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By Our Special Correspondent
The maximum number of inclusions of new castes relates to Orissa with Gop, Sadgop, Dumal Gouda, Rangani, Tanti, Pandara Mali, Muni, Kalal, Kalar and Raula in Ganjam district being added to the list. The second highest number of additions is in respect of Delhi with Julaha-Ansari (excluding those in the SC list), Idrishi, Naddaf, Mansoori and Salmani included in the list. As regards the other States, the additions are: Andhra Pradesh, Turupu Kapu of Vizianagaram; Karnataka, Gouda or Gowda (only for rural areas); Rajasthan, Shawat (except Sompura Murtikar); Haryana, Lodhi; Chandigarh, Yadav/Ahir and West Bengal, Nashya-Sekh and Shershabadia. Announcing the Cabinet decision, the Government spokesman said the inclusions had been made on the basis of the recommendations of the National Commission for Backward Classes. "Under the law, the advice of the Commission is ordinarily binding on the Central Government." The Cabinet also decided to ratify the SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia, which was signed by the Foreign Ministers of the region at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu on January 5 last year. The long-pending proposal to have a passenger ferry service link between India and Sri Lanka got a major shot in the arm with the Cabinet giving its nod for signing a memorandum of understanding with the island nation in this regard. The spokesman said to begin with the ferry link would be provided between Tuticorin (in Tamil Nadu) and Colombo, which would be followed by similar services between other ports on either side with mutual consent. The frequency and the service provider shall be decided later. The MoU would also have provisions to address the security concerns of the two countries. It would provide for discontinuance of the services in case either country made a request in this regard on security grounds. A joint committee would be set up to ensure effective implementation of the MoU. Establishment of ferry services has been engaging the attention of the two countries ever since December 1998, when at a meeting here of the India-Sri Lanka Sub-Commission on Trade, Finance, and Investment, the two agreed to examine the possibility of such a linkage. The ferry service is envisaged to promote low-budget passenger movement between the two countries and also enhance tourism, trade and cultural ties. The Cabinet also approved the signing of a framework trade agreement with the Latin American trade block, MERCOSUR, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. The pact is expected to pave the way for entering into a Preferential Trade Agreement as the first step and a Free Trade Agreement eventually and thus give a boost to trade with MERCOSUR in particular and Latin America in general. In 2000-01, the value of India's exports to the region was $626.5 million, which accounted for just 0.83 per cent of the total value of imports made by the region during the year from across the world.
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