Journal Science selects top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2008

In its annual list of the year's top 10 scientific breakthroughs, the prestige scientific journal Science has given top honors to research that produced "made-to-order" cell lines by reprogramming cells from ill patients.

"These cell lines, and the techniques for producing them, offer long-sought tools for understanding -- and hopefully someday curing -- difficult-to-study diseases such as Parkinson's disease and type 1 diabetes," Science said Thursday in a statement.

Two years ago, in experiments with mice, researchers showed that they could wipe out a cell's developmental "memory" by inserting just four genes. Once returned to its pristine, embryonic state, the cell could then be coaxed to become an altogether different type of cell.

This year, scientists built on this work with spectacular results. Two research teams took cells from patients suffering from a variety of diseases and reprogrammed them into stem cells. A third research team skipped the embryonic state altogether and, working with mouse cells, turned one type of mature pancreas cells, called exocrine cells, directly into another type, called beta cells.

The new cell lines will be major tools for understanding how diseases arise and develop, and they may also prove useful in screens for potential drugs. Eventually, if scientists can master cellular reprogramming so that it's more finely controlled, efficient and safe, patients may someday be treated with healthy versions of their own cells.

The other nine scientific achievements of 2008 selected by Science are:

-- Exoplanets: For the first time this year, astronomers directly observed planets orbiting other stars, using special telescope techniques to distinguish the planets' faint light from the stars' bright glare.

-- Expanding the catalog of cancer genes: By sequencing genes from various cancer cells, including pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma, two of the deadliest cancers, researchers turned up dozens of mutations that remove the brakes on cell division and send the cell down the path to cancer.

-- New mystery materials: High-temperature superconductors are materials that carry electricity without resistance at inexplicably high temperatures. In 2008, researchers created a stir by discovering a whole second family of high-temperature superconductors, consisting of iron compounds instead of copper-and-oxygen-compounds.

-- Watching proteins at work: Biochemists encountered major surprises this year as they watched proteins bind to their targets, switch a cell's metabolic state and contribute to a tissue's properties.

-- Toward renewable energy on demand: This year, researchers found a promising new tool for storing excess electricity generated from part-time sources like wind and solar power, on industrial scale. A cobalt-phosphorus catalyst that's relatively easy to come by can use electricity to split water to free its hydrogen, which can in turn be fed into fuel cells to produce electricity again.

-- The video embryo: In 2008, researchers observed in unprecedented detail the dance of cells in a developing embryo, recording and analyzing movies that trace the movements of the roughly 16,000 cells that make up the zebrafish embryo by the end of its first day of development.

-- "Good" fat: In a study that may offer new approaches to treating obesity, scientists discovered that they could morph "good" brown fat, which burns "bad" white fat to generate heat for the body, into muscle and vice versa.

-- Calculating the weight of the world: Physicists now have the calculations in hand to show that the standard model -- which describes most of the visible universe's particles and their interactions -- accurately predicts how much mass protons and neutrons have.

-- Faster, cheaper genome sequencing: Researchers reported a flurry of genome sequences this year -- from woolly mammoths to human cancer patients -- aided by a variety of sequencing technologies that are much speedier and cheaper than the ones used to sequence the first human genome.

REPLACEMENT OF GOVERNMENT VEHICLES

SC verdict on out of Syllabus Question asked in Departmental Examination

An unsuccessful examinee challenged the departmental examination for the promotion of accounts officers, claiming that some questions were on topics that were not in the syllabus. The Central Administrative Tribunal allowed the application, directing that the minimum qualifying marks be awarded to all applicants in the questions concerned. The authorities won the case at the Andhra Pradesh High Court. When the examinee appealed to the Supreme Court, however, it dismissed the appeal, holding that the accounts officer was expected to have an overall knowledge of the accounts code, treasury rules etc. It added that it was not for the tribunal to pass an order on the supposition that the examinees had misunderstood the extent of the syllabus. (N. Lokanadham vs Telecom Commission)
CASE NO.: Appeal (civil) 2896 of 2008

Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN)

Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN)

TAN or Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number is a 10 digit alpha numeric number required to be obtained by all persons who are responsible for deducting or collecting tax. All those persons who are required to deduct tax at source or collect tax at source on behalf of Income Tax Department are required to apply for and obtain TAN. TAN is allotted by the Income Tax Department on the basis of the application submitted to TIN Facilitation Centres managed by National Securities Depository Limited ( NSDL ). NSDL will intimate the TAN which will be required to be mentioned in all future correspondence relating to TDS/TCS. An application for allotment of TAN is to be filled in Form 49B and submitted at any of the TIN facilitation centres meant for receipt of e-TDS returns. The income tax act makes it mandatory for TAN to be quoted in all TDS/TCS returns, all TDS/TCS payment challans and all TDS/TCS certificates to be issued. Failure to apply for TAN or comply with any of the other provisions of the Act attracts a penalty. TDS/TCS returns will not be received if TAN is not quoted and challans for TDS/TCS payments will not be accepted by banks.

CGHS - A FLAWED HEALTH SCHEME OF THE CENTRAL GOVT.

Click Here

UPSC cannot relax limit of four attempts for IAS aspirants: HC

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Ruling that the UPSC has no power to allow an IAS aspirant to make more than four attempts in Civil Services Examination (CSE), the Delhi High Court today rejected a candidate's plea to consider his fifth successful attempt as valid.
A general category candidate is entitled to make a maximum of four attempts but Praveen Sharma appeared in the exam for the fifth time after a single judge allowed him to do so while referring the matter to CAT for a final decision.

Sharma filed an appeal after Central Administrative Tribunal dismissed his petition for giving a direction to the UPSC.

A Division Bench of Justice Madan B Lakur and Justice Suresh Kait has now dismissed a his plea for a direction to the UPSC to consider his fifth attempt, in which he qualified all the tests including final interview in 2006, as the final try and consider fourth as "aborted attempt" as he failed to sit in all the papers due a serious accident.

"There is no doubt that undue hardship has been caused to petitioner (Sharma) due to an accident and circumstances beyond his control but that by itself does not mean that the rules which are applicable to all candidates should be waived in so far as Sharma is concerned...This would result in a chaotic situation and even the UPSC may not be able to handle it," the Bench observed in a judgement.

In the petition Sharma said that he had appeared the examinations in 2001, 2003, 2004 and during his fourth attempt in 2005 he had met with a serious accident as a result he was not able to appear in some papers and in 2006 his application for another attempt was rejected by the Commission.

Being aggrieved with the UPSC's decision, Sharma had approached the High Court with a submission that his fourth attempt should not be treated as the final chance and to be treated as "aborted attempt". PTI

6th Pay Commission Pension (Revised) for Pensioner retired between 1/1/06 & 1/9/2008

Tax Collection at Source (TCS)

Tax collection at source arises on the part of the seller of goods. Here, tax is collected at the source of income itself. It is to be collected at source from the buyer, by the seller at the point of sale. Such tax collection is to be made by the seller at the time of debiting the amount payable to the buyer to the account of the buyer or at the time of receipt of such amount from the buyer, whichever is earlier. A person collecting tax shall furnish a certificate specifying whether tax has been collected or not,what sum has been collected,the rate of tax applied on it and other such particulars as may be prescribed. It shall be furnished within 10 days from the date of debit or receipt of the amount furnished to the buyer to whose account such amount is debited or from whom such payment is received. The taxes collected must be remitted into the income tax department's account. Every person collecting tax shall, within such time as may be prescribed, apply to the Assessing Officer for the allotment of a tax-collection account number.

The following goods when sold must be subjected to tax collection at source :-

• Alcoholic liquor for human consumption (other than Indian made foreign liquor).


• Timber obtained under a forest lease.


• Timber obtained by any mode other than under a forest lease.


• Any other forest produce not being timber.

Allahabad HC: CAT cannot interfere with orders of state govt against IAS

The Allahabad High Court ruled that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) cannot assume its competency to frustrate the actions taken under the Prevention of Corruption Act, by the government against an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or any officer.

Quashing an order passed by the CAT (Allahabad), the bench, consisting of Justices Amitava Lala and A P Sahi observed that power to the CAT was given after curtailing the powers of the High Court by virtue of Article 323-A of the Constitution of India, but sky is not the limit to construe as such by it.

The Judges, while allowing the writ petition filed by the UP government said, ‘As the power is high, preservation of the power is higher than that, unnecessarily the jurisdiction of the tribunal cannot be widened to interfere with orders/action taken by the government against the officers under the Prevention of Corruption Act.’ The High Court in its order has clarified that any order to be passed by the Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act is appealable and revisable as per the power conferred by the CrPC in the High Court. Therefore, such power cannot be regulated by the CAT.

The CAT Allahabad by an order passed on February 18, 2008 had quashed the order and had set aside all consequential action including FIR lodged against Vijay Varshney, an IAS officer in UP under section 13(1)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on his Original Application (OA) filed before it.

Vijay Varshney was promoted to IAS cadre in the year 1999 and was posted as District Magistrate, Lakhimpur. The charge against him was that he had amassed asset disproportionate to his known income and for which vigilance inquiry was ordered on February 28, 2007 and it had directed to lodge an FIR against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The order of the State government was challenged before the CAT by Varshney.

The Court rejected the argument of counsel A K Srivastava, appearing for the IAS officer that proceeding may be criminal nature in pursuance of filing of FIR, but it concerns service of an employee and therefore CAT had the power to interfere with order of the State government.

UNI

Tax Deduction at Source (TDS)

Tax deduction at source means the tax required to be paid by the assesses, is deducted by the person paying the income to him. Thus, the tax is deducted at the source of income itself. The income tax act enjoins on the payer of such income to deduct the given percentage of income as income tax and pay the balance amount to the recipient of such income. The tax so deducted at source by the payer is to be deposited in the income tax department account. The tax so deducted from the income of the recipient is deemed to be payment of income tax by the recipient at the time of his assessment.

For example, person responsible for paying any income which is chargeable to tax under the head 'Salaries' is required to compute the tax liability in respect of such income and deduct tax at source at the time of payment.If the employee has any other income,he needs to inform the employer so that employer can take that income into consideration while computing his tax liability but he will not take into account losses except loss from house property.

Similarly, person responsible for paying any income by way of 'interest on securities' or any other interests are required to deduct tax at source at the prescribed rates at the time of credit of such income to the account of the payee or at the time of payment,whichever is earlier.

The income from the following sources is subjected to tax deduction at source

• Salary and all other positive incomes under any head on income( Section 192 )


• Interest on securities ( Section 193 )


• Interest other than interest on securities( Section 194A )


• Payments to contractors and sub-contractors( Section 194C )


• Winnings from Lottery or crossword puzzles( Section 194B )


• Winnings from horse races( Section 194BB )


• Insurance Commission covering all payments for procuring Insurance business( Section 194D )


• Any interest other than interest on securities payable to non-residents not being a company or to a foreign company( Section 195 )


• Payment to non-resident sportsman including athlete or sports association/institution.In case of non-resident sportsman,payments in respect of advertisements as well as articles on any game/sports in India in newspapers,magazines,etc. is included( Section 194E )


• Payment in respect of deposits under NSS[National Savings Scheme]( Section 194EE )


• Payment on account of repurchase of Units by Mutual Fund or UTI( Section 194F )


• Payment for Commission or brokerage( Section 194H )


• Payment of rent( Section 194I )


• Payment of fees for professional or technical services( Section 194J )


• Commission to Stockist,distributors,buyers and sellers of Lottery tickets including remuneration or prize on such tickets( Section 194G )


• Income from Units purchased in foreign currency or long-term capital gain arising from the transfer of such Units purchased in foreign currency ( Section196B )


• Payment of any income to non-residents in respect of interest or dividend on bonds and shares( Section 196C )etc.

Service Tax

Service tax is a tax levied on services rendered by a person and the responsibility of payment of the tax is cast on the service provider. It is an indirect tax as it can be recovered from the service receiver by the service provider in course of his business transactions. Service Tax was introduced in India in 1994 by Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994. It was imposed on a initial set of three services in 1994 and the scope of the service tax has since been expanded continuously by subsequent Finance Acts. The Finance Act, extends the levy of service tax to the whole of India, except the State of Jammu & Kashmir.

The Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) under Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance, deals with the task of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Service Tax. In exercise of the powers conferred, the Central Government makes service tax rules for the purpose of the assessment and collection of service tax. The Service Tax is being administered by various Central Excise Commissionerates, working under the Central Board of Excise & Customs. There are six Commissionerates located at metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore which deal exclusively with work related to Service Tax. Directorate of Service Tax at Mumbai over sees the activities at the field level for technical and policy level coordination.

Registration

• A person liable to pay service tax should file an application for registration within thirty days from the date on which the service tax on particular taxable service comes into effect or within thirty days from the commencement of his activity.


• Every service provider of a taxable service is required to take registration by filing the Form ST-1 in duplicate with the jurisdictional Central Excise Office.


• A ‘registered' service provider is referred to as an ‘assessee'.


• A single registration is sufficient even when an assessee is providing more than one taxable services. However, he has to mention all the services being provided by him in the application for registration and the field office shall make suitable entries/endorsements in the registration certificate.


• A fresh registration is required to be obtained in case of transfer of business to another person.


• Any registered assessee when ceases to provide the taxable service shall surrender the registration certificate immediately.


• In case a registered assessee starts providing any new service from the same premises, he need not apply for a fresh registration. He can simply fill in the Form S.T.1 for necessary amendments he desires to make in his existing information. The new form may be submitted to the jurisdictional Superintendent for necessary endorsement of the new service category in his Registration certificate.
  

In case of Individuals or Proprietary Concerns and Partnership Firm, service tax is to be paid on quarterly basis. The due date for payment of service tax is the 5th of the month immediately following the respective quarter. (Quarters are : April to June, July to September, October to December and January to March). However, payment for the last quarter i.e. January to March is required to be made by 31st of March itself. In case of any other category of service provider than specified above, service tax is to be paid on a monthly basis, by the 5th of the following month. However, payment for the month of March is required to be made by 31st of March itself. Service tax is to be paid on the amount realized / received by the assessee during the relevant period ( i.e. a month or a quarter as the case may be).

The unique feature of Service Tax is reliance on collection of tax, primarily through voluntary compliance. System of self-assessment of Service Tax Returns by service tax assesses was introduced w.e.f. 01.04.2001. The jurisdictional Superintendent of Central Excise is authorized to cross verify the correctness of self assessed returns. Tax returns are expected to be filed half yearly. Central Excise officers are authorized to conduct surveys to bring the prospective service tax assesses under the tax net.

Service tax is payable @ 12% of the ‘gross amount' charged by the service provider for providing such taxable service. The Education Cess is payable @ 2% of the service tax payable.

Service Tax Exemptions

The Central Government can grant partial or total exemption by issuing an exemption notification. But it cannot be granted by the Government with retrospective effect. The general exemptions are :-

• Small service providers whose turnover is less than Rs 4 lakhs per annum are exempt from service tax.


• There is no service tax on export of services.


• Services provided to UN and International Agencies and supplies to SEZ(Special Economic Zones) are exempt from service tax.


• Service tax is not payable on value of goods and material supplied while providing services. Such exclusion is permissible only if Cenvat credit on such goods and material is not taken.

Service Tax Profiles

S.No	Service Category
1	Advertising Agency
2	Air Travel Agents
3	Architect
4	ATM Operations, Management or Maintenance
5	Auctioneers' service
6	Authorised Service Station
7	Auxiliary to General Insurance / Life Insurance
8	Banking & Other Financial Services
9	Beauty Parlour
10	Broadcasting Service
11	Business Auxiliary Service
12	Business Support Service
13	Cable Operator
14	Cargo Handling Service
15	Practising Chartered Accountant, Practising Cost Accountant and Practising Company Secretary
16	Cleaning Service
17	Clearing & Forwarding Agents
18	Clubs and Associations
19	Commercial Training or Coaching Centre
20	Commissioning and Installation Service
21	Residential Complex Construction
22	Consulting Engineers
23	Convention Services
24	Courier Services
25	Credit Card, Debit Card, Charge Card or other payment card related services
26	Credit Rating Agencies
27	Custom House Agent
28	Dredging
29	Dry Cleaning
30	Event Management
31	Facsimile Service
32	Fashion Designer
33	Franchise Services
34	General Insurance
35	Health Club & Fitness Centre
36	Interior Decorator
37	Internet Café
38	Internet Telephony Service
39	Leased Circuit
40	Mailing List Compilation and Mailing
41	Management Consultant
42	Maintenance or Repair Service
43	Mandap Keepers
44	Manpower Recruitment Agency
45	Market Research Agency
46	On-line Information & Database Access or Retrieval Service
47	Packaging Service
48	Pager Services
49	Photography Service
50	Port Services
51	Public Relations Service
52	Rail Travel Agent
53	Real Estate Agent
54	Recovery Agent
55	Registrar to an Issue
56	Rent - a - Cab Scheme Operators
57	Sale of space or time for Advertisement
58	Scientific and Technical Consultancy
59	Security Agencies
60	Share Transfer Agent
61	Ship Management
62	Site Preparation
63	Sound Recording Service
64	Sponsorship service
65	Steamer Agent
66	Stock Broker
67	Storage & Warehousing
68	Survey and Map Making
69	Technical Testing & Analysis Agency / Technical Inspection & Certification Agency
70	Telephone
71	Telex Service
72	Telegraph Service
73	Tour Operator
74	Transport of goods by Road
75	Transport of goods in containers by rail (other than Indian railway)
76	Transport of goods through Pipeline or other conduit
77	Transport of passengers embarking on international journey by air, other than economy class passengers
78	Transport of persons by cruise ship
79	Underwriting Service
80	Video Tape Production Service

FAQ on Service Tax

Bids soon to man individual pension accounts

NEW DELHI: The regulator for the new pension scheme would soon invite bids from private sector fund managers to handle parts of its Rs 1,700-crore corpus, which theregulator expects to more than double in some time.
Insurance companies such as Tata AIG and MetLife India Insurance Co, which are partly owned by foreign investors, can also participate in the Fund management of the new pension scheme administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA), an official with the regulator said.
The appointment of private fund managers comes ahead of the regulator’s plan to extend the scheme to private individuals from April 1, 2009. Now, participation in the scheme is compulsory for employees who joined government service after January 1, 2004, and voluntary for those who are in public service.
Competition among fund managers would give contributors the option to choose from different investment schemes and the opportunity to switch from one scheme to another depending on the returns. “Many foreign insurance entities have joint ventures in the country. They could sponsor pension schemes by setting up dedicated arms for that. Their eligibility criteria would be the same as that of other fund managers,” an official told ET. Entities managing Rs 10,000 crore and with five-year experience are eligible. Today, SBI, UTI Asset Management Co and LIC are managing the corpus of the scheme.
PFRDA would first invite expressions of interest, evaluate them as per technical parameters, and then invite commercial bids.
While the pension regulator will keep the total number of fund managers limited, it would appoint unlimited number of entities for soliciting and collecting contributions from individuals.
These could be banks, post offices or other entities with a large reach and ability to transfer funds electronically. “We have 1,50,000 post offices in the country, but only 10,000-15,000 have electronic connectivity with other centres. We need agents that can instantly transfer funds electronically. Otherwise contributors’ savings would remain blocked at various levels, causing them losses,” said the official.
The regulator is framing investment guidelines for the fund managers to safely deploy private individuals’ savings and to give them decent returns depending upon their risk appetite. Only 15% of government employees’ savings will go to the stock market

.
Courtesy : The Economic times

National Best practice in Finance By Government Knowledge Center (DARPG)

Koshwahini: Treasury Information System

Introduction:

Treasuries are pivotal to all government operations in any country. Transparency of treasury operations also ensures accountability of government expenditures. In order to enhance citizen engagement and service delivery, it is therefore central to first computerize the treasuries so that transactions are quick, transparent and accurate. This is the essence of Koshwahini.

Koshawahini is an online financial information system designed by Directorate of Accounts and Treasuries with the help of National Informatics Centre. Data is collected from 33 District Treasuries, 292 Sub Treasuries & Pay & Accounts office and processed and converted into useful information at the level of the Directorate. The object of KOSHWAHINI is to make available up to date financial information required for various departments of the Government. The system gives detailed information for Compiled Payment Data, Compiled Receipt Data up to voucher level, chalan level respectively and also Bills in Process. It also gives reports for various payments. More over, it gives report on Budget with Expenditure for various combinations.

Koshwahini is Treasury Information System to manage the exchequer across Maharashtra. It is a powerful fact-based fiscal management tool for the entire State Government. It comprises:

• Data warehouse of Treasury Expenditure & Receipts
• Treasury Net: Workflow in the Treasury
• Reconciliation with Accountant General.
• E scroll from the Banks for payment reconciliation
• LOC: Monitoring PWD, Forest, Irrigation Accounts
• Budget Distribution System
• Pension Payment System

Some of the numbers which involve the Koshwahini project are staggering and is as below:

1. Offices: One PAO in Mumbai, 33 District Treasuries, 295 sub-Treasuries.

2. 12000 Drawing & Disbursing Officers.

3. 85 lac Challans & 35 lac Vouchers every Year.

4. Number of Schemes:

-10,000 Payment Schemes

-1,100% Receipt Schemes

5. Number of State Government Pensioners : More than 4.5 lac

Koshwahini is developed using Java, JSP, DB2, Linux. It is running Live successfully for a few years across levels. Koshwahini is launched at the Data Center at Mumbai. Koshwanini has been developed on IBM middleware technologies as it is vertically & horizontally scalable with the flexibility to develop and deploy the solution on various platforms including Linux.

The Project Objectives:

1. Providing appropriate information at right time in right place

2. Building up of responsibility and accountability in the system

3. Ensuring professional approach in the Government

4. Provide efficient service management

5. Efficient delivery of services to end users

Services Offered:

1.Expeditious and transparent system of clearance of bills in a timely manner to the most socially backward classes and to the remotest tribal areas

2.Expenditure forecasts so that the required amounts are kept available in the treasuries

3.Generates bills of monthly Pension to be paid to the five lakh State pensioners and provides them facility of payment through Electronic Clearing System (ECS)

4. Payment of salary to 6 lakh State Government employees directly into their bank account

( Source : Treasury Department, Govt. of Maharshtra)

1. Electronic Pay Billing.

2. E Budget Distribution System.

3. Website for Pensioners

4. Strengthening of Koshwahini

5. Virtual Treasury

6. Central Treasury – Treasury Net

What are the benefits and why is it a good practice?

• A tool to manage the money efficiently & effectively
• Online custom made multi-dimension view to the data & information from various stakeholder’s perspective
• Smart Scheme monitoring and management
• Immediate Cheque Reconciliation
• Monthly Bureau report is now available within a week of subsequent month, while earlier it used to take to take around 2 months
• DAT has stopped sending printed report of around 100 pages every month to approx. 35 departments, as the information & data is available through online queries
• Availability of data for expenditure Reconciliation
• Optimised and reduced timelines in disbursing the Pension to around half a million Pensioners
• A totally transparent system

The other states in India are looking at Koshwahini as a role model application and are planning to implement in their respective States. Some of the states have already visited and carrying out the Gap Analysis to kick-off their implementations. Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Meghayalya are among the states. Further, a high level team from Controller General of Accounts New Delhi (CGA) has visited the project; registered their acknowledgement on the success of project; and have expressed their desire to replicate similar project in their Country-wide operations.

With the implementation of treasury computerization, the system enforces daily tallying of accounts instead of tallying at the end of month and now accounts are submitted in time by the treasuries to the A.G. even before the due dates. The challans received by treasuries regarding State's dues paid are expeditiously reconciled with bank scrolls, ensuring immediate corrective actions. Finally, up to date data is available for financial decision-making. Staff can use its time more efficiently and handle greater volumes of work more professionally. Also, this has increased the motivational level in the organization and has made treasuries more accountable and transparent.

Source HERE

Consolidated List of Hospitals & Digonstic centers empanalled with CGHS as on 10/12/2008

http://mohfw.nic.in/List%20of%20Empanelled%20Hospitals%20&%20DC.htm

ARC suggests lower age limit for civil services aspirants

Aarti Dhar

Only fewer attempts in exams should be allowed

NEW DELHI: The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) has recommended lowering of the upper age limit and reducing the number of attempts for civil services aspirants with some relaxations for reserved categories.

The Tenth report of the Commission on “Refurbishing of Personnel Administration — Scaling New Heights,” released here on Friday, suggested doing away with the present system of evaluation of performance based on annual confidential report (ACR). Instead, it came up with a concept of annual performance agreements to be signed between the Minister concerned and the Secretary or head of the department, providing physical and verifiable details of the work to be done during a financial year. The actual performance should be assessed by a third party.

Addressing a press conference, Commission chairperson M. Veerappa Moily said the panel favoured reducing the upper age limit for writing the civil services examination to between 21 and 25 for general candidates, 28 for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 29 for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates as also those who were physically challenged.

The number of permissible attempts in the civil services examinations should be 3 years, 5 years and 6 years for the general candidates, OBC, and SC/ST and physically challenged aspirants, the panel has suggested.

At present, the upper age limit is 30 years for the general candidates with 4 attempts. But there are relaxations for the OBC and SC/ST aspirants.

According to the report, a Post-School Grooming System for civil services aspirants and a formal degree course in public policy would be of great help and also discourage the system of coaching centres which have tended to distort the formal education system.

While recommending the establishment of National Institutes of Public Administration to run degree courses in public administration, the report has said an expert committee should work out the modalities of the proposed system.

For a transparent system of appointments in the government, covering all ranks, the Commission has suggested the setting up of a Central Civil Services Authority. The panel is also in favour of introducing competition for all senior positions by opening these to services. The Authority, the panel says, should be a five-member body with the chairperson appointed by the President on the recommendations of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to make it totally apolitical.

The Commission is of the view that in order to avoid any conflict of interest, government officials should not be allowed to go on deputation to private commercial organisations.

Periodic review

In order to increase accountability, the Commission suggested a periodic review of the performance for which it recommended a system of two intensive reviews — one on completion of 14 years of service and the other on completion of 20 years. The first review will primarily serve the purpose of intimating individual about his/her performance and the second is mainly to assess the fitness of the officer for his/her future continuation in service. The employees found unfit after 20 years should be dispensed with and a provision in this regard should be made in the proposed Civil Services Law, Mr. Moily has said.

Courtesy : The Hindu

Exchange Rate Variation (ERV)

In case of a contract involving substantial import content(s) and having a long delivery period (exceeding one year from the date of contract), an appropriate Foreign Exchange Variation clause may be formulated by the Purchase Organization in consultation with its Finance Wing, as needed, and incorporated in the Tender Enquiry Document. In that clause, the tenderers are to be asked to indicate import content(s) and the currency(ies) used for calculating the value of import content(s) in their total quoted price, which (i.e. the total quoted price) will be in Indian Rupees. The tenderers may be asked to indicate the Base Exchange Rate for each such foreign currency used for converting the FE content into Indian Rupees and the extent of foreign exchange rate variation risk they are willing to bear. To work out the variation due to changes (if any) in the exchange rate(s), the base date for this purpose will be the due date of opening of tenders/seven days prior to the due date of opening of tenders …….. (the purchase organization is to decide and adopt a particular suitable date). The variation may be allowed between the above base date and the date of remittance to the foreign principal/mid-point of manufacture of the foreign component/….. (the purchase organization is to choose the appropriate date). The applicable exchange rates as above will be according to the TT Selling Rates of Exchange as quoted by authorized Exchange Bankers approved by the Reserve Bank of India on the dates in question. No variation in price in this regard will be allowed if the variation in the rate of exchange remains within the limit of plus/minus ……. percent. (The purchase organization is to decide the figure). Any increase or decrease in the Customs Duty by reason of the variation in the rate of exchange in terms of the contract will be to the buyer’s account. In case Delivery period is refixed/ extended, ERV will not be admissible, if this is due to default of the supplier. The purchase organization may formulate an appropriate ERV clause on similar lines as above in consultation with their Finance Wing.” The following documents should be furnished by the supplier for claiming ERV:
(a) A bill of ERV claim enclosing working sheet
(b) Banker’s Certificate/debit advice detailing F.E. paid, date of remittance and exchange rate
(c) Copies of import order placed on supplier
(d) Invoice of supplier for the relevant import order

Performance Security

To ensure due performance of the contract, Performance Security is to be obtained from the successful bidder awarded the contract. Performance Security is to be obtained from every successful bidder irrespective of its registration status etc. Performance Security should be for an amount of five to ten per cent. of the value of the contract. Performance Security may be furnished in the form of an Account payee Demand Draft, Fixed Deposit Receipt from a Commercial bank or Bank Guarantee from a Commercial bank in an acceptable form safeguarding the purchaser’s interest in all respects. Performance Security is to be furnished by a specified date (generally 21 days after notification of the award) and it should remain valid for a period of 60 days beyond the date of completion of all contractual obligations of the supplier, including warranty obligations.
Submission of Performance Security is not necessary for a contract value upto Rs.1 lakh.
Forfeiture of Performance Security
Performance security is to be forfeited and credited to the purchase organization in the event of a breach of contract by the supplier, in terms of the relevant contract.
Refund of Performance Security
Performance Security should be refunded to the supplier without any interest, whatsoever, after it duly performs and completes the contract in all respects but not later than 60 days of completion of all such obligations under the contract.
Verification of the Bank Guarantees
Bank Guarantees submitted by the tenderers / suppliers as EMD / Performance Security need to be immediately verified from the issuing Bank before acceptance.

India Google Zeitgeist page

Here is a look at 2008 through the collective eyes of the Indian users on the web. The Zeitgeist offers a unique perspective on the year's major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted by users in India. While developing the 2008 report, Google looked at various aspects of these searches to understand what was on Internet users minds. We retrieved the most frequently-searched terms for the period across many categories like Bollywood Celebrities, Holiday destinations etc. In addition we also looked at the top 10 fastest rising search words in India. This was done by reviewing several thousands of 2008's most popular searches and ranking them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2007. Taken together, we believe that all these lists define the true Zeitgeist or the "spirit of the times." In addition, for the first time this year we are offering a unique insight into the mobile web, by including the top queries searched for on the mobile.

Fastest Rising

1. youtube
2. orkut
3. katrina kaif
4. cricket
5. irctc
6. facebook
7. genelia d'souza
8. beijing 2008 olympic games
9. sixth pay commission
10. ipl

Most Popular

1. orkut
2. gmail
3. yahoo
4. google
5. youtube
6. yahoomail
7. indian railways
8. rediff
9. cricket
10. katrina kaif

Top searches on Mobile

1. orkut
2. yahoo
3. waptrick
4. gmail
5. games
6. katrina kaif
7. rediffmail
8. yahoomail
9. namitha
10. google

Top Bollywood Celebrities

1. katrina kaif
2. aishwarya rai
3. salman khan
4. hrithik roshan
5. kareena kapoor
6. shahid kapur
7. deepika padukone
8. shahrukh khan
9. mallika sherawat
10. genelia d'souza

Top holiday destinations

1. goa
2. kerala
3. kashmir
4. dubai
5. singapore
6. australia
7. london
8. shimla
9. switzerland
10. manali

Top 'how to' searches

1. how to reduce weight
2. how to kiss
3. how to earn money
4. how to get pregnant
5. how to learn english
6. how to gain weight
7. how to play guitar
8. how to create a website
9. how to impress a girl
10. how to tie a tie

Laws relating to Arbitration & Conciliation (both Domestic & International)

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is the prime legislation relating to domestic arbitration, international commercial arbitration and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and also to define the law relating to conciliation and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It repealed the three statutory provisions for arbitration:- (i) the Arbitration Act, 1940; (ii) the Arbitration (Protocol and Convention) Act, 1937; and (iii) the Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961.

Domestic Arbitration is defined as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in which the parties get their disputes settled through the intervention of a third person and without having recourse to the court of law. It is a mode in which the dispute is referred to a nominated person who decides the issue in a quasi-judicial manner after hearing both sides. Generally, the disputing parties refer their case to an arbitral tribunal and the decision arrived at by the tribunal is known as an 'award'.

While, the term 'international commercial arbitration' means "an arbitration relating to disputes arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, considered as commercial under the law in India and where at least one of the parties is:- (i) an individual who is a national of, or habitually resident in, any country other than India; or (ii) a body corporate which is incorporated in any country other than India; or (iii) a company or an association or a body of individuals whose central management and control is exercised in any country other than India; or (iv) the Government of a foreign country".

The major provisions relating to Arbitration in the Act are:-

* The parties to a present dispute may make an agreement called as the 'arbitration agreement' that instead of going to the court, they shall refer the dispute to arbitration. The parties to the agreement may refer to arbitration, a dispute:-

o Which has arisen or which may arise between them,
o In respect of a defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not.

Thus, all matters of civil nature whether they relate to present or future disputes may form the subject matter of reference. Even disputes such as infringement of intellectual property rights shall also be covered.
* Although no formal document is prescribed, an arbitration agreement/clause must be in writing. If the arbitration agreement/clause is contained in a document, the document must be signed by the concerned parties. Besides, the agreement may be established by:- (i) an exchange of letters, telex, telegram or other means of telecommunications; or (ii) an exchange of statements of claims and defence in which the agreement is alleged by one party and is not denied by the other.
* The disputes that cannot be referred to arbitration are:-
o Insolvency proceedings.
o Lunancy proceedings.
o Proceedings for appointment of a guardian to a minor.
o Question of genuineness or otherwise of a will or matter relating to issue of a probate.
o Matter of criminal nature.
o Matters concerning public charitable trusts.
o Disputes arising from and founded on an illegal contract.
* The agreement mandatorily requires the appointment of an arbitrator. An arbitrator is a person appointed, with or without mutual consent of the contending parties, for the purpose of investigation and settlement of a difference or dispute referred to him. The arbitral tribunal may be constituted by one or more arbitrators. The parties are free to fix the number of arbitrators by agreement. Accordingly, the reference may be made either to a single arbitrator or a panel of odd number (i.e. 3,5,7 etc) of arbitrators. If there is no agreement, the reference shall be made to a sole arbitrator.
* Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, an arbitrator may be of any nationality. In case of an international commercial arbitration, where the parties belong to different nationalities, the Chief Justice of india may appoint an arbitrator of a nationality other than that of the parties.
* The parties are free to agree on a procedure for appointing the arbitrator or arbitrators. If there is such an agreement, the appointment has to be made in accordance with it. The agreement may provide for the number of arbitrators, qualifications of arbitrator, procedure of appointment, procedure of challenging the appointment, termination of appointment, procedure to be followed by arbitrators, place of arbitration, language, etc.
* The duties of the Arbitral Tribunal are:- (i) to act independently and impartially and treat the parties equally; (ii) to give each party full opportunity to present his case.
* The parties may agree on the procedure to be followed by the arbitral tribunal in conducting its proceedings. In the absence of such agreement, the arbitral tribunal may conduct the proceedings in the manner it considers appropriate and shall be empowered to determine the admissibility, relevance, materiality and weight of any evidence. The tribunal shall decide whether to hold oral hearings for presentation of evidence or for oral argument, or whether to conduct the proceedings on the basis of documents and other materials.
* An arbitral award shall be made in writing and shall be signed by the members of the arbitral tribunal. The award shall state its date and place of arbitration. The arbitral award shall state the reasons upon which it is based, unless the parties have agreed that no reasons are to be given or in case of award on a settlement between the parties. A signed copy of the award shall be delivered to each party.
* An arbitral award is itself enforceable as a decree of the court, normally after three months from the date on which it was received by the parties, provided no application for setting aside the award is made or if it is made the same has been rejected. The arbitral award shall be final and binding on the parties and persons claiming under them respectively.
* The arbitral proceedings shall be terminated when:-
o The final arbitral award is made,
o The claimant withdraws his claim, and the respondent does not object to it,
o The parties agree on the termination,
o The continuation of proceedings has for any other reason become unnecessary or impossible.

The Arbitration and Conciliation Act provides statutory recognition to conciliation as a distinct mode of dispute settlement. Conciliation is defined as the process of amicable settlement of disputes by the parties with the assistance of a conciliator. It differs from arbitration in the sense that in arbitration the award is the decision of the third party or the arbitral tribunal, while in the case of conciliation the decision is of the parties which is arrived at with the mediation of the conciliator.

The major provisions relating to Conciliation in the Act are:-

* A party initiating the conciliation shall send a written notice to the other party, briefly identifying the subject of the dispute and inviting it for conciliation. The conciliation proceedings shall commence on acceptance of invitation by the other party. If the party initiating conciliation does not receive a reply within 30 days from the date the invitation was sent or within the specified period, it may opt to treat this as a rejection and inform the same to the other party. If it rejects the invitation, there can be no conciliation proceeding.
* Unless otherwise agreed there shall be one conciliator. The parties may however, agree that there shall be two or three conciliators, who shall act jointly. The sole conciliator shall be appointed by mutual consent of the parties. In case of two conciliators, each party may appoint one conciliator. In case of three conciliators, each party may appoint one conciliator and the third conciliator may be appointed by mutual agreement of the parties who shall act as the presiding conciliator. However, the parties may agree that a conciliator shall be appointed or recommended by an institution or a person.
* Each party shall submit to the conciliator a brief written statement describing the general nature of the dispute and the points at issue. A copy of the same shall be sent to the other party. The conciliator may require of each party to send a detailed statement supported by documents and other evidence, a copy whereof shall be sent to the other party also. Any factual information concerning the dispute received by the conciliator from a party, shall be disclosed to the other party to allow it an opportunity to present any explanation, except however, when a party gives any information subject to a condition that should be kept confidential.
* The parties involved shall co-operate with the conciliator in good faith, comply with requests for submitting written materials, providing evidence and attending meetings. A party may submit to the conciliator suggestions for the settlement of the dispute.
* The functions of a Conciliator are:-
o To assist the parties in an independent and impartial manner, to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute.
o To be guided by principles of objectivity, fairness and justice.
o To give consideration to rights and obligations of the parties, trade usages, circumstances surrounding the dispute and any previous business practice between the parties.
o To conduct the conciliation proceedings in an appropriate manner, taking into account the circumstances of the case and wishes of the parties.
o To make proposals for a settlement of the dispute.
o Not to act as an arbitrator or as a representative of a party in any arbitral or judicial proceeding in respect of the same dispute, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
o Not to act as a witness in any arbitral or judicial proceedings.
* If it appears to the conciliator that a settlement is possible, he shall formulate the terms of a possible settlement and submit them to the parties for their observations. The conciliator shall then reformulate the possible settlement in the light of observations received from the parties. If the parties reach on a settlement, they may draw up and sign a written settlement agreement with the assistance of the conciliator. The conciliator shall authenticate the settlement agreement and furnish a copy thereof to each of the parties. The settlement agreement shall be final and binding on the parties and shall have the same effect as of an arbitral award.
* The conciliation proceedings shall be terminated when:-
o A settlement agreement is signed by the parties,
o A written declaration is made by the conciliators after consultation with the parties, that further efforts at conciliation are no longer justified,
o A written declaration is made by the conciliator, after the deposits required in relation to costs of the proceedings are not received from the parties, that the proceedings are terminated,
o A written declaration is made by the parties to the conciliator, that the conciliation proceedings are terminated,
o A written declaration is sent by a party to the other party and the conciliator, that the conciliation proceedings are terminated.

'Foreign Award' has been defined to mean "an award on differences between persons arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not and considered as commercial under the law in force in India, and made in pursuance of an agreement in writing for arbitration to be governed either by the New York Convention or by the Geneva Convention, in the territory of a notified foreign State". Some of the provisions of the Act relating to foreign award are:-

* Where a commercial dispute covered by an arbitration agreement to which either of the Convention apply, arises before a judicial authority in India, it shall at the request of the party be referred to arbitration.
* The party applying for the enforcement of a foreign award shall produce the original award or a duly authenticated copy thereof, the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy thereof, and evidence to prove that the award is a foreign award.
* If the court is satisfied that the foreign award is enforceable, the award shall be deemed to be a decree of the court. An appeal shall lie against the order of the court refusing to refer the parties to arbitration or refusing to enforce a foreign award.
* Any foreign award which is enforceable under the Act, shall be binding and may be relied upon by the parties by way of defence, set off or otherwise in any legal proceedings in India.