Munde's remarks under EC scanner
New Delhi: The remarks of senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde that he had spent around Rs8 crore in the last lok Sabha elections, which is much above the prescribed limit, came under the Election Commission's scanner on Friday which initiated a probe into the matter. The full Election Commission in its meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath discussed the issue and decided to procure a CD of the speech and transcribe the same before initiating further action. Earlier in the day, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari had sought EC action on Munde's statement.
Army to get first woman ADC
New Delhi: lieutenant Ganeve lalji — a young intelligence officer — is set to create history by becoming the first woman to be appointed as a key aide to an Army Commander as part of Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh's efforts to provide more avenues to women in the force. She will become the aide-de-camps (ADC) of Central Army Commander lt Gen Rajan Bakshi, who will be taking over his post in lucknow on July 1. ADCs are officers who serve as a personal assistant of top officers including the Army Chief and Army Commanders.
Bimal Julka to be I&B Secy
New Delhi: Bimal Julka, an IAS officer of 1979 batch of Madhya Pradesh cadre, will be the next Information and Broadcasting Secretary succeeding Uday Kumar Varma who retires this month. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Julka, at present Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of External Affairs, as Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, an official announcement said on Friday.
Spl package under IAY to Uttarakhand
New Delhi: Rural Development Ministry will give a special package under Indira Awaz Yojna to flood-ravaged Uttarakhand by doubling the allocation of housing units by adding another 14,000.This was disclosed by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday in a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. The decision to consider enhancing allocation of housing units and construction of roads is besides the Rs 336 crore allocated under Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).
Show cause notices to 38 broadcasters
New Delhi: The I&B Ministry has slapped show cause notices on 38 broadcasters for not intimating it of the changes in their shareholding pattern or on the board of directors as mandated. Of the 38 broadcasting companies to whom the notices have been sent, 32 had made changes in their share holding pattern without prior intimation to the Ministry while six had not informed of the changes made on the board of directors. The permissions for at least 61 channels, which did not fulfil the licensing conditions, have been cancelled by the Ministry or have been surrendered by the companies themselves, officials said.
CCEA nod on proposal to set up labs network
New Delhi: The Government has approved proposals for setting up of a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities in the country and for setting up research units in 80 Government medical colleges for promoting research. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared the proposal to establish 10 regional labs, 30 State-level labs and another 120 labs in medical colleges at a cost of Rs646.83 crore to manage epidemics and natural calamities. It will help in early and timely diagnosis, development of tools to predict viral disease outbreaks beforehand, continuous monitoring and surveillance of existing and new viral strains which could be used as agents of bio -terrorism.