For the period April 2000 to 20-11-2000, Prasar Bharati have intimated that commercial revenue earned by them was to the tune of Rs. 370.74 crores.

The Minister also informed that the maximum revenue i.e. Rs. 24.53 crores was earned from the telecast of the serial "Jai Hanuman".

    The Minister said that as per the decision taken by Prasar Bharati Board, the telecast of regional feature films was stopped on National Network of Doordarshan from 15.10.2000, in order to accommodate entering sponsored programmes for increasing Doordarshan’s revenue as well as to retain wider viewership. But keeping in view a number of representations received from various quarters, Prasar Bharati Board has now reviewed the earlier decision.

    This information was given by Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Sushma Swaraj in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

    As for all the High Courts, 32,040,83 cases were pending. Out of this, 1885934 cases were more than two years old and 500876 cases more than ten years old.

    In the district and subordinate courts, the total pending cases were 20186913 cases. Of this, 19367384 cases were less than ten years old and 819529 cases more than ten years old.

    The reasons for pendency of cases in various courts include increased institution of cases on account of awareness of the rights on the part of the citizens, enactment of numerous laws, inadequate judge strength, rise in population, radical change in the pattern of litigation, frequent adjournment of cases and strike by lawyers.

    Various steps have been taken by the Government for speedy disposal of cases. These relate to amendment of the Civil Procedure Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, increase in the number of posts of judges and judicial officers, establishment of special courts and tribunals, appointment of special judicial and metropolitan magistrates and adoption of alternative modes of dispute resolution, such as , arbitration and conciliation. Lok adalats have been given a statutory base as a supplementary forum for resolution of disputes.

    In addition, as a result of the 11^th Finance Commission’s recommendations, an amount of Rs. 502.90 crores has been sanctioned for creation of 1,734 additional courts in the country which will bring down substantially the pendency in the district and subordinate courts over the next five years.

‘44’

    This information was given by the Mines Minister Shri Sundar Lal Patwa to a question of Shri P.K. Maheshwari, MP in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

‘44’

    Controlling of illegal mining falls under the purview of the State Governments. The Government of India have delegated them the powers to make rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation, and storage of minerals.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Mines Shri Jaysingrao Gaikwad Patil in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

26

MOU SIGNED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NEW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT HYDERABAD

    The Preliminary estimated cost of the project is Rs. 1320 crores. The expenditure of the project will be met by bringing in funds from the private sector. The new airport is expected to handle both passenger and cargo of Domestic & International Traffic to meet the growing to & fro air traffic from Hyderabad. For this purpose a Joint Venture Company (JVC) is proposed to be formed, wherein there will be equity participation to the extent of 13 % each by AAI & Government of Andhra Pradesh. The provisional debt equity ratio is 60:40. The Nodal agency on behalf of Government of Andhra Pradesh is the Department of Transport, Roads and Buildings.

    The Airport site at Shamshabad is strategically located at 25 KM south of Hyderabad near the National Highway as well as Railway line connecting Hyderabad with Bangalore. The new airport is expected to handle B-747 class of aircraft.

    The MOU envisages that a Steering Committee comprising of four representatives of the Government of Andhra Pradesh and four representatives of the Government of India, AAI will oversee the work related to this project till the formation of Joint Venture Company (JVC).

    In a recorded message, Minister of Power, Shri Suresh Prabhu highlighted many steps taken by his Ministry to attract investment in the power sector. These include encouraging Independent Power Producers (IPPs), private participation in transmission, setting up of a Crises Resolution Group and other such initiatives. The Minister of State for Power, Smt. Jayawanti Mehta in her speech also highlighted reforms and investment opportunities in the power sector and emphasized that the policy of the Government was to provide power at affordable rates. Smt. Mehta mentioned that the Government is providing number of incentives to private investment and is also taking several measures to restructure the sector. These include the new Mega Power Project Policy, setting up of Power Trading Corporation and measures for reforms with the State Electricity Boards. The Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Ram Naik and the Minister for Coal, Shri N. T. Shanmugam also highlighted the investment opportunities in the sectors under their Ministries.

    The Chairman of the Executive Assembly of World Energy Council, Mr. Jim Adams in his remarks said industrial nations have neglected energy policy because of which the developing countries have been harmed. Mr. Adams said by their decision to place less focus on both nuclear power and large scale hydro power these nations have placed more pressure on the demand for fossil fuels thereby increasing the price of these fuels. These increases effect the developing countries more. Mr. Adams said the world’s nuclear and hydro electricity capacities need to be increased.

    "Mr. Speaker Sir,

    On 14.11.2000 the Supreme Court issued the following orders:

    "In the first instance, we, therefore, issue notice to the Chief Secretary, Delhi and also to the Commissioner – M.C.D. to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt for the continued inaction on the part of the N.C.T. Delhi and for the non-compliance of the various orders passed by this Court starting from 1996 and including the orders dated 08.09.1999, 30.08.2000 and 12.09.2000 regarding the closing of the polluting units situated in the residential areas".

    Thereafter, the officials of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and Municipal Corporation started sealing polluting as well as other industries in residential areas. This led to unrest involving road blocks leading to traffic jams, burning of buses etc.

    To facilitate understanding of the present position, it is necessary to recount the developments that have taken place from February 02, 1996, that is, the date from which the Court started passing orders regarding closure/relocation of industries from the residential areas. The order of February 02, 1996 reads:

    On 04.10.1996, the Court noted that the then Principal Secretary to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi had filed an affidavit intimating the progress of the High Powered Committee set up by the Court. It was stated that out of 45,000 applications received, after deleting of duplicate applications, 43,045 applications were scrutinised. Of these, 39,166 applications did not qualify for grant of necessary permission under the Master Plan. The remaining 3,879 units/applications were inspected by a Committee constituted of MCD, Department of Industries, Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking & Delhi Pollution Control Committee. This Committee found only 376 units to qualify for grant of permission to run the units in the residential area.

    On December 18, 1996, the then Principal Secretary to Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi assured the Court through an affidavit filed on December 18, 1996, that possession of 1300 acres would be taken by the NCT and forms for allotments were being supplied to the industries. In its order of December 18, 1996, the Court observed:

    Subsequently, however, since no progress was noted by the Court, it had started making adverse comments on non-compliance of its orders.

    The present situation has arisen due to failure of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi to develop plots for relocation of industries in Bawana and other such areas. In this connection, it needs to be underlined that the Supreme Court started passing orders from February 02, 1996 and up till December 09, 1999, no one talked of amending the Master Plan.

    Government are aware of the problems that are being faced by the industries functioning in the residential areas as well as of the house-owners and occupiers who are using their property for residential purposes in the residential areas. Government are keen to find a solution which would be just and fair to all concerned. Government have agreed, in principle, subject to observance of safeguards in respect of pollution norms, to redefine household industries in terms of the recommendations made by a Committee known as the Jagdish Sagar Committee. These norms pertain to the number of persons who can work in household industries, the power that can be sanctioned and the area that can be used etc.

    Government would also amend the Master Plan, if necessary, to acquire more lands for relocation of industries in industrial areas.

    Government would also request the Supreme Court to give a little more time for relocation. The matter at present rests with the Supreme Court.

    I would also invite attention of this august House to a larger question: in what type of Delhi do we want to live, and what type of legacy do we wish to bequeath to posterity and to our children and grand children? Do we want our city to become a junk-yard of un-authorised constructions, mirroring civic and moral chaos, or an orderly and disciplined capital of a Resurgent Republic, embodying values of justice and honesty on the basis of which we have often claimed a pre-eminent position for our culture and civilization?

    Presently, in our cities, the pollution levels are increasing and health costs escalating. About 40,000 premature deaths, 17 million respiratory hospital admissions and 1.2 billion restricted activity days are occurring annually due to polluted air. Three cities -- Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta -- account for 44 per cent of these deaths. New and more virulent forms of diseases are appearing. The present unhealthy conditions are estimated to cause an annual loss of 30.5 million ‘Disability Adjusted Life Years’ which is equivalent to Rs. 36,600 crores.

    Delhi has already earned the dubious distinction of having become the third worst polluted city in the world. 50 million gallons per day of industrial waste is going into the Yamuna and what is seen flowing in it today is nothing but sewer and industrial waste. In Okhla alone, for instance, during March-April, 2000, the bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) level in the river was about 70 milligram per litre as against a standard of 3 milligram per litre, that is, 25 times more than the permissible level.

    If the present attitudes and practices persist, Delhi would run the risk of having as many as 30 million people in the next few years and becoming an ugly, unhealthy, unworkable and unlivable city. In the process, a fatal blow would also be dealt to the development of National Capital Region which comprises a substantial part of three important neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

    In the context of these stark realities, should we rest our outlook on ‘short-termism? Our thinkers always had an expansive view of time and space. We may be well-advised not reduce everything to the immediate, see things in their entirety, and project our vision into the future".

    "The uptake of IT-enabled services means generating huge employment as the sector is expected to absorb a million persons, largely in smaller towns and rural areas. Such as proposition seems ideal for states like Jammu & Kashmir which has already set up a Software Technology Park and is keen to join the IT platform for the benefit of its people", Shri Abdullah said.

    The emerging segment of IT-enabled services are critically important for the Indian economy as it is estimated that a large portion of India's IT-enabled services exports will come from this and similar other services such as medical transcription, data entry, web development, multi-media, digitilisation, mapping etc. India has a significant role to play in the growing worldwide IT-enabled services market and can harness the immense export opportunities emerging from this sector. Among the IT-enabled services, the call centre segment has been more proactive as well as attractive to companies with a wide base of customers. The call centre industry is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate of 16.6 per cent during 1997-2004 and the market size is expected to be worth US $ 10 billion by 2004. The Indian IT industry is keen to translate these trends into real export opportunities in the near future. The United States has about 37,000 call centres while there are only a handful of call centres in India. The potential for setting up more call centres in India is tremendous due to certain competitive advantages such as availability of requisite infrastructure and manpower. In this context, Shri Abdullah referred to the forthcoming INDIASOFT 2001 being organised by ESC on 23-24 February 2001 at New Delhi with the support of his Ministry as well as of Ministry of Information Technology. INDIASOFT 2001 is a business-to-business partnering forum which will give Indian IT companies an opportunity to enter into strategic alliances and joint ventures with overseas IT companies in the area of software services and IT-enabled services.

    Emphasising the government's proactive role in developing the Indian IT industry, Shri Abdullah said that "the government is committed to development and growth of IT-enabled services by creating an enabling business environment. The success of our software exports presently valued at more than US $ 4 billion is to be commended, but the potential for development of IT enabled services is immense when harnessed to our advantage".

'17'

    The four-day deliberations in which most of the top names of the cement and construction industry as well as national and international experts in the field participated, concluded with the following recommendations:

• The industry recognises the importance of energy auditing and monitoring and, in fact, has implemented it in many cases. The gains need to be consolidated by unifying the various energy conservation measures into an integrated approach.
• Realising that co-generation can play an important role in insulating the industry from the adverse effects of power cuts and shortages, as well minimising the emission of green house gases, there is a strong need for overcoming various technological and financial barriers for the implementation of co-generation technology. This also calls for greater emphasis on the use of alternate fuels such as pet-coke, beneficiated coal, natural gas, combustible wastes etc.
• With concern for environmental protection and conserving natural resources, the concepts of Environmental Management System have become increasingly popular and more and more plants need to adopt ISO: 14001 certification to contain environmental damage. The same concern has also compelled the use of various industrial wastes in the manufacturing of cement and construction industry.
• The special needs and requirements for sustainable development of the cement and construction industry and the challenges to be faced during the initial years of the twenty-first century in terms of better production techniques, performance requirements with regard to quality of cement as well as environment-friendly production technologies were emphasised.
• In view of increasingly adverse environmental conditions the need to develop high performance blended cements with better long-term durability were emphasised.
• Towards taking the technological gains extended to rural and urban masses, the Seminar focussed on the use of cement and concrete in the construction of mass housing, social and industrial infrastructure, expressways etc.

    Later in the day, Smt Jayawanti Mehta, Minister of State for Power would give away the National Awards for Energy Efficiency in the Cement Industry.

    The Prime Minister pointed out that the next two pulse polio immunisation days of December 10, 2000 and January 21, 2001 are of crucial importance. ‘If we fail to cover every child in these two rounds then we will have to organise more rounds next year and the year after, if necessary’, the PM added.

    In separate letters to the leaders of all the political parties, the Prime Minister said `political workers can play an important role in mobilising the people behind this national mission. We have now reached what appears to be final phase in our battle against polio. We have a historic opportunity to finally remove the scourge of polio from India.’

    In a letter to the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which account for most of the polio cases in the country and the Chief Ministers of three newly created States, Shri Vajpayee urged the Government of these States to redouble their efforts in next two rounds of Polio immunisation campaign. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to work much harder to mobilise the district administration to reach out to the last child in the last basti and the last mohalla specially of the most seriously affected districts of the two States.

    In his letter to all the Chief Ministers, the Prime Minister advised the State governments not to slacken their efforts in the remaining two rounds. He also urged the States to strengthen their surveillance efforts in the coming months so that no new cases anywhere is missed out, which could lead to reappearance of Polio.

    The Prime Minister called upon to replicate such exercises in nationwide mass mobilisation to overcome other major challenges in public health and other social sectors .

    Improvement in the Organisation is continuous exercise on the part of Ministry and the Corporation so as to enable the Corporation to fulfil the food policy objectives of the Government. For the said purpose, the Government is already resorting to decentralised procurement in certain identified states in consultation with the State Governments, concerned. Similarly efforts are on to enlist the participation of Private Sector in the storage and transportation sector specially with reference to the bulk handling of foodgrains. In addition, the Government has already given necessary clearance to the Corporation to shift the sanctions as well as men-in-position to the needy places on the basis of current volume of operations in the recent exercise of man power planning.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Sriram Chauhan in a written reply to a question of Shri Trilochan Kanungo in Lok Sabha today.

'24'

    The Minister said that in the larger public interest and the well being of the nation the employees should adopt a conciliatory approach and desist from the path of confrontation. He said that such approach will enable the Government to understand and appreciate the problems of the employees better and find reasonable solutions.

    Mentioning that the performance of the postal employees has been outstanding over the years even under difficult circumstances owing to their diligence and dedication, Shri Paswan said that the Department has always viewed the genuine grievances of the employees sympathetically and every effort has been made to settle them with the available resources and constraints. He said that it is also necessary for every employee to weigh their demands in the context of the means and abilities of the Department to meet them. Stating that the country is passing through difficult times and it is the responsibility of every citizen to do all that is possible in generating more resources and achieve greater productivity so that greater prosperity and better quality of life for every Indian remains unhindered, the Minister urged the employees to cooperate with the Government in finding mutually acceptable solutions to their problems which can be discussed across the table.

    The National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE), Federation of National Postal Organisations (FNPO) and Bharatiya Postal Employees Federation (BPEF) had given a notice to go on an indefinite strike from 5^th December 2000 with regard to their demands which among other things include implementation of the positive recommendations of the Talwar Committee and issues relating to service matters of the different Departmental cadres.

'33'

    Shri Fernandes cautioned Coast Guard to be more alert especially in the Gulf of Kutch and Andaman areas in view of continued smuggling of arms and explosives by foreign and unlawful elements including mercenaries. Referring to the sighting of poachers from foreign countries in Andaman seas, the minister said that Coast Guard should be more alert as these alien elements may camp and start objectionable activities from some of the uninhabited islands.

    The minister said that India should take leadership in the maritime world in Indian Ocean as most of the countries of this region look forward towards us not only in protecting the sea-lanes of this Ocean but also to provide training facilities to them in Coast Guard operations. Shri Fernandes said that India should take up this challenge and provide training to the personnel from the South-East Asian and Indian Ocean rim countries. India should be a rallying point and Coast Guard must build up this as a centre of excellence so that in future India will lead in every field, he added.

    The minister lauded the role of Coast Guard in patrolling the coastline and keeping it safe from smugglers, pirates, poachers and law-breakers. He also complimented the organisation for its contribution in protection of environment and the humanitarian assistance provided in search and rescue operations. Referring to the recent rescue of stranded whale in the swamps of Kodikarai in Tamil Nadu, the minister said that even wildlife experts from USA, Canada and Japan failed to offer any appropriate advice in this episode. The defence minister disclosed that apprehension of pirated ship MV Alondra Rainbow of Japan by Coast Guard was highly appreciated by Japan and they thanked him during his last visit to that country. Shri Fernandes said that recently concluded Indo-Japan joint Coast Guard exercise was the first joint exercise done by the Japanese with any other foreign Coast Guard. He also disclosed that France and USA have also sent proposals to hold joint exercises with our Coast Guard.

    The defence minister agreed that there is an urgent need to strengthen Coast Guard as some of the old ships need immediate replacement. Referring to the revision of pay scales of Naviks and Yantriks and sea duty allowance and ration scales, the minister disclosed that high level committee recommendations in this regard have almost been finalised and necessary orders will be issued by the year end.

    Earlier, Director General Coast Guard, Vice Admiral J C De Silva gave a detailed presentation about Coast Guard. Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sushil Kumar and Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Shri P R Sivasubbramanian and Additional Secretary, Shri Ajay Prasad also attended the conference.

'24'

    This year HTL witnessed remarkable growth and development bringing in highest ever sales turnover of Rs.451 crore compared to Rs.359 crore in 1998-99. The profit before tax this year rose by 142% to Rs.20.67 crore from Rs.8.54 crore in the previous year. Similarly the Profit After Tax went up to Rs.12.45 crore from the last year figure of Rs.6.83 crore. The company has also surpassed its production performance in all its product groups vis-à-vis the previous year. The contribution to National and State Exchequer during the year rose to Rs.98 crore in the form of Excise Duty, Customs Duty and Sales Tax.

    The Company has an excellent order book for 2000-2001 and expects to post even better performance in the current year. While the company’s thrust at present is on Access Products, both wireless and wireline, it also proposes to enter the internet and software market. The company is making concerted efforts to enhance its exports.

    For the 9^th consecutive year, HTL’s performance in 1999-2000 was rated excellent under the Government of India MoU Scheme. Among the top ten Public Sector Enterprises in excellent category, HTL ranked third for 1998-99 in MoU performance. In recognition, the Department of Public Enterprises conferred on HTL the Prime Minister’s MoU Award for excellence in performance for 1998-99.

'45'

    Elaborating on the policy initiatives Shri Kannappan said the focus of all energy related policies was to create an investor friendly climate in order to enhance the commercial energy supply. The emphasis on Central Regulatory Commission, uncapped foreign direct investments in the electric power sector and opening up of the oil and gas explorations for foreign investments reflected the Government's endeavour for globalisation of energy sector. It was expected that policy regulation to remove price distortions would create excellent investment climate for both conventional and non-conventional sources of energy.

    In his address the Minister also highlighted the key focus points of the renewable ranges in the non-conventional energy sector. The thrust on renewable ranged from efficient rural energy production and consumption from bio and solar sources to Megawatt scale production from wind and small hydro resources. The programmes in the rural sector had made considerable impact not only in terms of the installation of three million biogas plants and 30 million improved cook stoves but also in terms of the mindset for energy efficiency in rural sector. Biomass gasification was another area that had made tremendous progress. The Ministry had successfully demonstrated the use of gasification technology for decentralised power production and the gasification systems had also been able to acquire an export market for the sector.

"16"

1. Name and address of the importer;
2. Generic or common name of the commodity packed;
3. Net quantity in terms of standard unit of weights and measures. If the net quantity in the imported package is given in any other unit, its equivalent in terms of standard units shall be declared by the importer;
4. Month and year of packing in which the commodity is manufactured or packed or imported;
5. Maximum retail sale price at which the commodity in packaged form may be sold to the ultimate consumer. This price shall include all taxes local or otherwise, freight, transport charges, commission payable to dealers, and all charges towards advertising, delivery, packing, forwarding and the like, as the case may be.

    The notification also makes import of 131 products subject to compliance of the mandatory Indian quality standards as applicable to domestic goods. For compliance of this requirement all manufacturers/exporters of these products to India shall be required to register themselves with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The list of 131 products include various food preservatives and additives, milk powder, infant milk food, certain kinds of cement, house hold and similar electrical appliances, gas cylinders and multipurpose dry batteries.

'16'

    It shall now be mandatory for all exports covered by Notification No.32 to implement bar coding using international symboligies/international numbering standards w.e.f. 1^st April, 2001 instead of from 1^st December, 2000.

    This information was given by the Shri T R Baalu, Union Environment and Forests Minister in reply to a question by Hon’ble Member, Shri Nana Deshmukh in the Rajya Sabha here today.

‘30’

RAJYA SABHA

    The various components of National Forestry Action Programme are as follows :-

1. Protection of Existing Forest Resources: It has three main-sub programmes. (I) Forests protection, (ii) Soil and water conservation, and (iii) Protected areas and biodiversity conservation.
2. Improvement of Forest Productivity: It has four main sub-programmes (i) Rehabilitation of degraded forests, (ii) Research and technology development, (iii) Development of Non-Wood Forest Products and (iv) Assisting private initiatives with community participation.
3. Reduction of Total Demand : It has three main sub-programmes for the efficient uses of (I) Fuel-wood and fodder, (ii) Timber (iii) Non -Wood Forest Products.
4. Strengthening of Policy and Institutional Framework: It has three main sub-programmes. (I) Central forestry administration, (ii) Central forestry institutions, and (iii) State forestry administration and institutions.
5. Expanding Forest Areas: It has two main sub-programmes. (I) Tree plantation on forest and non-forest lands, and (ii) People’s participation in plantations and its protection.

    This information was given by the Shri T. R. Baalu, Union Environment and Forests Minister in reply to a question by Hon’ble Members Shri Kapil Sibal and Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh in the Rajya Sabha here today.

    This information was given by Shri T R Baalu, Minister of Environment and Forests in reply to a question by the Hon’ble Member, Mirza Abdul Rashid in the Rajya Sabha here today.