According to the 43^rd Annual Report on the Working and Administration of the Companies Act, 1956, for the year ending March 31,1999, which was laid in Houses of Parliament during its Winter Session ending December 23,1999, 26685 prosecutions, launched under the Companies Act, were pending in various courts in the country at the beginning of the year 1998-99. During the course of the year, 11918 prosecutions were instituted against 2251 companies and their officers. Thus, in all, 38603 prosecutions were pursued in the courts during the course of the year.

    A Dutch business delegation headed by Mr. Paul M.Van Roon and accompanied by Mr. Koch, Ambassador, Netherlands today called on Ms. Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister of Railways.

    Both sides expressed the desire to improve bilateral relations and the visiting team stressed on their special interest in areas such as energy, transport and industry.

    Indian Railways (IR) have placed an order for 62 nos. of traction packages for Electric Multiple Units with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) which is acquiring technology for their equipments from M/s. TraXis of Netherlands.

    IR are also preparing to float a global tender for about 250 traction equipment based on insulated transistor technology.

    The visiting delegation was requested to supply the equipment already ordered early so that trials could be carried out. They were also requested to offer competitive prices for the forthcoming tender.

FOREIGN RETROSPECTIVE AND TRIBUTES SECTION INAUGURATED

    The Foreign Retrospective and Tributes Section of the 31^st International Film Festival was inaugurated here today. The Iranian Film "The wind will carry us" of the promising Director Mr. Abbas Kiarostami was screened as the inaugural film.

    The Chief Secretary of Delhi Government, Mr. Omesh Saigal opened the Section. The Director of Film Festival Mrs. Malti Sahay welcomed the gathering. While speaking on the occasion, the famous Bengali actor Mr. Somitro Chatterjee compared Kiarostami’s work with that of the legendary Director Mr. Satyajit Ray. Mr. Abbas Kiarostami and the actor of the film Mr. Behzad Dourani were also present on the occasion.

    The Retrospective and Tribute Sections will include films of Mr. Roberto Rossellini of Italy, Karen Shakhnazarov of Russia, a focus on cinema of Australia, a perspective on China and film tributes to Cinema Greats as also a homage of Ritwik Ghatak. The Section also includes "India and International Screens" a package of films that try to promote India as a focal point in the world of international movies.

'15'

    The Director General of WTO, Mr. Mike Moore called on the Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha, here today. Both the leaders discussed various issues related to globalization of trade and its impact on developing countries.

    The Finance Minister stressed the need to make globalization more participative with a concern for everyone's interest and not just those of the richer nations as it is widely perceived in the developing world. He hoped that WTO regime will not introduce newer forces of protectionism.

    Shri Sinha expressed concern over the problem of dumping and said that effective anti-dumping machinery should be in place to check this. Whereas in developed countries anti-dumping machinery is more effective, it takes long before any action is taken in this regard in developing countries, he said. Shri Sinha also said that concerns of the industries in the developing countries need to be recognized.

    It may be noted that recently held WTO meet at Seattle failed to evolve any consensus. Though India's paragraph on agriculture was accepted, there is still a long way to go in the area of anti-dumping, tariff, transfer pricing etc.

'42'

    Indian Petrochemicals Industry has made rapid strides in terms of production and consumption. Production of major petrochemicals (excluding fibre intermediates) increased from 3575 KTs in 1997-98 to 3904 KTs in 1998-99 registering an increase of 9% over the previous year. Consumption of major petrochemicals also increased from 4005 KTs in 1997-98 to 4517 KTs in 1998-99 registering an increase of 13%. Viewed in the backdrop of general economic slowdown and adverse impact of crisis in South East/East Asian countries on domestic petrochemical sector, the growth figures assume added significance.

    The country is poised towards increasing self-reliance and reduction in import dependency in this sector. The Table below shows the production and consumption of major petrochemicals:

    Synthetic Fibre include – AF,NFY,NIY/TC,PFY,PSF

    Polymers include – LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, PS & PVC

    Synthetic Rubber includes – SBR, PBR. Synthetic Detergents include- LAB.

    To remain competitive, in the wake of lowering of tariff barriers, the petrochemical industry is adopting state of the art technologies and is producing quality petrochemical products of the international standards.

    With the initiation of liberalization process, the economy is growing at a rapid pace, therefore, demand of petrochemicals are expected to grow significantly in the future. To meet the growing demand massive investments are underway. To meet the fast growing demand of petrochemicals, the Government has sanctioned several mega petrochemical complexes.

IMPLEMENTED

1. AURAIYA GAS CRACKER COMPLEX

The project has been implemented as UP Petrochemicals Complex at Auriya, UP in March 1999. The products include 300,000 TPA Ethylene and downstream products dedicated HDPE 100,000 TPA and Swing plant for HDPE/LLDPE 160,000 TPA. The project cost is Rs.2500 crore.

2. IPCL (MGCC)

IPCL has implemented the expansion of its existing gas cracker capacity from 300,000 TPA to 400,000 TPA and HDPE/LLDPE swing plant capacity from 160,000 TPA to 220,000 TPA during April 1999-2000.

UNDER IMPLEMENTATION

1. GANDHAR CRACKER COMPLEX:

IPCL is implementing a Gas cracker project at Gandhar, Gujarat, with Ethylene capacity of 300,000 TPA. In the first phase it has implemented 150,000 TPA of PVC and Caustic soda 130,000 TPA. In the second phase they have implemented 160,000 TPA HDPE. The projects for the manufacture of 100,000 TPA MEG and Gas cracker are likely to be implemented by 1999-2000.

2. HALDIA PETROCHEMICALS COMPLEX

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. is a joint sector project with West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the Tata Group and Chatterjee Petrochem, NRI Group. The project includes 420,000 TPA of Ethylene and other downstream polymer products HDPE 225,000 TPA, HDPE/LLDPE swing plant and Polypropylene. The complex is expected to be commissioned in 1999-2000.

3. ASSAM GAS CRACKER PROJECT :

Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) was granted Letter of Intent (LOI) for setting up of a Gas cracker complex with ethylene capacity of 300,000 TPA. The project is to be located at Tengaghat in Dibrugarh Distt. Of Assam. Now Reliance Assam Petrochemicals Ltd., (RAPL), a joint venture of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and AIDC, is implementing the project. Keeping in view the inherent difficulties such as prolonged rainy season resulting in less effective working time, difficult geographical terrain and higher cost of transportation, the Central Government has approved one time capital subsidy of Rs.377 crone for the Assam Gas Cracker Project and infrastructure subsidy of Rs.72 crore to OIL India Ltd. A provision has been made to supply associated gas at Rs.600 per thousand cubic meters for a period of 15 years. The project is yet to take off due to non-finalisation of Gas Supply Agreement between RAPL and OIL/ONGC.

vi  NOCIL CRACKER PROJECT:

NOCIL, Mumbai holds Letter of Intent (LOI) or naphtha cracker with expanded capacity from the existing 63,000 TPA to 300,000 TPA of ethylene at Thane-Belapur Road, Maharashtra and also down stream products. The project is likely to be implemented during the Xth Five Year Plan (2000-7).

7. PUNJAB CRACKER PROJECT:

The Punjab State Industrial Investment and Development Corp. Ltd. (PSIDC) has been issued (LOI) for setting up a Naphtha Cracker Project at Payal, Ludhiana Distt., in Punjab with a capacity of 3 lakh TPA of ethylene. Project is proposed to be implemented in the joint sector. The joint sector partner is yet to be identified. The project is under planning stage and likely to be implemented during Xth Five Year Plan (2000-07).

8. MANGALORE CRACKER PROJECT:

The Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation Ltd. (KSIIDC) has been issued LOI for setting up a Naphtha Cracker project at Mangalore, Karnataka with a capacity of 3 lakh TPA of Ethylene. The project is proposed to be implemented as a joint sector project with Videocon International as Joint sector partner. The project is at planning stage and likely to be implemented in Xth Five Year Plan (2000-7).

9. JAMNAGAR CRACKER PROJECT:

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has been issued LOI for setting up a naphtha cracker having an ethylene capacity of 800,000 TPA. The project is proposed to be located at Jamnagar in Gujarat and likely to be implemented in Xth Plan period (2000-07).

10. MPSIDC

The Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development (MPSIDC) has been issued LOI for setting up a Naphtha Cracker project with a capacity of 300,000 TPA of ethylene. The project is proposed to be located at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. The project is at the planning stage and likely to be implemented in Xth Five Year Plan period (2000-07).

11. TIDCO

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has been issued LOI for setting up a Naphtha Cracker Project with a capacity of 500,000 TPA of Ethylene at Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. The project is at the planning stage and likely to be implemented in Xth Five Year Plan period (2000-07).

12. KSIDC

The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has been issued LOI for setting up a Naphtha Cracker Project with a capacity of 500,000 TPA of Ethylene. The joint sector project is to be located at Kasargod Distt. in Kerala and implemented in joint sector. The project is at the planning stage and likely to be implemented in Xth Five Year Plan period (2000-07).

13. BHARAT PETROLEM CORPORATION LTD.

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) has been issued LOI for setting up a petrochemical complex based on naphtha cracker with 500,000 TPA capacity using low aromatic naphtha available from indigenous/imported sources. The project is proposed to be set up in the coastal region of Tamil Nadu. The project is at the planning stage and likely to be implemented in Xth Five Year Plan period (2000-07).

    Shri J.A.Chowdhury, Secretary, Department of Health, held discussions today with representatives of some women’s organisations who earlier submitted a representation to the Prime Minister objecting to certain aspects of National AIDS Control Programme Phase – II which was launched in December, 1999. Smt. Binoo Sen, Secretary, National Commission for Women, Shri A.K.Sinha, Joint Secretary, Deptt. of Women & Child Development, Director General of Health Services and Smt. Aditti Mehta, Jt. Secretary, PMO attended the meeting. The women’s organisations were represented by Smt. Rami Chhabra, Smt. Bharati Nayyar, Smt. Raksha Talwar, Smt. Manorama Deshpande, Smt. Shyamal Pappu, Smt. Manju Mohan and Smt. Vimal Chauhan. The representatives voiced their apprehension on two issues. Firstly, they contended that the targetted interventions among sex workers would lead to legitimization of the sex trade and increase in self-esteem of the sex workers. Secondly, they alleged that rehabilitation of sex workers has not been made an integral part of the Second AIDS Control Programme.

    Secretary (Health) mentioned that the programme profile for National AIDS Control Programme Phase – II had been drawn after wide-ranging consultations with NGOs from all over the country, as also with the concerned interconnected wings of government- Department of Women & Child Development, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Youth Affairs & Sports, etc. It was also clarified that ‘targetted intervention’, services were to be made available to several categories other than sex workers (injecting drug users, truck drivers, men having sex with men, street children etc.). Targetted interventions are essentially health care interventions to provide basic minimum health care services to these marginalised sections of the society. It was also pointed out to them that an Action Plan drawn up by the Department of Women and Child Development on the basis of a Supreme Court directive also provides for basic minimum health care services for the sex workers and their children.

    As regards rehabilitation of sex workers, it was pointed out that the Deptt. of Women & Child Development is the coordinating department for addressing this issue along with many other related issues connected with prostitution. The Department regularly monitors implementation of the Action Plan through a Central Advisory Committee constituted for this purpose.

    Secretary (H) impressed upon the representatives of the women’s organisations about the urgency of health care interventions in the high-risk groups from where HIV/AIDS is constantly spreading into the general population leading to a high rate of infection in the country. He sated that while the principal thrust of the National AIDS Control Programme Phase –II would necessarily address itself to the public health problem, the Department would be willing to accommodate any innovative programmes sponsored by concerned Ministries/ Departments addressing related issues like rehabilitation of sex workers.

    He also informed them that he would consult other representatives of women’s organisations to elicit their view on the subject.

    The Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi has called for making "Vikas Parv-2000" a mass movement. He told the Central Social Welfare Board not to limit its Vikas-Parv programme to 1200 villages but take it to each and every village in the country until they are brought into the national mainstream of all round progress. Dr. Joshi said this while launching here today, the Vikas Parv-2000 Programme of the Central Social Welfare Board

    The Minister said that economic progress alone does not mean overall development of the country. Socio-economic development only will bring about the real progress of a nation, where human and ethical values have a standing. This can be achieved only through removal of illiteracy, malnutrition, ill health, immorality and by creating a knowledge-based society, he said. The Minster pointed out that hence there is an urgent need to decide first the definition of development, for whom and how to achieve it. He said that in this the women have a greater role to play, as also the Social Welfare Boards. Dr. Joshi also said that we must get rid of all the barriers that divide the society into many classes. He refused to accept the western concept that India is a developing country saying that it is based only on economic aspect and not on the important social aspect.

    The Minister for Rural Development, Shri Sunder Lal Patwa who presided said that his Ministry is prepared to give all support to making the programme Vikas Parv-2000, a great success. He said we all must strive to see that within five years, no village is left where, food, water, shelter and health are not a problem.

    The Chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board Mrs. Mridula Sinha said that each month one hundred villages will be covered under the Vikas Parv-2000 programme, under which development directions would be given to those areas of society that remain uncovered by social welfare schemes. The Board has identified a schedule of thematic activities that will unfold every month as the year goes by. These are :

    January - Legal right of Women and Children; February – Voluntary Action; March – Women’s Development (Special groups); April - Health issues of Women and Children; May - Working Women; June - Women and Environment; July - Training & Skill Development; August – Community action/participation; September – Education and Literacy; Octobr - Older Persons; November – Children; December - Human Rights.

    The Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Indian Panorama Section of International Film Festival of India provides a unique opportunity to see a few of the best films which carry very powerful social messages. Inaugurating the Indian Panorama Section of IFFI, 2000 here today, Shri Jaitley further said that the Panorama Section reflects upon the issues, which are relevant for the day. Congratulating the cast and Crew of selected feature and non-feature films in this category, the Minister also pointed out the difficulties they have to face to sustain themselves.

    Present on the occasion was also Shri U.R. Ananthamurthy, Chairman, All India Selection Panel for Feature Films. Addressing those present Shri Ananthamurthy said that the Jury for feature films has selected 15 feature films reflecting a great variety in themes and style of presentation. Shri Siddhartha Kak, Chairman, All Indian Selection Panel for Non-Feature Films informed that a total of 19 films have been selected and it is this class of panorama which reflects a changing India very forcefully. Present on the occasion was also Shri Mainak Trivedi, Director of the inaugural non-feature film "The Shamin of Perpang" (Assamese) and Shri Jayaraaj, Director of the inaugural feature film "Karunam" (Malayalam).

'15'

    The Union Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha along with the Minister of State for Finance (Banking, Expenditure and Insurance) Shri Balasaheb Vikhe Patil will review the functioning of the public sector banks tomorrow. All Chief Executive Officers of Public Sector Banks will participate in this meeting which is likely to discuss issues like, management of NPA, governance in Public Sector Banks, customers' service in banks, priority sector lending, Kisan Credit Card Scheme, Voluntary Retirement Scheme and Information Technology in banks.

    Though experts are of the opinion that NPAs have gone up, in fact, it has come down as a percentage of advances both in the category of gross as well as net NPAs. But the government intends to deal with the rise seen in the absolute levels of NPAs failing which all efforts at improving efficiency in banking sector will not yield results. Banks need to strengthen their internal control system, risk management system, introduce post sanction audit and credit appraisal skills at the grass root level to stay in good health. Officials have felt that "eternal vigilance is the need of the hour".

    As far as priority sector lending is concerned the meeting is likely to discuss ways and means of improving credit flow into the agriculture sector which is considered the backbone of our economy.

    In the area of computerization, banks have targets to computerize all branches excluding service branches by 31^st March, 2000. So far, more than 55% of these have been fully computerized and nearly 92% of service branches are fully computerized.

    The Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha has said that Information Technology has brought in many sectors together, and hence, films, television, music and entertainment media will play a crucial role in the development of the country. He was addressing representatives of Media and Entertainment Industry here today as part of the pre-budget consultations. "Though Indian Films, music and other media products have found good response in international market, we need to aim for a larger access to the international market", he said.

    Shri Sinha urged doyens of entertainment industry to utilize the tremendous opportunities created by the newer technologies. He sought the suggestions of the invited members to remove the impediments for the entertainment industry to prosper.

    Some participants requested for extending tax concessions available to corporate bodies on income from export of films to individual exporters also. There was a demand for abolishing countervailing duty on import of films and extending project import duty concessions for films, so that, the quality of Indian films improves. One of the participant said that entertainment tax needs urgent rationalisation and, if need be, it can be brought under concurrent list. Some requested that subsidy extended by state governments should not be treated as income for tax purpose.

    Some of the participants observed that telecom and broadcasting being areas driven by technology and knowledge they should also be given IT status. There was a common demand that industry status should be given to film industry and a special research and development department for entertainment industry be created.

    Another demand was that government should give fillip to construction of cinema theatres, as it not only helps in mobilizing more revenue but also helps in employment generation. Some participants said that there is a need to value intellectual capital so that obtaining loans from banks and financial institutions will be easy.

    Some of the participants emphasised the need to strengthen anti piracy measures. There was a demand for abolishing service tax on companies collecting revenue on behalf of foreign broadcasting companies. In view of the global competition one of the participant felt the need for introduction of professional courses on entertainment in universities to enable the industry to face the challenges.

    Those who attended include S/Shri Ramanand Sagar, Shakti Samanta, Subhash Ghai, Amit Khanna, Pahlaj Nihalani, V.J. Lazarus and Dr. J.K. Jain.

    The Ministers of State for Finance Shri V. Dhananjaya Kumar, Shri B.V. Patil, Finance Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of I&B were also present.

'39'

STEPS TO PROVIDE MORE STORAGE FACILITY IN PUNJAB

    The Centre will move out 10 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from Punjab before the start of the coming Rabi procurement season. An assurance to this effect was given by Shri Shanta Kumar, Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution to Shri Prakash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab who called on the Union Minister, here today. This step is being taken to reduce the problem of grain storage in Punjab.

    Shri Shanta Kumar said that the Government is considering a permanent solution to the problem of grains storage in the State. The Ministry is considering private participation to augment the foodgrain storage capacity in the State. The Minister said that the Central Warehousing Corporation has been directed to hire more godown space in Punjab before April to sort out the grain storage problem.

    He said that the Ministry of Railways have been approached to provide additional rakes for lifting the stocks from Punjab.

    The Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi presented to the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, here today, the Justice Verma Committee Report on Teaching Fundamental Duties to Citizens. The Government constituted the Committee in July 1998 under the Chairmanship of Justice J.S. Verma, former Chief Justice of India to operationalise the suggestions to teach fundamental duties to the citizens of the country. The other members of the Committee included Dr. L.M. Singhvi, Dr. Karan Singh, Dr. J.S. Rajput, Dr. Subhash Kashyap and Dr. A.K. Sharma. The Committee had submitted an interim Report in January last year, to secure the needed feedback from all concerned on the approach the Committee had followed, the tasks undertaken on the recommendations it had made for the immediate implementation.

    The operationalisation strategy was based on the maxim that to discharge fundamental duties the onus is on every citizen and there is no one with higher credentials or superior authority to teach fundamental duties to others who alone may be required to imbibe these values and perform the duties. It must be remembered that education is a sub system of the total social system and it is in this context that the recommendations stated in this report should be viewed. Of course a long term strategy for developing a value based society can come only through the instrumentality of education and training.

    The salient recommendations include a) generating awareness and consciousness, b) optimising benefits from existing schemes and programmes, c) protection and improvement of environment, d) re-orienting approaches to school curriculum, e) elimination of gender bias, f)re-orienting teachers’ education programmes, g) incorporating fundamental duties in higher and professional education, h) people’s representatives from Panchayat to Parliament, i) public administration and civil servants, j) administration of justice, k) business and industry, l) and Media.

    The committee has dwelt at length all these salient features to operationalise the suggestions to teach fundamental duties to the citizens of the country.

    After presenting the report to the Prime Minister, Dr. Joshi told media persons that the concept of duty as an integral part of the personality of an individual should emanate from the deep concerns within the individual to discharge certain obligations and responsibilities towards the social system in which he/she lives. Duty consciousness is a virtue and a value. There should be no dichotomy between knowing the right value and manifesting it by internalising it in one’s behaviour, he said. The Government will look into the report and formulate its actions at the earliest, the Minister added.

    The Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitley said that a convergence is taking place between commercial and art cinema. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Mainstream Cinema Section of IFFI, 2000 here today the Minister said that in the past few years the wall between art and mainstream cinema is breaking down. There has not been a single successful film in the past seven-eight years, which cannot be called an art film. TAAL, which has been selected, as the opening film on the occasion is an example of such cinema, further said the Minister.

    Talking about the problem of video piracy, which is posing a major threat to the mainstream cinema the Minister pointed out that the Government will take suitable measures to check this problem. He hoped that the mainstream cinema will come out of this threat very soon and will become a very important segment of international film festivals.

    Speaking on the occasion Shri Subhash Ghai the Director of the inaugural film TAAL said that it is the duty of the cinema industry to speak the language of audience. Mainstream cinema plays a very crucial role in reaching Indian culture and heritage not only to common people in India but also to large community of Indians settled abroad. Present on the occasion was also Smt. Shabana Azami, Shri Anil Kapoor, lead actor of the film TAAL and senior representatives of the film industry and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.