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Auto disconnection of POS system: FTO directs FBR to develop forewarning system
Auto disconnection of POS system: FTO directs FBR to develop forewarning system

Business Recorder

time09-07-2025

  • Business
  • Business Recorder

Auto disconnection of POS system: FTO directs FBR to develop forewarning system

LAHORE: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO), Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, has directed the Director General (IT&DT) FBR to immediately develop a forewarning system to alert the tier-1 retailers about the auto disconnection/shut down/pause or break in the functioning of Point of Sale (POS) system and to ensure that POS security tokens do not expire before five years after due intimation to the registered POS-related taxpayer. The tier-1 retailers had lodged a complaint before the FTO that there has been no automatic version change in the POS system and both the offline component and offline API versions have remained unchanged for the past three years. They had submitted that the FBR should communicate in advance in case of any updates or changes to the POS system. The FTO, in his order, maintained that all issues being faced by the tier-1 retailers while implementing POS system are based on facts and are adversely impacting their working and calls for immediate resolution on urgent basis for better and complaint tax collection and for removal of glitches and undue bottlenecks. It may be noted that the department had also conceded that there are technical issues in the implementation of POS system for tier-1 retailers. It added that the concerned staff was continuously engaged in improving the system. The FTO maintained that the officers in the field formations concerning POS do not appear to be well trained and lack technical know how about the system that causes difficulties for the taxpayers since these officers are not able to address or redress the taxpayer grievances and bona fide issues well in time. More importantly, the FTO added, these officers do not have direct access to PRAL. Accordingly, the FTO has directed the FBR to rectify and eliminate abrupt opening and shutdown of IRMS download in the system; and also to expedite the development of facility of bulk and develop systematic coordination, between PRAL and field formations of FBR for field officers appropriate training on POS and for immediate resolution of issues faced by the tier-1 retailers. Furthermore, it has directed the designated focal persons in each field formation must be technically well-equipped and have effective coordination with PRAL and the Chief Commissioners of field formations should not to seal business premises of tier-1 retailers to the extent of and till the time the burning issues/anomalies currently existing in the POS system are addressed by FBR. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

Radiation level in region normal post US attacks on Iranian N-sites: IAEA DG
Radiation level in region normal post US attacks on Iranian N-sites: IAEA DG

United News of India

time28-06-2025

  • Politics
  • United News of India

Radiation level in region normal post US attacks on Iranian N-sites: IAEA DG

New Delhi, June 28 (UNI) Radiation levels in the Gulf region remain normal following the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict while the Islamic Republic asserted that it would carry out uranium enrichment within its territory and would no longer allow installation of surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, quoting data from the International Radiation Monitoring System (IRMS), said this 48-nation network would have detected an important radioactive release from any damaged nuclear power reactor. 'From a nuclear safety perspective, Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor represented our main concern as any strike affecting those facilities – including their off-site power lines – could have caused a radiological accident with potential consequences in Iran as well as beyond its borders in the case of the Bushehr plant. It did not happen, and the worst nuclear safety scenario was thereby avoided,' he said. Stressing that nuclear facilities should never be attacked, he reiterated that Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites would have caused localized radioactive releases inside the impacted facilities and localized toxic effects. But there has been no report of increased off-site radiation levels. He emphasised the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in Iran, as required under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the Agency. However, Iran said it would no longer allow the IAEA DG or the installation of surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities. Iran has already decided to pull out of the IAEA, the organisation it had joined in 1958. Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, Vice Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, today said Iran's decision stems from the discovery of sensitive facility data within documents obtained from the Israeli regime. Speaking at a ceremony he said 'The recent 12-day war is a continuation of the 47-year-old hostilities led by the United States against the Iranian nation. The core of this enmity is not about missiles or the nuclear program—it's about the people of Iran.' Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said the Islamic Republic insists on carrying out the uranium enrichment within its territory. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iravani said establishing a consortium to carry out nuclear activities may act as a complement, but it will never replace Iran's domestic programme. Iran has always sought a peaceful solution to address possible concerns about its peaceful nuclear program, the envoy said. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei had said Tehran would support establishment of a consortium to carry out nuclear activities. However, this did not mean the Islamic Republic would abandon enrichment within Iran. UNI RB PRS

16 IRMS officers finish training at IRITM, Lko
16 IRMS officers finish training at IRITM, Lko

Time of India

time13-06-2025

  • General
  • Time of India

16 IRMS officers finish training at IRITM, Lko

1 2 Lucknow: The Indian Railways Institute of Transport Management (IRITM), Lucknow celebrated the completion ceremony for its inaugural batch of Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) officers from the 2022 cohort on Friday. Following their comprehensive 104-week railway management training programme, 16 probationary officers have been officially integrated into Indian Railways and will be deployed across various railway zones. Additional member (tourism & catering) of Railway Board Amit Vardhan delivered a speech to the newly commissioned officers, emphasising the importance of developing robust work ethics to address future public transport service challenges. Additional director general of IRITM Sanjay Tripathi discussed the institute's training initiatives and facilities enhancement. The ceremony included recognition of outstanding achievements: Kritika Mishra received awards for Best IRMS Officer Trainee and Best in Co-curricular Activities, Vishal Anand for Best Academic Performance, Abhishek Kumar Singh for Esprit De Corps, Mohan Dan for Co-curricular Activities, whilst Ria Himmatramka and Akshya Kumar Rajagowda Patil were honoured for Sports Activities. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .

Railway services merger caused ‘acute shortage' of specialised officers, affected ops & safety—Centre
Railway services merger caused ‘acute shortage' of specialised officers, affected ops & safety—Centre

The Print

time07-06-2025

  • Politics
  • The Print

Railway services merger caused ‘acute shortage' of specialised officers, affected ops & safety—Centre

In its reply to the Central Administrative Tribunal, a copy of which ThePrint has accessed, the government has now admitted that the 2020 reform caused much confusion over how to recruit officers to the new, united service. Only four years later, the Centre made a U-turn on the reform, and last year, de-linked the Indian Railways Management Service (IRMS) into civil and engineering services and divided them further into sub-cadres. In March this year, 40 service officers in the railways challenged the 2024 decision before the Central Administrative Tribunal. New Delhi: The Modi government's ambitious 2020 reform, merging the eight railway services into one united Indian Railways Management Service, caused an 'acute shortage of specialised manpower' in the railways, 'negatively impacting train operations and safety', the Centre has officially admitted for the first time. In 2022, the government decided to recruit IRMS officers through the Civil Service Examination (CSE) conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). However, it soon became clear that the 'mandate of the Union Cabinet was not being fulfilled' through the process, the government has said in its reply. Both in 2022 and 2023, the number of candidates with specialised engineering skills required in the railways was 125 per year. However, only 46 and 45 skilled officers were recruited in 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to the government reply. 'This gap in the required specialised manpower was negatively impacting train operations and safety,' the government has now said. It admitted that it soon realised that the 'recruitment of IRMS cadre only through UPSC (CSE) would not serve the purpose for specialised technical needs for railways as an organisation, which was the basic premise mentioned in the Union Cabinet decision, dt. 24.12.2019'. 'No reversal of reform' The government, however, has not reversed the 2019 Cabinet decision, it has claimed. According to its reply, the government took a policy decision to address the issue of a shortage of technical service officers by recruiting technical and non-technical service officers separately through UPSC to the unified new service as created by the Union Cabinet, i.e., the IRMS. The move, the government reply said, would offer equal opportunities to officers in both categories in their career progression. Since 2025, the government has been recruiting officers separately through engineering and non-engineering exams. The exam for the latter is the Civil Service Exam, taken for recruitment for other civil services, such as IAS and IPS. The engineering and non-engineering services have been further divided into subcadres of traffic, accounts, personnel, civil, electrical, mechanical, signal, telecommunications and stores. Railway service officers opposed to the government's U-turn have maintained that the sub-cadres render the 2019 Cabinet decision meaningless, effectively splitting up the railways again into eight different services. However, in its response, the government has said that the division into sub-cadres 'will enable the officers to acquire specialisation in a particular functional area of the railways'. The specialisation will further be honed during their service in the sub-cadre, giving them 'an all-round perspective'. The same does not in any way affect the career progression of officers, as contended by the complainants, the government has said. 'The only purpose behind this is to enable the officers to acquire specialisation in a particular functional area of the railways, as they remain an inherent member of the unified, new service, i.e., IRMS, governed by a single Recruitment Rules.' Further, the officers recruited from 2025 onwards will 'exercise such option[s] for specialisation at the time of their recruitment itself', the government has said. The government has further noted that having sub-cadres within the same service does not amount to the fragmentation of the service, as some officers have alleged. The government has so far not allotted any one of the three sub-cadres of civil services—traffic, accounts, and personnel—to the probationers recruited through the 2022 and 2023 exams. However, since the probationers will continue to serve in the IRMS only, that will not impact their career prospects, the government has further stated. Based on its claim that it had not infringed on any statutory or legal rights of the applicants, the government said, 'The applicants have no cause of action to maintain the application under reply.' Confusion persists There is still no clarity among officers about the fate of their service. According to sources in the railways, an officer of the Indian Railways Traffic Service is tipped to become Railway Board Member (Finance)—a break from the tradition of having only officers of the Indian Railways Accounts Service hold the finance-related position. Similarly, a few months ago, an engineering service officer was appointed Railway Board Member (Operations and Business Development)—a position hitherto always held by an Indian Railways Traffic Service officer. 'If they have created sub-cadres again, why are they appointing officers from outside their respective domains at the highest levels?' asked an officer. 'You now have a situation where, for example, at the lower levels, you have officers who have served in the accounts sub-cadre throughout their careers, but the member heading that sub-cadre will not be from accounts,' the officer said. 'There is utter confusion at the level of policy-making in the railways.' (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: Facing a shortage, Modi govt tweaks empanelment criteria to attract more IAS officers to Centre

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