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Prime Minister has constituted an Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, to examine issues relating to the sugar sector. The other members of the committee are:

1. Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance
2. Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution
3. Secretary, Department of Agriculture
4. Dr. Ashok Gulati, CACP
5. Shri Nand Kumar, former Secretary, Department of  Food and Public Distribution and Department of Agriculture and Cooperation and presently Member NDMA
6. Dr. K.P. Krishnan, Secretary EAC – Convener

The Committee has been empowered to involve such experts, academics as required as special invitees. The Committee will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has been requested to provide the necessary support to the Committee in discharging its functions.

On the occasion of the Republic Day 2012, the President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patilhas approved the award of President’s Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service) to Inspector General VSR Murthy for his sterling performance, outstanding maritime acumen and invaluable contribution to the service.

The Officer had joined Indian Coast Guard in January 1984. A specialist in Search and Rescue and Port Operations, IG VSR Murthy held various Command appointments afloat and ashore. The Officer has been serving as Deputy Director General (Operations & Coastal Security) since Feb 2010 at Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi.

On this occasion, the award of Tatrakshak Medals (Gallantry) has also been approved for Commandant Raghavendra Gourand Jijesh Kakkoth, Uttam Navik (ME). Commandant Raghavendra Gouracted bravely for the apprehension of pirate mother vessel Pranthlay II at sea.

DIG VD Chafekar, DIG G Devanandand Commandant GS Ralhihave also been named for the Tatrakshak Medals (Meritorious Service) organisation.

Oh, yeah, MetLife will ROB you!!

“Thank you for buying your Life Insurance policy with one of the most innovative companies in the industry.  There is a feeling of security that comes from knowing that the company you trust is looking after the financial well being of you and your family.  That’s what MetLife is all about.”

This is the welcome note in the policy document I received from MetLife. However, I’ve a totally contradicting experience with MetLife.

I’ve invested Rs.5,00,00/- (Fifty thousand only) in MetLife policy (Met Smart Premier – Plan) in the year 2007, which was recommenced by one of my close family friend. Last day I got a letter form MetLife along with a bank cheque for Rs.1,57,33/-  (Fifteen thousand seven hundred and thirty three only). I am really frustrated and disappointed to see the letter, particularly the ‘Surrender Charges’.

Please read below the letter received from MetLife for your reference:

*******

Sub: Automatic Termination of your policy number xxxxxxx

Dear Mr. Manmohan (Name changed to protect privacy)

We would like to inform you that your policy number xxxxxxx was lapsed effective 30/06/08 and reinstatement period as per terms and conditions of your policy had expired.

Hence your policy has been terminated. Please note that there would be no further benefits available under the policy.  The details of the termination as on 29/11/2011 are appended below with calculations as per policy terms:

Please find enclosed the cheque for an amount Rs.15733.49 drawn on payment account-Axis Bank; Cheque number 936449, dated 16/12/2011 towards the full and final settlement of your above policy.

You can reach our customer service help line number 1-800-425-6969 of email us at indiaservice@metlife.co.in for any queries.

If you wish to get insurance cover, you can also dial 8 on main menu to reach our dedicated help line number.  Our customer service executives would be happy to help and assist you.

Yours sincerely,

MetLife India Insurance Co. Ltd
This is a computer generated letter/statement and does not require a signature.

*******

“MetLife – Peace of mind, Guaranteed”…  not sure whose mind!!!

If you need any further information on this policy, drop an email to:  metlife.will.rob.you@gmail.com or put your comments in the comment section.

Lok Sabha Speaker Smt. Meira Kumar and the Chairman of BJP Parliamentary Party, Shri L.K. Advani, led the parliamentarians in paying floral tributes to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the Central Hall of Parliament House on his birth anniversary today (23/01/2012).

Among other dignitaries who paid the floral tributes at the portrait of Netaji were Members of Parliament, former Members of Parliament and Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, Dr. V.K.Agnihotri, and senior officers of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

A booklet containing the profile of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, brought out in Hindi and English by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, was presented to the dignitaries.

The portrait of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled by the then President of India, Dr. N. Sanjiva Reddy, in the Central Hall of Parliament House on 23 January 1978.

The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram, launched the first batch of Resident Identity Cards under the coastal National Population Register (NPR) project at Porthrapur village in South Andaman district of Andaman & Nicobar Islands today in the presence of Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. General Bhupender Singh. Smt. Bhulaxmi, a resident of Porthrapur, was the first recipient of the Resident Identity Card. The RIC, is a smart card having 64 KB micro processor chip. The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, has finalized the visual layout of the card. It incorporates several physical security features like Guilloché patterns, hot stamped hologram and micro text etc.

In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 365 villages and the town of Port Blair have been covered under the coastal NPR project. A total of 3,88,398 persons have been covered. Of this, 2,82,885 persons above the age of 18 years would be issued identity cards.

The scheme envisages collection of specific items of information of each individual in the coastal areas and issue of Resident Identity (smart) cards (RIC) to all usual residents, who are of age 18 years and above. In all, 3331 coastal villages have been covered in the first phase of the project in these States/UTs. In Andaman & Nicobar Islands, besides villages, the town of Port Blair has also been covered. The approved cost of the scheme is Rs. 216.31 crore. The data collection for the project was done by house to house enumeration by Government officials who were assisted by data entry operators. The collected data was verified by the Government officials after publishing in the local areas and inviting claims and objections. The data was also subjected to biometric de-duplication.

The production and personalization of the RIC cards have been undertaken through the CPSUs. They have setup state-of-the-art production and personalization facilities at secure premises for the coastal NPR project. The delivery of the RICs would be undertaken by India Post for secure delivery to the usual residents.

In a   move to prevent misuse of Reserved Train Tickets and reduce cases of travelling on transferred tickets, Ministry of Railways has decided that anyone of the passengers/the passenger booked on the ticket issued from computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS counters) and Internet (i-ticket) undertaking journey in AC-3 tier, AC-2 tier, 1st AC, AC Chair Car and Executive Classes willhaveto  carry one of the nine prescribed proofs of identity (in original) during the journey.  The passengers of these AC classes would be required to produce the Identity Card in original as and when required failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket will be treated as without ticket and charged accordingly.  However, the Identity Card (in original or its photocopy) will not be required at the time of purchase reserved AC tickets from PRS counters or i-ticket.  These instructions are valid for all categories of trains, with the above mentioned classes of travel.

These fresh instructions are in addition to the existing instructions under which the passengers with Tatkaltickets and e-tickets are already required  tocarry original proof of identity during the course of Railway journey.  In case of Tatkaltickets, self attested photocopy of the Identity Card is required at the time of purchase from the PRS counters or Identity Card details (Number etc.) are to be entered at the time of purchase from internet.

These instructions will come into effect from 15th February, 2012.

A message on this count will be indicated on the ticket issued in the above said classes through computerized PRS/I-ticket.

Centerfor Railway Information System (CRIS), an organization under Ministry of Railways, has been asked to make necessary provisions in the software.

The list of valid proofs of identity are as under:-

1.   Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India.
2.   Passport.
3.  PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department.
4.  Driving License issued by RTO.
5.  Photo Identity card having serial number issued by Central/State Government.
6.  Student Identity Card with Photograph issued by recognized School/College for their students.
7.  Nationalized Bank Passbook with Photograph.
8.  Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph.
9.  Unique Identification Card “Aadhaar”.

Government has set up an inter-ministerial coordination committee for Tourism Sector under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister to resolve inter-ministerial and industry issues and promote tourism. Shri Pulok Chatterji presided over the first meeting of the committee in PMO on 19.1.2012. Secretaries to Government of India of important ministries were present. Sh Chatterjisaid tourism should be seen as development: it should be pro-poor and focus on employment creation. He emphasized the need to give tourism a major fillip during the 12th Plan so as to more than double the number of foreign tourists arriving in India and further encourage domestic tourism.

Some of the important decisions taken in the meeting were:

• A sub-committee under consisting of Member Secretary, Planning Commission, Culture Secretary, Secretary (Environment and Forests), Secretary (Rural Development) and Secretary(Tourism) will identify the potential of tourism in rural, eco and cultural sectors in the country and submit its report within four weeks.
• MOEF should finalise its eco-tourism policy at the earliest possible duly analysing the feedback it has received from different quarters.
• It is imperative that all local stakeholders are involved in promoting eco-tourism.
• Ministry of Culture should adopt a pro-active tourism policy which should promote Museums, cultural and heritage sites, besides monuments. There should be close inter-face between MOC and MOT.
• MHA to take steps to facilitate extension of Tourist Visa on Arrival to GOA, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bengaluruairports within next one year.
• A coordinationCommittee consisting of Joint Secretaries of MHA, MEA and MoTconstituted to resolve day to day visa related complaints.
• In order to promote vocational courses related to tourism it was decided that MHRD will accord High Priority in including maximum schools under the scheme.
• The initiative taken by Ministry of Tourism through Hunarse Rozgarscheme was appreciated by the Committee. It was noted that tourism related activities should become an integral part of relevant poverty alleviation programme of the Ministry of Rural Development including NREGA.
• Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will utilise the funds available under Central Road Fund (CRF) in consultation with concerned State Governments in 13 States in February, 2012 where the roads have already been identified.
• Ministry of Road Transport & Highways will undertake development of essential road infrastructure in the tourism circuits either from its own fund or Central Road Fund.
• Ministry of Defence (Border Road Organisation)at Gangtokand Lehroads which are tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced the appointment of Suren Goonewardene as CEO of its operations in Sri Lanka.

Announcing the appointment, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said, “Suren brings with him rich domain experience of telecom industry and has an exceptionally strong track record of business successes in each of his previous roles. Given Suren’s vast experience, sharp focus on business goals and able leadership – we are confident that Airtel’s Sri Lanka team will move from strength to strength and deliver on our aggressive growth plans for the country. We welcome Suren to the Airtel family and look forward to him spearheading our long term goals in Sri Lanka through meaningful connections with our internal as well as external stakeholders including customers, industry bodies and government.”

Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel that commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka in January 2009, and grew to become the fastest operator to reach the 1 million customer milestone in the country. Since then, Airtel has expanded its presence to 1500+ base stations across Sri Lanka and introduced a wide range of innovative service offerings towards enriching the lives of its customers. With over 242 million customers across 19 countries of its operations across Asia and Africa – Bharti Airtel is one of the world’s largest integrated telecommunications companies in the world today. The company is committed to driving the adoption of high speed 3G data services across its markets.

Suren Goonewardene, who has earlier worked with Dialog Telekom and Lanka Bell to now join Airtel Sri Lanka as CEO, has over 16 years of work experience across areas of finance, sales, marketing and operations. At Dialog Telekom – he managed the Fixed Telecom Services and Television portfolio, and successfully drove the television business to market leadership position with Suren as Chief Operating Officer.

Previously, Suren also held the position of Managing Director at Bell Lanka, where he played an eminent role in building and commissioning an island-wide fixed wireless network. His contribution at Bell Lanka was significant towards driving the company’s market leadership position in CDMA technology and driving the company’s growth chart from a small telco to becoming the country’s second largest fixed line operator.

Suren holds a degree in Business Accounting from Monash University in Australia and is a member of the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australian. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Marketing from Chartered Institute of Marketing in UK.

In his new role, Suren will report to Vineet Taneja, Operations Director – South & Sri Lanka at Bharti Airtel.

About Bharti Airtel Limited Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. In India the company offers 3G voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long distance services to carriers globally. In rest of the geographies it offers mobile voice & high speed wireless internet. Bharti Airtel had over 242 million customers across its operations at the end of December 2011. To know more please visit, www.airtel.in