The existing price of Sulphamethoxazole was last notified by the Government on 06.08.1997. The price revision has been carried out by conducting the fresh cost price study of major producers of the drug.

    The existing price of Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B2-5 Phosphate was last notified by the Government on 03.07.1997 and 30.04.1998 respectively. This price revision has been carried out by conducting the fresh cost price study.

    The existing price of Chloroquine Phosphate and Pentazocine were reduced based on available data/information under para 11 of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995 (DPCO). The prices of these drugs were last notified by the Government on 21.02.1997 and 27.11.1995 respectively.

    The revised notified prices shall become effective within 15 days from the date of notification in the Official Gazette. All the manufacturers of the formulations utilising these drugs in their scheduled formulations are advised to follow the provisions of DPCO, 1995 with regard to pricing of the derivative formulations.

    Soon after coming into force, the Forum will try and work out the modalities of co-operation and then set about identifying the type of Programmes to be undertaken for strengthening Indo-US Scientific and Technological ties. Hence forth all Indo-US Scientific activities will be held under the forum. Prior to this, the two sides will go about preparing an extensive reference source data-base which will form the basis for building up the co-operation.

    The forum has been set up as per the agreement signed between the two countries during the visit of President Clinton to New Delhi in March this year. Soon after the conclusion of the accord, a one-day round table on S&T co-operation was held in Hyderabad. Top US and Indian Scientists took part in the meeting which served as a pre-cursor to the activities to be taken up under the forum.

    Apart from promoting Indo-US co-operation in research and development and transfer of technology the forum will endeavour to facilitate joint collaborative projects and programmes. It will also strive to establish Indo-US centres of excellence at places in India. The Indian government would be contributing each year matching funds that are equal to the annual interest earnings from the endowment. The Forum is also empowered to raise funds from government, Industry and private sources, both in India and the United States.

PROCUREMENT OF RICE AND WHEAT IN JUNE, 2000

    The stock of rice and wheat in the central pool as on June 1 this year was 151.17 lakh tonnes and 277.68 lakh tonnes as against 150.57 lakh tonnes and 215.2 lakh tonnes respectively as on May 1, 2000.

    During the period from December 1998 to March 2000, a quantity of 49.53 lakh tonnes of wheat has been lifted under the Open Market Sale Scheme (domestic) of wheat.

    The Food Corporation of India has moved 11.4 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from North during June, 2000 as against 9.73 lakh tonnes during the previous month. The movement from North included about 10 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from Punjab. As on June 22, 2000 the Corporation had stocked about 2.55 lakh tonnes of foodgrains in the North-Eastern States as against 2.11 lakh tonnes at the end of April, 1999.

    The Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shri Muni Lall expressed happiness over Labour Ministry’s active role in promoting the use of Hindi during the past few years.

    The Labour Secretary Dr. L. Mishra said that Hindi not only symbolises our culture and heritage but also connects us with one another. He said that the use of Hindi becomes all the more important in view of the majority of workers being less educated.

    The month-wise comparative data of FDI inflow during the current year (January-May) has also shown a consistent rise. Thus, the inflows had increased from a level of US $ 123.8 million in January 2000 to US $ 486.1 million and US $ 492.8 million during April and May respectively. It is significant that with this increase in actual inflows, the gap between FDI approvals and inflows has narrowed down appreciably.

    FDI approvals during January to May 2000 are valued at US $ 1893.2 million (i.e. US $ 1.8 billion). In terms of rupees, FDI approvals during this period amounted to Rs.8140.8 crore.

    Shri Mahajan in his discussions focussed on the fact that with the signing of an MoU with China on Information Technology, new areas of cooperation could be identified keeping in mind the respective synergies of both the countries. The Minister spoke at length on the series of initiatives taken recently to road map India's initiative in E-Commerce. These included availability of Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure, Legal and Regulatory Framework, Technology for e-commerce including test beds, IPR, issues related to international domain names, mechanism and infrastructure for implementation of Cyber Laws. The Minister outlined the IT vision 2008 of India, focusing on opportunities for partnership and collaboration in the hardware and software sector. Emphasis was also placed on the potential of foreign direct investment in IT, especially in the up-coming emerging markets.

    Later Shri Mahajan and the Indian delegation visited the Legend group of companies in Beijing. The group is one of the China's leading IT companies, having a marked presence in the Asia Pacific Region. The group over the years has emerged as one of the leading IT companies in the hardware sector. In his discussions the Minister was briefed on the overall strategy that had enabled IT hardware to emerge as a strategic sector for the Chinese economy. It is well known that the Chinese Information Technology industry is hardware driven and personal computer centric. The Minister reiterated that his Ministry would explore areas of mutual growth which would facilitate and complement the strengths of IT of both the countries in the near future to develop closer cooperation.

    The Minister also gave a detailed outline of the recent fiscal & telecom initiatives taken by the Government to encourage IT investment in the country. He particularly stressed on the policy announcement made by the Government recently with regard to the full de-regulation of the national long distance telephony before 15^th August, 2000 and the de-monopolization of under sea fibre optic capacity and freedom to ISPs to set up landing stations. The Minister also highlighted fiscal incentives for the benefit of the It corporates. Some of the key issues highlighted included tax benefits to venture capital investment of up to 100% foreign equity with full repatriation benefits, tax holiday of up to 10 years for IT units to be set up in Software Technology parks on a graded basis, providing a complete pass through mechanism with single-point taxation for Venture Capital funds, encouragement to R&D through tax holiday of up to 10 years, provision for growth of companies through acquisitions by ADR/GDR of up to 10 times the exports value, creation of individual wealth by putting in place provision of sweat equity stock options and minimal taxation of these at a single point only.

    Welcoming the members of the Board of Governors, the Human Resources Development Minister and Chairman of the Sangathan Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi emphasised the need to create centres of excellence. He said there should be regular interaction between the NCERT, CBSE and the KVS for constant improvement of the curriculum. Complementing the KVS for excellent results this year Dr. Joshi said, despite the lower cost of education per student they have come out with better results than some of the public schools. He said, in the competitive environment, the curriculum should confirm to the changing needs.

    Children born between 1.7.87 to 30.6.91 and studying in recognised school are eligible to apply. Last date for receipt of application is 31.10.2000.

    The application forms can be obtained free of cost from the Director General, Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi-110001, Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, 15-A, Sector 7, Pappankala (Dwarka) New Delhi and C.C.R.T. Regional Centre, 33-A, New Fatehpura, Udaipur-313001, Rajasthan and C.C.R.T. Regional Centre, Ist Floor, A.P. Film Development Corporation Complex (APFDC), 10-2-1, A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500028, Andhra Pradesh (Opposite to Mahaveer Hospital near J.N. Technical University). The applications form along with the details can also be down loaded from the website www.ccrtindia.org

    The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley informed the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Parliament Members attached to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, here today that the Cabinet approved the amendment to the Act in its meeting today. Shri Jaitley informed that the amendments also provide for making mandatory for all cable operators to show at least three Doordarshan channels: DD-I, DD-II and one regional channel. The authorised officers to enforce the Act are also being designated in the Act itself. Earlier, the State Governments were required to authorise the officer. The amended Act would also empower the Government to ban the rogue channels on the charge of showing obscene programmes. Shri Jaitley informed that a Bill to amend the Cable Act will be introduced in the coming monsoon session of the Parliament.

    The meeting was also informed that the Government has advised TV channels to observe restraint in using gods and prophets belonging to various religions, national leaders and institutions, including Armed Forces, while accepting advertisements for being telecast on their channels. The Government has also advised the Advertising Council to advise its members to observe similar restraint.

    The Minister informed the Committee that a North-East channel for Doordarshan would be launched in the next few months. A package on the lines of recently launched "Kashir Channel" is being prepared to strengthen the coverage of DD and AIR in the region.

    The Members stressed the need for providing more time to dialects and regional languages on Doordarshan and AIR in order to strengthen the unity of the country through diversity. The need to give intensive media support to the population control campaign was also stressed. The language used by the electronic media should be simple so that all people are able to follow, they said.

    At the beginning the members observed one-minute silence to condole the death of victims of yesterday’s plane crash.

    Those who attended the meeting included Smt. Saroj Dubey, Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, S/Shri Pritish Nandy, Brahmakumar Bhatt, Balkavi Bairagi and Gandhi Azad (all Rajya Sabha) and S/Shri Balram Singh Yadav, Hannan Mollah, Amir Alam Khan, E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan and Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati (all Lok Sabha).

    The exports of herbal products have going up continuously for the last three years. Details of export of Indian herbal products during the period from 1996-97 till 1998-1999 as per DGCI & S data are as follows:

    Shri Paswan said that it was necessary to provide telecom access to all the villages in the country by 2002 to reach the benefits of telecom and IT revolution to the masses. He informed that out of 6,07,491 villages in the country, 3,74,605 villages have already been covered and the remaining 2,32,886 villages will be covered by March 2002. In addition, all the 2,11,000 village telephones working on Multi Access Radio Relay (MARR) will be gradually replaced by new technology options in the coming two years. He said that all attempts will be made to replace atleast 1,10,000 defective VPTs working on MARR system in this year itself by appropriate technology which includes Wireless in Local Loop (WLL).

    Shri Paswan said that the MARR Analogue Technology used earlier was not found to be quite successful and there were repeated failures. He said that a high level committee appointed in the Ministry had recommended WLL, Satellite medium phone and TDMA/PMP Technologies. In view of the far flung locations of the villages in the inhospitable terrain and inaccessible areas, the WLL technology option will be more useful, he added. He also mentioned that due attention will be paid to the maintenance aspect at the time of installation of facilities.

    Stating that Internet facility will be provided at each Block Headquarter in the country in the current financial year itself, Shri Paswan said that the entire emphasis is on not only providing reliable telephone facility in the villages but also progressively introducing Internet facility in the rural areas. The Minister said that Sanchar Dhabas which are essentially Community Communication Cafes, will be opened in a big way through out the country and these would be available on franchise basis.

    The Members of the Consultative Committee pointed out about the various difficulties faced with regard to rural telephony. They observed that there is poor maintenance of telephones as well as the time taken to repair them is long. They stressed the need for providing standby Engine Alternators because of poor electric supply and augmentation of trained man-power for exchanges in rural areas. The members also highlighted the poor quality of cable laying. While taking note of these problems, the Minister assured the members that quick and prompt remedial measures will be taken to rectify the problems.

    A Member pointed out the need for larger Bandwidth both in domestic as well as international sectors. Agreeing with the observation, the Minister said that a number of measures are being taken to increase the availability of Bandwidth, improve its quality and make it available on demand. He mentioned that an inter-ministerial Standing Committee on Bandwidth allocations under the Chairman, Telecom Commission has been constituted to take care of the problems. Another member said that due to rebalancing of tariffs by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the surplus accruing to the department has been substantially reduced and questioned how the department is going to provide the non-remunerative rural telephones in view of the reduction in surplus. The Minister explained that with the increase in competition and better services, the volume of traffic will increase and this to a certain extent will compensate reduction in surplus. One of the members expressed concern with regard to the opening up of domestic long distance telephony which will reduce the market share of the Department of Telecom Services (DTS). The Minister informed that opening of domestic long distance telephony was a commitment under WTO and under National Telecom Policy-1999 (NTP-99), it was scheduled to be opened on 1^st January 2000. There have been some delays on account of reconstitution of TRAI and examination of certain issues. However, the announcement has now been made by the Prime Minister in close consultation with him and the Ministry. Shri Paswan clarified that with the decision of the Government to open the domestic long distance by 15^th August this year, not only a commitment under NTP-99 has been fulfilled but also the availability of Bandwidth will greatly improve with the participation of the private sector. He said that this will give consumers the benefit of cost, quality and choice. On the issue of Corporatisation of the DTS, he said that this will help in providing level playing field and also give the necessary flexibility to the Corporatised entity to face the competition in the market and maintain its market share.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Minister said that the total number of telephones working at the beginning of the 8^th Plan in the country was 58.1 lakhs whereas in the year 1999-2000 alone DTS provided 49.17 lakh lines. He said the target for the current year is itself 57.9 lakhs. The Minister said that India operates one of the largest telecommunication network comprising over 27,975 telephone exchanges, 2,68,00,000 (two crore sixty eight lakh) telephone lines as on 31^st March 2000 comprising 1,51,612 route KMs of radio system, 1,71,297 route KMs of optical fibre system and 30,957 route KMs of Coaxial cable and satellite earth stations. The Minister said that under the objective of NTP-99, it is aimed to provide widest permissible range of services with the quality of service of world standard to the customers at reasonable prices. He said that the telephone penetration level will be 7 per 100 population by 2005 and 15 per 100 by 2010. Cellular Mobile Communication Technology will help in achieving the objective of telephone penetration substantially, he added.

    The members who attended the meeting from Rajya Sabha are Dr.D.Venkateswara Rao, Shri Mohd. Azam Khan, Shri S.Nireikulathan, Shri Nilotpal Basu, Shri Anil Sharma, Shri Sharief-Ud-din-Shariq and from Lok Sabha are Shri Abdul Rashid Shaheen, Shri Bir Singh Mahto, Shri Sukhdeo Paswan, Shri A.K.S.Vijayan, Shri Bhan Singh Bhaura, Shri Shyam Bihari Mishra, Shri Padamsen Chaudhary, Shri Sanat Kumar Mandal, Shri Suresh Jadhav, Col. Sona Ram Choudhary, Shri Rajo Singh, Shri Mahindra Baitha, Shri D.B.Atkinson and Shri Radha Mohan Singh.

    Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P.Thakur has accompanied them from Patna. He will visit both the hospitals later this evening to call on all these four injured persons and three others who had been admitted in these hospitals last night. With this seven survivors of Patna air crash have been brought to Delhi by rescue plane from Patna for treatment.

    The dead bodies of two passengers of the ill-fated Calcutta- Patna – Lucknow- Delhi aircraft : 1) Dr. Gunjan of Nagpur and 2) Shri Jayakumar of Chennai, have also been brought by the rescue plane from Patna today. They will be sent to Nagpur and Chennai later today.

Accident of Alliance Air flight CD 7412 at Patna on 17.7.2000-an update

    The Cabinet today, observed a minute's silence in its meeting and passed a condolence resolution which is as follows:

    " Cabinet noted with anguish the tragic loss of precious human lives as a result of the crash of FLT CD 7412 at Patna on 17.7.2000 and decided that the Ministry of Civil Aviation may suitably convey condolences to the bereaved families and render help and assistance as may be necessary in the circumstances. "

    Rescue and relief operations were started immediately. Immediate medical help was provided to the survivors and persons injured on the ground in the accident in close coordination with the State Government. The survivors were taken to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) immediately. In the evening of July 17, 2000, three survivors have been brought to Delhi by special flight for expert treatment; two of them have been admitted to Apollo Hospital and one to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). One survivor has been discharged in Patna after treatment. The other three survivors were admitted in a hospital at Patna and special equipment was flown to Patna today in the morning to enable their transfer to Delhi where sophisticated treatment is available. They have since been shifted to Delhi and admitted to Apollo Hospital. Out of four persons injured on the ground in the accident, three persons are being treated in a nursing home at Patna as per the choice of their relatives, and one person in Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH). Indian Airlines has made and is making all arrangements for the treatment of survivors and persons on the ground injured in the accident at the Airlines' cost.

    The dead bodies of all the passengers, crewmembers, persons on the ground who lost their lives in the unfortunate accident have been recovered. Except for 11 passengers and one person on the ground, all other dead bodies have been identified. They have been taken to Calcutta, Lucknow, Delhi as per the wishes of their kith and kin. Indian Airlines and local administration has made all arrangements for orderly identification of the dead bodies and their carriage to respective destinations.

    It may be recalled that Minister, Civil Aviation, Shri Sharad Yadav along with Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Chairman Airports Authority of India and other senior officers rushed for Patna immediately after the accident. DGCA has ordered investigation into the accident and has appointed Shri P Shaw, Regional Controller of Air Safety, Calcutta as Inspector of accident under Rule 71 of Aircraft Rules 1937. In view of the seriousness of the accident Minister, Civil Aviation has decided to set up a Court of Inquiry, and has requested Chief Justice Patna High Court for nominating a sitting High Court Judge for appointment by Central Government for formal investigation of the accident under Rule 75 of Aircraft Rules 1937. Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (commonly known as Blackbox) have been recovered and provide valuable information for investigation. Any assessment about the cause of the accident can be made only after the report of the Court of Inquiry is available.

    Compensation of Rs. 7.50 lakhs will be provided to the next of the kin of the each deceased passenger of more than 12 years of age and Rs. 3.75 lakhs for passengers of less than 12 years of age. Similarly, a compensation upto Rs. 1.50 lakhs will be provided to the injured passengers. Similar compensation will also be provided to the persons affected on the ground due to the accident. Control rooms manned by senior officers were set up immediately at Calcutta, Patna, Lucknow and Delhi airports for providing all assistance and information to the relatives and the media. The relatives of the passengers on board the ill-fated aircraft were informed immediately to the extent their contact addresses were known. Relief flights were operated carrying relatives of passengers and crew members apart from doctors, and officials of DGCA/ BCAS/ IA from Calcutta and Delhi.

    The aircraft was 20 years old. At present there are 905 Boeing-737-200/100 type of aircraft in service around the world and 522 of them are older than 20 years. Therefore, this type of aircraft is completely safe. This particular aircraft also had undergone all the scheduled checks as required by the manufacturer and Director General of Civil Aviation including the age modification on 29.1.2000. The aircraft had flown on Jaipur-Calcutta sector on 15.7.2000 without any snag and had undergone layover check on 16.7.2000. Therefore, this particular aircraft was also completely safe and airworthy.

    The flight was commanded by Capt. M S Sohanpal with co-pilot Capt. A S Bagga. Capt. Sohanpal was 35 years old experienced pilot having total flying experience of 4361 hours. Similarly, Capt. A S Bagga was 32 years old experienced pilot having total flying experience of 4085 hours.

    Indian Airlines safety record is fairly good. It strictly follows a preventive maintenance programme formulated in consultation with the manufacturers and approved by DGCA. The last major accident in which Indian Airlines aircraft was involved took place on December 2, 1995 when Indian Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft landed too far down the runway with excessive speed and went off the runway. There was no loss of human life and aircraft was damaged. As per the inquiry report, cause of the accident was injudicious and imprudent decision of the Pilot-in-Command to hastily complete the flight in the inadequate time available before the notified closure of Delhi airport for a VVIP flight. At present, Indian Airlines has nine A-300 aircraft having an average age of 21 years, 30 A-320 aircraft having an average age of 8.9 years, 11 Boeing-737 having an average age of 19 years and three Dornier 228 having an average age of 14.8 years. Over all there are 54 aircraft having an average age of 13.5 years in the fleet of Indian Airlines.

    Ministry of Civil Aviation and Indian Airlines has endeavored to react promptly and provide all possible assistance and help to the passengers and their relatives with utmost courtesy and dispatch. There is no doubt about the airworthiness of the aircraft , maintained by Indian Airlines under a strict regime. The exact cause of the accident would, of course, be known once the report of the Court of Inquiry is available.

'20'

    Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ram Naik said that the signing of MoU between the two countries heralds a new era of cooperation between India and Mauritius which benefits both the countries. He said it provides a historical opportunity to IOC to expand its operations outside Indian boundaries. IOC, a Fortune-500 Indian company, thus becomes the first Indian company in the oil sector to enter retail marketing of petroleum products overseas. The Minister said that this is the second successful venture of oil PSUs outside India in the oil sector. Prior to this, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) has successfully taken part in the development of a gas field in Vietnam.

    According to the MoU, IOC will operate in Mauritius as an independent company by setting up storage facilities and retail net work in the downstream sector. IOC will participate in marketing of various petroleum products including Mogas, gas oil, fuel oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). It will collaborate with Airport of Mauritius Limited (AML) and other operators for the storage of Jet Fuel facility at SSR International Airport. As per MoU, Government of Mauritius will help IOC acquire the land from the relevant Government authorities for setting up of oil terminal at Mer Rouge and facilitate IOC to set up and administer storage facilities at SSR International Airport. Government of Mauritius will also facilitate the issue of various approvals/Licenses/clearances from various agencies in Mauritius for Indian Oil to meet the statutory, safety and environmental requirements. The company will undertake retail marketing of white oil and also enter LPG storage and distribution.

    The plans of IOC for Mauritius have taken off on a bright note as Mauritius Ports Authorities have already allocated 3.5 hectares of land at Mer Rouge for its oil terminal. Preliminary survey has been conducted for perspective sites for retail outlet in Mauritius and 15 sites have been identified. IOC will set up a total number of 25 world class service stations in Mauritius. IOC is expected to make an investment of about Rs. 550 Million in its various operations in Mauritius (excluding LPG facilities).

    The Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced entry of IOC in Mauritius after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Mauritius during his Mauritius visit in March, 2000. The overseas office of IOC at Port Louis, Mauritius started functioning effective 10^th March, 2000. IOC has been registered as a foreign company in the country.

    The MoU provides for consultation with each other with a view to expeditiously resolve any differences that may arise out of the interpretation of the MoU in the true spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation. This is in keeping with the long-standing friendly relations between India and Mauritius.

‘8’

INDIA ASSURES UGANDA HELP IN UPGRADING ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

    Expressing keen interest in India’s educational programmes, the Ugandan Minister sought from Dr. Joshi suggestions to solve some of the problems being encountered in his country while providing primary education. Dr. Joshi presented Mr. Ssali a set of documents including India’s National Policy on Education and strategy papers relating to achieving the goal of education for all by 2015.

    Mr. Ssali said that Uganda has a lot to learn from India’s experience not only in education but also in decentralization, eradication of poverty and human resource development. He also expressed his deep appreciation of quality education being received by Ugandan students in educational institutions in India.

MOS EXPRESSES GRIEF AT THE ALLIANCE AIRCRAFT TRAGEDY

    "I am not in my country at this unfortunate juncture, but my heart goes out to the people of my land who have lost their lives and to all those who have lost their near and dear ones. I share their grief from the core of my heart.

    I have been in constant touch with my Ministry which deals with matters relating to Civil Aviation in India. I find that all help, humanly possible, as been organized promptly. Relief aircraft were rushed to Patna immediately. The seven survivors are being provided the fullest medical assistance. Relatives and friends of passengers have been kept constantly informed and taken to Patna. I convey my heart felt condolences to the grieving families and pray for the departed souls."