Govt admits to shortage of doctors in CGHS dispensaries

New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) The government today admitted that there is "some" shortage of doctors in the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) dispensaries across the country.

"There is some shortage of doctors in the CGHS dispensaries across the country. Main reason of shortage of doctors in CGHS is low rate of joining medical officers," Health Minister J P Nadda told Lok Sabha.

Elaborating about steps taken to rectify the situation, Nadda said requisitions have been sent to UPSC to fill up vacant post while promotion of senior administrative grade has been made time bound without linkage to vacancies.

He said that the age of superannuation of non teaching and public health specialists has been increased from 60 to 62 years while the period of study leave for CHS doctors has been increased to 36 months as against 24 months for other central government employees.

As per the data, out of the total of 1,383 sanctioned doctors, 381 are vacant in the country. The maximum 699 posts are sanctioned in Delhi in which 190 are lying vacant.

Replying to another question, Nadda said that in 2015, 224 posts are vacant in three central government hospitals in Delhi - Safdarjung, RML hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associated Hospitals.

In AIIMS, in the same year period, 213 posts are vacant.

He said that the reasons behind vacancy in CHS cadre are low rate of joining, recruitment of teaching, non teaching and public health sub cadres could not be done during 2011-13 and non availability of eligible candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC communities against seats reserved for them.

Yoga in schools will not be compulsory: Govt

The government on Thursday clarified that there is no plan to make teaching of yoga compulsory at all educational institutions in the country. 

However, it said yoga is a subject along with physical and health education for schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). 

"Yoga is one of the subjects along with physical and health education, and is also included as part of the physical activity in all schools affiliated to CBSE across the country," AYUSH Minister of State Shripad Naik told Rajya Sabha on Thursday. 

He said, "Education is a concurrent subject and state governments administer the schools within their jurisdiction (and also) develop and prescribe their own curriculum." 


The minister said yoga is also included as one of the chapters under physical education curriculum at the senior secondary level. 

The University Grants Commission has informed that yoga has been included in the modules on health, nutrition, fitness and general well-being in all courses at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels while framing the revised XIIth Plan guidelines on the scheme of development of sports infrastructure and equipment at universities and colleges, Naik said. 

In a separate statement, Naik said the Centre provides grant-in aid to states for setting up of AYUSH gram under National AYUSH Mission (NAM). The total amount of grant released under NAM for setting up of AYUSH Gram is Rs 215.15 lakh, he said. 

The Centre has also created facilities for scientific validation of AYUSH systems of medicine through five research councils.

Source:-The Times of India

Monetary ceiling of briefcase/ladies purses for official purposes - Clarification

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Revision of sum assured in respect of RPLI policies - order dated 20-07-2015

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Simple Reversionary Bonus rate for the year ending 31.03.2011 on the Rural Postal Life Insurance Policies on their becoming claim, due to death or maturity:-

Sl.	Type of Insurance Policy	Rate of Bonus
(i)	Whole Life Assurance (WLA)	Rs.65 per thousand sum assured
(ii)	Endowment Assurance (EA)	Rs.50 per thousand sum assured
(iii)	Anticipated Endowment Assurance (AEA)	Rs.47 per thousand sum assured
(iv)	Convertible Whole Life Policies	Whole Life Bonus would be applicable but on conversion, Endowment Bonus rate will be applicable

The rate of Bonus for the year 2010-11 will be applicable from the date of receipt of this notification by the Circles and this will also be applicable to claim cases received but not settled till the date of receipt of this Notification.

Interim Bonus at the rates mentioned above will also be payable for all claims arising due to maturity or death until future valuation is completed.

Updation of entries in the All India Negative List of Cash Certificate - Corrigendum

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Rate of exchange of foreign currencies in to Indian Rupees - 13.07.2015

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Give assets details for two years by October 15: Central government to employees

All central government employees were today asked to file the details of their assets and liabilities for two years by October 15, as part of a mandatory obligation under the Lokpal Act. 

The first return, giving details of assets and liabilities as on August 1, 2014, and second one, as on March 31, 2015, can now be filed by October 15, this year, the Department of Personnel and Training said in a communique sent to secretaries of all central government ministries. 

They have been asked to ensure compliance of all officers working under their charge and those in PSUs and other organisations under the control of their ministries. 

As per rules, notified under the Lokpal Act, every public servant shall file declaration, information and annual returns pertaining to his assets and liabilities as on March 31 every year or on or before July 31 of that year. 

For 2014, the last date for filing returns was September 15, which was later extended to December-end, then till April 30, and now up to October 15. Employees also have to file the details of their assets for 2015 by the extended date. 

The declarations under the Lokpal Act are in addition to similar ones filed by the employees under various services rules. All Group A, B and C employees are supposed to file these declarations. 

Employees need to give details like cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to any person or entity, among others. 

There are about 48 lakh central government employees.

Source:-The Economic Times

Revision of pension of pre-2006 pensioners - reg.

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Corrigendum - Steps for conducting inquiry in case of allegation of Sexual Harassment.

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Letter to Chief Secretaries regarding timeline for furnishing of information relating to Assets and Liabilities by Public Servants under section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

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Windows 10: Why Microsoft's operating system users should consider making the switch

By Brian X Chen 

Windows 10, the next version of Microsoft's operating system, arrived Wednesday, and it will have a familiar look and feel to the more than 1 billion people who have touched a Windows computer in the past two decades. 

That is a stark change from the last time Microsoft made a big revision to its operating system, in 2012 with the release of Windows 8 - a release that didn't go so well. Many customers were confused by the flurry of changes that were designed for so-called hybrid devices that doubled as PCs and tablets. Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, said last year that the company "got a few places wrong in Windows 8." 

With Windows 10, Microsoft is offering something of a throwback to the earlier versions. The software also comes with an enticing price tag for users of Windows 7 and 8: free. But perhaps more than anything, there are a handful of new features that might make users consider making the switch. 

The Trusty Start Button 

Back is the classic Start button, the one-touch access to a main menu, including shortcuts to a user's list of apps and documents. As in old times, it can be opened with the click of a mouse or by pressing the Windows shortcut on a keyboard. (The Start button was still available in Windows 8, but some users were confused because it was hidden from sight.) 

Microsoft made efforts to modernize the Start menu with a fresh design. Clicking on the Start button brings up groups of tiles that can be tailored to your preferences. For example, I easily created a group of tiles labeled "Productivity" and pinned some of my most frequently used software for work, including apps for email, web browsing, Twitter, a calculator and Microsoft Word. Removing unwanted apps from the group is easy - you just choose to "unpin" the tile. 

For longtime Windows users, the more intimidating part to get used to will be tablet mode. With hybrid tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface, you can detach the keyboard from the screen and switch into a different software interface optimized for tablets. In tablet mode, apps consume the entire screen; the tiles of the Start section are enlarged to be easier to see and touch. 

Fortunately, interacting with Windows 10 on a touch screen is generally the same as with most modern touch-enabled devices. Spread two fingers apart to zoom in, swipe up to scroll down, swipe left to pan right. And even in tablet mode, the trusty Start menu remains there to remind you this is still Windows you're dealing with. 

A Virtual Assistant 

A new addition right next to the Start button is Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant. A user can do a search by typing in a query or speaking a command into the microphone. Saying commands like "Remind me to buy milk on Tuesday" sets up a reminder notification that will alert you on that day, and "Schedule meeting tomorrow at 3 p.m." creates an appointment in your calendar.

On other questions, like where to find a place to eat, Cortana often falls back to doing searches on Bing.com, Microsoft's search engine, which is less proficient than Google's search engine. In tests, Cortana generated mixed results. Asking Cortana to look up a place to eat nearby retrieved a list of Bing search results for the term "Find me places to eat nearby," which included the website places-to-eat-near-me.com, as opposed to showing a list of restaurants. (By contrast, the same query on Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, brought up Yelp listings of popular restaurants within half a mile from me here in San Francisco.) 

On the other hand, Cortana did respond adequately to some other commands, like "Show me showtimes for 'Trainwreck,'" which loaded a schedule of movie theaters showing the movie nearby. 

A big hole in Cortana is the mobile phone experience. Cortana is built into Windows phones; the problem is, you probably don't own one. To date, Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has 3.5 percent market share in the United States, according to Kantar Worldpanel. 

Microsoft says that Cortana will eventually be available as an app on devices running Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile software. For now, though, Cortana will primarily live on computers and tablets, limiting its usefulness. 

It's difficult to imagine that while on the go, people will yank Windows tablets or computers out of their bags to ask Cortana to schedule calendar appointments or create reminders. In addition, the idea of using a voice assistant on a stationary computer in a typical office environment, where colleagues will overhear you over their cubicle walls yapping to Cortana, seems off-putting. As a result, in its current state, Cortana is a promising start, but it's far less useful than its direct rivals, Siri and Google's Now, which are widely available on smartphones worldwide. 

More Built-In Security 

Microsoft has made some bold promises about improvements to security in Windows 10. Chris Hallum, a senior product marketing manager for Microsoft, said in an interview that because of all the security enhancements in Windows 10, consumers and businesses won't have to install additional security software to protect their machines. "We include a full-fledged antivirus solution in Windows," he said. 

Microsoft has been including these deeper security features since Windows 8. But with Windows XP and Windows 7, far more popular versions of the software, it was practically a requirement to buy and install third-party antivirus software from McAfee or Norton, unless you wanted to be eaten alive by hackers. 

Hallum said Microsoft was taking a multifaceted approach to protecting user identities as well as blocking malicious software. For example, Microsoft Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, includes a feature called SmartScreen, which can identify malicious websites by scanning them for suspicious characteristics. The Edge browser also keeps some add-on software for the browser, like Adobe Flash, up-to-date to safeguard you from the latest vulnerabilities. Another feature, Windows Defender, can identify potentially harmful software you've downloaded and warn you before you run it. 

Are you really safe not installing additional antivirus software? As we should all know by now, almost all computer systems have some vulnerability. Still, Charlie Miller, a security researcher, said Windows 10's security features should work as well as other anti-virus software. He noted that Windows Defender had been a strong security program for some time.

The Upgrade Process 

On Wednesday, Microsoft began releasing the operating system over the Internet in waves, starting with people who signed up to test early versions of the software as part of its "insiders" program. Later, Windows 7 and Windows 8 users who receive alerts notifying them of the upgrade will be able to download it. 

At the time of my testing, ahead of the public release of Windows 10, I encountered a number of bugs. In one incident, Microsoft's Edge browser blocked me for an entire night from using Google Mail, after mistakenly identifying it as a malicious website - though the next morning I was able to log in. I also had a frustrating time trying to compose a document inside Google Docs, when the Edge browser occasionally failed to detect when I was hitting the space bar; Microsoft confirmed it would fix the issue shortly after release. 

Combine the early bugs with the spottiness of Cortana and the fact that third-party app developers are still updating their apps for Windows 10, and the operating system still has a little ways to go before it becomes a solid all-around upgrade. But the improvements to security, along with the familiar user interface, should be reasons to grab this upgrade sooner than later (especially if you're on Windows 7 and lacking up-to-date security tools). The upgrade will be free for up to a year - after that, Microsoft may begin charging for it. 

For would-be switchers, Microsoft offers a Web tool where users can check if their apps are compatible with Windows 10 before making the switch. If you're eager to get in line for an upgrade, you can reserve a download on Microsoft's website.

Source:-The Economic Times

Siliguri resident sentenced to seven years for KVP fraud

A resident of Siliguri in north Bengal was sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in Guwahati on Wednesday for a Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) fraud committed in 2003. Basab Bijoy Dutta alias Anup Gupta will also have to pay a fine of Rs 5 lakh. 

The CBI registered a case on August 30, 2005, based on allegations that the assistant postmaster and postal assistant of Guwahati University Head Post Office (GUHPO) entered into a criminal conspiracy with Dutta to cause loss to the public exchequer. In 2003, they fraudulently and dishonestly obtained 50 KVPs. These KVPs were on their way from CSD, Nasik, Maharashtra to CSD, Howrah, West Bengal in 1997-98 and were reported stolen or lost during transit. 

Dutta then encashed the KVPs at GUHPO during October-November, 2003 and the loss caused to the government was estimated at Rs 10 lakh. 

"On June 20, 2008, a chargesheet was filed against Dutta and three others. After hearing the matter, the special judge found Dutta guilty and convicted him," a senior CBI official said.

Source:-The Times of India

Government notifies new simplified “Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015”

Ministry of Women and Child Development has notified revised Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015 effective from 1.8.2015. The 2015 Guidelines issued by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) would replace the 2011 Adoption Guidelines.  

The revised guidelines have been framed keeping in mind the issues and challenges faced by CARA, Adoption Agencies and Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs).

These Guidelines are intended to provide for more effective regulation for adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children and would bring more transparency and efficiency in the adoption system. With the new guidelines, it would become possible for PAPs to track the status of their application making the entire system more user friendly.

Accordingly, Central Adoption Resource Information Guidance System (CARINGS), as an e-governance measure created for the purpose of facilitating adoption of children, has been revamped. CARINGS will facilitate the adoption of maximum number of adoptable children and ensure a smoother adoption process by curbing undue delays. For hassle-free adoption, CARINGS will contain a centralized data bank of adoptable children and PAPs. Clear cut timelines for domestic and inter-country adoption have been laid down to ensure early deinstitutionalization of such children.

All District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) will be connected online to CARINGS. DCPUs will be responsible for making newspaper publications of abandoned children and the expenditure, if required, could be incurred under Integrated Child Protection Units (ICPS) Fund. One DCPU member will also be part of the Adoption Committee.

Salient features of the Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2015:

(i)                 Clear and transparent procedure for registration of resident Indians and provision for uploading required documents online.

(ii)               PAPs have an option to select an adoption agency of their choice for conducting Home Study Report (HSR) and preferred State also.

(iii)             Home study Report of PAPs can be prepared by SARA/DCPU empanelled social worker.

(iv)             Seniority of PAPs would be maintained from the date of registration.

(v)               The maximum combined age for married couple has been increased from 105 years to 110 years to encourage adoption of older children.

(vi)             Minimum 25 years age gap between the child and adoptive parents has been prescribed.

(vii)           More clarity in adoption of special needs children, older children and siblings. Older children and siblings would no more be considered as special needs children.

(viii)         All Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) would be authorised to do In-country & Inter-country adoption.

(ix)             Inter-state adoptions made simpler to boost adoptions within the country; No permission of State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) is required for domestic adoption from another State.

(x)               NRIs would be treated at par with resident Indians in terms of priority regarding referral of a child. 

(xi)             Greater clarity in the process and documentation for OCI and Foreign PAPs living in India.

(xii)           Adoption expenses for different category of PAPs prescribed.

(xiii)         Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) would have a provision of renewal after a period of five years.

(xiv)         All adoptions (in-country or inter-country) to proceed on CARINGS, adoption outside CARINGS is strictly prohibited.

The new simplified guidelines are available on the website of the Ministry of Women and Child Development “www.wcd.nic.in” and website of CARA “www.adoptionindia.nic.in.”

Source:-PIB

India Post to Release Series of Stamps on Well Known Singers, Writers, Freedom Fighters, Painters and Dancers

Promote Philately in Childrens- Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Government has decided to release series of stamps on Singers, Writers, Freedom-fighters, Painters and Dancers. It has also decided that ceremonial stamps issued so far may also be made available in all post offices for easy purchase by the public. The philatelic advisory committee which met under the Chairmanship of Minister for Communication & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad yesterday also decided that stamps with picture postcards may be release on tourist places in India such as Taj Mahal, Ajanta and Ellora, Belur Math, Khajuraho etc.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad also directed the department to conduct a letter writing competition at district level with suitable awards for the winner to promote philately among children’s. He also directed that a series of stamps on Charkha be released on 2nd October, 2015.

Further, Minister of Communication & IT also suggested having designs of philatelic stamps through crowd sourcing. Commemorative postage stamp on “Swach Bharat”, the theme of Clean India was released by Department of Posts, on 30.01.2015, the design was decided through open competition. A commemorative postage stamp on Women Empowerment is being released on 15th August, 2015, the design has been decided by crowd sourcing. The MOC&IT also desired to bring technology in philately. Mobile app should be developed so that people can have information about philatelic stamps. Social Media should be used for promoting philately.

Facebook on Philately has been introduced which has brought out awareness to the people throughout the globe. The Philatelic Advisory Committee (PAC) members comprising of eminent persons from various fields such as art, literature, music, dance participated in the meeting. In this context, it is to inform that the Philatelic Advisory Committee (PAC) members gave their valuable suggestions in the above mentioned fields and also discussed the steps to be taken for promoting Philately among the public of various age groups. Suggestions were made for promoting philately through Culture and Policies also. Joint Issues released by Department of Posts, promote Philately through Culture. 

Source:-PIB

Timely Redressal of Tax Payer Grievances and Public Service Delivery

Grievance redressal is a major aspect of citizen centric governance and is an important feature of the activities of the Income Tax Department. The Central Action Plan 2015-16 of the Income Tax Department released during the Annual General Conference of senior officers held on 25-26 May 2015, has stressed on service delivery and timely grievance redressal as a key result areas for the Department. The Income-tax Department is addressing grievances through a multi-layered grievance redressal machinery including Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), Aayakar Seva Kendras (ASK), online grievance redressal through Central Processing Centre (CPC), etc. The status of redressal of grievances and initiatives at the end of first quarter of F.Y. 2015-16 was reviewed recently by the Government.

The disposal of grievances received through CPGRAMS has improved considerably. From 1.4.2014 to 22.07.2015 the overall disposal rate of grievances received on public grievances portal of the Government of India works out to 85%.

The Department has established 250 ASK Centres across the country to facilitate delivery of services identified in the Citizen’s Charter to the taxpayers. A road map is being readied for additionally establishing 58 ASK Centres during the current Financial Year. The department is committed to improve the delivery of service through ASK Centres. Towards this end, it has decided to mount proper training and refresher programmes for the officials working in ASK Centres with a certainty of tenure for such officials.

The disposal of Rectification Applications was also reviewed where pendency of cases was considerably high. At the end of first quarter of the current Financial Year 65 percent of the rectification applications received in the Department were disposed off. The Department is working on improving systems to reduce the time taken in disposal of rectification applications.

The Department is committed to the objective of timely delivery of quality taxpayer services and time bound disposal of grievances. This will be closely reviewed from time to time. 

Source:-The Economic Times

10 life lessons from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

By Prateek Pathak 

Former President & eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam passed away in Shillong on Monday. Kalam collapsed during a speech at IIM Shillong and was immediately rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital.
Here are some of Kalam's inspirational sayings through which he will be remembered forever... 

"You have to dream before your dreams can come true."

"If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher." 

"My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people."

"To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal." 

"Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity."


"Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended." 

"Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow." 

"Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success."


"Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work." 

"You see, God helps only people who work hard. That principle is very clear." 

Source:-The Economic Times

UPU News:- 2015 Letter-Writing Competition winners announced

ara Jadid from Lebanon has won the UPU’s International Letter-Writing Competition 2015 with her letter on the world she wishes to grow up in. She impressed an international jury with a heartfelt plea for a world without war.

“From here, this dark world, I dream of living in a bright world, even if it is beyond the horizon… Every time I close my eyes, I dream of a world where doves fly and the lights of mountainside villages shine every evening,” the 13-year-old from Tripoli wrote.

As the gold-medallist, Sara’s prize includes a trip to Switzerland to visit the UPU’s International Bureau.

UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein said he was delighted that children are still writing letters in this digital day and age.

“I am extremely pleased that the art of letter-writing is alive and well,” he said.

“I am espe­cially touched that it is still being practised by the world's young people to such a high standard,” he remarked.

The international jury also awarded a silver medal to Miriam Campos Acin, an 11-year-old girl from Spain and the bronze to Silva Brito Leonardo, a 15-year-old boy from Brazil.

Miriam’s letter was addressed to the World.

“My teacher assigned us a science project on you, so I decided to take an imaginary trip around you, stopping at places where we hear about problems on the news every day,” she wrote.

Silva’s letter was written from the point of view of a volunteer setting up a postal service in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“In my time here, I have learned that our dreams and plans mean nothing if we do not have the courage to fight for them, even at the risk of our lives,” he wrote.

Special mentions were also awarded to: Tatev Barseghyan, 14 years old (Armenia); Jacqueline Doriane Dandjinou 14 years old (Benin); Josep Gil Sander, 13 years old (Haiti); Zvezdana Gojkovi?, 13 years old (Montenegro); Prabidhik K.C., 14 years old (Nepal); Maria Coutinho, 13 years old (Portugal); Fedir Nahornyi, 12 years old (Ukraine); Aliaa Ajil Mohammad Khamis Balsoub Al-Ketbi, 11 years old (United Arab Emirates); and Hai Nam Truong, 13 years old (Viet Nam). 

International jury

One of the judges this year was Caroline Naddeo, a banker based in France, who was the letter-writing competition gold laureate from 1989. She jumped at the chance to be on the jury.

“The letters show that young people are very concerned about the future of our planet and the life conditions of their peers around the world,” she said.

Dimitri Fatouros, communication officer for Greece and Cyprus at the United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels, Belgium, was another judge.

“Although each story was unique, expressing the temperament of each one of the young writers, reading through the letters made me realize once more that the expectations, the thoughts, the anxieties of the children are identical independent of where they are in our world,” he said.

This year, 65 member countries submitted their winning letters from the national heats to the international round. Some 1.5 million children participated.

Harmonization of RTI (Fee and Cost) Rules and Appeal Procedure Rules under Right to Information Act, 2005.

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Requirement of taking prior permission for leaving station/headquarters for going abroad while on leave.

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Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 - Submission of Declaration of Assets and Liabilities by the Public Servant for each year - Regarding

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1.The first return under the Lokpal Act (as on 1st August, 2014)should be filed on or before 15th October, 2015; 

2. The next annual return under the Lokpal Act, for the year ending 31st March. 2015 should be filed on or before 15th October, 2015;and 

3. The annual returns for subsequent years as on 31st March every year should be filed on or before 31st July of that year.