New Delhi, Feb 8 : The issue of grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh today rocked the Rajya Sabha as the opposition created an uproar over the issue, forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the House till afternoon.
The issue came up after Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Y S Chowdary rose to suggest that since the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act have not been implemented, the matter should be addressed by the Finance Minister when he replies to the debate on the general budget.
Chowdary blamed both the Congress and the BJP for the “hasty passage” of the AP Reorganisation Act.
“On behalf of Government of India, I would like to mention here that this House is fully aware on how the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act was passed so unscientifically and unreasonably, for which both the national parties are responsible….
“In last three and half years, our government could not implement certain commitments given on behalf of the Act. My suggestion, if government is willing, … is that there are some issues of special category status, bridging of resource gap and building of steel plant,” Chowdary said.
Notwithstanding this, the present deadlock “has to be unlocked, one should talk of cooperative federalism and not be partly cooperative,” he said.
“My suggestion, my request is that on behalf of government, if they can commit that the Finance Minister while delivering the budget speech, they can commit to resolve the issues within 15 days,” Chowdary said.
In reply to this, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said, “I want to assure the member that during the reply of the budget, the Finance Minister will sort out their issue.”
When members objected to the remark by the Minister of State, Naidu said the stalemate on the issue needs to be resolved and a minister can suggest a solution.
Vijai Sai Reddy (TRS) said as per the provisions of the Constitution, a minister has a collective responsibility and he should resign since he does not agree with the Cabinet decision.
There were heated exchanges in the House over this and an agitated Chairman asked Reddy to sit, but he said he was ready to face action.
Congress member KVP Ramachandra Rao also spoke, after leaving the well carrying a placard of “save Andhra Pradesh”, when the chairman asked him to get back to his seat.
After opposition created uproar, the Chairman then adjourned the house till 2 PM.
Naidu earlier allowed the Question Hour to be dispensed with following a request by all the members to take up the discussion on the budget.
“Is it the sense of the House? I want to put it on record once again that as a Chairman I will not suspend Question Hour unless there is broad consensus. There seems abroad consensus, that is why no Question Hour, we will go ahead with Budget discussion,” he said.
Earlier during the Zero Hour too, the House was adjourned over prime minister’s remarks against Congress member Renuka Chaudhary.
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test for admission to MBBS and BDS courses will be held on May 6, the Central Board of Secondary Education today announced.
The online submission of application forms also began today.
One can register online till March 9 till 11.50 pm. The last date for successful payment of fee online is March 10 till 11.50 PM, according to the admission notice.
Aadhaar number is mandatory for all except from those from Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya and the applicants must give their consent to the CBSE to validate the same.
In case of any mismatch in the Aadhaar number, name, date of birth and gender, the candidates will not be able to fill up the form.
A candidate must have completed the age of 17 at the time of admission or will complete the age on or before December 31, 2018, that is the year of his/ her admission to first year of MBBS/ BDS course, according to the eligibility criteria.
The upper age limit for candidates seeking admission to these courses shall be 25 years as on the date of the examination with a relaxation of five years for candidates belonging to SC/ST and OBC categories and persons entitled for reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.
Students who have passed subjects physics, chemistry, biology/biotechnology and English and obtained a minimum of 50 per cent marks taken together in physics, chemistry and biology/ biotechnology will be eligible to apply.
Candidates belonging to SC/ ST and OBC category who have obtained 40 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and biology/ biotechnology taken together will be eligible.
Candidates can apply only online through the Board website www.cbseneet.nic.
New Delhi .February 8 : The Centre approved offering of 60 oil and gas fields of ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) and Oil India Ltd, among others in the second auction of Discovered Small Field round.
Out of these, 22 fields and discoveries belong to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC) Limited, five belong to the Oil India Limited (OIL) and 12 are relinquished discoveries from the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) Blocks.
In addition, 21 fields and discoveries are remaining from the DSF Bid Round-I which were put on offer but could not be awarded due to insufficient response from the investor.
These discoveries are estimated to have 194.65 Million Metric Ton (MMT) oil and oil equivalent gas in place.
These fields will be developed and monetized faster thereby augmenting production of oil and gas leading to enhance energy security of the country.
It is estimated that investments into these fields will lead to generation of over 88,000 jobs as direct, indirect and induced employment.
This policy has also been extended for future round of bidding.
Ghaziabad, Feb 8: More than two dozen polluting factories were razed in Loni town on Wednesday on the instructions of District Magistrate Ritu Maheshwari, officials said.
A team comprising district administration and pollution department officials demolished the units with the help of police, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Loni) Durgesh Kumar said.
Residents of Krishna Vihar colony here have for long complained against illegal factories burning plastic and scrapped insulated cables to extract aluminium and copper, and polluting the locality with harmful emissions.
A team headed by Sub Divisional Magistrate Indu Prakash Singh and pollution department officer Satyapal Singh reached Krishna Vihar with bulldozers and demolished 30 illegally constructed factories, officials said.
The workers and the owners of the units fled from the spot as soon as the team arrived, they added.
The owners would be identified and FIRs lodged against them, the DCP said, adding that more such demolition drives would be initiated in future to check pollution.
New Delhi, Feb 7: Amid the acrimonious protest against the ongoing sealing drive in the Capital, the Union Minister for Housing and Urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said the government is working to find a solution that is ‘acceptable, reasonable and in the interest of entirety of Delhi’.
“Work is proceeding at a pace to find a solution which is acceptable and reasonable, and which is in the interest of the entirety of the Delhi”, said Mr Puri here.
Talking to mediapersons here, he said, from Wednesday, a ‘broader enquiry committee will scrutinise the responses from various stakeholders, interested parties, which the DDA has received so far.
New Delhi, Feb 7: A large number of taxpayers have been brought into the net taking the total base to 8 crore, CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra said on Tuesday, underlining that the government has consolidated direct tax reforms.
Chandra also said that no I-T official can pick up a case on his discretion and only 0.5 per cent of all cases are picked up for scrutiny by the Income Tax Department.
“In direct taxes, lots of reforms have been done and we have consolidated direct tax reforms… Taxpayers net has gone up. We have added large number of taxpayers. Our taxpayers’ base is now 8 crore,” he said at an event organised by industry body Assocham.
Noting that the I-T department is cutting down interface between taxman and assesses, Chandra said: “Your cases can’t be picked up by the I-T official by his or her discretion. As the CBDT Chairman, even I can’t pick up any case using discretion.”
He also said that the tax department started e-assessment of income tax forms in September 2017 and 60,000 cases have been completed through e-assessment so far.
Out of 15 lakh companies registered with MCA, only 7 lakh are filing tax return forms, Chandra said.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Vanaja N Sarna said that in Union Budget 2018-19, the government increased customs duty on 45 items and reduced custom duty on 5 items.
“This was a good time to do it, because all these items can be manufactured wonderfully in India… Most of items related to MSME,” she said.
US President Donald Trump’s lawyers have urged him to refuse to sit down with Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of the probe into his campaign’s ties with Russia, The New York Times reported Monday.
However, Trump himself has repeatedly stated that he would like to speak with Mueller about the ongoing investigation, which is examining his campaign’s possible collusion with Russia over election interference, and possible obstruction of justice.
“I’m looking forward to it, actually,” Trump told reporters at the White House last month, though adding: “subject to my lawyers and all of that.”
The president said he would even testify under oath. While Mueller’s questioning would not be under oath, it is a crime to lie to federal investigators.
The New York Times cited four people briefed on the matter as saying the president’s lawyers are concerned that he could be charged with lying to investigators, as he has previously made false statements and contradicted himself.
The sources said lawyer John Dowd, his deputy Jay Sekulow, longtime personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz and many West Wing advisers want to resist the interview request, claiming Mueller lacks the legal standing on some of the issues he is investigating.
However, a refusal could lead Mueller to issue a subpoena for the president to testify before a grand jury, with a court fight that would be decided by the US Supreme Court.
It could also trigger accusations that Trump is hiding information from the public, a painful distraction for Republicans seeking office in November’s mid-term elections.
The Times said Dowd has been discussing the issue of a potential interview with Mueller’s office since December, adding that White House lawyer Ty Cobb is one of the few Trump aides arguing for cooperating.