The government has recognised MD degrees granted by five English-speaking countries, like the US, Canada and the UK, to doctors of Indian origin, Health and family welfare minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday. ?No foreign MBBS degree is recognised in India,? he said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha. Indian students getting medical degrees from countries like Russia, China and Bangladesh cannot automatically practice, he said adding foreign-degree holders have to clear a screening test held by National Board of Examination. However, MD degrees granted by five English-speaking countries of the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand to doctors of Indian origin have been recognised, he said. Azad said 4,211 foreign degree holders appeared in the screening test in 2008, out of which only 1,326 passed.

Indian system not feasible for Sharia banking: Meena

The government on Tuesday said it is not legally feasible for domestic banks to carry out interest-free Islamic (Sharia) banking activities. ?RBI has informed that in the current statutory and regulatory framework, it is not legally feasible for banks in India to undertake Islamic banking activities in India or for branches of Indian banks abroad to undertake Islamic banking outside India,? minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. He said the Reserve Bank of India has received references from the Indian Centre for Islamic Finance for introducing interest-free banking in the country in order to ensure inclusive growth with innovation in ccordance with recommendations of the Raghuram Rajan Committee.

PSU banks? net profit falls 3% in December quarter

Public sector banks posted 3.06% dip in net profit at R31,688 crore in the December quarter of this fiscal due to higher provisioning and exposure to sectors such as aviation and telecom, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. The net profit of public sector was R32,689 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2010-11, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a reply in the Rajya Sabha. ?The main reason for decline in profit after tax of public sector banks … is higher provision on account of moving to system generated non-performing assets (NPAs) through core banking system (CBS) and high exposure in stressed assets of certain sectors like textile, telecom, aviation, steel and power,? Mukherjee said.

R2.73 lakh cr of I-T dues locked up in disputes

As much as R2.73 lakh crore of outstanding income-tax dues are locked up in tax disputes at various levels, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. ?As on September 30, 2011, a net amount of R3,50,000 crore approximately is outstanding as income tax dues, out of which R2,73,000 crore approximately is locked up in tax dispute at various levels,? minister of state for finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. On the question of steps being taken to recover the pending dues and reduce unnecessary litigation, he replied that the ?Income Tax department was using all measures for the recovery … as per the provisions in Income Tax Act, 1961?. There were 1,159 company cases where the dues are more than R10 crore, involving a net outstanding demand of R1,00,836 crore, he informed.

Govt will take 10 years to achieve total sanitation

The government on Tuesday said it will take another 10 years to achieve total sanitation in the country. ?It will take 10 years to make all gram panchayats, nirmal gram panchayats …,? drinking water and sanitation Jairam Ramesh said in the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour. He said

it took about a year to make village panchayat a Nirmal Gram Panchayat where there is no open air defecation. There are about 2.60 lakh gram panchayats in the country and as per the latest population Census data, only about 28,000 of them have achieved total sanitation. Replying to supplementary questions, the minister said while data provided by state governments show sanitation coverage is 68% in the country, the Census puts the figure at only about 33%.

Drinking water a problem in rural areas: Ramesh

At last 7-8% of the rural habitations have drinking water source contaminated with excess arsenic, fluoride, iron, salinity or nitrate, minister for drinking water and sanitation, Jairam Ramesh, said on Tuesday. ?As on April 1, 2009, there were 1,79,999 rural habitations where at least one drinking water source was contaminated with excess arsenic, fluoride, iron, salinity and nitrate. They are yet to be provided safe drinking water,? he said. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, he said 62% of the money provided by the Centre to states under National Rural Drinking Water Programme is for improving drinking water quality.

But ?actual spending (by states) on water quality is very low?.