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Cabinet approves four bills

Parkash Bhargava in New Delhi

The Union Cabinet is understood to have approved at least four bills, to be introduced in the current session of Parliament.

The bills were cleared at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, presided over by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

These relate to proxy voting by the armed forces, repeal of the Designs Act, 1911 (to be replaced by a new act), increase in the pension of the vice-president and amendment to the Explosive Substances Act.

The 90-odd-year-old Explosive Substances Act will be amended in view of the use of new kinds of explosives. The proposed amendment will increase the punishment under the act.

The meeting discussed more than 14 proposals, many of them related to the defence ministry.

The Cabinet has also approved a proposal of the civil aviation ministry for introducing a new scheme to facilitate exporters to clear their goods on their own instead of passing through normal channel, which causes delays and congestion at the airports.

Under the proposed scheme, notified exporters can despatch their goods directly without any checking at different points.

UNI

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