The Government (Department of Company Affairs) has revised the Rules 21 A (8) (ii) of the Companies (Central Government's General Rules and Forms, 1956 increasing the existing fees of Rs. five per page for certified copy of the extracts of other documents to Rs. twenty five per page as charge for copy of extracts of other documents including hard copy of such documents on computer readable media.

    Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof. Rita Verma has informed Rajya Sabha today during Question Hour that there is no ban on sale of common salt except the restriction on sale for direct human consumption. As per amendment made in PFA Rules w.e.f. 27^th May, 1998, only iodised salt can be sold for direct human consumption. A draft notification has been issued on 10^th May this year inviting public comments to withdraw this restriction.

    Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof. Rita Verma has informed Rajya Sabha today in a written reply during Question Hour that Indian Council of Medical Research has taken up a pilot study on sickle cell disease in four States namely; Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu in view of its prevalence among the tribal population. The sickle belt in India can be drawn running through Central parts of the country including parts of Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Nilgiri Hills in South India.

    Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prof. Rita Verma has informed the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply during Question Hour that Planning Commission has allocated a total of Rs. 14433.85 crore towards of State Health Sector for all States/Union Territories during Ninth Five Year Plan. This includes provision for basic minimum service programmes under which States have flexibility to choose their priority amongst seven basic services including primary health care.

    Promising research leads have been obtained in the Programmes on Functional Genomics and Human Genome Diversity currently under way in the country. This information was given in written replies in Parliament.

    The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has undertaken an exercise to revise the National Health Policy, in view of the significant epidemiological and demographic changes in the country since 1983, when the first National Health Policy was formulated.

    Shri Sriram Chauhan, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution informed through a written reply in the Lok Sabha today that as on July 1 , 2000, the stocks of wheat in the Central Pool were of the order of 277.57 lakh M.T. Out of this stock 113.44 lakh M.T. are with FCI and 164.13 lakh M.T. are with the state agencies.

'39'

EXPORT OF SUGAR

    Government have decided to allow export of 10 lakh tonnes of domestically produced sugar. These exports can be carried out by the sugar mills either directly or through the exporters.

'25'

    Union Surface Transport Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh has cleared the proposal of Calcutta Port Trust for construction, operation, management and transfer of 245 meters long multi-purpose berth No.4A at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) for a period of 30 years on Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis to M/s. International Sea Ports (India) Ltd., (ISPIL) with a consortium comprising M/s. Precious Shipping Public Company Limited and M/s. Larsen & Toubro Limited. This is the first successful BOT proposal in Calcutta Port Trust and will set the trend for HDC’s efforts to attract private investments. The total cost of the project including cost of equipment would be Rs.150.15 crores. The project will be completed in two years from the date of signing of the agreement.

    Though the Port Trust had sanctioned construction of two berths within the impounded dock, only in respect of berth No.4A there was a response. The important features of this BOT project are one time payment of upfront fee, royalty on cargo handled and minimum guarantee cargo support for the purpose of payment of royalty. Of the 3 parties who submitted their bids, the bid of ISPIL consortium was found to be the highest. The minimum guarantee traffic offered by M/s ISPIL would be 1.3 million tons at the first year after the berth is commissioned and would go up to 1.9 million tons from the 26^th year onwards and thereafter at the ultimate year of operation to 2.30 million tons. The bids were evaluated adopting the procedure of assessing the Net Percentage Value (NPV) . The total amount of land rent payable by the party works out to Rs.186.85 crores and total inflow of cash would be about Rs.326 cores.

    Haldia Dock Complex, at present, has 9 berths and 3 oil jetties inside the impounded dock. Of the 9 existing berths, 3 have mechanised facilities for handling thermal coal, coking coal, POL (Product) and Fertilizer Raw Materials. Two berths have facilities for handling non-dangerous liquid cargo. Two more berths, namely berth No.4B and 12 are under construction and are likely to be commissioned within this calendar year. With the commissioning of these two berths along with the BOT berth No.4A in all 12 berths will be available inside the impounded dock of Haldia Dock Complex. The Port proposes to lease out 2 more berths with back-up area on BOT basis with a view to installing appropriate equipment with latest technology and improving productivity and quality of services at these berths.

    During 1999-2000, Haldia Dock System handled 20.69 million tons of cargo compared to 20.22 million tons handled in 1998-99. The traffic handled by Calcutta Port on the whole during 1999-2000 was about 31 million tons.

    The Government has set up Credit Guarantee Fund Trust with the corpus of Rs.125 crores to facilitate easy and hassles-free credit to the small scale sector. With the formation of the Trust the stage is set for the Credit Guarantee Fund to be made operational from 1^st August, 2000

‘43’

    Need-based Perspective Plans, developing a unified marketing strategy and strengthening of the North Eastern Cell in the Ministry of Rural Development are some of the new initiatives being adopted to aid better fund utilization for the North Eastern States. The Minister for Rural Development, Shri Sundar Lal Patwa conveyed to the Ministers of Rural Development from the North Eastern States that the Ministry is particularly sympathetic to the special needs of the region and will strive to help in all possible ways.

    The Ministers of the region called on Shri Patwa here last evening. Shri Patwa urged the Ministers to increase the utilization of the funds provided for rural development schemes in the North Eastern Region. He pointed out that in the current financial year, nearly Rs. 1200 crores are available to the eight States, including Sikkim. He emphasized that the fund allocation has nearly doubled since 1999-2000.

    In response to the Chairman of the Committee of Rural Development Ministers for North Eastern Region, Shri R. Lalthingliana’s (Mizoram Minister) request that need-based, demand-driven and area-proportionate approach and not the population criterion, may be adopted for fund allocation, Shri Patwa said, the allocation of funds amongst the States is based mainly on the poverty ratio fixed by the Planning Commission. He explained that the latest round of the Consumer Expenditure Survey is being conducted and that this (and related matters) would require consultation with the Planning Commission/Ministry of Finance. Shri Patwa also allayed apprehensions of the State Ministers on allocations for National Rural Roads Programme being based on proportionate diesel consumption.

    The Secretary(Rural Development), Shri Arun Bhatnagar informed that a VSAT based connectivity pilot project has been taken up in Meghalya and that a study to identify self-employment opportunities and support services needed in different sectors of North Eastern Rural Economy has been initiated. Based on the findings of the study, district-wise perspective plans will be prepared .

    The meeting was attended by the Rural Development Ministers of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalya, Nagaland and Sikkim. The Ministers of State, Shri Subhash Maharia, Shri A. Raja and senior officials of the Ministry were also present at the meeting.

    Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement in the Parliament, today "Certain statements have been made by Shri Ram Jethmalani, former Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs with regard to the Chief Justice of India and the Attorney General of India. I have gone through those statements. My government does not share the views of Shri Jethmalani with regard to the subject matter on which he has spoken. We completely disagree with his perception of the facts. The government believes in promoting a harmonious relationship between the different wings of the State. Without going into the question of the correctness of any possible view involved on the issues on which Shri Jethmalani corresponded with the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, I was of the opinion that even the difference of opinion between the Chief Justice and the Law Minister should not create any imbalance in the harmonious relationship. Thus, in order to ensure that this harmonious relationship is not only maintained but strengthened, I exercised my prerogative and asked Shri Jethmalani to resign. I have gone into the text of his statements issued yesterday, i.e., 27^th July, against the Chief Justice of India and the Attorney General of India. I reiterate that my government completely disagrees with his perception".

    Allotment of bookstall is done by the Zonal Railways after inviting applications from the eligible categories viz. unemployed graduates, their co-operatives, partnerships associations and co-operative societies of actual workers and vendors. Selection is made by a committee of officers as per prescribed procedure and guidelines. However, in case of M/s. A.H.Wheeler & Co., M/s. Higginbothams Ltd and Philantrhopic societies/religious organisation allotment is done at the level of Railway Board on recommendation of Zonal Railway.

    Appointment of vendors, stall keepers and agents of bookstalls is done by the bookstall licensees themselves under their own terms and conditions. Railways enter into an agreement with the licensees only and no agreement is executed with the vendors, stalls keepers, agents etc.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Nagendra Nath Ojha in the Rajya Sabha today.

FIRE SAFETY IN TRAINS

    The following measures are being taken by Railways to improve fire safety on trains:

• carriage of inflammable/explosive material and lighted sigris in passenger coaches is prohibited and punishable under the Railway Act, 1989.
• An intensive campaign through public address system has been launched to sensitize the public about the dangers from explosives and need to maintain extreme vigilance regarding unclaimed/unattended objects.
• Intensive publicity is carried out through television quickies, advertisements ins the National and local press to educate the public against the hazards of carrying inflammable material in their luggage.
• Mail and Express trains have been provided with escorts with directions to conduct random checks on the passengers and luggage in the trains over sensitive areas.
• Instant Action Groups have been provided in important trains to prevent entry of unauthorised passengers and carrying of inflammable articles etc.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri C.Ramachandraiah in the Rajya Sabha today.

    ‘Expressions of interest’ have been invited from reputed consultancy firms/ organisations for developing Railway’s business plan for the Railway’s Corporation for optical fibre network. A broadbased task force consisting of representatives of Ministry of Railways, Communications, Finance, Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Prime Minister’s office has been assisting Railways in selecting consultant.

    Giving this information to Rajya Sabha today in reply to a question by Shri Nilotpal Basu, the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh said that decisions regarding the nature and equity holding of the corporation, approximate project cost and the financing pattern would be taken on receipt of the business plan. The Project will be implemented by the corporation in suitable financial year. A sum of Rs. 500 crore is expected to be generated by way of utilising right of way for laying of optical fibre cable, the Minister added.

CONVERSION OF M.G. LINES IN GUJARAT

    There is no proposal to convert all MG lines into BG. ‘Project Unigauge’ taken up by the Railways is for selective conversion of MG/NG lines to BG in a phased manner based on considerations of capacity requirement, developmental potential and on srategic considerations.

    Work is in progress on conversion of Wankaner-Maliya Miyana, Gandhidham-Bhuj, Rajkot-Veraval, Viramgam-Mahasana-Patan, Surendernagar-Bhavnagar-Dhola-Dhasa-Mahuva with linked fingers and Dharangadhara-Kuda into broad gauge. Gauge conversion of Gandhidham-Palanpur MG line has also been included in the Budget and would be taken up after obtaining the requisite clearances. The remaining lines would be considered in the coming years based on the traffic potential and the availability of resources, once some of the ongoing projects get completed.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in a written reply to a question by Shri Brahmakumar Bhatt in the Rajya Sabha today.

'8'

    Presently there are 18 Universities/Institutions in the country, which have been declared as "Fake" and which are functioning in violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act 1956. A special cell known as Malpractices Cell to deal with matters relating to the existence and functioning of fake Universities in the country have been set up for the purpose in the UGC and Association of Indian Universities (AIU). The cells are in touch with different agencies of the Central Government and the State Governments to take such measures as are considered necessary for checking the menace of fake institutions.

    List of Fake Universities as on May 1, 2000.

1. Maithili University/Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga Bihar.
2. Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya, (Women's University) Prayag, Allahabad (UP).
3. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi (UP)/Jagatpuri, Delhi.
4. Commercial University Ltd., Daryaganj, Delhi.
5. Indian Education Council of U.P., Lucknow (UP).
6. Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Prayag, Allahabad (UP).
7. National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur.
8. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University (Open University), Achaltal, Aligarh, UP.
9. D.D.B. Sanskrit University, Putur, Trichi, Tamil Nadu.
10. St. John's University, Kishanattam, Kerala.
11. United Nations University, Delhi.
12. Vocational University, Delhi.
13. Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Kosi Kalan, Mathura (UP)
14. Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh (UP)
15. Arabic University, Nagpur.
16. Kesarwani Vidyapith, Jabalpur (MP).
17. Delhi Vishwa Vidyapeeth, 233, Tagore Park, Model Town, Delhi-110009.
18. Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Gokak, Belgaum (Karnataka).

    This information was given by Human Resource Development Minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

    The Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Ramesh Bais informed the Rajya Sabha here today while replying to a written Question that the Government has approved the revised and restructured Oman India Fertilizer Project (OMIFCO) on 20.6.2000 subject to speedy resolution of certain outstanding issues.

    Following is the text of the statement of Minister for Environment and Forests Shri T.R. Baalu in response to calling attention notice regarding the death of precious wildlife in various parts of the country including zoos and wildlife sanctuaries and action taken by the Government in regard thereto, tabled by Shri Suresh Pachoury and others in Rajya Sabha today:

    "The call attention motion on the death of animals in zoos and sanctuaries is evidence of the great empathy and concern that people in our country and Members of Parliament, in particular, have for wildlife. This will also send a clear and loud message to zoo and park managers that their performance is being closely watched by the nation and that their response to the mandate given to them has be appropriate and adequate. Even before I received notice of this calling attention motion, I had proposed to seek leave to make a statement on the recent deaths of zoo tigers.

    I have personally monitored factors relating to the death of twelve tigers at Nandankanan zoo. I have no reservation in admitting that the zoo director and the zoo veterinarian were unable to show the professional competence that was expected of them. A number of significant inadequacies have been identified and the State Government has been requested to take mitigative measures. Overcrowding of animals, inappropriate housing, poor standards of sanitation and hygiene, inadequate expertise in the field of health care of zoo animals have jointly contributed to these deaths. Another negative factor has been inadequate level of funding that the zoo has received from the State Government in the past years.

    Then I received information of some other upsetting incidents. The recent deaths of lions in Gir, cheetals in Ranthambore and peacocks at Morena were also enquired into. The information that I have is that except for one lion that was electrocuted, the death of the other lions was because of natural causes and currently there is no threat of any kind of infection to other animals in the area. As regards the death of cheetals in Ranthambore a few animals were killed by dogs in the fringe areas of the Park, whilst two animals were suffering from tuberculosis. I will have something more to say on this later. In Morena district investigations revealed that a number of peacocks died due to consumption of bajra seed which had been treated with pesticides.

    I would like to give some statistics about existing zoos. Presently there are 199 recognised zoos, of which 15 are large, 17 medium, 31 small & 136 mini zoos and deer parks. The total number of animals in these zoos which includes birds and reptiles is around 25,000. Of this, 9000 animals belong to the endangered category. According to the information available with me, during the last four years, around 1600 animals have died in these zoos which comes to about 10 per cent of the total. As regards tigers, their number in zoos is around 313. More than 75 per cent of the tigers are of captive-bred origin. No tiger has been captured in last ten years for the purpose of display in the zoos. The number of tigers that have died between 1995-96 to 98-99 is 141. Of this, tigers account for an average of 35 deaths in a year. This is about 12 per cent of the population of zoo tigers. The average birth rate of tigers during this period is about 19 per cent.

    As regards the number of wild animal deaths in sanctuaries, approximately 140 tigers, 700 panthers, 450 elephants, 15 lions and 127 rhinoceros have been killed by poachers in the last five years.

    In the wild, we have an estimated population of tigers, which is between 3500 to 3700. Taking the average life span of tigers as 20 years, out of this population not less than 175 tigers would be dying of old age. There is the incidence of infant mortality also and about 400 cubs die a natural death every year. Then there are instances of handicapped animals dying of starvation, as well as tigers killing each other to safeguard their territory.

    An area of concern that I would like to bring to the notice of the honourable members is the negative impact of disturbances in the habitat of the animals and the inadequate prey base of the cats. This has resulted in a tendency on the part of tigers and other cats to increasingly look towards livestock to meet their food requirements. This has led to a man and animal conflict, with resultant instances of poisoning.

    The panther appears to be under greater threat because of its tendency to live in the fringe areas of the forest. Intrusions by panther into human habitation is not uncommon, where they are lured by easy prey availability of livestock, dogs and at times human infants. In this regard, the position tends to become quite grim at times in the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. There have also been instances of panther intrusion into some suburbs of Bombay and within the limits of Guwahati City. Recently in a series of seizures 200 panther skins and a larger number of other parts such as nails were seized. While the regulatory agencies have been put on the alert, these cases have been referred to the CBI. Separately my Ministry is in the process of finalizing a proposal for an exclusive agency to investigate wild life crimes. There are however, other issues also. We have made arrangements for increase in compensation for cattle deaths as also for speedy disbursement of compensation. Besides a greater degree of awareness is also needed to sensitise those who are involved in man and animal conflicts about the precious loss of our biodiversity when needless senselessness take place in such situations. My Ministry is working on a scheme to increase the level of public awareness in this area.

    I would like to mention that epidemics also take a heavy toll of wild animal life. Sometime around 1950, 30 to 40 per cent of the wild ass population was wiped out due to trypanosomiasis. In the seventies an outbreak of rinderpest nearly wiped out the gaur population in Madumalai, parts of Periyar and Bandipur. Fortunately nature has been able to revive the depleted population assisted by availability of an adequate habitat and effective protection measures.

    Another important issue is the destruction of wild life habitats. Habitat destruction due to biotic pressures and various developmental activities have brought down the recruitment rate especially in the case of tiger. Sharing of common grazing ground and water pool with livestock has brought in diseases like tuberculosis in national parks and sanctuaries. Cases of tuberculosis in tigers have been reported from Sariska in Rajasthan.

    Railway lines passing through forests continue to be a serious threat for elephants. Five elephants in Uttar Pradesh and six in Assam have died because of this reason. Road accidents have also taken a toll of wild animals in Kaziranga, Assam and Gir in Gujarat.

    I will be failing in my duty if I do not mention that the draining of water bodies and swamps for agricultural purposes has severely affected the population of swamp deer and various species of water birds. Intensive agriculture and deforestation in high hill areas has intensified flood in our major rivers. Kaziranga National Park is a regular victim of such floods. The floods in 1998 monsoons took a toll of 2 tigers, 44 rhinos, 3 elephants, 3 wild buffalo, 50 swamp deer and more that 600 herbivores. There are reports of 3 elephants being washed away in flood waters in West Bengal. Use of pesticides has added another serious dimension to the problem. We are all worried about 50 peacocks dying after eating bajra seeds coated with pesticide. I am informed that 12 elephants died in Dhenkanal district of Orissa because of consumption of agricultural crop which had been sprayed with pesticide by the farmers. Experience over the years has brought about a realization that wild animal populations cannot be preserved only in isolated islands of national parks and sanctuaries. Wild animals know no legal boundaries. We will have to adopt a total landscape approach for protection of wildlife. Farmers will have to be convinced to adopt cropping patterns under which the damage to crops from wild animal is minimal.

    We are trying to ensure increased allocations to State Governments, expeditious flow of funds, strengthening of protection-infrastructure, creation of a specialized agency for monitoring and collection of intelligence data on poaching and seeking international co-operation for curbing trans-border trade. However, the success in wild life conservation will be limited unless, people from all walks of life co-operate in tackling the problems of poverty in the vicinity of national parks and sanctuaries through ecologically sustainable development strategies. The use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers will have to give way to use of organic manure and bio-pesticides in the vicinity of wild life habitats. Treating the scrub forests as wastelands and diverting them for agriculture, draining every drop of water for irrigation will have to stop. All this can be achieved by reviving the healthy tradition of this country of living in harmony with nature. Wild life conservation has to be the concern of all departments of the Government at Centre and State level. Ecological security should get the same priority as is given for national security. I hope that the debate we have on this very important subject will give us greater strength to effectively meet the challenge of conserving our biological diversity."

'16'

    The government has been constantly interacting with representatives of the tea industry in the country and are aware of the problems being faced by them. The tea industry is facing problems of decline in prices of tea at the auctions. A committee set up recently by the Government of Tamil Nadu which included a representative of Tea Board has also made a study of the problem being faced by the Small Tea Growers in South India. In order to compensate the small tea growers for low price realisation at the auctions, a Price Subsidy Scheme has been implemented w.e.f. 1/5/2000 wherein a subsidy of Rs.5/- is being provided to the small growers of tea (holding upto 10.12 hectares of tea plantation) for an amount equal to the shortfall between the auction price and Rs.55 per kg. The amount of subsidy was subsequently enhanced to Rs. 8 per kg. w.e.f. 24/7/2000. A quality upgradation programme for tea manufactured in the small sector has also been launched. Government has also increased import duty on tea from 15% to 35% to provide a level playing field for the domestic tea industry. Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

'17-B'

    Government is alive to the problems of the Small Scale Industries (SSI) Sector. Specific steps are being contemplated to empower the Sector through technology upgradation, greater access to credit and through suitable fiscal incentives. The Group of Ministers for SSI will take decisions keeping in mind the aspirations of millions of small entrepreneurs and their workers, and the overall needs of the economy. No decision has been taken to de-reserve any industrial item.

'16'

    There is no clash between the Commerce & Industry Ministry and the Textile Ministry on the issue of holding a Fair by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and the concerned Councils, the government has clarified today. The news report in a section of the press suggesting such a "clash" is absolutely baseless and unfounded as the matter has been amicably resolved. Since the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) is keen to have an Autumn Fair in addition to their regular Spring Fair, discussions have been held between ITPO and the Ministry of Textiles in the matter. On the basis of discussions it has been resolved that the EPCH would hold Handicrafts & Gifts Fair in Autumn & Spring in October and February, respectively. Similarly, ITPO would be holding Ambiente India jointly with Messe Frankfurt with a gap of one month from the Autumn Fair of EPCH. Further, discussions would be held between EPCH and Messe Frankfurt, India with the involvement of ITPO and Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) to seek a convergence of the two events namely "Ambiente India" and Handicrafts & Gifts Fair of EPCH. Currently, discussions are on for arriving at such a convergence. Further, matters relating to holding of fairs are being handled by the designated agencies namely ITPO and the respective Councils and not by the Ministry.

    The volume and percentage of foreign direct investment approved and actual inflow every year since 1996 is as under :

'15'

    The Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha today said that necessary framework is being created for the development of a debt market in consultation with Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This, he said, is required because of the arrival of more and more private insurance companies after opening up of the insurance sector. The Minister was speaking after releasing "Survey of Indian investors" brought out by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for SEBI, here.

    Expressing happiness over the interest shown by the common people towards the stock market, Shri Sinha said that the rural sector remains to be tapped and asked the market regulator to ensure full safety and protection to small investors. In this connection, he gave the example of LIC which has registered a phenomenal growth rate in rural areas in recent years which is double the rate achieved in urban areas. "It is a challenge for everyone to attract investors from rural areas towards the stock market", he said. He emphasized the need to educate and convince the rural investors about the prospects of growth in stock market. Shri Sinha also said that despite all volatility, the market continues to be absolutely safe and no payment crisis has taken place so far because of the strong measures adopted by the regulator.

    Shri Sinha said that the present Government is in favour of competition in all spheres of activity subject to demands of equity and justice. Allocation of resources through market is the most democratic way and hence the capital market should be developed, he said.

    "Survey of Indian investors" has been prepared after studying a sample of 25,000 households. This will help SEBI, market intermediaries, researchers and investors in deciding their policies and investors’ choices. It has also provided estimates of non-investors households and population, their economic and demographic profile, their pattern of investment in various instruments and reasons of non-investment in the equity market.

'24'

    The Minister of Communications, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan had a detailed meeting with the potential vendors of Wireless in Local Loop (WLL) system to review the programme for induction of new technology for rural areas here today. During the meeting the Minister sought a firm commitment from the vendors for procurement of the new equipment in a time bound manner. The WLL system is likely to be inducted by the Department of Telecom Operations (DTO) in a big way for meeting village public telephones (VPTs) requirement during the current financial year. The exercise is part of the modernisation of rural telecommunications initiated by the Minister. In today’s meeting Shri Paswan announced definite time frame for various stages of tendering based on which M/s HTL and M/s Motorola indicated that if the advanced purchase order is issued by November 2000 it may be possible for them to supply one lakh lines each upto January 2001 commencing from November this year. They said that they will be in a position to supply 30,000 lines each in November/December this year and 40,000 lines in January 2001.

    Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement in the Parliament, today "Certain statements have been made by Shri Ram Jethmalani, former Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs with regard to the Chief Justice of India and the Attorney General of India. I have gone through those statements. My government does not share the views of Shri Jethmalani with regard to the subject matter on which he has spoken. We completely disagree with his perception of the facts. The government believes in promoting a harmonious relationship between the different wings of the State. Without going into the question of the correctness of any possible view involved on the issues on which Shri Jethmalani corresponded with the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, I was of the opinion that even the difference of opinion between the Chief Justice and the Law Minister should not create any imbalance in the harmonious relationship. Thus, in order to ensure that this harmonious relationship is not only maintained but strengthened, I exercised my prerogative and asked Shri Jethmalani to resign. I have gone into the text of his statements issued yesterday, i.e., 27^th July, against the Chief Justice of India and the Attorney General of India. I reiterate that my government completely disagrees with his perception".