Tuesday 6 March 2018

[www.keralites.net] GLIMPSE OF BUREAUCRACY WORKING - OUR TAX MONEY

 



Welfare laptop, washing machine shock SC


New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Union labour secretary to appear before it after expressing shock over "astonishing" details in an affidavit that said funds meant for the welfare of construction workers were being spent on buying them laptops and washing machines.

The affidavit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) also said that less than 10 per cent of the Rs 29,000-crore fund has been spent on the actual purpose.

A bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta said it was "shocking" and "extremely distressing" that the funds, collected by the government through a cess under a law for construction workers, were being "frittered away" and diverted.

The court then asked the labour secretary to appear before it on November 10 "to understand how the act was being implemented and why it was being misused, if not abused".


The court, which was hearing a public interest plea filed by a non-government organisation, had earlier asked the CAG to file a report on how the fund meant for the welfare of construction workers was being utilised.

The NGO, National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, had alleged that the statutory cess levied on real estate firms for the welfare of construction workers was not being used properly as there was no mechanism to identify the beneficiaries.

The bench said the CAG had revealed a "shocking state of affairs" regarding the utilisation of the cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and ordered that such exploitation of construction workers by states or welfare boards must stop.

"For example: we have been shown expenditure having been incurred for payment of entry tax/value added tax; expenditure incurred for purchase of washing machines for construction workers; expenditure incurred for purchase of laptops for construction workers, etc. This is really astonishing," the bench noted in its order.

"It is quite obvious from the above that the amounts are just being frittered away, if not defalcated by the concerned welfare boards," it said.

"Apart from the above, we find that huge amounts have been spent towards administrative expenses while the statute permits only five per cent expenditure towards administrative expenses."

The court observed that the law was "being misused" as the money collected for the beneficiaries was being diverted to labour welfare boards or state governments for other purposes.

"We may note that huge amounts have been collected in the region of Rs 29,000 crore and not even 10 per cent has been spent for the benefit of construction workers. The amounts, whatever has been spent, appear to have been spent for the purposes other than for the benefit of construction workers," it said.

This must be rectified at the earliest, the bench added, asking the secretary in the Union labour ministry to appear before it on Friday.

Earlier, in 2015, the court had expressed its displeasure over non-utilisation of Rs 26,000 crore (the amount at that time) by the Centre and various state governments, saying "it cannot get worse than this". PTI

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[www.keralites.net] For 31 years after his death, Dr. Homi Bhabha’s office room was unoccupied

 

On 24 January 1966, Homi Bhabha, physicist and founder of India's nuclear programme, died in a plane crash. The Kanchenjunga — a Boeing 707 aircraft — had crashed into the Glacier des Bossons of Mont Blac at 4,807 metres. Bhabha was on his way to Vienna to attend an Advisory Committee meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Conspiracy theories about the crash being triggered by a bomb circulated then, as they do even today. But how was the news received in the two institutions he founded in Mumbai? With deep distress and a numbing sense of disbelief that remains even now, decades after the event.

The institute had organised a condolence meeting almost immediately. And those who attended it recalled that Professor Rustom Choksi spoke. He was a member of the Tata Trust as well as the Council of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), which Bhabha had founded in 1945. The resolution that was passed spoke of Bhabha's patriotism, his leadership and his efforts "to build with unremitting toil and exalted vision that nobler India in which skilled technology in the service of man would give to the lowliest among us the beginnings of a decent life". These fine sentiments perhaps served to hold in check the intense anguish that many of those present felt.

In 2002, when I began the task of putting together the archives of TIFR, the condolence meeting and Choksi's speech was what most of the older scientists and administrators of the institute remembered until I found a set of photographs. These striking black-and-white photographs depicted a Parsi Uthamna ceremony in progress. On closer look, the ceremony seemed to be taking place right at the foot of the staircase of TIFR's library with everyone watching from the colonnade space outside.

The secular condolence ceremony of which no photographs were found had remained firmly etched in memory and the religious one had been forgotten.

Among the scientists, there seemed to be a slight sense of embarrassment about the religious ceremony being performed inside the hallowed portals of a science institute. Almost as if there was a schism between the two worlds that the two ceremonies represented. When pressed, many of the scientists told me that the Parsee ritual was only held to honour the wishes of Bhabha's mother (who was also the daughter of Ruttonbai and Framji Panday), Meherbai. She was close to many of the scientists at the institute. What came as a surprise was that she was close to some of the workers too who went to see her regularly and who met her even after Bhabha's death.

As G.V. Vasudevachar, Bhabha's laboratory assistant who had moved from IISc Bangalore to TIFR in 1945, recalled, Meherbai had said, "Vasu, Homi told me he would be back soon. Now he won't come back."

Indeed, the personal dimensions of the institution-building came through sharply in many recollections. But institutional memory had replaced such personal stories with official narratives about science and nationalism. In 1967, an exhibition on the life of Homi Bhabha was put together by his institute and displayed at Royal Society London. Later, this exhibition was put up in the auditorium foyer of TIFR. The auditorium was named the Homi Bhabha Auditorium and inaugurated by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 9 November 1968.

What lurked beneath such objective acts of institutional commemoration was the fact that Bhabha's death had triggered inconsolable grief that was individual, subjective and only privately expressed.

Unnoticed by the world outside, another incident, deeply significant to the life of the institution, was passed over in silence. Bhabha's office at TIFR was never occupied by the directors who succeeded him. I learnt from Professor M.G.K. Menon, who became the director when Bhabha died, that he had felt emotionally unprepared to occupy the space where he had worked with Bhabha. Menon's successors too had a similar response. The office remained unoccupied until Professor S.S. Jha became director in 1997.

Bhabha's office with its furniture was moved into a museum-ised space in the auditorium foyer. Thus, 31 years after his death, Bhabha's office on the 4th floor of TIFR was once again occupied by the director of TIFR. Bhabha's desk, the bookshelves, his Eero Saarinen Tulip chair could now be viewed through the enclosing glass wall, evoking a strong and haunting absence.

What do the forgotten ritual and the unoccupied office tell us about institutions and their commemorative acts? Forgotten narratives often linger beneath official ones, that private reflections offer explanations very different from what are visible, public actions. But they also alert us to the inability of institutions to acknowledge and express grief and then engage meaningfully with the legacy that they have inherited.

Indira Chowdhury heads the Centre for Public History at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru. She wrote a book titled 'Growing the Tree of Science: Homi Bhabha and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research' in 2016.

Dear Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor Saheb,

I feel that setting up of proper commission to inquire about the actual cause of his death in a mysterious circumstances  is desirable. You being a member of minority commission can take up this matter with GOI.

Tandorasti

Homi


By Nikita Roy Email
http://www.india.com/buzz/homi -jehangir-bhabha-death-anniver sary-interesting-facts-about-t he-father-of-indias-nuclear-pr ogramme-2859559/


homi bhabha


Homi Jehangir Bhabha, popularly known as the father of Indian Nuclear Programme was a famous nuclear physicist. He was the founding director of two renowned research institutes- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). He was born to a rich Parsi family on October 30, 1909. He was bestowed with many honorary degrees and awards from many prestigious universities. He is known for his articles on quantum theory and cosmic rays.

Homi Bhabha graduated from Elphinstone College. He then attended the Royal Institute of Science until 1927 before joining Cambridge University. In 1933, he received his doctorate in nuclear physics with his paper 'The Absorption of Cosmic Radiation', winning him the Isaac Newton Studentship in 1934. Today is the death anniversary of the Homi Jehangir Bhabha. To commemorate the same here are some lesser known and interesting facts about him: 

  1. Many do not know that as a student Homi worked with a Nobel Prize winner. Yes, he worked with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen.
  2. He donned many hats. He represented India at many conferences like Internation Atomic Energy Agency among others. He was also appointed as President of UN conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.
  3. He was also offered a post in Indian cabinet back then. However, he rejected the same and instead acted as adviser (scientific) to former Prime ministers of India- Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
  4. He received many awards. Bhabha was felicitated with Padma Bhushan (1954), Adams Prize (1942) and Fellow of the Royal Society...
  5. Exactly fourteen days before Bhabha's death, former PM of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri died a mystifying death in Tashkent.
  6. He was instrumental in finding out how India can extract power from its thorium reserves instead of uranium reserves which were less in quantity. This approach was new for all.
  7. He was the one who identified and named the Meson particle. He also worked with one of the German Physicists to develop the Cascade theory to understand cosmic radiations.
  8. He was not a typical scientist. He loved paintings, classical music, and opera among others. He used to live in a huge colonial bungalow in Malabar Hills. It was named as Mehrangir.

On January 24, 1996, he died in a mysterious air crash near Mount Blanc. Some theories claim that he was killed by CIA to paralyze India's nuclear programme.  He was on his way to Vienna for a meet of Scientific Advisory committee. After his death, his brother was the custodian of his property and he gave away all his paintings, artifacts and furniture to the NCPA. Later the property of value over Rs 257 crore was sold off to the Godrej family for Rs 372 crores in 2014 by the NCPA.



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[www.keralites.net] EARTHING INDIAN BLACK MONEY

 



Rs. 152 cr. unearthed in 3 days; two Karnataka officials suspended


Bengaluru: December 03, 2016 07:40 IST
Updated: December 03, 2016 11:07 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/incoming/article16754146.ece/alternates/FREE_660/20161203-beng-seizure.jpg.

Searches started in Bengaluru, and Erode and Chennai in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and concluded on Friday night.  
Anti-Corruption Bureau will seek details from Income Tax Department on the disproportionate assets found in the possession of the two PWD chief engineers.
A whopping Rs. 152 crore unaccounted income, including a huge stash of new notes, bullion, jewellery, and documents pertaining to property ownership, have been seized on the premises of two chief engineers of the PWD and contractors, by the I-T officials over the last three days.
Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced, on the Floor of the Council, suspension of the two chief engineers S.C. Jayachandra, Chief Project Officer of the State Highway Development Project, and T.N. Chikkarayappa, Managing Director of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called I-T sleuths in Bengaluru and congratulated them for the successful seizure operation.

Searches concluded on Friday night

Searches started in Bengaluru, and Erode and Chennai in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and concluded on Friday night. A total of 18 locations in Bengaluru are under the I-T scanner. "The unaccounted income is expected to go up further. We will get a rough estimate on the extent of income and properties by Monday," sources said.

http://www.thehindu.com/incoming/article16754494.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_320/20161203-p1-bengaluru%20officials%20graphic.JPG
 

ACB to seek details of disproportionate assets

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) will seek details from Income Tax Department on the disproportionate assets found in the possession of Public Works Department chief engineers S.C. Jayachandra and T.N. Chikkarayappa.
ACB Inspector General of Police M.A. Saleem told The Hindu that they are keen to pursue cases against the two officials on the basis of information about unaccounted income coming from I-Tax department since the money recovered from their premises could be more than their known sources of income.
Incidentally, Mr. Jayachandra had run into trouble when Lokayukta sleuths had searched his premises in 2008 on the charge of disproportionate income. The government is yet to give permission for prosecution.

Gold and cash seizures go up

Meanwhile, the search of premises of the two officials, contractor Ramalingam, Sibi Chakravarthy of Kannan Borewells and banker Umashankar continued for the third day on Friday. The amount of unaccounted cash and gold has gone up. The I-T search, which officials say was in the offing for some time, comes when the State government has finalised tenders for execution of road works worth about Rs. 3,500 crore under the State Highway Development Project (SHDP).
Of the over Rs. 6 crore currency seized, the department said that nearly Rs. 5.7 crore was in new Rs. 2,000 currency. About Rs. 90 lakh is in the demonetised Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency. Sleuths have seized about seven kilos of bullion, suspected to have been purchased after demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency, nearly nine kilos of gold jewellery – together worth about Rs. 5 crore, an I-T department note said. Several high-end cars too have been seized.

Cash seized

In two separate incidents, new Rs. 2,000 notes, being carried without documents, were seized. Three persons were caught with Rs. 71 lakh in Bailoor village, while three others were caught in Chikkamagaluru with Rs. 46 lakh.

New notes seized in Chikkamagaluru

Meanwhile, Chikkamagaluru Police on Friday seized Rs. 46 lakh in currency notes of Rs.2,000 denomination from two people in Jayanagar town. The police have taken the duo Kiran and Kumar into custody.
The duo were transporting the cash in a car. They had no explanation for the cash. The police have seized the car. It is said that the car belongs to a businessman in Hassan - Staff Reporter

Mangaluru I-T officials seize Rs. 71 lakh in new currency

Three persons were caught carrying new Rs. 2,000 notes amounting to Rs. 71 lakh at Bailoor village near Karkala on Thursday evening. The police handed them over to Income Tax officials in Mangaluru.
Karkala Circle Inspector Joy Anthony told The Hindu on Friday that the police were checking vehicles at Bailoor on Thursday evening. Around 7 p.m., they stopped a car going from Mangaluru towards Kudremukh. Inside, they found currency of Rs. 2,000 denomination totaling Rs. 71 lakh in a plastic bag. The occupants of the car — Imran Hussain, Asif Umar and Deepak Shetty — failed to give a proper explanation for the huge amount of cash. All three are from Mangaluru and are aged between 35 and 40 years.
The police did the 'panchanama' but did not register a case, Mr. Anthony said.
Sources in the Income Tax Department said that the youth were part of a money exchange network that has been operating in the coastal towns since November 8. The network operated in two layers, the official explained, adding that while the big operator took a 25 per cent cut from those wishing to convert their demonetised currency to new ones, he would sub-contract the work of getting legal currency to his associates. "The big operators pay Rs. 2,000 for every Rs. 24,000 being withdrawn in legal tender," the official said. - Karnataka Bureau


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[www.keralites.net] 25 Ways You Can Prevent the Development ofAlzheimer's

 








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