Sunday, May 31, 2020

NEW GUIDELINES TO FIGHT COVID-19 TO BE EFFECTIVE FROM 1ST JUNE 2020


Ministry of Home Affairs

New Guidelines to fight COVID-19 to be effective from 1st June 2020

Strict enforcement of lockdown in Containment Zones, which are to be demarcated by State/ UT Governments based on Health Ministry guidelines

Phased re-opening of all activities outside Containment Zones; Unlock 1 to have an Economic focus

Night Curfew to remain in force on movement of individuals for all non-essential activities from 9 pm to 5 am

 

Posted On: 30 MAY 2020 7:47PM by PIB Delhi

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued new guidelines to fight COVID-19 and for phased re-opening of areas outside the Containment Zones, today.  The guidelines would come into effect from June 1, 2020 and would be effective till June 30, 2020.  The current phase of re-opening, Unlock 1, will have an economic focus. The new guidelines have been issued based on extensive consultations held with States and UTs. 

A strict lockdown was imposed throughout the country since March 24, 2020.  All activities were prohibited except essential activities. Subsequently, in a graded manner and keeping the overarching objective of containing the spread of COVID-19 in view, the lockdown measures have been relaxed.

Salient features of the new guidelines

Lockdown measures would continue to be implemented strictly in the containment zones. These will be demarcated by the State/ UT Governments, after taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry. Within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained and only essential activities allowed. 

All activities that were prohibited earlier would be opened up in areas outside Containment Zones in a phased manner, with the stipulation of following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), to be prescribed by the Health Ministry:

Phase I (permitted to open from June 8, 2020)

·         Religious places and places of worship for public;
·         Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services; and
·         Shopping malls. 
Health Ministry would issue SOPs for the above activities, in consultation with the Central Ministries/ Departments concerned and other stakeholders, for ensuring social distancing and to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Phase II

Schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutions etc., will be opened after consultations with States and UTs.  State Governments/ UT administrations are being advised to hold consultations at the institution level with parents and other stakeholders.  Based on the feedback, a decision on the re-opening of these institutions will be taken in the month of July, 2020.  MoHFW will prepare SOP for these institutions. 

Limited number of activities to remain prohibited throughout the country

·         International air travel of passengers;
·         Operation of Metro Rail; 
·         Cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places; and,
·         Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ and other large congregations. 
·         Dates for the opening of above activities would be decided in Phase III, based on assessment of the situation. 
Unrestricted Movement of Persons and Goods

·         No restriction on inter-State and intra-State movement of persons and goods.  No separate permission/ approval/ e-permit would be required for such movements.
·         However, if a State/ UT, based on reasons of public health and its assessment of the situation, proposes to regulate movement of persons, it would give wide publicity in advance regarding the restrictions to be placed on such movement, and the related procedures to be followed. 
Night curfew would continue to remain in force, on the movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities.  However, the revised timings of the curfew will be from 9 pm to 5 am. 

National Directives for COVID-19 management would continue to be followed throughout the country, with a view to ensure social distancing.    

States to decide on activities outside Containment Zones

States and UTs, based on their assessment of the situation, may prohibit certain activities outside the Containment zones or impose such restrictions, as deemed necessary. 

Protection for vulnerable persons

Vulnerable persons, i.e., persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, are advised to stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.
Use of Aarogya Setu

The Aarogya Setu mobile application is a powerful tool built by Government of India to facilitate quick identification of persons infected by COVID-19, or at risk of being infected, thus acting as a shield for individuals and the community.  With a view to ensure safety, various authorities are advised to encourage the use of the application.


Saturday, May 30, 2020

MHA : ORDER DATED 30.5.2020 WITH GUIDELINES ON EXTENSION OF LD IN CONTAINMENT ZONES AND PHASED REOPENING (CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW)



Ref: Confdn/Printing, Stationery/2020-21                                                             Dated – 30.05.2020

To

The Secretary
Department of Printing, Stationery and Publication
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
Govt. of India, New Delhi – 110001

Sub: -  Posting of Controller of Stationery in Govt. of India Stationery office (HOD) Kolkata.

Sir,

It has been brought to our notice that since last six months, nobody has been posted on the post of controller of Stationery (HOD) in the Govt. of India Stationery office, Kolkata.

In the absence of HOD the regular functioning of Department, procurement and supply of stationery articles to the valued indenters of different Central Govt. Establishment and Defence organizations are being hampered and creating serious apprehension regarding continuance of department among the staff and workers working in Kolkata H.Q. and Depots located at New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

Further it is also brought to your notice that the activities related to staff are also hampered causing serious problems to the staff and workers of this department, procurement of Budget related to this organization has not yet been finalized for the year 2020-21 to run the Department in a most effective manner.

It is therefore requested to kindly look in to the matter personally and cause orders to post controller of stationery (HOD) at Kolkata HQ so that the activities of the Department may run smoothly and actively.

An early action is highly solicited.

Yours sincerely,

(R. N. Parashar)
Secretary General

Friday, May 29, 2020

FM LAUNCHES FACILITY OF INSTANT PAN
THROUGH AADHAAR BASED E-KYC

Ministry of Finance
FM launches facility of Instant PAN through Aadhaar based e-KYC
Posted On: 28 MAY 2020 4:42PM by PIB Delhi

In line with the announcement made in the Union Budget, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman formally launched the facility for instant allotment of PAN (on near to real time basis) here today. This facility is now available for those PAN applicants who possess a valid Aadhaar number and have a mobile number registered with Aadhaar. The allotment process is paperless and an electronic PAN (e-PAN) is issued to the applicants free of cost.

It may be recalled that in the Union Budget, 2020, Finance Minister Smt. Sitharaman had announced to launch instant PAN facility shortly. In para 129 of the Budget Speech, the Finance Minister had stated, In the last Budget, I had introduced the interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar for which necessary rules were already notified. In order to further ease the process of allotment of PAN, soon we will launch a system under which PAN shall be instantly allotted online on the basis of Aadhaar without any requirement for filling up of detailed application form.”

The facility of instant PAN through Aadhaar based e-KYC has been launched formally today, however, its ‘Beta version’ on trial basis was started on 12th Feb 2020 on the e-filing website of Income Tax Department. Since then onwards, 6,77,680 instant PANs have been allotted with a turnaround time of about 10 minutes, till 25th May 2020.
It may also be noted that as on 25.05.2020, a total of 50.52 crore PANs have been allotted to the taxpayers, out of which, around 49.39 crore are allotted to the individuals and more than 32.17crore are seeded with Aadhaar so far.

The process of applying for instant PAN is very simple. The instant PAN applicant is required to access the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department to provide her/his valid Aadhaar number and then submit the OTP received on her/his Aadhaar registered mobile number. On successful completion of this process, a 15-digit acknowledgment number is generated. If required, the applicant can check the status of the request anytime by providing her/his valid Aadhaar number and on successful allotment, can download the e-PAN. The e-PAN is also sent to the applicant on her/his email id, if it is registered with Aadhaar.

The launch of the Instant PAN facility is yet another step by the Income Tax Department towards Digital India, thereby creating further ease of compliance to the taxpayers.


Tuesday, May 26, 2020

SB ORDERS ON EXTENDING THE PRESCRIBED TIME LIMIT OF ONE MONTH POST RETIREMENT OF RETIREES TO INVEST IN SR. CITIZEN SAVINGS SCHEME. (CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW)

Monday, May 25, 2020

PAYMENT OF WAGES TO OUTSOURCED PERSONS OF MINISTRY / DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DURING LOCKDOWN PERIOD OF COVID-19


HAPPY EID-UL-FITR 2020
 EID MUBARAK