MoD to Take Steps to Recover Fully Bank Guarantees in Awil Case

The appellate court in Milan, Italy, in its judgement on Friday, 23 May, 2014, has substantially upheld the claims of Government of India against AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), A W Spa and Deutsche Bank, Italy on the encashment of Bank Guarantees and Performance Bond in the VVIP helicopter case. The court also ordered AWIL and A W Spa to reimburse legal costs of Government of India. MoD is studying the order and will take immediate steps to recover the amounts fully.

Facts at a Glance: Sikkim

Date of Poll: 12th April 2014 

S. No.	Item	Number of Parliamentary Constituencies going on poll-01
1.	Total Electors	Male –                    190415 Female –                 179650 Service-                        665 NRI Voters:                     01     ------------------------------  Total  -                370731
2	Number Types of Parliamentary Constituencies	General : 01
3	Total number of Candidates	6
4	Parliamentary Constituencies  having more than 16 candidates	Nil
5	Parliamentary Constituencies  having more than 32 candidates	Nil
6	Total Number of Female candidates	Nil
7	No. and Name of the Parliamentary Constituency with maximum No. of  Candidates	PC No. 1  Sikkim 6 Candidates
8	No. & Name of the Parliamentary Constituency with  minimum number of Candidates	N/A
9	Party-wise list of candidates:	BJP	01
		BSP	Nil
		CPI	Nil
		CPM	01
		INC	Nil
		NCP	Nil
		SDF	01
		Registered Political Parties (other then recognised National and State)	03
		Independents	Nil
		Total	06
10	Largest Parliamentary constituency Electorate wise	N/A
11	Smallest Parliamentary constituency Electorate wise	N/A
12	Number of General, Expenditure, Police & Awareness Observers  deployed	General Observers -         02 Expenditure Observers  -  01  Awareness Observers-       01 Micro Observers-               112
13	No. of Polling Personnel deployed ( approx)	3228
14	No. of  Polling Stations	538
15.	Number of EVMs to be used in the elections	Control Units -    538 Ballot Units -      538

Environment Ministry accepts Kerala Govt recommendations to keep agricultural land, plantations and habitations out of ESAs identified by HLWG

The Ministry had earlier issued Office Memorandums dated 19th October, 16th November and 20th December, 2013, wherein “in principle” acceptance of the report of the High Level Working Group (HLWG) on Western Ghats was communicated. 

The Ministry is now in the process of issuance of draft Notification which among other things will include the demarcation and boundaries of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs), as identified by the High Level Working Group, seeking comments of various stakeholders.

The State Government of Kerala had constituted an Expert Committee to study the impact of HLWG recommendations and to assess ground level information.

 The State Government also set up Panchayat level Committees in 123 villages falling within ESAs as identified by HLWG for undertaking field verification and interaction with the stakeholders. 

Based on the recommendations of the Expert Committee report, the Kerala State Government suggested certain changes in the demarcations and boundaries of ESAs within the state. 

The State Government is of the view that agricultural lands, plantations and habitations may be kept out of the ESAs.

 Recommendations of the State Government were examined by the MoEF and it has been decided to accept these recommendations in respect of Kerala, regarding ESA boundaries. The draft Notification is being issued by the Ministry incorporating the said modifications.

It has also been decided that the MoEF will consider recommendations of the other States in Western Ghats region based on similar on-ground exercise if such proposals are forwarded to the MoEF within 60 days of issuance of the draft Notification.

Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt of India 

Deaths Due to Road Accidents

In the past decade (2003-2012),  a total  number of 11,54,553 persons were killed and 49,61,970 persons were injured in road accidents in India.

The Working Group on Road Accidents, Injury Prevention and Control set up by the Planning Commission in the year 2000 had assessed the social cost of road accidents in India at Rs. 55,000 crore  which constituted about 3% of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of the country in the year 1999-2000.

This Ministry has taken a number of measures to prevent road accidents and the details are -

-         The Government has formulated a National Road Safety Policy. This Policy outlines various policy measures such as promoting awareness, establishing road safety information data base, encouraging safer road infrastructure including application of intelligent transport, enforcement of safety laws, emergency medical services for road accidents etc.

-         The Ministry has requested all the States/UTs for setting up of State Road Safety Council and District Road Safety Committees, if not already done, and to hold their meetings regularly so that the right message to curb the menace of Road Accidents reaches  all concerned and due priority is given to road safety.

-         It is ensured that road safety is the integral part of road design at planning stage.

                  

-         Various steps to enhance road safety such as road furniture, road markings/road signs, introduction of Highway Traffic Management System using Intelligent Transport System, enhancement of discipline among contractors during construction, road safety audit on selected stretches, have been undertaken by National Highways Authority of India.

-         Refresher training to Heavy Motor Vehicle drivers in the unorganized sector being implemented by the Ministry since 1997-98 under plan activities.

-         Setting up of Driving Training School in the States by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

-         Publicity campaign on road safety awareness both through the audio-visual and print media by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

-         Tightening of safety standards of vehicles like Seat Belts, Power-steering, rear view Mirror etc.

-         Providing cranes and ambulances to various State Governments/UTs under National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme. 347 ten ton crane, 106 small recovery cranes for hilly areas and 579 ambulanced provided under the scheme. 

National Highways Authority of India also provides ambulances at a distance of 50 Km. on each of its completed stretches of National Highways under its Operation & Maintenance contracts.

-         The Government is also implementing a pilot project for cashless treatment of road accident victims on the Gurgaon-Jaipur Stretch of National Highway-8. The project envisages deployment of Ambulances for transportation of road accident victims on the identified stretch of NH-8 to a Government hospital or an empanelled hospital. Cashless treatment for the first 48 hours or up to Rs. 30,000/- whichever is reached earlier, at CGHS rates/AIIMS rates will be provided in case of treatment at an empanelled Hospital.

This was stated by Dr. Tushar A. Chaudhary, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha yesterday.

Scholarships to Disabled Students

Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) provides for scholarship to students with disabilities for pursuing higher education leading to degrees such as M. Phil. and Ph.D. 

The scheme is implemented by University Grants Commissions (UGC) on the pattern of UGC fellowship scheme. Any student with disability who has been admitted to M.Phil./Ph.D. course in a University or academic institution is eligible for the award of Fellowship.

The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) is implementing two Schemes, namely, Scholarship Scheme (Trust Fund) and Scholarship Scheme (National Fund), for award of scholarship to students with disabilities pursuing Higher and Technical education. 

Student with 40% or more disabilities having prescribed income ceiling under the scheme are eligible for the scholarship.

The number of Scholarship under (Trust Fund) Scholarship Scheme has been increased from 1000 to 1500 per year from the year 2013-14. 3018 students have been benefited by Scholarship Scheme (Trust Fund) from 2011-12 onward till date.

An amount of Rs.63,90,016/- has been provided from the year 2011-12 onwards cost of assistive devices such as laptop, Brailler Type writer and Mobile phone etc. to the differently abled students in the Scholarship Scheme (Trust Fund).

An approximate amount of Rs. 15 crore is likely to be incurred for disbursement of 1500 Scholarship (Trust Fund) during the academic year 2013-14.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri P. Balram Naik in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.