Machine Readable Passport (MRP) – Mandatory

MRP is a machine readable travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in Optical Character Recognition (OCR) format. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has set a deadline of 24th November 2015 for globally phasing out all non MRPs.

Therefore Indian citizens residing in India and abroad and holding hand writer passports with validity beyond 24th November 2015 should apply for reissue of passports and obtain MRP passports well before the deadline in order to avoid inconvenience in obtaining visa and Immigration problems as per instruction from Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India.Please read attachment for more details

Machine Readable Passport

Hawaii bans GMO

Mayor of Hawaii’s Big Island signs anti-GMO bill into law

“Our community has a deep connection and respect for our land, and we all understand we must protect our island and preserve our precious natural resources,” Kenoi wrote to council members. “We are determined to do what is right for the land because this place is unlike any other in the world.”

Click Here for the details

Service Tax in Co-operative Housing Societies

Question:

Whether Housing Societies are liable to pay Service Tax on various charges, fees and other amounts collected from the members?

Answer:

Yes. As per the clarification given by Jt. Commissioner of Service Tax, Mumbai under Ref. No.V/ST/HQ/Tech/Ref-25/06/1956. The amounts liable for

Accounts liable for Service Tax payment : 
(i) Common Electricity
(ii) Repairs Maintenance of lifts
(iii) Service Charges
(iv) Car parking charges
(v) Insurance
(vi) Charges for health club, swimming pool, etc.
(vi) Use of terrace, etc for functions to non-members
(vii) Sale of terrace space and compound for hordings
The following accounts are not liable for Service Tax Payments :
(i) Property Tax
(ii) Water/Sewerage Tax
(iii) Contribution to Repairs & Maintenance Fund
(iv) Major Repair Fund
(v) Contribution to Sinking Fund
(vi) Interest on defaulted charges
(vii) Repayment of loan and interest
(viii) Non-occupancy charges
(ix) Lease Rent
(x) Non-Agricultural Tax
(xi) Admission / Entrance Fees
(xii) Issue of shares
(xiii) Deposits
(xiv) Premium on transfer
(xv) Voluntary donations

Service Tax Structure : (Courtesy: Hemant Agrawal)

1. Service Tax @ 10.2% is applicable on all CHS
2. Cumulative collection “UPTO” 10 lakh rupees of CHS Services charges, is exempt and after that 10.2% service tax has to be recovered from members and deposited within 15 days of collection.
3. This rough-on works out to exempted limit upto Rs. 3000/- per CHS member. Obviously small and medium size CHS’s would not come under the Service Tax criteria.
4. Check out the following link for Service Tax on CHS’s.
http://www.servicetax.gov.in/notifications/notfns-2k7/st8-2k7-clrfn.htm

Courtesy : http://accommodationtimes.com/index.php/tdr-faqs/

Are We McPatients For McDoctors And McHospitals?

Are doctors and hospitals solely driven by commercial motives?

One is saddened and angry reading about the untimely demise of Justice J S Verma, allegedly due to the negligence of the doctors at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. But the long-suffering common man may see a silver lining: finally, the issue of medical negligence is under the scanner. Justice Verma’s death is a wake-up call to the nation’s leading citizens, ruling class and intellectuals.

Thirty-four eminent personalities, including former Chief Justice MN Venkatachaliah, former Justice RS Sodhi, former Solicitor General Soli Sorabjee, former Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and activist Aruna Roy, have written to the Prime Minister pledging their support for looking into the alleged negligence of Medanta Hospital. Pinning responsibility for Justice Verma’s death on and prosecuting those responsible will help send a message to the entire medical fraternity. But it will be a miracle if that makes the medical community more careful in future.

Click Here for the full article

Raw organic fruits and vegetables can cure cancer

Raw organic fruits and vegetables can cure cancer, so why don’t oncologists tell their patients?

So why don’t oncologists talk about RAW foods, which are full of nutrients, oxygen for the cells (the cure for cancer) and the RAW REGIMEN when people are on their “death beds” or “sent home to die” with pancreatic cancer, liver cancer or cancer of some other organ that you have to have to survive? When cancer spreads to the lymph nodes or the spinal column, why don’t doctors, surgeons and oncologists tell their patients about these RAW foods that give them the best chance at recovery? And I mean permanent remission and recovery. Are these “Western Medicine” practitioners evil, money-grabbing cons or are they just ignorant, miseducated and unknowing? How could that be? How could you be trained to do surgery or read lab results and not know ONE THING about nutrition? Do some of them know but are not saying because their income would drop to about 25% of what they make now, using dangerous chemicals to treat a chemical-driven disease? No oncologist in the world suggests medicinal mushrooms, and take a big guess why! (http://www.canceractive.com)

Click Here for the full detailed explanation at NaturalNews.com

Turmeric – the miracle spice

There are many natural cancer relief methods that have been suppressed and condemned by the mainstream establishments. One among them, which has been studied extensively recently, is the Indian spice: turmeric.

Turmeric has been shown to be very effective in cutting off blood supply to the tumour mass. Used in early stages, it might completely suppress cancer growth. Turmeric has also been shown to minimise the chemotherapy side-effects to make life easier for victims.

Turmeric also has an effect in defending the body against a variety of diseases like infection, dementia, acne and a long list of 560 other diseases. Every grandmother knows about turmeric’s effect on common cold and related viral diseases.

Click Here for the full story in Moneylife

Further reading and material – Click Here

LPG cylinders come with R 40 lakh risk cover

While most us know how to avoid accidents, few know that we have Rs. 40 lakh risk cover in case of damage due to cylinder explosion!

In fact, companies have not seen a single insurance claim from Jaipur in years. Given the level of awareness, it’s not a surprise.

Customers unaware Most homemakers were completely shocked when DNA told them about the insurance cover available on LPG cylinders. “I never knew that such damages could be claimed from the gas agency,” said Varsha Singh.

Leave alone simple homemakers, even well-read professionals seem to have little clue of this “hidden benefit”. “I did not know that we get insurance in case an LPG cylinder explodes. 

The staff at the gas agency never informed me,” said Amit Agarwal, a chartered accountant who recently got a gas connection.

Ignorance pays only the insurers Every month, nationalised insurance companies get lakhs of rupees as premium and this amount increases constantly with an ever rising number of ignorant consumers, each of whom are covered in part by the Oriental Insurance Company and the gas agency concerned.

“We received Rs26 lakh as monthly premium from a single gas agency in Jaipur, a city which has more than 400 gas agencies,” an agency owner said.

 Click Here for the full story

12 Medical Tests and Procedures Even Doctors Claim Are Useless

Doctors are often criticized for prescribing unneeded tests and procedures that harm more than they help and add to medical costs that could otherwise be avoided. 12 medical tests and procedures now being questioned worldwide as unnecessary and potentially cause — sometimes harmful results to patients. Since a campaign was launched last year, more than 130 tests and procedures have been called into question by 25 medical specialty societies with more than 500,000 member doctors.

“Millions of Americans are increasingly realizing that when it comes to health care, more is not necessarily better,” said Dr. Christine Cassel, president of the ABIM Foundation . “Through these lists of tests and procedures, we hope to encourage conversations between physicians and patients about what care they truly need.”

United States specialty societies representing more than 500,000 physicians developed lists of Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question in recognition of the importance of physician and patient conversations to improve care and eliminate unnecessary tests and procedures.

12 MEDICAL TESTS TO AVOID
1. Avoid Inducing Labor or C-Section Before 39 Weeks

2. Avoid Routine Annual Pap Tests

3. Avoid CT Scans To Evaluate Minor Head Injuries

4. Avoid Stress Tests Using Echocardiographic Images

5. Avoid Prescribing Type 2 Diabetes Medication To Achieve Tight Glycemic Control

6. Avoid EEGs (electroencephalography) on Patients With Recurrent Headaches.

7. Avoid Routinely Treating Acid Reflux

ADDITIONAL MEDICAL TESTS TO BE AVOIDED

8. Avoid Lipid Profile Tests

9. Avoid Mammograms

10. Avoid PSA Testing

11. Avoid Routine Colorectal Cancer Screening ;

12. Avoid DEXA

Click Here for a detailed explanation for each of the above