11 December, 2001

• Passport adalat ends :  

The first Passport Adalat in the state concluded today with most of the disputed cases redressed.

According to official sources, the Adalat, which was held at the Secretariat Conference Hall, was attended by the Regional Passport Officer, Kolkata, Shri Om Prakash.

Of the 52 cases that were lying for clearance since 1997, 28 were redressed. "Official letters were served to all the applicants to attend the adalat for redressal, but only 40 were present for cross examination of all the documents by the adalat", RPO sources said.

The 12 applicants who could not support their claim for obtaining the international passport were asked to report to the Regional Passport Office, Kolkata with necessary documents.

The applicants who cleared the claims would be provided the passports within a month and officials from Kolkata had already taken the necessary documents for approval.

• Policemen donate blood :  

As a part of the Police Week celebration, 60 policemen today donated blood voluntarily.

Among the donors was Shri P. K. Siddarth, IGP(Administration), 20 jawans from Police Training College, 21 jawans from 1 Bn TSR and 17 jawans from TSR, 2^nd Bn. The donated blood has been sent to blood bank.

• Agartala trade fair from Feb 07 :  

    16 November, 2001

• International Passport formalities to be streamlined :  

The Centre has decided to streamline the process of application for international passport.

Speaking to the reporters at the secretariat today, Regional Passport Officer, Kolkata Shri Om Prakash said that over the years the total number of applications collected from the state has been found to be dismal as a result of which the government has decided to streamline the procedures.

"Now onward the forms for passport will be collected at all the four district headquarters"

he said. Presently, the facility is available only in Agartala.

The District Magistrate offices in the districts will be dealing with the collection of forms. He said that the State Government has agreed to induct personnel for the same for which training will be imparted on December 10^th and 11^th next.

He added that the new system is expected to start functioning by January next.

Om Prakash said that to settle the disputes arising out of the verification of the applicants, the department will hold a "Passport Adalat" on December 10 and 11 next. Presently, there are 60 such cases pending with the government.

The Department has also decided to hasten up the formalities for the passport applications. He said, now onward, the police verification sheet will be sent to Kolkata along with the application forms so that the applicant may get the passport at an earliest. Status of the processing of the application will be made available to the public through the internet on www.passport.nic.in at the Kolkata page.

He said, the number of applications received in the preceding three years was only 721, 999 and 1225 respectively.

However, the process for the Indo-Bangladesh passport will remain the same.

The state government receives at an average of 2700 Indo-Bangla Passport applications every year.

• CM for Sarkaria Commission Recommendations :  

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has asked the Centre to implement the recommendations of the Sarkaria commission in a time bound manner without wasting time, money and energy. Speaking at the 7^th meeting of the Inter State Council at New Delhi, he said that the Sarkaria Commission had submitted the recommendations way back in 1980s but are yet to be fully implemented.

Shri Sarkar insisted that for appointment of the Governor, the State Government should be given the option of recommending a panel of three names. Besides, before finalizing the names, the state government must be consulted and it’s view should receive serious consideration.

He pointed out that the Prasar Bharati is yet to be given the promised autonomy. It must be made autonomous in the real sense to bring about objectivity and transparency. Further, the State Government should be allowed to create separate channels of broadcast in the All Radio and Doordarshan. All areas of Tripura should receive Radio and TV Signals and for this purpose, the AIR and Doordarshan network should be expanded and strengthened. The programme content also needs to be substantially expanded and improved.

He said that in the field of education, at the stage of determination of norms and standards of performance by the Union, the State Governments should be consulted along with the professional bodies like the UGC, AICTE, NCTE etc. The will make the norms and the standards mutually acceptable.

He further stated in his Speech that the while law and order is a State subject, the framing of any Criminal law is in the Concurrent List. This is anomalous and results in dilution of the ability of the State governments to discharge their Constitutional responsibilities. He exhorted that the matter of framing Criminal Law should be brought under the State List, of course, while ensuring that none of the Laws are repugnant to the constitution or a Central Law.

Sarkar pointed out the need for development of an all India outlook for the All India Services officers owing to the vast linguistic diversity of the country.

• Successful eye transplant at K’sahar :  

  13 November, 2001

• Governor greets people :  

Governor Lt. General (Retd) K M Seth has greeted the people of the state on the eve of Deepawali.

The Governor in a message said that the festival was an occasion where people from different communities greet each other and promote peace, harmony and brotherhood.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also in a separate message greeted people on the occasion of Dewali.

  11 November, 2001

• Centre approves three tribal welfare schemes :  

Union Ministry for Tribal Welfare has sanctioned three ambitious projects for Tripura.

According to the Tribal Welfare department, the Centre has approved Rs. 3.10 crore for the three said projects. In the first of the three projects the centre has approved Rs. 2 crore for setting up of tribal hostels.

The hostels will be built basically for the students living in the interior places and studying in the schools and colleges of sub-division and block headquarters. The hostels will be built at Killa, Mandai and Agartala.

For the second project, the Centre has approved Rs. 60 lakhs for 20 schools for imparting training to those students unsuccessful in their attempts to clear the class-X exams.

With the implementation of this project, it is expected to improve the performance of the tribal candidates whose result was found to be very dismal in this year’s board exam.

In the third project, Rs. 50 lakhs has been approved by the centre for setting up of 200 small market sheds in the tribal dominated areas of the state.

The above sheds will be constructed as a part of employment generation programme to the tribal unemployed youths.

  08 November, 2001

• Have a telephone? Then file tax return :  

Do you have a telephone? Or a three-wheeler? If yes, then get prepared to fill up your tax return. Because, the Income Tax department has made it mandatory for the first time to file income tax return for certain categories, particularly for the urban populace in Tripura.

Speaking to the reporters at a press conference, Joint Commissioner of Taxes, Niranjan Kouli said that any person who fulfills any of the following criteria is liable to file tax return under the provision of 1/6 Scheme of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

1. If one owns or lease a three-wheeler vehicle.

2. Is a subscriber of telephone?

3. In occupation of a property of 2000 sq. ft of floor area or more used for residential purposes or property of 300 sq. ft of floor area or more for commercial purposes.

4. Has incurred an expenditure for himself or any other person on travel to any foreign country?

5. Is a holder of a credit card from any bank or financial institution or is a member of a club where entrance fee charged is twenty five thousand rupees or more?

"However filing the return does not mean paying taxes," he said.

This is for the first time that the 1/6 Scheme has been implemented in the State for which the last date of submission for the return (Income Tax in form 2C) is November 30. Those found guilty of violating the order will be penalized by Rs. 5,000.

The notified towns of the state of Tripura where the 1/6 Scheme of Income Tax Act, 1961 applicable are Khowai, Teliamura, Agartala, Ranirbazaar, Sonamura, Narasinghgarh, Gandhigram, Kunjaban, Indranagr, Jogendranagar, Pratapgarh and Badharghat in West Tripura. Udaipur, Amarpur, Belonia and Sabroom in South Tripura, Kamalpur and Ambassa in Dhalai and Dharmanagar, Kailashahar and Kumarghat in North Tripura.

"The rural areas have been left out from the purview of the scheme as per the instructions laid down under the notification under section 139(1), First proviso of Income Tax Act, 1961", he said.

• 16^th NE sports fest from Feb 07 :  

Agartala will host the 16^th North East Sports Festival from February 7, 2002.

Sports minister Jitendra Chowdhury speaking to the reporters at a press conference here today said that the four day event will consist of nine disciplines mainly, Athletics, Gymnastics, Football, Judo, Weightlifting, Swimming, Kho-Kho, Kabaddi and Table Tennis. The disciplines will consist of both male and female categories.

He said that there is no age restriction for the players but the only condition is that the player should be a resident of North East. There shall be no restriction for the individual participation in more than one discipline.

All the eight teams from the North Eastern states will participate in the four-day event.

Hon’ble Minister informed that the Union Sports Minister Smt. Uma Bharati is expected to inaugurate the festival.

As far as the venues are concerned, Judo, Weightlifting and Gymnastic will be held at NSRCC complex, Football at Umakanta Academy, Police ground and Dasharatha Deb Sports Complex, Athletics at Dasharatha Deb Sports Complex, Table Tennis at ONGC Complex, Kho-Kho at Amtali School, Swimming at Raima Swimming Pool and Kabaddi at Ranirbazar H.S. School.

The participants will be accommodated at Tulashibati School, Women’s College, Bordowali H.S. School, Ramthakur School and Shahid Bhagat Singh Youth Hostel.

• Agartala Film Festival from Nov 20 :  

Three day long Agartala International Film Festival will begin from November 20, 2001. The films of Europe, Asia and Latin America will be presented during the three day festival.

ICAT minister Jitendra Chowdhury speaking to the reporters said that foreign producers and directors will also be present in the three day event.

Chief minister Shri Manik Sarkar will inaugurate the event at 11 am on 20^th Nov, 2001 in the Ruparshi theatre. The funds collected will be donated to the Chief Ministers Relif Fund.

  02 November, 2001

• All party meet discusses electoral roll revision :  

A meeting with representatives of political parties was held today at the Conference Hall of Old Secretariat building to discuss matters relating to special summary revision of electoral rolls in all the 60 Assembly Constituencies of the State.

The Chief Electoral Officer apprised them of the programme of special summary revision of electoral rolls announced by the Election Commission of India. The Chief Electoral Officer mentioned that the Election commission had fixed 10^th, 11^th, 24^th and 25^th November, (2^nd and 4^th Saturday’s and Sundays) as special campaign dates which include three holidays to make it convenient for the people to inspect the rolls and file claims and objections.

He informed the representatives that the programme of special summary revision of electoral rolls and issue of photo identity cards to the residual and new electors would continue simultaneously at Sadar Sub-Division.

The Chief Electoral Officer sought co-operation from all the political Parties for successful competition of the work of revision and photo identity cards.

  01 November, 2001

• B. K. Nehru passes away :  

Balwant Kumar Nehru, nephew of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the senior most member of the Nehru clan, passed away at Kasuli in Himachal Pradesh today after a protracted illness. A member of the Indian Civil Service(ICS) and a Padma Bhusan Awardee, Shri Nehru is survived by his wife and two children.

The 92 years old distinguished diplomat was also Governor of North-eastern States, Jammu & Kashmir and Gujarat. Governor of Tripura. Lt. General ( Retd ) K M Seth, has expressed his deep condolences at the demise of former Governor of the state BK Nehru.

• Bangladesh may export gas to India :  

Courtesy: Newspaper reports

Bangladesh is actively considering a proposal by a US oil company to export Natural Gas to India through a pipeline, State Minister of Energy A. K. Mosharaf Hossain said today.

The government is most likely to take a decision on the gas export by the end of November, he told Reuters.

He said the proposal, submitted by Unocal Corp. seems beneficial and is in the line with national interest.

The proposal comes at a time when Bangladesh is facing pressure from international oil companies and foreign donors to export gas to help the economy and reduce poverty.

Officials with Unocal Bangladesh Ltd., a subsidiary of the US company, said the plan, submitted on October 29, involved the laying of a "30-inch, 1,363 km (847 mile) long pipeline to initially carry 500 million cubic feet of gas per day from Bibiyana field in north-east Bangladesh to Indian capital New Delhi.

This will entail an immediate investment between 500 million dollar ad 700 million dollars and Bangladesh could earn 3.7 billion dollar from the project over a 20-year period, he added.

Bangladesh has proven-reserves of more than 12 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to cover domestic requirements for 20 years. A recent US geological survey report indicated Bangladesh could have 32.1 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

Unocal said that it found 2.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and 13.8 million barrels of condensate in its Bibiyana gas field. The economy currently produces nearly 100 million cubic feet of gas daily from its Northeastern Jalalbad gas field.

• Steps to strengthen AIR, DD in Tripura :