National Girl Child Day to be celebrated at a special function organized by WCD Ministry in New Delhi tomorrow 

The National Girl Child Day will be celebrated tomorrow at a special function organized by the Ministry of Women & Child Development in New Delhi in the light of exemplary achievements by nation’s daughters during 2016.

With a commendable performance at the Olympics and Paralympics and a historic induction of the first female fighter pilots into the Indian Air Force, it has truly been a proud year for India.

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of Women & Child Development and Smt. Krishna Raj, Minister of State for Women & Child Development will be addressing the audience. The occasion shall be marked by release of The National Plan of Action for Children 2016. Special addresses shall be given by eminent speakers including Women Secretaries in the Government of India, Ms Avani Chaturvedi (Women Fighter Pilot), Ms Arunima Sinha (First women amputee to climb Mount Everest), Ms. Deepa Malik (Silver medalist at Rio Paralympics 2016) and Ms Shanno (Editor, Badhte Kadam). The event will also witness a speech by Ms Shanno who is a former street girl and advisor of Balaknama newspaper for and by street children.

The occasion will be marked by felicitating 10 districts under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme for their exemplary performance. The winners of regional level quiz competition organized for girl students across various Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in Delhi on the theme of “Empowerment of Girl Child” shall also be awarded tomorrow.

The event will also see regional performance by professional troupes of Song and Drama Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

 

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Global Crude oil price of Indian Basket was US$ 53.46 per bbl on 20.01.2017 

The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 53.46 per barrel (bbl) on 20.01.2017. This was higher than the price of US$ 53.18 per bbl on previous publishing day of 19.01.2017.

In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 3640.09 per bbl on 20.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 3625.68 per bbl on 19.01.2017. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 68.09 per US$ on 20.01.2017 as compared to Rs. 68.18 per US$ on 19.01.2017. The table below gives details in this regard:

 

 

 

RG/RK/SA/Daily Crude Oil Price      

Govt lays down specific 'timeline' for completing enquiry against officers and members of All India Services

 

Government has laid down specific timeline for completing enquiry against officers and members of All India Services (AIS) within a given deadline, in a time-bound manner. Giving details about the DoPT (Department of Personnel & Training) decision, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the AIS (D&A) Rules, 1969 have been amended to provide specific timelines at different stages of the enquiry, with a view to complete the disciplinary proceedings against the members of All India Services in a time-bound manner.

As per the amended rules, a time limit of six months has been fixed for completion of departmental enquiry and submission of report. In case it is not possible to complete the enquiry within six months for justifiable reasons to be recorded in writing, additional time limit not exceeding six months at one time can be granted by the Disciplinary Authority, thereby ensuring accountability for completion of enquiry. Further, 30 days’ timeline has been fixed for the delinquent officers to give his representation to the charge-sheet which can be extended to not more than 30 days by the Disciplinary Authority and, in any case, no extension will be provided beyond 90 days. Similarly, a period of 15 days has been provided to send a representation on the advice of UPSC regarding the penalty to be imposed on the delinquent officer and for such representation also, no extension will be provided beyond 45 days.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, this amendment in the All India Service Rules has been brought, in keeping with the spirit of the Union Government led by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to bring in more accountability and time-bound completion of every exercise in the course of governance. The new amendment in the Rules, he said, will certainly strengthen the culture of working within deadlines and timelines without showing any slackness.

Meanwhile, Chairperson, Uttar Pradesh State Social Welfare Board (UPSSWB), Dr (Ms) Rupal Agarwal today called on Dr Jitendra Singh and provided her assessment about the performance of the various functionaries in the Board. She also brought to the notice of the Minister acts of omission or commission by certain officials. Dr Jitendra Singh took a note of the different issues raised by Dr Rupal Agarwal. He said, the Central Government accords high priority to programmes relating to upliftment of women, children and poor sections of the society. He also assured her that the issues raised by her will be brought to the notice of the concerned quarters.

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KSD/PK/KM

 

40 Officers of the Customs & Central Excise selected for Grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for Specially distinguished Record of Service. 

Every year, the Officers of the Board of Customs & Central Excise, Department of Revenue are considered for grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for ‘exceptionally meritorious service rendered at the risk of life’ and for Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for ‘specially distinguished record of service’ on their achieving and maintaining excellence in the discharge of their duties. These awards are announced on the eve of Republic Day.

 

            This year, forty (40) officers have been selected for grant of Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for ‘Specially distinguished record of service’.

 

            These officers have been selected on the basis of their exemplary and flawless performance in their respective field of services over the years. The awardees selected this year include the officers working as Principal Commissioners/Commissioners; Directors/ Additional Directors/ Additional Commissioners / Joint Commissioners; Deputy/ Assistant Commissioners; Superintendents/ Senior Intelligence Officers; Senior Private Secretary; Administrative Officer; Inspectors/ Intelligence Officers; Driver and Head Havaldar, who have been consistently committed to the department in various fields.

 

            The aforesaid officer’s performance in various fields includes the prevention of smuggling of contraband and Narcotics Drugs, detection of tax evasion in Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, detection of trade based money laundering, detection of foreign exchange violations and streamlining enforcement procedures etc. in the department. Besides,  many awardees  have shown their brilliance and given laudable performance in other fields as varied as tax policy, revenue mobilization, development of software for automation of Customs, Central Excise and Service tax formations, reducing litigations and dispute resolution, effective defence of cases in the Tribunals and High Courts, capacity building and training, as well as skilful handling of administrative work .

 

5.         The list of officers, along with their designation and their present place of posting, who have been selected for grant of the Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for ‘Specially distinguished record of service’, on the occasion of Republic Day, 2017 is given below:

 

PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONERS/COMMISSIONERS

 

1.      Shri Satya Narayan Saha, Principal Additional Director General, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Zonal Unit, Hyderabad.

2.       Shri Syed Haider Hasan, Principal Commissioner , Central Excise Zone, Meerut.

3.       Shri Srinivas Murty Tata, Commissioner (Service Tax), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

4.       Shri Sunil Jain, Commissioner, Central Excise Zone, Hyderabad.

 

 

 

DIRECTORS/ADDITIONAL DIRECTORS/ ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONERS/JOINT COMMISSIONERS

 

5.       Shri Rajendra Kumar, Director (Legal), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

6.       Shri Neeraj Prasad, Additional Commissioner, Directorate General of Tax Payers Services, New Delhi.

7.       Shri Manish Goyal, Additional Director, Directorate General of Human Resource Development (DG HRD), New Delhi.

8.       Shri Nasim Arshi, Additional Director, Risk Management Division (RMD), Mumbai.

9.       Dr M. G. Thamizh Valavan, Director (Anti-Smuggling), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

10.     Shri Dinesh Kumar Gupta, Director (Drawback), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

11.     Shri Mihir Ranjan, Additional Commissioner, Directorate General of Vigilance (DGoV), New Delhi.

12.     Shri Nitin Saini, Additional Director, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Regional Unit, Ludhiana.

13.     Shri Zubair Riaz Kamili, Director (Customs), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

14.     Shri Maneesh Kumar, Additional Director, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Ahmedabad.

15.     Dr. Pradyumn Kumar Tripathi, First Secretary, High Commission of India, Singapore.

16.     Shri Pramod Kumar, Officer on Special Duty (Joint Commissioner), Tax Research Unit (TRU), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), New Delhi.

17.     Shri Sanjiw Kumar Mishra, Joint Commissioner, Directorate General of Systems and Data Management, New Delhi.

 

DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS/ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS

 

18.     Shri Chanderpal Singh Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner, Customs Zone, Mumbai-II.

19.     Ms. Samrita Kaur Gill, Deputy Director, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) (Hqrs.), New Delhi.

20.     Shri Avinash Shashikant Patane, Assistant Commissioner, Central Excise Zone, Pune.

 

SUPERINTENDENTS / SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS

 

21.     Shri Shiv Kumar Sharma, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Delhi.

22.     Shri K. Ramachandran, Superintendent, Central Excise Zone, Chennai.

23.     Shri D. Venkateswaran, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Chennai.

24.     Shri Probir Kumar Sen, Superintendent, Customs and Central Excise Zone, Shillong.

25.     Shri Achal Mehrotra, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) (Hqrs.), New Delhi.

26.     Shri Nagabushanam P, Superintendent, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Zonal Unit, Bengaluru.

27.     Shri Pramod Marotrao Dange, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Mumbai.

28.     Shri Ashwani Kumar Kapur, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Regional Unit, Ludhiana.

29.     Shri Baldev Prasad Khanduri, Superintendent, Central Excise Zone, Meerut.

30.     Shri Mohan Raghavan, Senior Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Mumbai.

31.     Shri Rajesh Ramdas Salian, Superintendent, Risk Management Division (RMD), Mumbai.

32.     Ms. Seema, Superintendent, Directorate of Logistics, New Delhi.

33.     Shri Mahesh Kumar Purohit, Appraiser, Customs Zone, Mumbai-III.

34.     Shri Rajneesh Gupta, Additional Assistant Director (Supdt), Directorate General of Human Resource Development (DG HRD), New Delhi.

 

MINISTERIAL OFFICERS

 

35.     Ms. Geeta Mohan Menon, Senior Private Secretary to Chief Commissioner of Customs Zone, Mumbai-I.

36.     Shri A.G. Rajan, Administrative Officer, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Zonal Unit, Chennai.

 

INSPECTORS/INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS

 

37.     Shri Ravi Dutt Shankar, Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), Zonal Unit, Delhi.

38.     Shri Mamidi Narsingh Rao, Intelligence Officer, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI), Zonal Unit, Hyderabad.

 

DRIVER

39.     Shri Ranbir Singh, Driver Grade-I, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DGRI) (Hqrs.), New Delhi.

 

HEAD HAVALDAR

 

40.     Shri Laxman Singh Negi, Head Havaldar, Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) (Hqrs.), New Delhi.

 

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The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee headed by Shri N.K. Singh presents its Report to the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley today. 

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee headed by Shri N.K. Singh, former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary and former Member of Parliament presented its Report to the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley today in his (FM) office in North Block in the national capital.  Other Members of the Committee including Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shri Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser and Dr. Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP) were also present on the occasion. The Government will examine the Report and take appropriate action.

 

 

Earlier, the Government had constituted a Committee in May, 2016 to review the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act under the Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh, former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary and former Member of Parliament.  The Committee consisted of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shri Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser and Dr. Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP) as members.

 

The Committee had wide ranging Terms of Reference (ToR) to comprehensively review the existing FRBM Act in the light of contemporary changes, past outcomes, global economic developments, best international practices and to recommend the future fiscal framework and roadmap for the country.  Subsequently, the Terms of Reference were enlarged to seek the Committee’s views on certain recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and the Expenditure Management Commission.  These primarily related to strengthening the institutional framework on fiscal matters as well as certain issues connected with new capital expenditures in the budget.

 

The Committee held extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders.  It also received inputs from eminent national and international organisations and domain experts.  The Committee also held interactions with various Ministries of Government of India as well as with the State Governments.

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Auction for Sale (Re-issue) of Government Stocks 

Government of India have announced the Sale (re-issue) of (i) “6.84 per cent Government Stock 2022” for a notified amount of  Rs. 2000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (ii) “6.97 per cent Government Stock  2026” for a notified amount of Rs. 5,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction,   (ii) “7.73 per cent Government Stock  2034” for a notified amount of Rs. 2,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (iv) “7.06 per cent Government Stock, 2046” for a notified amount of  Rs. 2,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction. The auctions will be conducted using multiple price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on January 27, 2017 (Friday).

 

Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of 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.

 

Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on January 27, 2017. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 12.00 noon.   

 

The result of the auctions will be announced on January 27, 2017 and payment by successful bidders will be on January 30, 2017 (Monday).   

 

The Stocks will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2006-07/178 dated November 16, 2006 as amended from time to time.

 

 

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Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS) for Rubber Growers 

 Commerce & Industry Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman launched Rubber Soil Information System (RubSIS), an online system for recommending application of appropriate mix of fertilizers to the specific plantations of rubber growers depending upon their soil nature in New Delhi today. Smt Rita Teaotia, Commerce Secretary and other senior officials of the Ministry and Rubber Board were present at the occasion.

 

RubSIS, developed by Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) under the Rubber Board in collaboration with three agencies viz Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, ICAR and National Remote Sensing Center, ISRO, brings soil data to the fingerprints of rubber growers and recommends the optimum mix and quantities of chemical fertilizers that his holding requires. It is a cost effective tool for sustainable &scientific management of rubber growing soils. Apart from preventing indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and soil degradation, adoption of RubSIS will lead to reduction in the cost of production of rubber, increase in productivity and reduction in environmental pollution.

The scientific and user friendly online fertiliser recommendation system was launched today for Kottayam (Kerela), the largest rubber growing district of India which will be extended to the entire traditional rubber growing region i.e. the states of Kerela and Tamilnadu this year.

 

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MJPS

Government e-Marketplace 

gem.gov.in 

Procurement Made Smart 

A.    Introduction:Public procurement forms a very important part of Government activity and reform in Public Procurement is one of the top priorities of the present Government. Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a very bold step of the Government with the aim to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries/Departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies etc.

B.     Background:GeM owes its genesis to the recommendations of two Groups of Secretaries made to the Hon’ble PM in January 2016. They recommended setting up of a dedicated e-market for different goods & services procured/sold by Government/PSUs besides reforming DGS&D. Subsequently, the Hon’ble FM in his Budget speech for FY 2016-17, announced setting up of a technology driven platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various Ministries and agencies of the Government.

DGS&D with technical support of NeGD (MeitY) has developed GeM portal for procurement of both Products & Services. The portal was launched on 9^th August 2016 by the Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister. Procurement on GeM has been authorized by GFR by adding Rule 141A (DoE OM dated 3^rdMay 2016). Presently more than 7400 products in about 150 product categories and hiring of transport service are available on GeM POC portal. Transactions for more than                                                              Rs 140 Crore have already been processed through GeM.

GeM is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.

C.    Benefits of GeM to the Government, Sellers and the Indian industry and economy

1.      Transparency: GeM eliminates human interface in vendor registration, order placement and payment processing, to a great extent. Being an open platform, GeM offers no entry barriers to bonafide suppliers who wish to do business with the Government. At every step, SMS and e-Mail notifications are sent to both buyer, his/her head of organization, paying authorities as well as sellers. Online, cashless and time bound payment on GeM is facilitated through integration with PFMS and State Bank Multi Option System (SBMOPS); web-services integration is being extended to payment systems of Railways, Defence, major PSUs and State Governments. Seamless processes and online time-bound payment, which is also mandated by the OM issued by Department of Expenditure, has given confidence to the vendors and reduced their ‘administrative’ cost involved in pursuing officers for timely payment. 

2.      Efficiency: Direct purchase on GeM can be done in a matter of minutes and the entire process in online, end to end integrated and with online tools for assessing price reasonability. For procurements of higher value, the bidding/RA facility on GeM is among the most transparent and efficient, in comparison to e-procurement systems in vogue within the Government sector. For creating a bid/RA, the buyer does not need to create his/her own technical specifications as they have been standardized on GeM. The bid/RA can be created in a matter of minutes and finalized within a minimum of 7 days.The bid/RA is notified via e-mail and SMS to all the eligible suppliers; new suppliers are also notified once they get themselves registered online on GeM and are determined as ‘eligible’ by the system. GeM bidding/RA therefore ensures competition, fair play, speed & efficiency and leads to proper price discovery. The reasonableness of the rates can also be confirmed through online comparison with market price on leading e-Commerce portals. Very soon, GeM will also start getting feeds from various other public procurement portals in order to ensure that the same item has not been procured at a lesser rate by any other Government agency, from the same or a different vendor.The reasonability of price would be further strengthened by way of integration with GSTN and ICEGATE that will enable the buyer to ascertain the price of an item when it exited the factory gate or when it got imported into the country.   These would make GeM an extremely powerful tool in the hands of Government organizations to plan and procure.

3.      Secure and safe: GeM is a completely secure platform and all the documents on GeM are e-Signed at various stages by the buyers and sellers. The antecedents of the suppliers are verified online and automatically through MCA21, Aadhar and PAN databases. In addition, SEBI empaneled credit rating agencies are also being used for conducting third-party assessment of suppliers. This would further strengthen due diligence about the veracity of suppliers wanting to do business on GeM.For high value bids/RA on GeM, an e-Bank Guarantee is also being introduced.

GeM is a far better system than the existing one which relies more on financial instruments (EMD in case of tenders for large procurements only) to guarantee good conduct by the suppliers. In the existing system, there is zero check on the antecedents of the suppliers for small value procurements (uptoRs 1 lakh) whose cumulative value is huge across the Government organizations. GeM does a 100% online verification of all vendors irrespective of the value of procurement.

4.      Potential to support Make in India:On GeM, the filters for selecting goods which are Preferential Market Access (PMA) compliant and those manufactured by Small Scale Industries(SSI), enables the Government buyers to procure Make in India and SSI goods very easily. Easily accessible MIS also enables the administrators and policy makers to easily and effectively enforce the Government regulations on PMA and SSI sourcing. After the launch of GeM it has been noticed that several leading computer manufacturers have placed PMA compliant products on GeM.

5.      Savings to the Government: The transparency, efficiency and ease of use of the GeM portal has resulted in a substantial reduction in prices on GeM, in comparison to the tender, Rate Contract and direct purchase rates. The average prices on GeM are lower by atleast 15-20%, and in some cases even upto 56%. GeM is also doing Demand Aggregation for items that are to be procured by various Central/State Government Departments. Demand Aggregation is expected to further drive the prices south, by way of standardization of specifications and economy of scale. Demand aggregation for most of the common use goods and services is estimated to result in annual savings to the tune ofRs 40,000 Crore per annum. If pursued to its logical conclusion, GeM would eventually emerge as the National Public Procurement Portal, keeping in tune with the Global best practices; most of the OECD countries, like USA, South Korea, UK, Singapore etc, have a single NPPP and as a result annual savings of billions of dollars are made in public procurement, besides giving a fillip to the domestic industry.

 

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PM salutes Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on his birth anniversary

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has saluted Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on his birth anniversary. 

"I salute Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary. His valour played a major role in freeing India from colonialism. 

Netaji Bose was a great intellectual who always thought about the interests & wellbeing of the marginalised sections of society. 

Honoured that our Government got the opportunity to declassify files relating to Netaji Bose & fulfil a popular demand pending for decades. 

Files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are available on http://www.netajipapers.gov.in", the Prime Minister said. 

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PM Congratulates Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on taking over as Prime Minister of Mauritius

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke on the telephone with Mr. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth a short while ago to congratulate him on his assumption of office as the Prime Minister of Mauritius. 

Prime Minister Jugnauth thanked the Prime Minister for the telephone call. 

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Jugnauth affirmed their shared commitment to further strengthen the time-tested and unique relationship between India and Mauritius. 

The Prime Minister also appreciated the leadership and contribution of outgoing Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to strengthening the strong bonds of friendship between India and Mauritius. 

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President pays Homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose 

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (January 23, 2017). He paid floral tributes in front of a portrait of Netaji at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan were present on the occasion.

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AKT/SH