Since last month, the Consumer Affairs Ministry has asked the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) to sell tomatoes at a lower price.

At first, the subsidy rate was set at 90 per kilogramme. As prices went down, the subsidy rate went down, too, so that consumers would get the most advantage.

“The last change to the retail price was on August 15, when it went down to 50/- per kg. As of August 20, the price has gone down even more, to 40 per kg,” a government statement said on Friday.

It said that so far, the two agencies have bought more than 15 lakh kilogrammes of tomatoes, which are being sold to retail customers in the country’s big consumption centres.

ALSO READ:Centre cuts price of subsidised tomato to Rs 70 per kg.

These places are Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan (Jaipur and Kota), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Prayagraj), and Bihar (Patna, Muzaffarpur, Arrah, and Buxar). NCCF and NAFED buy tomatoes from mandis in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

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Airport customs officials seized approximately 56.97 kg of contraband gold in 2018-19, 51.73 kg in 2019-20, 26.62 kg in 2020-21, 47.67 kg in 2021-22, and 52 kg in 2022-23. From January to July of 2023, traffickers were caught with over 30 kilogrammes of gold, according to a customs department official at Lucknow airport.

Prior to the establishment of international flights from Lucknow, the majority of gold smuggling passed through Mumbai. Officials say that after strictness at larger airports such as Mumbai and Delhi, smugglers found smaller airports such as Lucknow and Varanasi more practicable.

Greater amounts of the yellow metal are smuggled from Gulf states because gold prices are substantially lower there.

Gold costs between 45 and 50 crore per kilogramme in Gulf nations. If carried into India legally, 3% GST is added to 7.5% customs duty and 2.5% agriculture infrastructure and development cess, bringing the price per kilogramme to approximately 60 lakh. However, when it is smuggled, traffickers make a net profit of 5 to 7 lakh per kilogramme, according to officials.

The majority of illicit gold originates in Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Dubai, and occasionally Bangkok. Experts estimate that only 10 to 15% of the total amount of gold being transported could be seized.

The mode of operation of smugglers is constantly evolving. A senior customs official stated, “The majority of individuals apprehended with gold are couriers for major traffickers. They are trained before being dispatched with the shipment. The traffickers are intelligent; they are aware that they will only be arrested if they are transporting more than 50 lakh in gold. To avoid detention, the majority of them carry approximately 750 g of gold, which falls under the 50 lakh threshold.”

ALSO READ:CBDT issues fresh guidelines for tax exemptions on life insurance policy

The department of customs has compiled a list of “repeat offenders” who are captured smuggling gold into India. A manifest of 107 passengers suspected of smuggling was sent to the regional passport office with the recommendation that their passports be revoked.

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7th Pay Commission Pension Rules: Big news is coming out regarding the pension of Central Government Employees. Rules have been issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare, in which important information has been given regarding the withdrawal of pension amount. Now you will be able to withdraw your pension only once. Let us tell you what are the new pension rules for central

There is no permission to withdraw pension again
, according to the information received from DoPPW, if any employee withdraws a part of his basic salary, then he is not allowed to withdraw pension again. 

The department has issued a notification
, information has been given by the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare by issuing a notification (DoPPW Notification) in this regard. According to the Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981, the government is not allowed to withdraw pension more than once. With this, you can withdraw only 40 percent of the total pension at one go.

You can withdraw the outstanding amount after revising On
lump sum withdrawal, the government has said that you can withdraw only 40 percent of the amount at one go. Apart from this, if the pension of any employee is revised, then in this situation you can withdraw your arrears. 

According to the notification issued by DoPPW, those employees who have retired between January 1, 2016 and August 4, 2016, will get additional exemption on revision of pension under Rule 10 of CCS. Although the rule of 40 percent has been implemented here by the government. 

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