NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Thursday decided to expand the terms of reference of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities to enable it to go into the issue of 50 per cent ceiling on reservation and the modalities for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes.

The Cabinet gave ex-post-facto approval for the extension of the tenure of the panel up to April 30. The terms of reference were expanded as writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court and High Courts, Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said.

Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the meeting decided to relax the rule on downsizing of staff for the Health Ministry in respect of scientific and technical posts. Consequently, it decided to relax theFinance Ministry's instructions on lapsing of vacancies in case they remained unfilled for more than one year for scientific and technical posts in the health sector.

Helicopter services in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura would continue. Seventyfive per cent of the subsidy in their operations would be borne by the Centre and the balance by the respective State Governments.

The monthly ceiling on flying hours would be fixed at 100 for Dauphin helicopters and 80 for MI 712 helicopters in Arunachal Pradesh, 60 in Meghalaya, 50 in Sikkim and 40 in Tripura. The subsidy would entail Rs. 25 crores a year, it was estimated.

The Cabinet decided to further extend by six months the tenure of the Justice R.J. Kochar Commission, going into the collapse of the Daman Ganga bridge between Nani Daman and Moti Dadam on August 28, 2003.

An ordinance would be promulgated to convert the university in Manipur into a Central university.

A Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha would be withdrawn and a fresh one replacing the Ordinance introduced.

The Cabinet approved the setting up of a regional centre for biotechnology training and education by the Department of Biotechnology under UNESCO auspices.

The centre would act as the focal point for cooperation among the member-countries of the United Nations body in Asia. It would seek to promote joint research and development programmes, apart from providing education and training for students and scientists.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail