March 2018

6 MARCH 2018
ASIA
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
280% spike in buses
plying illegally in Delhi
New Delhi, The number of buses found plying illegally in the
national capital has increased by 282 per cent, the Delhi government
informed the Assembly on Tuesday.
The total number of buses found plying illegally has increased to
7,961 in 2017-18 (till February) from 2,084 in 2016-17 — an
increase of 280 per cent, the government said in reply to a starred
question. Also, the number of challans issued has increased to 13,962
in 2017-18 (till February) from 3,010 in 2016-17.
The reply said the number of such buses impounded jumped to
5,359 from 748 in the same time period in 2016-17.
Taj entry restricted to three
hours from Sunday
Agra, Entry to the Taj Mahal will be restricted to only three hours
starting from Sunday, according to a notice issued by the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
The decision was taken to reduce “human load” on the fragile, 17th
century monument of love which has started showing signs of
fatigue and ageing, the notice said. ASI sources said the modalities
were being worked out as extra staff would be needed to check tickets
and enforce new timing instructions. The crowd management at
the white marble
mausoleum had
become a huge
challenge for the
CISF, as on holidays
and weekends
the number of visitors
exceeded
50,000, excluding
children below 15
years who can enter
for free and therefore
not recorded.
Deadline for linking
Aadhaar with PAN
extended till June 30
New Delhi, The government on Tuesday extended the deadline
for linking Aadhaar
with PAN for the
fourth time by three
more months, till
June 30. The earlier
deadline was March
31. The decision
came after the
Supreme Court earlier
this month
extended the deadline
for linking of
various services
with Aadhaar till it
delivers its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional
validity of the biometrical identification scheme.
During the proceedings, the government had told the Supreme
Court that if required it might consider extending the March 31
deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes as well
as mobile phones and bank accounts. This is the fourth time that the
deadline for Aadhaar-Permanent Account Number (PAN) linking
has been extended. The government had first made it mandatory to
link Aadhaar number with PAN till July 1, 2017. It first extended it
to August 31, 2017 and then to December 31, 2017 citing difficulties
faced by taxpayers. As many taxpayers had not completed the
linking of PAN with Aadhaar even till December 31, the government
extended the deadline till March 31 this year.
Last week, the government had also extended the last date for reverification
of mobile connections through Aadhaar based E-KYC
process till the Supreme Court’s verdict.