Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
11th October, 2022
Chairman
DO No. 45/CH(IC)/2022
Last week, I took a walk. Within the hallowed portals of North Block – a building that has never ceased to inspire awe and admiration. Over the years, I have had the distinct privilege of serving in various parts of the building. While primarily a survey of the cleanliness of the Board’s offices, the walk was a quite literally a trip down memory lane and brought back many happy memories. An excellent example of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, the colonnaded loggias, manicured lawns, well-appointed courtyards and high ceilings make the building truly special. We owe it to succeeding generations to make sure that the grandeur and beauty of the building is preserved.
This is of particular significance during the Special Campaign 2.0 as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative. I would urge all of you, particularly heads of our formations, to take out some time to go around their respective offices, get to know members of their teams and to ensure that our physical infrastructure is optimally maintained. I would also urge everyone to ensure that all items of work under the campaign are taken up for disposal in a time bound manner.
Moving ahead, last week Customs House Laboratory, Tuticorin under the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) received the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories’ (NABL) accreditation for Chemical Testing. This is the eleventh revenue laboratory (of a total of twelve) to receive such an accreditation, nearly completing CBIC’s project of upgrading and modernizing our chemical testing infrastructure. Sincere congratulations to Director, CRCL and his team for this recognition.
On the Anti-Smuggling front, it was an eventful week. Officers of the Delhi Airport & General Commissionerate detected a case of smuggling of bejeweled watches by an international passenger arriving at the Delhi Airport. A number of rare jewelery-studded watches valued at over Rs 28 Crores were recovered from the baggage of the passenger. Kudos to the officers for an excellent detection.
Last week also saw officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercept a consignment of fruits being imported from South Africa, which was being used for secreting over 50 kilos of high-quality cocaine, valued at more than Rs 502 Crore in the illicit market.
In yet another excellent detection, DRI sleuths intercepted an arriving passenger at Mumbai Airport who was found to be carrying over 16 kgs. of Heroin in personal baggage. The contraband is estimated to be valued at more than Rs. 100 Crore. In swift follow-up action, a foreign national who was to take delivery of the contraband was also nabbed from Delhi, fighting many odds. My sincere congratulations to the officers for their dedication and hard work.
The week gone by saw the inauguration of `Aranya’ – a gallery of wildlife photographs at the New Customs House, Delhi. The gallery celebrates our rich biodiversity and is a constant reminder to do whatever it takes to prevent its destruction through illicit trade and smugglin. My Congratulations to Chief Commissioner, Delhi Customs Zone and his team for coming up with this very novel idea as part of the Swachhta Campaign and in motivating in-house as well as a few professional photographers to contribute their invaluable works to the gallery. I had the privilege and the honour of felicitating about a dozen officers from different parts of the country for their role/contribution in detecting smuggling of flora & fauna. The epithet “Aranya Nayak” was aptly coined to describe them.
Before I sign off for the week, I would like to share about the outstanding athletic performance of one of our colleagues. Continuing her winning streak in sprint events at the 36th National Games in Gujarat, Ms. Archana Suseendran of Chennai Customs Zone, brought another laurel by winning a gold medal in the 200m race, covering the distance in 23.06sec. She had already won a silver medal in the 100m and 4x100m race!
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
