No more 'Rent-a-Womb' in India

The 'Rent-a-Womb' or commercial surrogacy industry in India had been started in 2012 by the then UPA Government and India had emerged as a popular destination for childless foreign couples who wanted to seek a baby through surrogacy. There was no dearth of poor women who were ready to play surrogate mothers. This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 10 November 2015.

The latest decision would come as a big blow to these women, many of who were from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. As per the UPA government rules, in 2012 it had thrown open the doors to foreigners for carrying out surrogacy in India provided they fulfilled certain conditions which included clearing all liabilities towards the Indian surrogate mother. However,the NDA government has now clamped down on the 'rent-a-womb' practice by foreigners and overseas Indians. The government has issued directives to all its missions not to issue visas to those who intend visiting India for commissioning surrogacy. Making the announcement, a Home Ministry circular has asked all Indian Missions abroad and Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) to cancel any such permission given earlier and said all those granted visa for this should be "informed of the position immediately".

(Image source wikimediacommons.org)

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Skyrocketing price of onions make the Modi government cry like UPA before them

The Modi government at the center is faced with the same problem of skyrocketing prices of onions as the previous governments and, while mouthing words like ‘achhe din’, the leaders have no answer but to go in for imports. In 2013, the very same BJP had agitated against high onion prices when the UPA was in power!!
Governments may change but the sufferings of the common man will remain.
The price of onion has shot up by Rs 10-15 in the past one week in Delhi, and there has been similar spike in prices in Mumbai and other cities. The government has, therefore, asked the state-owned MMTC to import 10,000 tonnes of onions immediately.
The commerce ministry has also been asked to consider increasing the minimum export price (MEP) of onion to ensure that export of onion remains suspended during the crisis period.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 August 2015.

During June-July about 60,000 tonnes of onions are usually exported from India. Following increase in the wholesale prices in June, directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) had increased the MEP for onions to $425 a tonne for all varieties from $250.
Government is eyeing import of onions from overseas markets such as Pakistan, Egypt and China. Meanwhile, traders from Punjab have started importing onions in small quantities from Afghanistan through the Attari-Wagah land route.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Cleaning up India – 7.1-lakh toilets built during January under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

#SwachhBharat #NirmalBharatAbhiyan #toilets As per latest information, as many as 7.1 lakh individual household toilets had been built in January and this was the highest for any month since the project was launched in October Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
However, it falls far short of the planned 1.2 crore toilets for the fiscal year as reported in economictimes.indiatimes.com dated 17 February 2015.
Data released by the government is that a total of 31.83 lakh toilets have been built between April 2014 and January 2015 – this is approximately 25.4% of the target for 2014-15. The program envisages an investment of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore over the next five years in order to construct 12 crore toilets.
It seems there is more than meets the eye because an official has indicated that the 'internal target' set for the year is 50 lakh and the associated ministry of drinking water and sanitation would be able to meet the target. He has clarified that the targets shown on the website are basically to push the states to do more.
The bottom line is that the internal target set earlier under the erstwhile Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan of 1999 of the previous UPA government, i.e. 50 lakh household toilets for this year and in subsequent years would be met since funds are not a constraint.

A new experience of traveling by Duronto trains

When Mamata Banerjee was Railway Minister in the UPA Government in 2009, she had introduced a series of trains called Duronto – the word, in Bengali, translates to mean wild or untamed!! The trains would have AC as well as non-AC seats and meals, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian would be served in the train itself as is the system in the Rajdhani express.
As per initial plans, there would be a total of 12 Duronto trains – and, as Mamata Benerjee indicated, these new non-stop fast trains would take less time than even the Rajdhani express to complete their journey. The reason for this would be absence of intermediate stoppages because these would be pint to point.
Of course, there would be a few technical halts to facilitate staff and loco change.
Pune-Howrah Duronto express started from 9th October 2010 and its frequency was bi-weekly - departing from Pune at 3.15 pm on Saturdays and Mondays to reach Howrah at 7.40 pm, Sundays and Tuesdays. There would be operational halts at Daund, Manmad, Bhusawal and Nagpur.
The train consisted of 16 coaches, nine would be AC III-tiers, three AC II-tiers, and one coach as AC-I. The train would also have a pantry car as well and would cover the distance from Pune to Howrah in 28 hours as against 34 hours taken by the Azad Hind Express which was the only train available till then to go from Pune to Howrah direct.
Well – I had an opportunity to travel in the Pune Howrah Duronto last year during the Puja holidays and it was indeed a pleasant experience. The staff pampered the passengers no end and brought out delicious eatables right from the beginning of the journey. From evening tea with snacks to dinner and then next morning from bed tea to breakfast flowed by lunch and evening tea. The waiters were courteous and gave no reason to grumble.
The only thing lacking when compared with other mail or express trains was the absence of the hustle and bustle at stations when the train halts. Since there were no halts, I missed out that part of the journey.