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Disinvestment target during FY 2015-16

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Arun Jaitley-indianbureaucracy
Arun Jaitley-indianbureaucracy

The budget estimate (BE) for disinvestment during the financial year 2015-16 was Rs. 69,500 crore comprising Rs. 41,000 crore from disinvestment of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Rs. 28,500 crore from strategic disinvestment. Against this target, Government has realized Rs.23, 997crore (approx) from disinvestment of CPSEs during the year 2015-16. In addition, an amount of Rs. 1023 crore (approx) has been realized as buyback tax on account of buyback transaction, undertaken by unlisted CPSEs and Rs. 8,152 crore on account of sale of bonus debentures of NTPC to EPFO.

The budget estimate (BE) for disinvestment during the financial year 2016-17 is Rs. 56,500 crore, comprising Rs. 36,000 crore as disinvestment receipts from CPSEs and Rs. 20,500 crore from strategic disinvestment.

In order to achieve the disinvestment target of financial year 2016-17, the following steps have been taken by the Government:

(i) An amount of Rs.3,183 crore (approx) has been realized from disinvestment of NHPC and Employee OFS of IOCL and NTPC.

(ii) Government has expressed intent to participate in buyback shares proposed by NALCO, MOIL, NMDC and CIL.

(iii) Some CPSEs have been identified for disinvestment in sectors like mineral and metal, oil, energy, capital goods as well as some mid-size and small stocks.

(iv) In line with the announcement made in the Budget 2015-16, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in its meeting held on 17th February, 2016 approved the structure for ”strategic disinvestment” of CPSEs.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Women Scientists through KIRAN

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Ministry of Science & Technology-india bureaucracy
Ministry of Science & Technology-idiabureaucracy

Shri Y.S. Chowdary, Minister of State for the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences has informed that there is steady growth in proposals from the women scientists under Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN) scheme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST). DST received 689 proposals in 2013-14, 882 proposals in 2014-15 and 1012 proposals in 2015-16 under KIRAN from women scientists.

The number of proposals received and recommended under the scheme during last three years, State-wise are given below: –

States/Union Territories 201314 201415 201516
Received Recommended Received Recommended Received Recommended
Andhra Pradesh 115 25 94 11 42 13
Arunachal Pradesh 1 2 1
Assam 13 3 11 4 24 3
Bihar 2 2 3 2
Chandigarh 6 2 4 1 10 3
Chhattisgarh 1 5 6
Daman & Diu 1
Delhi 44 21 56 13 75 21
Gujarat 22 8 26 8 32 13
Goa 3 1 4 3 3 2
Haryana 22 5 27 6 23 11
Himachal Pradesh 6 1 7 2 12 1
Jammu & Kashmir 19 6 14 2 26 5
Jharkhand 2 7 1 12
Karnataka 48 14 47 18 65 15
Kerala 31 8 33 10 38 6
Madhya Pradesh 18 10 29 3 35 3
Maharashtra 61 20 86 31 91 26
Manipur 7 6 13 5 15 3
Meghalaya 2 1
Mizoram 2 1 1 1
Odisha 16 9 26 9 21 17
Pondicherry 2 1 3 1 3 3
Punjab 18 3 30 10 27 7
Rajasthan 15 3 26 1 41 8
Sikkim 3
Telangana 37 28 52 39
Tripura 4 3 3 2
Tamil Nadu 82 23 116 30 124 25
Uttar Pradesh 67 37 97 23 144 22
Uttarakhand 8 3 13 18 3
West Bengal 58 14 60 23 62 33
TOTAL 689 223 882 247 1012 288

 

 

Rail Ticket Reservation Centres of Indian Railways

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IRCTC-indianbureaucracy
IRCTC-indianbureaucracy

At present, Indian Railways is having ticket reservation facility at 3604 locations across the country. The computerised reservation centres are provided as per policy at District Headquarters, important hill stations/tourist & pilgrimage centres/post offices on the basis of proposals received from public/public representatives and the zonal railways as per technical feasibility and commercial justification. Additionally, online reserved ticketing has become very popular and about 58% of reserved tickets are now booked online by passengers from comfort of their homes. Hence, it is no longer required to travel to reservation office for booking of reserved accommodation on trains.

In addition to this Indian Railways also started railway ticket reservation facility at 08 post offices in following locations in Chattisgarh: Jashpur Nagar, Korba, Bemetara Baloda Bazar, New Mantralaya, Kanker, Kawardha, Khairagarh.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Diabetic foot disease costs coming very expensive !

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science indianbureaucracy
science indianbureaucracy

Summary:New research shows preventable hospitalisation from diabetic foot disease is costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

New research from QUT shows preventable hospitalisation from diabetic foot disease is costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland University of Technology and co-chair of Diabetic Foot Australia, Peter Lazzarini, said the importance of early prevention of diabetic foot disease was never more important.

Mr Lazzarini led the Australian-first study published in BMJ Open finding one in every 22 patients in our hospitals have active diabetic foot disease.

“Our study, which investigated a representative sample of hospitalised patients in five hospitals across metropolitan and regional Queensland, found 4.6% of all patients had active diabetic foot disease and nearly half of those were in hospital because of their diabetic foot disease.

“This equates to 27,600 hospitalisations each year caused by diabetic foot disease in Australia, which puts diabetic foot disease easily in the top 20 causes of hospitalisation in Australia.”

He said this amounted to an annual direct cost to Australia for hospitalisation alone of $350 million.

“This figure is much higher than we previously thought and is still very much a conservative estimate, because this cost only relates to patients admitted because of their diabetic foot disease in public hospitals,” he said.

Mr Lazzarini said diabetic foot disease didn’t stop with hospitalisation and that it also causes 4,400 amputations and nearly 1,700 deaths in Australia each year.

“If diabetic foot disease is left untreated it can quite easily result in hospitalisation, amputation and even death,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we also found that people hospitalised because of diabetic foot disease had rarely received the recommended multi-disciplinary foot care needed to properly treat their disease in the year prior to their hospitalisation. This seems to confirm our thoughts that people with diabetic foot disease that do not see a multi-disciplinary foot disease team are more likely to end up in hospital.”

However, Mr Lazzarini offers a message of hope: early prevention.

“We know from our previous research in Australia that when people with diabetic foot disease receive this recommended multi-disciplinary foot care we can prevent around half of the hospitalisations, amputations and costs that would have occurred without this care. Diabetic foot disease is a readily preventable disease if diagnosed and treated early.”

Mr Lazzarini, and a national expert team from Diabetic Foot Australia, are advocating for a national multi-disciplinary approach this National Diabetes Week to help end avoidable hospitalisation and amputation from diabetic foot disease.

“Our study, and similar research from Europe and the US, firstly recommends everyone with diabetes presenting to a hospital needs to have their feet screened for diabetic foot disease. This would help identify nearly everyone who presents to an Australian hospital that needs treatment for this disease but doesn’t necessarily know it.

“Secondly, everyone who is found to have diabetic foot disease needs to be seen by a multi-disciplinary foot disease team both in and out of hospital. In the UK they are up in arms that 20% of their hospitals do not have these teams. We estimate only 20% of our hospitals in Australia actually have these teams and this needs to significantly improve.

“Thirdly, people with diabetes need to see their GP or podiatrist at least every year for a foot screen. Unfortunately, people with diabetes can lose feeling in their feet and left unchecked diabetic foot disease can develop in the form of sores, infections and poor circulation. We know that about 50 per cent of the over one million Australians with diabetes have a foot screen each year. This means we don’t know if diabetic foot disease has affected the other 50 per cent and sometimes it’s too late when we do. If we can pick up diabetic foot disease early and refer people to these multi-disciplinary foot teams we can prevent thousands of hospitalisations, amputations and even deaths.

“We know these simple preventative measures can save our hospital system millions and millions of dollars each year, but most importantly, change the lives of thousands of Australians with diabetes by empowering them to keep both their feet firmly on the ground and out of hospital.”

Diabetic Glenn Wilson from Albany Creek knows only too well the value of early intervention.

Having lost every toe on his left foot and one on his right some years ago, Mr Wilson is keen to raise awareness of the need for diabetics to keep their diabetes under control.

“You have to be on your toes to keep your toes,” he said.

“You can only keep your diabetes under control if you are having regular check-ups with your GP and your podiatrist, self-check for any injuries or abnormalities, a feeling of heat in the foot which can indicate infection even though you might not be able to see it, and check your blood sugar levels daily.

“All this information wasn’t available when I first had diabetes but people now have the knowledge and knowledge is power.”

Mr Wilson said people needed to be aware of the need to act quickly when they spotted a problem.

“When I saw an infection on my foot a while ago and couldn’t get an appointment with my GP I came to the QUT Podiatry Clinic and was able to have a script prepared so I could receive the antibiotics I needed,” he said.

Mr Wilson said the cost to the health system was really just a fraction of the overall cost to society.

“There are so many things that people take for granted that I can no longer do. For example, walking on the beach and being able to feel sand between your toes, hiking in nature, riding a bike. I can’t even ride an exercise bike because I have no feeling in either foot,” he said.

More: Science

Measures for Streamlining Indian Railway Ticketing

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IRCTC-indianbureaucracy
IRCTC-indianbureaucracy

Indian Railways, to streamline the ticket booking system including Tatkal reservation and to check its misuse, has taken the following steps:

(i) Passengers have been given the option to book reserved tickets either through computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) terminals of Indian Railways, or through internet or through authorized agents like e-ticketing agents, Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK) licensees.

(ii) It has now been made mandatory that for undertaking in reserved class, one of the passengers has to produce one of the prescribed proof of identity in original failing which all the passengers will be treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly.

(iii) A provision has been made in the computerized Passenger Reservation System(PRS) to ensure preparation of reservation charts at least four hours before scheduled departure of train and thereafter passenger can book the available accommodation through internet or across any computerized PRS center, till preparation of second reservation charts.

(iv) Surprise checks are conducted by the Commercial/Vigilance Departments to prevent and check irregularities in the reservation system.

(v) No refund is granted on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal ticket.

(vi) The facility of change of name is not permitted on the booking made under Tatkal Scheme.

(vii) The timings of opening of booking under Tatkal scheme on the opening day of reservation have been staggered to 1000 hours and 1100 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station for AC and non-AC classes respectively.

(viii) Authorized ticketing agents have been restricted from booking Tatkal tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of Tatkal booking i.e. from 1000 hours to 1030 hours and from 1100 hours to 1130 hours for air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned classes respectively.

(ix) Web service agents have been permitted to book only one Tatkal ticket per train per day

(x) Maximum four passengers per PNR are permitted for Tatkal Tickets. Individuals are allowed only 2 Tatkal tickets per IP Address from 1000 hours to 1200 hours and maximum number of tickets allowed to an individual user is limited to 6 per month.

(xi) CCTVs are installed at important PRS locations to monitor the activity of touts.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project (CCTNS)

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CCTNS_indianbureaucracy
CCTNS_indianbureaucracy

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project was originally scheduled to be implemented by March 2015. With a view to achieve the larger objectives, Government has extended implementation of the project up to 31st March 2017. The project implementation is in-progress in 34 States/UTs including Punjab and Chandigarh.

There is sub optimal progress in the states of Bihar and Rajasthan due to delay in their engaging system integrator. Project implementation is being regularly monitored in coordination with States/UTs, system integrator and other implementing partners to meet the implementation targets.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

ONGC CSR for Skill Development encompasses National Conservation Parks

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ONGC_csr_indianbureaucracy
ONGC_csr_indianbureaucracy

ONGC in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has initiated a CSR project  for providing training to conservation guides and naturalists from Sultanpur National Park, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Rajaji National Park and Titali Trust. This initiative has been undertaken under the guidance of Director ( HR ) by the office of GM- Head Coordination, Delhi. A total of ten conservation guides  are presently undergoing training as a part of Skill development initiative under this CSR  project .  This project includes training of ten conservation guides in two phases, through Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environmental Education and Research (BVIEER), Pune and Asian Adventures, Panghot, Uttarakhand,  along with installation of eco-friendly dustbins at  Sultanpur Birds Sanctuary and National Park in Haryana.

The first phase of training  through BVIEER, Pune was held from 25th to 30th July, 2016. During this training the participants other than classroom training were taken out to a number of field visits to nearby conservation parks in vicinity of Pune. During one such  field visit the trainees were taken to Bhigwan, a wetland near Khumbhar Gaon (120kms far from Pune).  Smt Manjari Nigam , DGM (HR) from Coordination group, Delhi and Shri Monu Bhatnagar, Chief Chemist from Corp, CSR Delhi  visited Pune, to monitor the project  and  interacted with the trainees on  28th July 2016  at Khumbhar Gaon during this field visit.

Bhigwan is the backwaters of Bhima River, stretches to about 50 kms, and provide livelihood for thousands of fisherman. Backwaters of Bhima River attracts, every year, a large number of migratory birds (from North India and other countries); about 100–150 species of flamingos and cormorants are reported. During the visit, numbers of birds like Grey Heron, Pond Heron, Spot Billed Duck, Black winged tilt, Pheasant-tailed jacana, Flamingo (Agni Pankh), Coot, Lark, Moorhen were seen by the participants.

The Forest Department  appoints guides and naturalists to accompany the tourists visiting these national conservation  parks. Majority of these guides and naturalists are members of the communities located around these protected areas and earn their livelihoods by tending tourists and accompanying them during their park visits. This training of these guides will provide a substantial increase in the overall average knowledge level of participants in the areas of ecology, wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism. It  would help them to develop their skills and entrepreneurship of Nature tourism resulting in enhancement of their income. These guides would be passing the knowledge gained by them to the other members of their community working in the same area with them. Thus this project will   have a major impact  on the communities working in this profession near the  National conservation parks, even though the financial implication to ONGC for the project is   less than ten lakh.

During the interaction with ONGC CSR team the participants shared their learning and experiences.  They learnt about ecology of birds and cleared their myths regarding snakes. One of the guides,  said that this training was helping him to learn about the skills which can be used to provide information about nature and wildlife to tourists in a short duration of time. Apart from providing information to tourists, training will be beneficial to guides in terms of monetary benefits, since tourists prefer trained guides. Conservation guides suggested designating paths for trekking and birding for tourists in the protected areas.

Through this training ONGC is producing  ambassadors of nature who while  interacting with the tourists will also be  passing  the message of importance of the forests and wildlife & about its conservation thus meeting the CSR objective of environment sustainability and protection of flora and fauna.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Rejuvenation of Ayodhya and Mathura

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Ganga Rejuvenation
Ganga Rejuvenation

The Ministry of Tourism has launched a scheme Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive  (PRASAD) for development and beautification of important pilgrimage sites of the country in 2014-15. Under the scheme 13 sites have been identified so far for development, namely Ajmer, Amritsar, Amaravati, Dwarka, Gaya, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Patna, Puri, Varanasi and Velankanni.

Details of the funds sanctioned for the projects of Mathura under PRASAD Scheme are as under:-

                                                                                                 (Rs. in crore)

Sl. No. State Name of the project Sanctioned Amount
Year- 2014-15
1. Uttar Pradesh Development of Mathura-Vrindavan as Mega Tourist Circuit (Ph-II) 14.93
2. – do- Construction of Tourist Facilitation Centre at Vrindavan, Distt. Mathura 9.35

The Ministry of Tourism has also launched another scheme, Swadesh Darshan for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country in 2014-15. Ramayana and Krishna Circuits are among the thirteen thematic circuits identified for development under the scheme.

The destinations initially identified for development under the Ramayana, Krishna Circuits in the country are as under:

  • Ramayana Circuit: Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh); Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar); Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh); Mahendragiri (Odisha); Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh); Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra) Bhadrachalam (Telangana); Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu).
  • Krishna Circuit: Dwarka (Gujarat); Nathdwara, Jaipur & Sikar (Rajasthan); Kurukshetra (Haryana), Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Barsana, Nandgaon & Govardhan (Uttar Pradesh) and Puri (Odisha).

In the current financial year, the budget allocation for the PRASAD scheme is Rs.100 crore while that for the Swadesh Darshan scheme is Rs.706.35 crore. Suitable projects relating to the identified sites/circuits are eligible for sanction subject to adherence to scheme guidelines, availability of resources and submission of previous utilization certificates.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

New Mangalore Port attracting more cargo from Chikmagaluru

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Mangalore Port_indanbureaucracy
Mangalore Port_indanbureaucracy

The proactive business promotion drive by the Port by conducting business meets at various locations of the hinterland had yielded positive results. The Port had a series of business meets at Chikmagaluru and Mudigere where various potential coffee curing and trading firms are located. The recent meet with M/s Mudremane Coffee Curers, M/s Vidya Coffee and M/s Belur Coffee Curing & Trading Co. has contributed to the movement of more coffee for export through the Port. M/s Mudremane Coffee and M/s Belur Coffee, who are already using New Mangalore Port has assured to divert more cargo through the Port. M/s Vidya Coffee, who have set up state of the art new fully mechanized coffee curing plant at Chikmagaluru has committed to move their entire export consignments through New Mangalore Port.

New Mangalore Port being the highest coffee exporting port in the country is keen in adding more infrastructures for the smooth handling of containers. Additional container storage area of 20,000 sq. mtrs already commissioned and another 23,000 sq. mtrs is nearing completion. In addition to the existing 3 reach stackers, 2 more will be inducted by Sept.2016. The Port is also in the process of mechanizing one of its general cargo berths for exclusively handling containers and other clean cargo. Once all these development works are completed the port is expected to emerge as one of the leading container handling ports in the west coast of the country.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes the very best.

Ship engine emissions adversely affect Macrophages

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science indianbureaucracy
science indianbureaucracy

Summary:Ship emissions adversely affect the health of inhabitants of coastal regions. This was the main finding of a study on the influence of ship engine emissions on macrophages in the lungs. Since macrophages also play a key role in lung diseases such as COPD, the study is important for understanding the health risks of ship exhausts.

In cooperation with colleagues of the University of Rostock, the University of Luxembourg, the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Eastern Finland, the Munich Scientists have now published the results in the journal PLOS ONE. In 2015 they already showed that exposure to particle emissions from heavy fuel oil (HFO) and diesel fuel (DF) adversely affects human lung cells and is responsible for strong biological responses of the cells (“How Ship Emissions Adversely Affect Lung Cells”).

For example, inflammatory processes are triggered that may influence the development of interstitial lung diseases. Now the team led by Professor Ralf Zimmermann has found in further studies that macrophages are also influenced by the exhaust gases. These are much more sensitive than lung epithelial cells and therefore react more strongly to exposure. Zimmermann is speaker of the international consortium Helmholtz Virtual Institute of Complex Molecular Systems in Environmental Health (HICE), head of the cooperation group Comprehensive Molecular Analytics (CMA) at Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen and head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Rostock.

“Macrophages are known as scavenger cells of the immune system and respond more sensitively to particulate matter in the lungs than lung epithelial cells, since they are the ‘first line of response’ against foreign invaders in the lungs such as germs or even fine dust particles,” said Sean Sapcariu, first author of the study and doctoral student at the University of Luxembourg, a cooperation partner in HICE. “We found that the ship emissions of heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel had different effects on triggering pro-inflammatory reactions,”said Sapcariu. Fine particles from heavy fuel oil emissions have a stronger effect on the development of pro-inflammatory reactions than particles emitted from diesel ship engines, but the latter more strongly influence other fundamental biological processes such as DNA-, RNA- and protein-synthesis.

“We then found that the emitted particles both from the heavy fuel oil and from the diesel exhaust had similarly high toxic effects on the macrophages. Surprisingly, the toxic effects leading to cell death are even slightly lower in the heavy fuel oil emissions, although the concentrations of known toxic pollutants in the heavy oil emissions are much higher,” Zimmermann added. “Foregoing the ban of the heavy fuel oil use in coastal shipping, as is currently propagated and partially already implemented via the current fuel-sulfur content regulations, is therefore probably less beneficial than expected for protecting the health of people in coastal areas. The simplest and safest way to mitigate these adverse health effects from ship engine emissions would be to introduce efficient particle reducing measures such as exhaust gas scrubbers and particle filters. These would precipitate the harmful fine particles from the emissions and thus reduce the adverse health effects, irrespective of the fuel used. Since such measures are generally not implemented on a voluntary basis, in our view there is an urgent need for action by policy makers in government and by national and European regulatory authorities.”

More: Science

Cyber crime keeps bankers awake at night says SBI Chairman

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FICCI
FICCI_logo_indianbureaucracy

The threat of cyber crimes is keeping bankers awake at night, said Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India.

“Technology is a great enabler but it has its downsides too…(the threat of) cyber crime keeps me awake at night,” she said recalling the $81 million digital theft involving the Bangladesh Central Bank earlier this year. Speaking at a FICCI Banking Conclave on Changing Landscape of Indian Banking, she said that it was important to be aware of the fact that while technology had helped change the landscape of banking it had its downsides and it was important to protect the banking system.

‘Adopting, adapting’

Pointing out that technology was evolving at an unimaginable speed, she said that as part of its policy of adopting and adapting, SBI was looking at the franchisee-model through which all basic banking services could be delivered. The evolving global regulatory norms were “creating challenges not seen earlier,” she said.

One such norm was the requirement of LCR (liquidity coverage ratio) – a key ratio that reflects a bank’s ability to match possible capital outflows with high-quality liquid assets. “The liquidity of Indian banks is good,” she said. Still, they now need to show their LCR to establish their credibility and ability to attract capital in a capital-deficient country like India, she said.

SBI was devising small investment products and flexi-deposit schemes for those banking through the Business Correspondent model, she said.

OIL India and ONGC pay differential royalty to Assam

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OIL ONGCpay_indianbureaucracy
The Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal receiving the cheque on payment of differential royalty from the CMD of ONGC, Shri Dinesh Kumar Sarraf, in the presence of the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge), Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, in New Delhi on August 04, 2016. The Minister of State for Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain is also seen.

Public Sector Upstream Oil Companies- Oil India Limited and ONGC Limited made a payment to the Government of Assam, towards differential royalty on pre-discount price for the period from 01.02.14 to 31.03.16. The amount paid by OIL is Rs. 1,149.24 crore and the amount paid by ONGC is Rs. 300.64 crore. The cheques were handed over by the CMDs of ONGC and OIL to the Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal at New Delhi, in the presence of Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries.

Speaking on the occasion, the Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan said that injustice was being done to Assam due to political reasons in the payment of royalty. He said the differential royalty being paid today was Assam’s right. The Minister said that the natural resources of a place belong to the people living there and, hence, it was proper that full royalty should be paid to Assam for the oil explored there. He said that this gesture will provide the feel-good factor and improve cooperation between the oil companies and Assam.

Assam Chief Minister, Sh. Sarbananda Sonowal thanked the Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister for releasing the amount due to it in a single installment. He said that Assam is suffering from a natural disaster and is in acute need of funds. He also thanked the Oil PSUs for contributing Rs. 15 crore towards the CM Relief Fund from their CSR initiative.

As per statutory provisions, royalty on production of crude oil in the state of Assam is paid by ONGC and OIL to Assam Government. Effective from 2008-09, the royalty to all State Governments including Assam was being paid on post-discount price of crude oil realized by ONGC and OIL from the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). In view of the litigation arising out of the loss of royalty to State Governments due the discounts being provided by the ONGC and OIL to public sector OMCs and interim decision of the Supreme Court dated 13.02.14, MoP&NG vide letter dated 15.07.16 has decided that ONGC and OIL will pay royalty to all crude oil producing states at pre-discount prices effective 01.02.14, pending the outcome of the SLA (Civil) No. 1596/2014 filed by ONGC Ltd. before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.