The Income Tax Department, during its four-day-long raids, has unearthed Rs 7.7-crore cash, jewellery and related wealth documents to the tune of worth more than Rs 500-crore allegedly amassed by some persons including three IAS officers in MP and Chhattisgarh.
"The raids ended today and a total of Rs 7.7-crore (undisclosed money) was surrendered to us by different persons in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," a top IT official said. A sum of Rs 7.2-crore was surrendered by different persons in Madhya Pradesh while the rest amount was surrendered by one person in Chhattisgarh during the raids, he said.
IT officials were scanning and examining the documents recovered during the raids which unearthed wealth to the tune of more than Rs 500-crore unlawfully amassed, among others by IAS couple Arvind Joshi, Tinu Joshi - both principal secretary ranked officers in Madhya Pradesh - and Chhattisgarh Agriculture Secretary B L Agarwal, sources said.
During the raids at the residence of Joshi couple here, cash of Rs 3.4-crore, jewellery, foreign currency and documents related to wealth, other things were recovered. Similarly illegal property, cash, jewellery and documents pertaining to huge wealth of more than Rs 300-crore was unearthed during the raids at Agrawal and his associates' residences at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, an IT source said.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Union govt decide to upgrade Rural healthcare with BHRC grads.
While the union government has decided to go with the Medical Council of India's (MCI) proposal to introduce a Bachelor of Rural Healthcare (BRHC) course, it is yet to be finalised whether BRHC graduates will be able to call themselves 'doctors'.
After the two-day meeting held by the MCIconcluded on February 5 in Delhi, it was almost certain that the Union government will give their approval to the programme to ease the dearth of healthcare professionals in rural India.
MCI president Dr. Ketan Desai told "Officials from the government of India were present at the meeting and they have agreed to consider the MCI proposal to start a dedicated course for rural healthcare, with some minor changes. Now MCI will prepare a final draft and send it to the government for a final decision."
Talking about the course, Dr. Desai said: "The Bachelor of Rural Health Care will be athree-and-half-year course and students who pass their SSC and HSC (science stream) from schools in rural areas only will qualify for admission.
Initially, the course will be started at government hospitals which have a capacity of 150 beds in a district and which do not have a medical college. The hospital will be given Rs15-20 crore for running the course. The strength of the batch would be 25-50 students."
However, according to Dr. Desai, it is not clear whether students who pass this examination will be eligible for the 'doctor' tag. Regardless of this, they will be allowed to practice in notified rural areas only. "As the course is meant to provide better health services in rural India, students passing this course will have to serve in the government's hospitals or health centres for a minimum of three years and after that, if they wish, they can start their own practice. But they will be licensed to practice in the notified rural area only," the MCI president said.
He further said: "As different rural areas in the same state might have different health problems at local levels, we will finalise a basic course structure with essential subjects and some teaching modules can be added or changed according to local health issues."
"MCI will be sending the final draft to the government of India in the next few weeks and the final decision from the centre will come by the end of March.After that it will up to the states when to start this course," Dr. Desai said. Nearly 280 representatives including health secretaries of states, vice chancellors of health universities and directors of medical educations in the states among others attended the programme.
After the two-day meeting held by the MCIconcluded on February 5 in Delhi, it was almost certain that the Union government will give their approval to the programme to ease the dearth of healthcare professionals in rural India.
MCI president Dr. Ketan Desai told "Officials from the government of India were present at the meeting and they have agreed to consider the MCI proposal to start a dedicated course for rural healthcare, with some minor changes. Now MCI will prepare a final draft and send it to the government for a final decision."
Talking about the course, Dr. Desai said: "The Bachelor of Rural Health Care will be athree-and-half-year course and students who pass their SSC and HSC (science stream) from schools in rural areas only will qualify for admission.
Initially, the course will be started at government hospitals which have a capacity of 150 beds in a district and which do not have a medical college. The hospital will be given Rs15-20 crore for running the course. The strength of the batch would be 25-50 students."
However, according to Dr. Desai, it is not clear whether students who pass this examination will be eligible for the 'doctor' tag. Regardless of this, they will be allowed to practice in notified rural areas only. "As the course is meant to provide better health services in rural India, students passing this course will have to serve in the government's hospitals or health centres for a minimum of three years and after that, if they wish, they can start their own practice. But they will be licensed to practice in the notified rural area only," the MCI president said.
He further said: "As different rural areas in the same state might have different health problems at local levels, we will finalise a basic course structure with essential subjects and some teaching modules can be added or changed according to local health issues."
"MCI will be sending the final draft to the government of India in the next few weeks and the final decision from the centre will come by the end of March.After that it will up to the states when to start this course," Dr. Desai said. Nearly 280 representatives including health secretaries of states, vice chancellors of health universities and directors of medical educations in the states among others attended the programme.
Nuke capable AGNI-3 tests sucessful
India on Sunday successfully test-fired its indigenous nuclear-capable Agni-III missile with a range of over 3,000-km and which can hit targets deep in China, paving the way for its induction in the armed forces.
The successful test-firing of the Agni-III consolidates India's position among a select group of nations that have intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capability.
The Sunday test was its fourth and last pre-induction trial. "Now the missile system will be inducted in the armed forces," an official said in the national capital.
The missile, which is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, was tested from the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra, a launch site in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from Orissa capital Bhubaneswar, at 10.50 a.m. Two ships located near the target tracked and witnessed the missile reaching the target accurately.
This is the fourth test of the country's most powerful missile which has the capability to hit deep inside China, bringing cities like Shanghai and Beijing within its potent reach.
The missile has a two-stage solid propellant system. During the course of flight, the missile reached a peak height of 350 km and re-entered the atmosphere successfully, tolerating surface temperatures that reached nearly 3,000 degree Celsius.
"The test was highly successful. It met all the mission objectives. All the events took place as expected," S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), told IANS from the site after the test.
"The launch is part of the pre-induction trials. The Indian Army (the user) has carried out the total launch operations guided by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists," an official said.
The first test, from the same defence base on July 9, 2006, was unsuccessful. The second stage of the rocket had failed to separate from the missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen short of its target.
The DRDO-developed missile was tested again on April 12, 2007 and May 9, 2008, and both the tests were successful.
Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, has a length of 17 metres, a diameter of 2 metres and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.
While Agni-I is a 750-800 km short-range missile, Agni-II has a range of more than 1,500 km. Both have already been inducted into the armed forces.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony termed the test of Agni-III as a remarkable achievement and congratulated DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat and other scientists for making it a success.
More than a hundred defence scientists witnessed the Sunday test. They included Saraswat and Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme.
The successful test-firing of the Agni-III consolidates India's position among a select group of nations that have intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) capability.
The Sunday test was its fourth and last pre-induction trial. "Now the missile system will be inducted in the armed forces," an official said in the national capital.
The missile, which is capable of carrying warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, was tested from the Inner Wheeler Island at Dhamra, a launch site in Bhadrak district, about 200 km from Orissa capital Bhubaneswar, at 10.50 a.m. Two ships located near the target tracked and witnessed the missile reaching the target accurately.
This is the fourth test of the country's most powerful missile which has the capability to hit deep inside China, bringing cities like Shanghai and Beijing within its potent reach.
The missile has a two-stage solid propellant system. During the course of flight, the missile reached a peak height of 350 km and re-entered the atmosphere successfully, tolerating surface temperatures that reached nearly 3,000 degree Celsius.
"The test was highly successful. It met all the mission objectives. All the events took place as expected," S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range (ITR), told IANS from the site after the test.
"The launch is part of the pre-induction trials. The Indian Army (the user) has carried out the total launch operations guided by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientists," an official said.
The first test, from the same defence base on July 9, 2006, was unsuccessful. The second stage of the rocket had failed to separate from the missile quickly enough and the missile had fallen short of its target.
The DRDO-developed missile was tested again on April 12, 2007 and May 9, 2008, and both the tests were successful.
Agni-III, one of the Agni series missiles, has a length of 17 metres, a diameter of 2 metres and a launch weight of 50 tonnes.
While Agni-I is a 750-800 km short-range missile, Agni-II has a range of more than 1,500 km. Both have already been inducted into the armed forces.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony termed the test of Agni-III as a remarkable achievement and congratulated DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat and other scientists for making it a success.
More than a hundred defence scientists witnessed the Sunday test. They included Saraswat and Avinash Chandra, director of the Agni-III programme.
Threat calls made Emirates plane to land at Mumbai airport
An Emirates Mumbai-Dubai flight made an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport Sunday soon after take off following an anonymous call warning that there were terrorists on board. Two passengers - a man and his wife - have been detained by police for questioning.
According to an airport official, the flight EK-505 was recalled by the air traffic control following the call shortly after 9.30 a.m. Sunday.
As the flight returned under full emergency at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, it underwent full security procedures.
This included deplaning all the 200-plus passengers and crew, and a thorough screening of the aircraft, all the travellers and their baggage.
The procedure went on for over four hours.
A male passenger - identified as Shahbaz - and his wife have been detained by the Sahar Airport police for questioning.
The flight left for Dubai shortly after 2 p.m., the official said.
According to an airport official, the flight EK-505 was recalled by the air traffic control following the call shortly after 9.30 a.m. Sunday.
As the flight returned under full emergency at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, it underwent full security procedures.
This included deplaning all the 200-plus passengers and crew, and a thorough screening of the aircraft, all the travellers and their baggage.
The procedure went on for over four hours.
A male passenger - identified as Shahbaz - and his wife have been detained by the Sahar Airport police for questioning.
The flight left for Dubai shortly after 2 p.m., the official said.
GOI rejects Gujarat's law against terror & crime acts
The central government withheld approval to Gujarat's controversial anti-terror law as it was not in accordance with the "present mind of the Parliament and the Constitution", Home minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday.
"With great respect to (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi, I say that the government of India and the president can give assent to a bill which reflects the last expression of the mind of the Parliament," Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with state chief ministers on internal security.
The home minister said the draconian anti-terror law POTA was repealed because "Indian parliament and the constitution don't approve of a confession made before a police officer".
Similarly, he said, "the present mind of parliament is opposed to the provisions" contained in the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA).
"The law has to reflect the present mind of parliament and constitution and GUJCOCA didn't reflect that," he said.
The home minister's remarks come in the backdrop of Modi critcising the central government's refusal to give its nod to the president to sign the controversial act passed by the state assembly.
Calling the decision of the central government to return the act as "injustice with Gujarat", Modi described GUJCOCA as only a Xerox copy of a similar law in Maharashtra.
"With great respect to (Gujarat chief minister) Narendra Modi, I say that the government of India and the president can give assent to a bill which reflects the last expression of the mind of the Parliament," Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting with state chief ministers on internal security.
The home minister said the draconian anti-terror law POTA was repealed because "Indian parliament and the constitution don't approve of a confession made before a police officer".
Similarly, he said, "the present mind of parliament is opposed to the provisions" contained in the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA).
"The law has to reflect the present mind of parliament and constitution and GUJCOCA didn't reflect that," he said.
The home minister's remarks come in the backdrop of Modi critcising the central government's refusal to give its nod to the president to sign the controversial act passed by the state assembly.
Calling the decision of the central government to return the act as "injustice with Gujarat", Modi described GUJCOCA as only a Xerox copy of a similar law in Maharashtra.
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