Tax rebates proposed for single married women with children
New Delhi: Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has proposed tax rebates for single married women with children in order to provide them better financial security. “A proposal in his regard has been sent to the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister,” the Women and Child Development Minister told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. Single married women include women who are either separated, divorced or widowed. There are over four crore such women in the country comprising around 3 per cent of the total population. “This is to reduce the financial dependency of single married women with children so that they can take better care of them,” a senior officer in the ministry said. The number of such women is considerably large since many women are abandoned, deserted or unmarried which may not be reflected in the census records as they are not officially divorced or separated, the officer said. The Ministry has also proposed inclusion of spouse’s name in the death certificate so that women can claim entitlement after the death of their husbands. “We are also working with the office of Registrar General of India as well as the state governments to ensure that the name of the woman is compulsorily mentioned in the death certificate of husband,” the official said.(PTI)
On alliance, DMK will not say no to anybody: Karuna
Thiruvarur (TN): DMK on Monday hinted at accommodating any number of constituents in its-party led alliance, with party President M Karunanidhi insisting that all poll pacts should be ‘welcomed’. “We will not say no to parties willing to come (into DMK-led) alliance. We will welcome any party which will ensure democracy’s victory,” Karunanidhi told reporters here, his native constituency. DMK has been attempting to stitch a formidable alliance against the ruling AIADMK and Karunanidhi had even invited Vijayakanth-led DMDK for a poll-pact to face the coming elections. Incidentally, Vijayakanth, the Opposition Leader in Tamil Nadu Assembly, had aligned with J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK in the 2011 elections, in which DMK was routed and relegated to the second spot among the opposition parties with a mere 23 seats in the 234-member House. The DMK chief sounded confident when asked about his party’s poll prospects, saying they were “indeed good”. Asked whether he would contest this year’s polls once again from Thiruvarur, he said he would do so if people of the constituency asked him and also if the party permits. (PTI)
Four killed in MP road mishap
Devas (Madhya Pradesh): At least four people were killed and six injured when a truck crashed into a house after hitting a motorbike in Madhya Pradesh’s Devas district. The accident, in which three motorcycle-borne persons — Rajesh, 40, Babita, 35, and Meena, 22 — coming from the side opposite to the truck died, occurred on Sunday night near Khirnikhera village. One of the injured people Anokhilal, 50, died later, police said on Monday. A case has been registered against the driver, who suffered injuries in the incident. (IANS)
Helpline, call centre for journalists to be launched in UP
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will on Monday inaugurate, what is being touted as the first-of-its-kind helpline for journalists across the state, an official said. The helpline — 1880 — hosted by the state information and public relations department comes with a call centre for convenience and help of media persons, director (information) Ashutosh Niranjan told IANS. A computerised ‘letter and file tracking system’ will also be launched by Yadav. With massive red-tape and a slow bureaucracy, the tracking system of files, an official said, was aimed at time-bound disposal of the important files. The information department has also digitised over 40,000 rare and important photographs and negatives of snaps which have historic value. A special supplement on eminent litterateur Amrit Lal Nagar will also be launched by the CM. (IANS)
