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Mangaluru customs observes International Customs Day

Media Release
January 27, 2018

Mangaluru, Jan 27: The officers and staff of the Customs Commissionerate, Mangaluru, celebrated the International Customs Day on Saturday, January 27 along with other stakeholders viz., importers, exporters, customs brokers, special public prosecutor, airlines and officers from Central Excise & Central tax, Income Tax and state government officials. This year’s theme is dedicated to the security of business environment with the slogan “A Secure Business Environment for Economic Development”.

The chief guest for the function was Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao, Director, NITK, Surathkal, Mangaluru and Suresh P. Shirwadkar, Chairman (i/c), NMPT, Mangaluru was the guest of honour. Dr. M. Subramanyam, Commissioner presided over the function.

Subramanyam in his keynote address highlighted that in line with the theme of the World Customs Organization to create a business environment more stable and predictable by streamlining procedures, tackling corruption, enhancing integrity and facilitating the movement of goods, conveyances and people in general, the Commissionerate has prioritized the task of popularizing Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) among all the stake holders so as to reap benefits of facilitated clearances and incentives provided for such entities.

Highlighting the interdependence of trade and security in the current global scenario, he informed that there are 14 AEOs operating in the Customs House and some of them are awarded this year.  He has added that the National Trade Facilitation  Action Plan unveiled by Hon’ble Finance Minister had 51 activities out of 76 which have been rated as more facilitating than prescribed by the WTO and is hailed as the best practice. It is expected that such Agreement would reduce trade costs 13-14% by streamlining the trade.

Speaking about reduced cargo release time, he informed that the dwell time taken for Customs last month was 0.54 days for imports and 0.65 days for exports. In terms of the Action plan, the overall release time is 3 days for sea cargo and 2 days for air cargo in respect of imports and 2 days for sea cargo and the same day for air cargo in respect of exports. Detailing the facilitation at Mangaluru, it was informed that 93% of export consignments and 64% of import consignments were facilitated i.e., without any examination and assessment. It has been informed that import facilitation could be further 20% more, had the procedural issues of bond clearance been addressed since bulk cargo is the major portion of import cargo at this port.

The distinction achieved by this commissionerate is to get a comprehensive certificate from Bureau of Indian Standards covering all its formations. All ports under this jurisdiction are now EDI enabled. Speaking about the facilitation extended during the transition to GST regime, the Commissioner informed that several interactions were held to sensitize the trade about the new requirements and also impressed upon to ensure the information furnished in GST returns and Customs documents is identical for speedy refund sanctions. Appreciating the excellent coordination and cooperation with the stakeholders viz. New Mangalore Port Trust, Airport Authority of India, CISF, Airlines, Immigration etc., the Commissioner informed that the same is crystallizing in sharing of inputs of mutual benefit. In this context, he informed that Mangaluru Customs was the first in implementing e-sealing procedure in the country.

On passenger facilitation, the Commissioner informed that over 97.76% passengers have opted for green channel and the Department is increasingly adopting non-intrusive techniques to further improve facilitation using the available data and passenger profiling techniques. In this regard, he highlighted the online Customs guide for international passengers which has been found be very useful by passengers and travel agencies. The commissionerate has been taking several proactive measures in respect of departmental lands across the coast and getting them fenced for proper protection and upkeep. In this regard, the Old Port at Bunder will be spruced up soon.

Detailing the performance of marine wing, it was informed that the performance of this section has been hailed as one of the best by the central inspection team in spite of having acute shortage of staff.

The commissioner informed that facilitation and enforcement have to go side by side and accordingly, they have started new Air Intelligence Unit for airport and Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch for sea port. During this year, so far, 57 cases involving Rs. 5.41 cr. have been detected, of which 62% were gold seizures involving several modus operandi. In the last couple of years, SIIB has detected cases involving revenue over Rs. 5 crores. The sections hitherto not yielding much results have started showing success due to revamping of systems and thorough analysis as in the case of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) detecting evasion of over Rs. 2 crores this month. The disposal of seized contraband yielded Rs.5.16 crores revenue this year and arrears to the tune of Rs.12 crores were realized this year.

The Commissionerate has realized revenue of Rs. 2022 cr. upto first fortnight of January 2018 as against the target of Rs.2300 crores for this financial year. It was informed that the Chemical Laboratory is being upgraded and once it is upgraded efforts will be initiated to get it certified by the relevant accredited  agency.

The Guest of Honour, Shri Suresh P. Shirwadkar in his address has spoken about the theme of Security of Business Environment for Economic Development from perspective of the port and importance of co-ordination between Customs and Port for smooth clearance of cargo and trade facilitation.

The Chief Guest Prof. K. Umamaheshwar Rao while sharing his experiences with several customs formations across the world, compared the enforcement in other countries like Korea and gave a comparison to Indian Customs. He felt that the theme of this year is very relevant for improved movement of goods across the borders.

On this occasion, Adani Wilmar Pvt. Ltd. was conferred the award for top revenue contributor; Indian Oil Corporation was awarded for substantial growth in revenue contribution; Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemicals Ltd was awarded for the highest export performance, KIOCL was awarded for substantial growth in exports; Cargolinks as the customs broker was awarded for handling highest customs documents and Atlantic Shipping Pvt. Ltd. as the steamer agent was awarded for handling highest number of vessels. Further, UPCL, Yashaswi Fish Meal & Oil Co, and Delta Infralogistics (Worldwide) were also awarded for their contribution towards secure business environment. The recipient of the President’s Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding service, Allen Rajesh Vas, Senior Intelligence Officer (DG GSTI) was also felicitated on the occasion. 

The commendation certificates were also distributed to the outstanding officers at various levels for their contribution to respective areas of the commissionerate.

Comments

ali
 - 
Monday, 29 Jan 2018

They may have named it as "LOOTER's DAY"

Mohammed
 - 
Monday, 29 Jan 2018

Y dont Mangalore Airport Custom officers Learn some manners & stop the loot with normal people. For them every passenger is Terrorist or Smugglers. Very harsh & very bad behaviour till date. Its Spoiling Mangalore's name for cheap people like these custom-officers. Punish the culprit, but every person is not the one. 2 Weeks back they mis-behaved with UAE national & asked to pay for her gold which she was carrying for daily use. They were not ready to talk to UAE-Delegates on phone too. This is really cheap way to loot outsiders too...

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News Network
July 28,2020

Hounde, Jul 28: Coronavirus and its restrictions are pushing already hungry communities over the edge, killing an estimated 10,000 more young children a month as meager farms are cut off from markets and villages are isolated from food and medical aid, the United Nations warned Monday.

In the call to action shared with The Associated Press ahead of publication, four UN agencies warned that growing malnutrition would have long-term consequences, transforming individual tragedies into a generational catastrophe.

Hunger is already stalking Haboue Solange Boue, an infant from Burkina Faso who lost half her former body weight of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) in just a month. Coronavirus restrictions closed the markets, and her family sold fewer vegetables. Her mother was too malnourished to nurse.

“My child,” Danssanin Lanizou whispered, choking back tears as she unwrapped a blanket to reveal her baby's protruding ribs.

More than 550,000 additional children each month are being struck by what is called wasting, according to the UN — malnutrition that manifests in spindly limbs and distended bellies. Over a year, that's up 6.7 million from last year's total of 47 million. Wasting and stunting can permanently damage children physically and mentally.

“The food security effects of the COVID crisis are going to reflect many years from now,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, the WHO head of nutrition. “There is going to be a societal effect.”

From Latin America to South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa, more poor families than ever are staring down a future without enough food.

In April, World Food Program head David Beasley warned that the coronavirus economy would cause global famines “of biblical proportions” this year. There are different stages of what is known as food insecurity; famine is officially declared when, along with other measures, 30% of the population suffers from wasting.

The World Food Program estimated in February that one Venezuelan in three was already going hungry, as inflation rendered salaries nearly worthless and forced millions to flee abroad. Then the virus arrived.

“Every day we receive a malnourished child,” said Dr. Francisco Nieto, who works in a hospital in the border state of Tachira.

In May, Nieto recalled, after two months of quarantine, 18-month-old twins arrived with bodies bloated from malnutrition. The children's mother was jobless and living with her own mother. She told the doctor she fed them only a simple drink made with boiled bananas.

“Not even a cracker? Some chicken?” he asked.

“Nothing,” the children's grandmother responded. By the time the doctor saw them, it was too late: One boy died eight days later.

The leaders of four international agencies — the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization — have called for at least dollar 2.4 billion immediately to address global hunger.

But even more than lack of money, restrictions on movement have prevented families from seeking treatment, said Victor Aguayo, the head of UNICEF's nutrition program.

“By having schools closed, by having primary health care services disrupted, by having nutritional programs dysfunctional, we are also creating harm,” Aguayo said. He cited as an example the near-global suspension of Vitamin A supplements, which are a crucial way to bolster developing immune systems.

In Afghanistan, movement restrictions prevent families from bringing their malnourished children to hospitals for food and aid just when they need it most. The Indira Gandhi hospital in the capital, Kabul, has seen only three or four malnourished children, said specialist Nematullah Amiri. Last year, there were 10 times as many.

Because the children don't come in, there's no way to know for certain the scale of the problem, but a recent study by Johns Hopkins University indicated an additional 13,000 Afghans younger than 5 could die.

Afghanistan is now in a red zone of hunger, with severe childhood malnutrition spiking from 690,000 in January to 780,000 — a 13% increase, according to UNICEF.

In Yemen, restrictions on movement have blocked aid distribution, along with the stalling of salaries and price hikes. The Arab world's poorest country is suffering further from a fall in remittances and a drop in funding from humanitarian agencies.

Yemen is now on the brink of famine, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, which uses surveys, satellite data and weather mapping to pinpoint places most in need.

Some of the worst hunger still occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. In Sudan, 9.6 million people live from one meal to the next — a 65% increase from the same time last year.

Lockdowns across Sudanese provinces, as around the world, have dried up work and incomes for millions. With inflation hitting 136%, prices for basic goods have more than tripled.

“It has never been easy but now we are starving, eating grass, weeds, just plants from the earth,” said Ibrahim Youssef, director of the Kalma camp for internally displaced people in war-ravaged south Darfur.

Adam Haroun, an official in the Krinding camp in west Darfur, recorded nine deaths linked with malnutrition, otherwise a rare occurrence, over the past two months — five newborns and four older adults, he said.

Before the pandemic and lockdown, the Abdullah family ate three meals a day, sometimes with bread, or they'd add butter to porridge. Now they are down to just one meal of “millet porridge” — water mixed with grain. Zakaria Yehia Abdullah, a farmer now at Krinding, said the hunger is showing “in my children's faces.”

“I don't have the basics I need to survive,” said the 67-year-old, who who hasn't worked the fields since April. “That means the 10 people counting on me can't survive either.”

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News Network
July 16,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday paid a surprise visit to the C V Raman Hospital in Bengaluru and urged the administration to follow COVID-19 guidelines properly. He also took stock of the hospital's preparedness to fight the deadly virus.

The minister noticed a number of flaws and warned the hospital to go strictly by the guidelines. He saw that despite 15 high-flow oxygen beds lay vacant, only two patients were admitted. He then asked the hospital to send asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients to COVID-19 care centres so that beds were available to those who need these.

"Doctors' profession is a noble one and in a situation like this everyone should perform their duty with utmost humanity and compassion. During this crisis, we should all be kind and empathetic," the minister said. He also ordered the suspension of two officials for not following the guidelines and not giving the right treatment to patients.

He noticed that the hospital lab collected less number of swabs and instructed them to collect a minimum of 500 swabs per day. Pointing out the under-utilised beds and ICUs, he observed that because of such negligence by officials, the government is being blamed despite working day and night for the past four-five months.
During this visit, the minister also interacted with the patients through video call and enquired about the services provided to them by the hospital.

"Surprise visits will continue. I will be in touch with every lab and get the right number of tests done on a daily basis," the minister said while speaking to the media.

He also urged the people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma to save other lives, adding that donors will receive a reward of Rs 5000 as a token of appreciation.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 21,2020

Udupi, June 21: A graduation student, who had attempted suicide two weeks ago under depression following the postponement of examinations due to covid-19, breathed his last at a private hospital yesterday. 

The deceased has been identified as Shakuntala, a final year degree student of First Grade College, Muniyal. She was a resident of Mathibettu near Vagranga in Hebri taluk. 

According to sources, she had studied hard to clear the examinations. The postponement of examinations led her to depression.  

She consumed poison at her house on June 8. She was immediately rushed to Manipal hospital where she breathed her last on June 20. A case has been registered in Hebri Police Station. 

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