Application Form For Yellow Cab Taxi Scheme Car

Lahore: Punjab Government announces the procedure and requirements for Nawaz Sharif yellow cab scheme car in Punjab. The Application form will be available on July 17,2011 at the same page. So keep visiting www.columnpk.com

LAHORE:The Punjab cabinet on Thursday formally approved the Yellow Cab Scheme. Under the Scheme, 20,000 vehicles will be distributed among jobless youth. Forty per cent of these have been allocated for Southern Punjab.

Computerised balloting for the distribution of vehicles will be held in the presence of news media.

The cabinet also accorded approval to a draft bill for an amendment in Section 17(4) of the Government Servants Housing Foundation Act, 2004.

The Punjab Information Technology Board chairman gave a detailed briefing regarding websites of various departments for the promotion of e-government in the province.

Addressing the meeting, Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif said that the government was undertaking a comprehensive programme for the elimination of poverty and unemployment from the province.

He said that the Yellow Cab Scheme would not only help reduce unemployment but will also promote local industry and provide better transport facilities.

Sharif said that under the scheme, 2,500 vehicles will be distributed among the winners of the draw every month for eight months. He said that people having intermediate or equivalent academic qualification will be eligible to apply for the scheme.

Application forms will be available from all branches of the Bank of Punjab as well as the website of the Transport Department and the Bank of Punjab. Successful applicants will have to make a 20 per cent down payment at the time of delivery. The remaining amount is to be paid in monthly installments. A low-markup loan facility at will be offered by the Bank of Punjab.

He said the Akhuwat Foundation representatives will be included in committees formed for the scrutiny of the particulars of successful applicants. Revenue staff like patwaris and tehsildars will have no role in the verification process.

The chief minister said that e-government was the need of the hour for a prompt solution of people’s problems and a comprehensive strategy had been adopted for this purpose.

He said the Punjab Police website should be developed along such lines that it should be helpful in redressing the grievances of the common man, monitoring efficiency of police stations and bringing about a positive change in police culture. He directed that a comprehensive plan be evolved for the website in consultation with the law minister, the law secretary and the inspector general of police and presented in the next cabinet meeting. He said that redressing the grievances of the people and providing them justice was the responsibility of the government and no effort should be spared in this regard.

Finance Secretary Tariq Bajwa said that 16,000 Suzuki Mehrans and 4,000 Suzuki Bolans will be distributed under the Yellow Cab Scheme. An advertisement will be published in newspapers on July 15 regarding details of the Scheme after which applications will be received.

The distribution of vehicles will start from the day after Eid from Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rawalpindi. He said that special number plates will be issued for Yellow Cabs.

These will carry the name of the district. Both men and women will be eligible under the scheme. Punjab Information Technology Board chairman Dr Javed Ghani informed the cabinet about the website of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and the Punjab Police and the measures taken for the promotion of e-government.Source

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India’s Temple Treasure Worth Goes To 22 Billion Dollar

NEW DELHI – A vast treasure trove of billions of dollars in gold coins, jewels and precious stones unearthed at a Hindu temple in India was expected to grow further in value Monday as officials opened the last two secret vaults sealed for nearly 150 years.

The discovery has instantly turned the 16th-century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple into one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the country, prompting a government move to beef up security around it.

An archive image of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the southern Indian state of Kerala, Feb. 18, 2011.

The four vaults already opened in recent days at the temple in Trivandrum, the capital of the southern state of Kerala, held a vast bounty that unofficial estimates peg at $22 billion.

Other treasures unearthed so far include statues of gods and goddesses made of solid gold and studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other precious stones, crowns and necklaces, all given as gifts to the temple over the centuries.

The volume of gold and silver coins was so enormous that the investigators weighed the coins by the sackful, rather than counting them, officials said.

The temple, built by the maharajas who ruled the then-kingdom of Travancore, remained under the control of the erstwhile royal family after India’s independence in 1947.

India’s Supreme Court ordered the inspection of the vaults after a lawyer petitioned a local court asking the state government to take over the temple, citing inadequate security.

The operation began last week and the final vaults were to be unlocked Monday.

Before the trove was uncovered, there was almost no visible security at the temple, save for a few local security guards patrolling the complex with batons, mainly for crowd control.

Kerala’s police chief, Jacob Punnoose, said he sent extra police officers to guard the temple and is planning a high-tech security system to protect the treasure.

“We plan to enhance security in a manner which will not interfere with the activities of the temple or devotees,” Mr. Punnoose said.

The security plans include the installation of digital electronic networks, closed circuit cameras and metal detectors at the entrance and exits of the temple.