GoI orders

01. Govt employees can travel first class from April 1 :

With signs of economic revival becoming more pronounced, the government has relaxed the austerity drive undertaken last year and from April 1, government employees will be allowed to fly first class.

"The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided that with effect from April 1, 2010, travel on government account by air, both domestic and international may take place by the entitled class," an official statement said.

Last September, in the midst of the global financial crisis, the government had directed its employees not to fly first class on government account, irrespective of their entitlement, and fly economy for all domestic travels.

However, the government has not relaxed the austerity directive in case of Leave Travel Concession (LTC).

"...austerity measures will remain in place for travel by air (where admissible) on LTC, which would continue to be restricted to economy class irrespective of the entitlement," the Finance Ministry statement said.

The Indian economy slowed down in 2008-09 after being hit by the global financial crisis triggered by the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers and other Wall Street titans beginning September 2008.

The country grew at a subdued rate of 6.7 per cent in 2008-09 after growing at around 9 per cent per annum for the preceding three financial years. In 2009-10, the economy is projected to grow by 7.2 per cent and by 8.5 per cent in 2010-11.
Source: Times of India

02. 'Govt employee has fundamental right to be considered for promotion' :

The Supreme Court has ruled that a Government employee has a fundamental right to be considered for promotion and it is mandatory for the Centre and States to carry out cadre review of eligible officers for promotion to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

"The right of eligible employees to be considered for promotion is virtually a part of their fundamental right guaranteed under Article 16(Equality of opportunity in matter of public employment) of the Constitution," a bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and A K Ganguly held in a recent judgement.

The apex court passed the judgement while directing the Centre and the UP Government to consider the promotion of two State cadre officers-Hemraj Singh Chauhan and Ramnawal Singh to the IAS.

"We hold that the statutory duty which is cast on the State Government and the Central Government to undertake the cadre review exercise every five years is ordinarily mandatory subject to exceptions which may be justified in the facts of a given case," the bench said.

Source: Indian Express

03. Govt signs pact with Apollo for dialysis clinic :
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH SCHEME
Govt signs pact with Apollo for dialysis clinic
The Government has signed an agreement with the prestigious Apollo Hospital to set up a Hemodialysis unit in the city where its employees can avail state-of-the-art dialysis facility.

Alliance Medicorp Limited (AML), a unit of of Apollo Hospitals Group, has signed a MoU with the Central Government to set up the 'CGHS-Apollo Dialysis' clinic.

"Apollo Hospitals Group is pleased to be associated with the Central Government to launch the first Dialysis Centre in Delhi. This Public-Private Partnership model can help bridge the gap and make world-class services available to CGHS Beneficiaries," Dr Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said.
"We are also exploring similar PPP opportunities with other state governments," he said.
The set up, which is expected to be functional by June this year, will come up at the CGHS Wellness Centre in Sadik Nagar.