा है कि पूरी रात्रि चले इस मेले में, जिसमें छ: माह के बच्चे से लेकर सौ वर्ष के वृद्ध तक ने अपनी उपस्थिति दर्ज कराई, यदि कोई हादसा हो जाता तो कौन जिम्मेवार होता?  

भवदीय

विनोद बंसल, 

मीडिया प्रमुख, 

इंद्रप्रस्थ विश्व हिंदू परिषद, दिल्ली। 

मो – 9810949109

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ELECTION COMMISSION RESTRICTION ON CARRYING CASH MORE THAN 50 THOUSAND

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ELECTION COMMISSION RESTRICTION ON CARRYING CASH MORE THAN 50 THOUSAND WILL DISTORT DELHI TRADE

CAIT HAS SOUGHT APPOINTMENT WITH ELECTION COMMISSION

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a communication sent to Central Election Commission and Delhi Election Commissioner Shri Vijay Dev today has drawn his immediate attention towards his directions issued yesterday advising people not to carry in hand more than Rs.50 thousand as cash for the purpose of expenditure monitoring. Such an order will greatly hamper the trade of Delhi-said Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the CAIT. The CAIT has sought an appointment with Mr. Vijay Dev to narrate several problems of the traders of Delhi that may arise due to such an order of the Election Commission. It has also sought an audience with Chief Election Commissioner of India.

In its communication to Election Commission, the CAIT appreciated the basic fundamental behind such decision and fully corroborate the view that illegal money for use in elections needs to be checked but at the same time it will largely disturb smooth activities of business in Delhi. It is further said that festive season has began from today which will last long till mid-December and during these months, traders hopes large volume of business every year.

Mr. Khandelwal said that Delhi is the largest distribution centre of trade in the Country and as such large number of traders from other states visit Delhi on daily basis for making purchases. Such an order of the Election Commission will discourage the outstation traders and the trade of Delhi will suffer a lot particularly when these months starting from October till December considered to be first phase of business season in each year. The second phase starts from mid January which last long till May.

He further said that such an order will also disturb the retail markets of Delhi where generally a retailer after closing his shop in the evening has no option but to carry along with him the day’s sale in cash and as such shall always be at the inquiring  point of the Authorities. It is further argued that once it is known that a trader is carrying cash along with him, it will also pose security threat and also subject to harassment by the Authorities as general trader has nothing to do with elections but such a blanket order will be proved to be disadvantageous to business activities in Delhi. 

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Education Exp Gujarat Rs.3850cr vs Punjab Rs.8541cr

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Education Exp Gujarat Rs.3850cr vs Punjab Rs.8541cr (C)
– Irri Rs.12660 vs 791, Health Rs.3800 cr vs Rs.3443 cr
October06, 2013

When Gujarat performs poorly in Education, Health, Agriculture the
reasons for First Two are poor Plan Allocation and for Agriculture is
Corrupted Irrigation in Gujarat.

Per student expenditure by Go Punjab is Rs.31286, But Go Gujarat just
Rs.3181 only. (3850 cr/1.214568 cr)

What is most shocking though even as Annual Births in Gujarat are
around 1.5m but enrollments in Primary Schools was up by just 0.231m
or 15.3%, accounting for Infant Deaths – 16% children are enrolled for
primary education.

Gujarat in SER admits decline in students at Middle and Higher
Secondary Levels.

Expenditure on Irrigation Projects in Gujarat is Rs.12660 crores this
close to all Plan Expenditure in Punjab at Rs.16,123 crores but Punjab
delivers more Canal Waters to farmers reliably to cost just Rs.791
crores than Gujarat most unreliably.

Gujarat Irrigation is Most Unreliable Corrupted in the world.

In healthcare also Punjab spends Twice More in Per Capita Terms. In
this also Gujarat has considerable share of supplementary nutrition.

Ravinder Singh
Inventor & Consultants
Progressindia008@yahoo.com
9718280435

PUNJAB
Budgets – Finance Dept Online
From Budget At Glance

IRRIGATION = Rs. 791 crores

13. Rs.336 crores For construction/remodeling of canals/distributaries.

14. Rs.310 crores For construction/lining of water courses

15. Rs.145 crores To control water logging and floods

EDUCATION = Rs.8541 crores

21. 8,541 Education – 12% of general budget for education, per student
expenditure – Rs. 31286/- pa

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/huge-hike-in-punjabs-farm-spending/article3552534.ece

The Minister proposed an expenditure of Rs.26,526 on each of the 26
lakh students in government schools. For this an allocation of
Rs.5,782 crore has been made, of which Rs.1,095 crore was under the
Plan. Apart from this, Rs.1,115 crore would be spent from Central
funds. He said the Educational Development Index (EDI) has jumped from
the 14th to third position, while there has been a sharp decline in
drop-out rates. Though he made no bones about the State economy being
under stress, the Minister said crisis remained within the stipulated
limits during the past five years, after which the Akali Dal-BJP
alliance government retained power. The fiscal deficit as a percentage
of the Gross State Domestic Produce had come down to 3.31 per cent
during the 11th Plan compared to 4.18 per cent in the10th.

HEALTH = Rs.3443 crores

33. 3,443 Health – 5% of general budget for 2013-14.

ENERGY = Power Subsidy Rs. 5,785 crores + Rs.50 cr = Rs.5835 cr

PLAN BUDGET = Rs.16,123 crores

http://financedepartment.gujarat.gov.in/budget13_14_pdf/Highlight_of_the_Budget_English.pdf

http://financedepartment.gujarat.gov.in/budget13_14_pdf/Budget_at_a_Glance_English.pdf

GUJARAT

Education = Rs. 3850 crore

Plan outlay has been enhanced from Rs. 2700 Crore in 2012-13 to Rs.
3850 crore for the next year. It is planned to start The Chief
Minister’s Scholarship Fund to support needy students, so that, they
are not compelled to discontinue studies in the absence of financial
support. It is proposed to bring in all the existing scholarship
schemes under a single umbrella by creating the ” Chief Minister’s
Scholarship Fund”. Apart from supporting the students of economically
and socially backward classes, needy students of the neo-middle class
will also be covered. A corpus fund of Rs.100 crore shall be created
in “The Chief Minister’s Scholarship Fund”. Provision has been made
for providing text books free of cost to the students of Government &
grant in aid schools and belonging to Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled
Castes and Socially and Economically backward class removing the
existing income criteria limit.

Plan Health = Rs.3800 crores

A total provision of Rs.5512 crore has been made under Plan and
Non-Plan for public health, medical services and medical education.
The Plan size increased from Rs 3060 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 3800 crore
in 2013-14.

ENERGY – Rs.4996 crores

PLAN BUDGET = Rs.58,500 crores

SER 2012-13 All Students 83.76 lakh + 30 lakh + 7.82 lakh = 121.58 lakh

2.26 During the year 2011-12, total number of primary school in the
state increased to 40943 from 40723 in 2010-11. Enrollment in these
schools also increased from 81.45 lakh in 2010-11 to 83.76 lakh in
2011-12. There has also been a significant reduction in the dropout
rate (Std. I to V) from 22.30 percent in 1999-2000 to only about 2.07
percent in 2011-12. On the other hand the number of secondary and
higher secondary schools increased from 9844 in 2010-11 to 9878 in
2011-12, but the enrollment in these schools decreased from 31 lakh to
less than 30 lakh.

The enrollment in higher education also increased from 6.80 lakh in
2010-2011 to 7.82 lakh in 2011-12. At the same time, the intake
capacity of technical institutions has also recorded an increase upto
1.06 lakh seats (including Degree and Diploma). While, the intake
capacity of MBA and MCA courses during 2011-12 also increased upto
13352 and 5716 seats respectively.