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In a first, AP budget presented in full e-format Asian Voice | 19th March 2016
HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu presented the 2016-17 budget in full electronic format with budgetary proposals supplied to the state legislators in Tablet computers, marking a first. Tablet PCs fed with the budget proposals, socio-economic survey 2015-16, and other related documents were given to the legislators, and mediapersons were given the data in pen drive. “I am happy to inform the House that the budget for 2016-17 is unique on several
Yanamala Ramakrishnudu
counts. First and foremost, it's an e-budget with all documents being made available in easily readable format on a Tablet that you can carry any-
Chennai tops in health cover, Mumbai worst CHENNAI: Fresh data from the National Family Health Survey-4 shows Chennai has the most health-insured people among all metros, followed by Hyderabad. The data says almost all metros have more than doubled their insured population in the past 10 years, in a pace that global organisations say have not witnessed anywhere else in the world. Households covered by health insurance in Chennai is 56.9 per cent, followed by Hyderabad with 49.8 per cent and Kolkata with 26.1 per cent. The lowest is Mumbai with an coverage of mere 12.4 per cent. Data for New Delhi is yet to be released. With the government's health insurance scheme that covers nearly 50 million people in Tamil Nadu, more than half of Chennai's households have a member covered by a health scheme or health insurance. More than three-fifth of the people in
Tamil Nadu got insurance in the last decade, lowering the number of uninsured by 60 per cent from 2005-06. At the national level, 17 per cent of the population was under the health net until 2014. Experts link the leap in numbers to the state-sponsored health insurance schemes in TN, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The climb began when a statesponsored scheme was launched by the DMK government in July 2009, two years after the AP government launched its Arogyashri. In 2012, the AIADMK regime upgraded the scheme and extended its coverage to include some 15 million families. While state insurance is available to the poor, many in the middle and upper-income group now have a companysponsored insurance or an individual insurance.
Pathankot attack: Centre sends £635,000 bill to Punjab C H A N D I GARH: Punjab government has refused to pay a bill of £635,000 issued by the Centre as payment for the paramilitary forces deployed during the Pathankot terror attack in January. In a letter, it states that the expenditure for each company is Rs 1,77,143 per day. It has also directed the Punjab government to bear the transportation charges. Eleven companies of the Central Reserve Police Force and nine companies of Border Security Force were deployed to support the airbase during the terror attack. An irked state government replied to the bill saying that the deployment of “these units was in national interest and expenditure thereon should not be billed to the state government.” Punjab home ministry wrote, “These paramilitary forces, along with Punjab police, were used to carry out sustained search and combing operations in the area up to 10-12 km around the periphery of Tibri
where and refer to at any time,” the Minister said in his speech. He also called the budget “truly decentralised” as each of the 20,800 drawing and disbursing officers in the state prepared the proposals for the unit under their control. “This is a genuinely outcomefocused budget with unwavering focus on performance and outcomes rather than the tra-
ditional input-based budget. It is also a demand-driven budget based on the needs of the grassroots and expectations of the people. We have obtained inputs from the public and incorporated them suitably.” In the 125 minutes, he took to read out the 57-paged text, Yanamala quoted APJ Abdul Kalam, HW Longfellow, Swami Vivekananda, Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D Roosevelt, BR Ambedkar and Wilfred Peterson.
Vijayakanth decides to go it alone in TN poll CHENNAI: DMDK chief Vijayakanth put an end to all speculations after announcing that his party will go it alone in the coming assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. He said his party members were confused when TV channels owing allegiance to select political parties aired views according to their “whims” on the party's probable decision. The DMDK had won 29 out of 234 seats in the last assembly polls had tied up with the AIADMK for the 2011. For the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the party had joined BJP, but drew a blank. While the PMK had already announced its intentions to contest alone, Tamil Nadu might just witness a six-cornered contest between the AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, PMK, MNK, and the BJP.
Vijayakanth
The national party barely has a presence in the state and it is not clear if it would join hands with any regional party or make allies with smaller parties. The elections will also show several chief ministerial aspirants, other than Jayalalithaa, compete. Reports say MDMK chief Vaiko, VCK leader Tirumavalavan and Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin too aspire for the seat.
Sarpanch leads women to stop exam cheating
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Migrant worker wins £100,000 lottery in Kerala
KOZHIKODE (KERALA): A 22 year old migrant worker from Bengal who went to Kerala looking for employment saw his luck do a backflip after he won a government lottery for £100,000. Mofijul Rahana Sheikh from Lakshmipur, West Bengal, purchased the 'Karunya' lottery ticket on March 4, the day he arrived in Kozhikode, for Rs 50. He won the prize in the draw the next day, and went straight to a police station seeking protection. Fearing other migrant workers in his group might attack him, he was taken to a bank where he opened an account and submitted the ticket.
Muslims force Kerala newspaper to apologise
THRISSUR: Kerala's leading daily, Mathrubhumi, issued an apology after it printed a purportedly offensive comment curated from social media on Prophet Muhammad. The comment was followed by protests from several Muslim organisations who demonstrated outside its offices. Groups like the Popular Front of India said the comment hurt the sentiments of the community. Printed in its Kozhikode and Thrissur editions, the newspapers said the comment that was picked from social media, was added as a reaction to the speech made by Justice Kemal Pasha on the topic 'Law against domestic abuse' at a seminar. “We understand the comments hurt the sentiments of followers. We apologise deeply for the error,” it said.
Hyderabad motorists to be jailed for 'wrong' parking
HYDERABAD: Hyderabad traffic police have tightened their belts, ready to prosecute people who park their vehicles in the 'wrong' places. As per a new norm, any motorist found parking either dangerously or obstructively anywhere in the city more than three times in a row, will be dragged to court, and might even end up behind bars. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Jitender said, “We have decided to crack the whip on people who pay no heed to the safety of other road-users and park anywhere they wish. So far, we have been issuing challans to such offenders. But here on, we will file chargesheets and seek imprisonment from courts.”
Earthquake warning system in Haryana
Army cantonment, laying of night ambushes and nakas in the vicinity. Because both Pathankot Air Force base and Tibri Cantonment area are vital defence establishments and CAPF was deployed for protecting these two vital installations in the national interest, it is requested that expenditure amounting to £635,000 may please be waived off.” Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said, “For 15 years of militancy in Punjab Army was here. The state government was billed for it and they even charged interest on it. If you call in the Army to handle a local issue, it is one thing. But if Pakistan attacks here and you ask us to pay for it, my entire budget goes awry.” The state currently strains under a debt of £125,000.
BHIVANI: Taking matters into her own hands, sarpanch Sunita of Dhanana village has decided to put a stop to the increasing cheating cases in board exams. As the police and the Board for School Education, Haryana completely failed to curb the situation, Sunita picked lathis along with other women and stood out the village school to guard the examination centre. “Students may pass the exams by cheating, but they would not be able to make a career in future. They may remain unemployed in future if they cheat now and I don't want the children of my village to be unemployed.” School principal Nihal Singh commended the action say-
ing, “Sunita and other women have taken a brilliant initiative. It's only because of them that the cheating cases in our school has completely vanished.” Bahadur Singh, member of the flying commission appreciated the women saying if women of other states followed suit, the state could soon root out the cheating practice from schools. Sarpanch Sunita had received appreciation from the administration earlier also for her weekly cleanliness campaign in the village. She was honoured by the district administration for involving the local residents in cleaning the village on every Sunday.
CHANDIGARH: Haryana's new secretariat in Chandigarh has become the only building in India to have an early earthquake warning and security system. The system is already being used in 26 countries around the world and can provide crucial seconds for evacuation in event of an earthquake. Installed and demonstrated by a team from Terra Techcom Private Limited, New Delhi, and Secretary Electronics GmbH, Germany, who have collaborated with India for the project, the system uses a master and a sub-master device which prevents false alarms and a six-horn siren at the terrace with a 6-km range, said Bijender Goel, managing director, Terra Techcom Private Limited.
Sale of Guru Granth Sahib in England flayed
AMRITSAR: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar has condemned the open sale of 'swaroops' of the holy Guru Granth Sahib at a car boot in Wolverhampton, England. In a statement, he said it amounted to showing disrespect to the book, adding that the scripture cannot be put for sale in a bazaar or any other place. He has appealed to the British government to take steps to put a check on such incidents in the future.