Next CVC may break IAS stranglehold

 K V Chowdary, former chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), and Vijai Sharma, the senior-most information commissioner, are tipped to take over as the central vigilance commissioner and chief information commissioner, respectively.Chowdary and Sharma were finalized as the choices for the two crucial positions after the meeting of the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Jitendra Singh as well as Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge. 

Once ratified by President Pranab Mukherjee, Chowdary, a 1978 batch Indian Revenue Service officer who is currently serving as advisor to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team on black money, will be the first non-IAS to head the Central Vigilance Commission. 

Sources said the selection panel settled on Sharma, a 1974 batch IAS officer who superannuated as environment secretary, as its choice to head the Central Information Commission. He has been serving in the commission as information commissioner since 2012. His appointment will be in keeping with the pattern where the senior-most information commissioner has been appointed the chief. 

However, the decision comes after a puzzling gap of nine months when Rajiv Mathur, former chief of Intelligence Bureau, retired as the chief information commission. The appointment was being looked forward to because the cases pending with the CIC have now crossed 39,000. The government also has to fill three vacancies of information commissioners. 

The formal announcement of the two appointments will have to wait until Wednesday when the President returns from his visits to Sweden and Belarus. 

Sources said 203 applicants, including all seven information commissioners, had applied for the post of chief information commissioner and 553 for the post of information commissioners. Under the RTI Act, the CIC has one chief and 10 information commissioners. 

In CVC, the term of central vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar had ended on September 28 last year, while vigilance commissioner J M Garg completed his tenure on September 7. Rajiv, a 1975 batch IPS officer, is the only vigilance commissioner at present. The posts of another VC and the CVC have been vacant for almost a year. Sources said the government had received about 135 applications for the CVC's posts. 

The government has come under severe flak from the opposition for the vacant CIC and CVC posts in the last few months with Congress president Sonia Gandhi even raising the issue in Parliament recently. 

The appointment of CVC was possible after the apex court earlier this month lifted a five-month-old stay imposed after an NGO approached the court alleging lack of transparency in appointment process. The SC had on December 17 last year asked the government to furnish details of the appointment procedure and not to appoint CVC or VC without its approval.

Khoya Paya web portal jointly launched

Khoya Paya web portal jointly launched by Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

This is a completely unique idea and it originated from the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi says Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Union Minister of Communication & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad jointly launched the Khoya Paya web portal at a function organised at National Media Centre in New Delhi today.

The Khoya Paya portal is a citizen based website to exchange information on missing and found children. It has been developed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).

Speaking on the occasion, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that Khoya Paya portal is a completely unique idea and it originated from the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.

She said that we have another portal also named ‘Track Child’ that belongs to the Ministry of Home Affairs, but in that portal only police communicates with the police. So the Track Child is a limited portal, whereas everybody can participate in the new portal. The new Khoya Paya web portal establishes citizen to citizen contact and allows India to take part in search for missing children, she said. We are trying this type of portal for the first time in India, she added.

She said that as per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), no of missing children every year is about 70,000. Total recovered children since January 2012 upto April 2015 is 73597 as per the data available on Track Child portal. So a citizen based website to search children can really be helpful in locating the missing children.

The Union Minister of Communication & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said that aim of Digital India is to bridge the digital divide. It is the dream of the Hon’ble Prime Minister that the Digital India should be more for the poor and underprivileged. He said that we should use technology for the benefit of poor. The launch of this portal gives the concrete shape to that great thought, he said. He also said that this will help in better coordination and locating the missing children.

The Khoya Paya website is an enabling platform, where citizens can report missing children, as well as sightings of their whereabouts without wasting much time. The ‘Found’ children can also be reported on this web portal. The reporting can be done through text, photographs, videos and other means of transmitting and uploading information to the KhoyaPaya site. Information about missing and sighted children can be uploaded at Khoyapaya.gov.in.

The missing children are a cause of deep concern not only for the Government but also for the child protection institutions, society and above all for the parents. These children are vulnerable to the mental and physical assault which leads to mental trauma for these children. Most of the missing children are trafficked for labour, for sexual exploitation, abducted, or kidnapped, or due to crimes against children. They could be runaways from home, or simply be lost. This is the reason that it is not only important to get the information related to these missing children, but it is equally important that the information is exchanged speedily to locate the children.

Therefore, it was felt that the use of social media can play a pivotal role in searching missing children. The Khoyapaya web portal will facilitate in the speedy reporting of missing and found children. The missing children can be located through the site based interaction. The citizens can upload the information related to the found children. They will be encouraged to provide information about the abandoned, lost children and those children who are sighted with the suspicious persons. Through this portal, they are also advised to inform the nearest police station.

The launch of the portal was followed by the Question-Answer session where media persons asked various questions related to the functioning and other issues related to the newly launched Khoya Paya portal. The Minister of Women and Child development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that more programmes will be run to spread awareness about this portal, so that maximum people can get benefit of the portal. 

‘Technology Mission’ for Indian Railways to be set up

‘Technology Mission’ for Indian Railways to be set up

The Ministry of Railways has decided to set up the ‘Technology Mission for Indian Railways’(TMIR) as a consortium of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Industries on an investment sharing model for taking up identified railway projects for applied research and use on Indian Railways.

The ‘Technology Mission for Indian Railways’ (TMIR) will function through the ‘Mission Implementation and coordination committee’ (MICC), consisting of the following:-

(a) Prof. N.S.Vyas, former Head/Mechanical Engineering, IIT-Kanpur and presently Vice Chancellor/Rajasthan Technical University—Mission Chairman

(b) Shri Alok Kumar, Exe. Director/CE(G), Railway Board—Co-Chairman

(C) Nominees of Ministry of Railways, RDSO, Railway Research Centres, Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Industries – Members

The ‘Mission Implementation and Coordination Committee’ (MICC) will formulate the ‘Mission Management Manual’ (MMM) for functioning of ‘TMIR’ and the domain specific Sub-Committees for various fields of railway working and also for monitoring the progress of research and technology projects.

‘ TMIR’ will also monitor progress of research projects of the existing Railway Research Centre (RRC)/Kharagpur and other 4 upcoming Railway Research Centres sanctioned in Budget 2015-16. Thus, Railways’ investment in applied research activities will be fruitfully converted to technology development for actual use in railway working. Execution of various projects under ‘TMIR’ will be dealt in terms of procedures, to be defined in its ‘Mission Management Manual (MMM)’.

The Nodal Directorate for functioning o the ‘Technology Mission for Indian Railways’ (TMIR) and its ‘Mission Implementation and coordination Committee’ (MICC) will be Efficiency & Research Directorate of Railway Board. 

Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs

Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs

The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises has notified a Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 9 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.  

In India, the existing mechanism for addressing revival, rehabilitation and exit of small enterprises is very weak. The most recent Doing Business (DB) Report, a joint project of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, ranks India 137 out of the 189 economies for resolving insolvencies. It notes that resolving insolvency takes 4.3 years on average and costs 9.0% of the debtor’s estate, with the most likely outcome being that the company will be sold as piecemeal sale.

Pending a detailed revision of the legal framework for resolving insolvency/bankruptcy, there is a felt need for special dispensation for revival and exit of MSMEs. The MSMEs facing insolvency/bankruptcy need to be provided legal opportunities to revive their units.  This could be through a scheme for re-organization and rehabilitation, which balances the interests of the creditors and debtors.

Salient Features

The main features of the framework which complements to the features of the existing RBI notification of 2012 and 2014 are as below:

Identification of incipient stress:  Before a loan account of a MSME turns into a Non Performing Asset (NPA), banks/creditors are required to identify incipient stress in the account. Any Micro, Small or Medium enterprise may also voluntarily initiate proceedings under this Order if enterprise reasonably apprehends failure of its business or its inability or likely inability to pay debts and before the accumulated losses of the enterprise equals to half or more of its entire net worth.

Committees for Distressed Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: All banks shall constitute one or more Committees at such locations as may be considered necessary by the board of directors of such bank to provide reasonable access to all eligible Micro, Small and Medium enterprises which have availed credit facilities from such bank. The Committee shall comprise of representatives of the Bank, independent expert and representative of the State Government.

Corrective Action Plan (CAP) by the Committee: The Committee may explore various options to resolve the stress in the account. The intention is to arrive at an early and feasible solution to preserve the economic value of the underlying assets as well as the lenders’ loans and also to allow the enterprise to continue with its business. During the period of operation of Corrective Action Plan (CAP), the enterprise shall be allowed to avail both secured and unsecured credit for its business operations.

Options under Corrective Action Plan (CAP): The options under Corrective Action Plan (CAP) by the Committee may include: (i) Rectification - regularize the account so that the account does not slip into the non-performing asset (NPA) category, (ii) restructuring the account if it is prima facie viable and the borrower is not a willful defaulter, and (iii) recovery - Once the first two options at (i) and (ii) above are seen as not feasible, due recovery process may be resorted to.

Restructuring Process: If the Committee decides restructuring of the account as CAP, it will have the option of either referring the account to Enterprise Debt Restructuring (EDR) Cell after a decision to restructure is taken or restructure the same independent of the EDR mechanism. If the Committee decides to restructure an account independent of the EDR mechanism, the Committee should carry out the detailed Techno-Economic Viability (TEV) study, and if found viable, finalise the restructuring package within 30 days from the date of signing off the final CAP.

Prudential Norms on Asset Classification and Provisioning: While a restructuring proposal is under consideration by the Committee/EDR, the usual asset classification norm would continue to apply. The process of re-classification of an asset should not stop merely because restructuring proposal is under consideration by the Committee/EDR.  However, as an incentive for quick implementation of a restructuring package, the special asset classification benefit on restructuring of accounts as per extant instructions would be available for accounts undertaken for restructuring under these guidelines.

Willful Defaulters and Non-Cooperative Borrowers: Banks are required to strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by RBI from time to time regarding treatment of Willful Defaulters.

Review: In case the Committee decides that  recovery  action  is  to  be  initiated  against  an  enterprise,   such enterprise may request for a review of the decision by the Committee within a period of fifteen working  days from the date of receipt of the decision of the Committee. Application filed under this section shall be decided by the Committee within a period of thirty days from the date of filing and if as a consequence of such review, the Committee decides to pursue a fresh corrective action plan for revival of the enterprise shall apply accordingly.

It is expected that above Framework help the lenders and debtors in revival and rehabilitation of enterprises and shall unlock the potential of MSMEs.

Plans of Union Ministry of Home Affairs for the Next Year

Plans of Union Ministry of Home Affairs for the Next Year

         Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has laid out the following agenda for the Ministry for the next year:

·         Scheme for Rehabilitation of the people affected by transfer of enclaves between India and Bangladesh: This includes both temporary and permanent rehabilitation of the displaced persons from the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh in the State of West Bengal only. 

·         Grant-in-aid to Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC): Proposal to provide grant-in-aid of Rs. 40 crore over next five years to meet the administrative and social welfare expenses for settlements of Tibetan refugees in different States in the country.

·         Strengthening of Changthang Settlements: Proposal is for strengthening of Changthang Settlements of Tibetan Refugees and the area inhabited by the local nomadic population in Changthang area along the Indo-China Border.  The tentative cost of the Scheme is Rs. 654 crore. 

·         Transfer of Central Freedom Fighter Pensioners’ accounts from SBI to other Banks: This is to streamline disbursal of Central Samman Pension for the convenience of the pensioners. 

·         Renovation of Freedom Fighters Home:     Freedom Fighter’s Home is located in Central Delhi to provide transit accommodation to the freedom fighters and their dependents.  It is maintained by NDMC.  The Home is in bad shape and it will be renovated with better facilities at a cost of Rs.90 lakh.

·         e-Tourist Visa (e-TV): We propose to extend the e-Tourist Visa Scheme to 150 countries and 25 Indian Airports by March 2016 in phased manner.

·         IVFRT (Immigration Visa, Immigration and Foreigners’ Registration and Tracking): The project has been implemented in 160 Indian Missions and 480 FROs across the country.  It is proposed to implement the project in all Indian Embassies abroad and FROs across the country by the end of March 2016.

·         Integration of Online Payment Gateway: To ease out the process of online application and fees collection, we have decided to integrate online payment gateway system in all the services like Visa, Indian Citizenship, and FCRA related matters. It is proposed to complete and streamline the integration process within this year.

·         Security scenario in J&K: It is proposed to plug the gaps in the International Border through strengthening the Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS) with the use of technological solutions available globally as well as construction of physical barriers.

·         Rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants: Proposal to give financial assistance to provide 3000 additional state government jobs to the Kashmiri migrants and for construction of transit accommodation in the Valley for them. Also working on an integrated proposal for townships for the return and rehabilitation of the Kashmiri migrants.

·         Rehabilitation of migrants from hilly areas of Jammu region: It isproposed that migrants of hilly areas of Jammu region may be provided relief at par with the Kashmiri migrants.

·         Special Industry Initiative (SII) for J&K students – Udaan: It is proposed to train 7000 more candidates during the next year and provide placement to 6000 candidates. It is proposed to conduct more than 24 mega Udaan selection drives.

·         Civic Action Plan in J&K: This would include conducting of medical camps, sports and cultural activities including conduct of tour from J&K to rest of India and vice-versa, educational activities, setting up of community centres.

·         AmarnathYatra: Shri AmarnathjiYatra 2015 is scheduled to commence from 2^ndJuly 2015 and conclude on 29^th August 2015.  Necessary steps will be taken to ensure peaceful conduct of the Yatra. Deployment of additional forces to maintain security, ensure improved telecom connectivity, adequate health facilities, sanitation and other facilities including langars etc.

·         Post flood reconstruction in J&K: State Government has been requested to send their proposals for long term rehabilitation and reconstruction. Measures have also been taken to increase the water carrying capacity of Jhelum river so that flood like situation may be avoided in future.

·         Modernization of Delhi Police: Traffic and Communication Network of Delhi Police will be modernized by installation of new traffic signals/ blinkers and procurement of various components.

·         Solar Power in Diu: 3 MW solar power project at Diu and 1 MW solar power project at Daman will be commissioned this year. In the next 15 months, another 6 MW solar power project will be commissioned at Diu making Diu the first city in the country to be driven 100 % on green energy.

·         Hospital in Diu: A 60 bedded hospital will be commissioned at Diu and another 100 bedded sub-district hospital will be commissioned at Khanvel, the sub-district headquarters of Silvassa.

·         National Population Register (NPR): -

Ø  Biometric enrolment in 10 NPR States to be completed.

Ø  Implementation of the scheme of updation of NRC 1951 in Assam.

·         Chief Ministers’ Conference:  MHA proposes to convene a Chief Ministers’ Conference in July/ August, 2015 to discuss the internal security situation in the country.

·         National Security Clearance: The MHA is framing guidelines for assessment of proposals received from various ministries for national security clearances.

·         SMART Policing: During the 49^th Annual Conference of DGs/IGs on 28.11.2014, the concept of SMART Policing had been introduced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. SMART stands for Strict and Sensitive, Modern with Mobility, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and Responsive and Trained and Techno-savvy. As part of this exercise, four regional workshops have been organized by BPR&D at Bengaluru; Guwahati; Bhopal and Chandigarh. To carry forward this exercise, a National Workshop is likely to be held at New Delhi in the first week of July.

·         Forensic Science: To strengthen Forensic Science capabilities in the country, three new Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSL) are being established at Guwahati, Bhopal and Pune.  The construction work will be completed within two and half years.

·         LWE Matters: The following steps will be taken in the LWE affected States:

(i)                 Installation of Mobile Towers to bring entire area under mobile coverage.

(ii)               Development of Critical Roads under Road Requirement Plan.

(iii)             Enhancement of Education Infrastructure.

(iv)             Improvement of Health Amenities.

(v)               Improving Efficacy of Public Distribution System.

·         Central Victim Compensation Fund: Rs. 200 crore is proposed to be accessed from the Nirbhaya Fund for this purpose.

·         Investigation Unit for Crime against Women (IUCAW): Investigation Units for crimes against women will be set up in 150 districts all over the country.

·         Setting up of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (ICCCC): Steps will be taken to set up Indian Cyber Crime  Coordination  Centre (ICCCC),  at a cost of  Rs. 100 crore.

·         Emergency Response System to be made functional: Rs. 321 crore has been sanctioned in favour of MHA for setting up Emergency Response System for women in distress from the Nirbhaya Fund in February, 2014. It is proposed that system would be made functional in the next financial year.

·         CCTNS Project: The on-going CCTNS Project will be implemented and efforts will be made to fully implement the project in at least 50% of the States.

·         Cyber Crime: Approach paper to tackle Cyber Crime will be finalised.

·         Upgradation of Posts of Constable to Head Constable in BSF and CRPF: It is endeavoured to upgrade about 11,000 and 14,000 posts of constables to Head Constables in BSF and CRPF respectively. This will address issue of stagnation/ promotion at constable level in these forces.

·         Recruitment: Recruitment of 62390 constables, including 8533 women will be carried out for the year 2015-16.

·         Infrastructure for CAPFs:  A proposal for construction of 13072 houses has been initiated.

·         India Reserve Battalions: Government has moved a proposal for sanction of 17 IR battalions out of which 5 will be for J&K and 12 will be for LWE states. It has been proposed that these battalions will be raised by recruiting local youth, in case of LWE states 75% of the vacancies will be filled up by local youths from the worst 27 affected districts in the states concerned.

·         Critical infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh :A proposal at an estimated cost of Rs. 182.25 crore for construction of foot tracks, small bridges, suspension bridges, helipads etc. in Arunachal Pradesh in order to provide connectivity and also to provide basic amenities to the villages has been approved in principle  by Ministry of Home Affairs. It has been decided that the work would be executed by CPWD.

·         National Marine Police Training Institute:  Steps are being taken to establish the National Marine Police Training Institute in Gujarat.  The State Government of Gujarat is in the process of the transferring the land title in favour of the MHA. It is also proposed to establish Regional Training Institutes in each Coastal State.

·         Installation of Automatic Identification System (Proprietary) transponders for tracking of small vessels (below 20 mtrs.) :It has been proposed to install the Automatic Identification System (Proprietary) Transponders for tracking of small fishing vessels (below 20 mtr.)  upto a distance of 50 Kms. from the coastline.  The project will be implemented by Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

·         Construction of Integrated Check Posts (ICPs):   Construction of ICPs at Raxual (Bihar), Jogbani (Bihar) and Petrapole (West Bengal) are expected to be completed during  2015-16.

·         Border Area Development Programme (BADP): During the year 2015-16 an amount of Rs. 990 crore will be allocated for creation of special development needs of people of bordering areas.

North-Eastern Matters

·         Repatriation and rehabilitation of Bru migrants from Tripura to Mizoram:The Bru repatriation process is expected to be completed by September, 2015.

Shri Arun Jaitley to Inaugurate the New Bank Note Paper Line at Security Paper Mill, Hoshangabad

Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley to Inaugurate the New Bank Note Paper Line at Security Paper Mill, Hoshangabad Tomorrow;

To Flag off the First Consignment of Rs.1000/- Bank Note Paper; SPMCIL Sets-Up Another Joint Venture Company Called Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt. Ltd. at Mysore with 12,000 MT Capacity; Combined Production from the new Paper Line at SPM, Hoshangabad and the Joint Venture Company at Mysore after Commissioning will be About 18,000 MT of Bank Note Paper and will Lead to Combined Savings of Foreign Exchange from These Two Bank Note Projects of About Rs.1,500 Crore in the coming Years

The Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitley will inaugurate the New Bank Note Paper Line of 6000 MT capacity tomorrow at Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh. He will also flag off the first consignment of Rs.1,000 Bank Note paper made indigenously to Currency Note Press, Nashik at Security Paper Mill, Hoshangabad in the august presence of Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh and other dignitaries. This New Paper Line of 6,000 MT capacity is part of the indigenisation, of the Bank Note paper, under taken by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL). SPMCIL has also set-up another Joint Venture Company called Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt. Ltd. at Mysore with 12,000 MT capacity. The plant of this Joint Venture Company at Mysore is targeted to be commissioned by the year end.  The combined production from the New Paper Line at SPM, Hoshangabad and the Joint Venture Company after commissioning will be about 18,000 MT of Bank Note paper, which will meet the major requirement of Bank Note Paper indigenously as against the major requirement being imported at present.  The combined savings of foreign exchange from these two Bank Note projects will be about Rs.1,500 crore in the coming years.

The foundation stone for this New Bank Note Paper Line was laid on 17.12.2011 by the then Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. The project has been completed at a cost of Rs.495 crores within the budget and within the time schedule. This plant is environment friendly with minimal use of the power and water.  No additional water has been taken for this plant from Narmada River. This is a start-of-the-art plant with capability for incorporation of the advanced security features into the Bank Note paper.  This plant has been incorporated with the latest pulp manufacturing plant, control systems, equipped with automatic sheet cutter and packaging and has online inspection system.  This plant is capable of manufacturing all denominations of Bank Note paper with capacity to introduce 3-dimentional toned water mark.  The new plant has state of the art paper testing laboratory to the international standards for testing of the Bank Note Paper before dispatch to the Currency Note Presses.  This New Paper Line is environment friendly aiming for zero liquid discharge.  The latest surveillance system SAP-ERP and with state-of-the-art fire and safety system has been installed. This plant has a latest Mould Cover manufacturing facility for manufacture of the Bank Note paper with latest designs.

The annual turnover from this new Bank Note Paper Line when it comes into full production stream of 6000 MT capacity, will be about Rs.450 crores. The plant will procure local raw materials like cotton comber, linter and chemicals except for the security features, which are obtained through exclusivity contracts. This plant will give boost to the local economy as lot of direct and indirect employment will be generated and supply of raw materials and services and spare parts will be sourced indigenously.

The production of the Bank Note paper from this New Paper Line at Hoshangabad and from the Joint Venture Paper Mill at Mysore will reduce the import of Bank Note paper considerably. This will also reduce possibility of diversion of the paper supplied by the foreign suppliers to the other destinations for the purpose of generating the fake currency.  Commissioning of this project is part of Make-in-India – Indigenisation of Currency and to become self-reliant in production of the raw materials requirement for the production of the Bank Notes. 

The existing Security Paper Mill at SPM, Hoshangabad had commenced production of the Currency and the Non Judicial Stamp Paper during 1967 with the process know-how and technology provided by M/s Portals, UK. However, with the advent of new technology in printing of the Bank Notes, requisite modernisation in the old paper lines could not be done and with the result the latest security features like wider windowed security thread etc. could not be carried out.  Therefore the higher denomination Bank Note paper could not be manufactured on these old lines. The old lines are presently being primarily used for the production of the Non Judicial Stamp Paper (NJSP) of about 3000 MT per annum to meet the NJSP requirements of the state Governments.

Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), a Miniratna Category-I CPSE, is a wholly owned Schedule-A Company of Govt. of India. The Company was incorporated on 13.01.2006 and has nine Units engaged in minting of Coins, Printing of Bank Notes, Passports, Postal Stationery, Non-Judicial Stamp Papers, and other Security Documents & manufacture of Security Paper. 

The performance of the Corporation in all spheres has improved significantly since corporatisation. SPMCIL has more than doubled the production of the Coins and Bank Notes while manpower has reduced by one third.  SPMCIL has minted finely designed commemorative coins on various personalities and important events.  It has introduced new security products like Excise labels, warehousing receipts etc. The turnover of the company has increased about three times during the last eight years to about Rs.4400 crores. SPMCIL has been paying dividend @20% of the Net Profit continuously for the last four years.  It has obtained EXCELLENT rating in its MoU performance for the last five years. It has paid back Rs.1110 crore loans of BRBNMPL and Ministry of Finance, invested about Rs.1540 crore from its own resources and created cash reserves of about Rs.1500 crore.  It has carried out phase-I modernisation of Mints by introducing state-of-the-art coining machinery.  One state-of-the-art Currency Printing line has been installed at Bank Note Press, Dewas. Modernisation and capacity expansion of Ink Factory at Dewas has been completed. SPMCIL today stands as the successful model of Corporatisation of the erstwhile Government Units.

United Nations Peacekeeping Day-29 May

United Nations Peacekeeping Day-29 May

Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) celebrated the UN Peacekeeping Day on 29 May 2015 at the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi Cantt. Lt Gen Philip Campose, the Vice Chief of Army Staff was the Chief Guest at the function. The event is part of the worldwide celebrations undertaken on the day to commemorate all brave men and women who have contributed towards establishing peace and security in the war torn countries and ravaged societies across the world.

The officials acknowledged the contribution of the Indian Armed Forces in about 50 peacekeeping missions across the world and remembered all those valiant soldiers who laid down their life in the line of duty at a place away from their homeland. The event was marked by a seminar on issues pertaining to peacekeeping and its Challenges in Today’s Dynamically Changing World. Various dignitaries including Lt Gen I S Singha, Lt Gen Satish Nambiar (Retd), Lt Gen RK Mehta (Retd), Ms Rebecca Tavares from UN Women and Mr Munu Mahawar , JS (UNP) Division were also present on the occasion.

Speaking at the occasion, Lt Gen Philip Campose said that the entire peacekeepers’ fraternity had a singularity of purpose that was aimed at ensuring international peace and security. He further said that nature of conflicts was changing at a rapid pace and everyone had to evolve, adjust and modify to suit the requirements of such complexities of time and space. He also applauded the efforts of CUNPK in this direction and commended its efforts for training officers of Indian and foreign diasporas.

Earlier, the Secretary General’s address was read out to the gathering by Mrs Kiran Mehra Kerpelman, Director, United Nations Information Center, New Delhi. The Address of Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Govt of India, was also read by Shri Munu Mahawar, JS (UNP) of MEA.

India began its tryst with UN Peacekeeping by providing the Custodian Force in Korea, 1950. It is worth mentioning that the Indian Army is among the top three contributors to UN Missions.