The 21^st Technical Conference of CATA was inaugurated by the Union Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha, here yesterday. The 5-day conference which will continue till 1^st December is being attended by 70 delegates from 31 Commonwealth countries. The topics selected for detailed discussions during the Conference are "Harmful Tax Competition and Money Laundering" and "Reform and Modernisation of Tax Administration in the New Millennium".

'16'

ANTI-DUMPING MECHANISM BEING FURTHER STRENGTHENED, SAYS ABDULLAH: STRESS ALSO ON IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS TO FACE IMPORTS

    Emphasising that post-2005, India would be entering a new era with trade barriers coming down drastically, Shri Abdullah said that the government was trying to catalyse the process of transforming the Indian industry to face the world by focussing more and more on core competence and competitiveness. "Issues like increasing operational efficiency, cost reduction, safety, health, environment and waste management are of immense importance. It is essential that as a nation we need to encash on every possible opportunity of gaining competitiveness", the Minister said. Shri Abdullah also indicated that India has submitted several proposals to the WTO to improve implementation of the WTO Agreements on Anti-dumping and on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures by removing the existing imbalances so as to create a level playing field for the domestic industry. Referring to problems facing exports from India which had attracted frequent anti-dumping duties particularly in the EU -- with the number of such cases estimated to be more than 50 in the last 5 years -- Shri Abdullah said that wherever such investigations were found to be unfair, India had approached the Dispute Settlement Body of WTO for a judicial review. It was a matter of great concern for the government, he said, that a legislation had been enacted by a major trading country which called for distributing anti-dumping and countervailing duties levied on offending exporters to the domestic companies which had been hurt by unfair trade practices and informed that India had conveyed its serious concern on this issue to the WTO as such legislations could result in encouraging unfair trade practice petitions. He also said that the government was trying to devise a more efficient mechanism for information dissemination to enable Indian companies to fight their cases on stronger grounds.

    Shri L.V. Saptharishi, Additional Secretary and DG in the Directorate of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, said that the establishment of the WTO had brought in a new world trading order. The need for anti-dumping had increased in the wake of the removal of QRs and reduction of duties, he observed and added that there were a lot of operational and legal issues involved which needed to be understood and addressed in the anti-dumping mechanism of the government. Earlier, Shri R. V. Kanoria, Chairman, Foreign Trade Committee of FICCI made his welcome address and a theme presentation on anti-dumping which highlighted the industry's concerns regarding the issues to be considered for anti-dumping actions.

    Exports of iron and steel, as per the existing policy are freely allowed. Exports of iron and steel and their destination depend on several factors such as domestic and international demand, domestic prices, prices in importing countries, etc. These factors are usually dynamic and change frequently. Based on the prevailing market conditions, enterprises themselves explore and tap the export markets.

    This information was given by the Minister of Steel Shri B.K.Tripathy in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

    This information was given by the Minister of Steel Shri B.K.Tripathy in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

‘7’

    The number of judges in Delhi subordinate courts was increased by 33 in the month of June, 2000, raising its strength to 385. In the case of Delhi Bar Association versus Union of India and Others, the Central Government has submitted before the Supreme Court of India that out of these 385 posts, 248 are currently in position. If all the 385 posts are filled up, it would be able to take care of pending as well as current cases.

    This information was given by the Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question from Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha today.

‘7’

    The sanctioned strength of Guwahati High Court is 18 permanent /Additional Judges against the population of three crores thirteen lakhs eighty six thousand nine hundred and eleven as per 1991 census. Accordingly, per judge population of the North East is seventeen lakhs fortythree thousand seven hundred and seventeen as against the all India per judge population of fourteen lakhs sixteen thousnd six hundred and fiftyone.

    This information was given by the Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question from Shri C.M. Ibrahim in the Rajya Sabha today.

‘7’

    The Central Government does not allocate any funds to the State. Funds are allocated by the National Legal Services Authority to the State Legal Services Authorities on receipt of detailed requirements. The State Authorities are required to utilise these funds for the purposes for which these have been sanctioned. If any State Authority is unable to utilise the amount of funds sanctioned to it in a particular financial year, then it seeks the approval of National Legal Services Authority for carry forward of the balance amount to the next year.

    National Legal Services Authority, which is also called the Central Authority, has laid down policies and principles and framed various schemes for making legal services available under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987. These schemes and policies are reviewed by the Central Authority from time to time and modifications wherever required are carried out.

    This information was given by the Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping Shri Arun Jaitley in a written reply to a question from Smt. Jayaprada Nahata in the Rajya Sabha today.

'13'

GRADING SYSTEM MOOTED FOR EXAMS

    In order to implement the decision, discussions are being held by the CBSE and the NCERT with various schools, Teaching Community, Parents Representatives, Universities and other Boards. The CBSE currently follows a system of declaring examination results in terms of both marks and grades.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

'13'

GOVERNMENT ASKED TO ENHANCE ALLOCATION FOR SCIENCE POPULARISATION

    Echoing the sentiments expressed at the meeting the Minister of State for Science and Technology Shri Bachi Singh Rawat asked the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy to explore all the possibilities of raising more funds for the programme. He said that unless we communicate the benefits of our scientific achievements right down to the grassroot level, the commonman will not benefit. In fact, science communication has to be reoriented in such way to ensure this, he said.

    Shri Rawat commended the Council for successfully demonstrating the changes that can be brought about in improving the quality of life of the rural population, including women and the weaker sections of the society. The meeting decided to redouble its efforts to see that science popularisation and communication is effectively carried out to cover various segments of the society.

    Rice production in the State is expected to be touching 1.1 lakh tonnes this year and the procurement of rice by FCI will be through levy route from Karnataka; the Union Minister was informed.

    This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Smt. Bijoya Chakravarty in a written reply to the question from Dr. Y. Lakshmi Prasad in the Rajya Sabha today.

    Out of Rs. 15.00 crore, the State Government of Assam has utilised Rs. 9.00 crore for implementation of flood control schemes during 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 (up to October, 2000).

    This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Smt. Bijoya Chakravarty in a written reply to the question from Shri Drupad Borgohain in the Rajya Sabha today.

    The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and its 16 Regional Directorates located all over the country guide the State Governments in mitigating the problem of contamination of ground water. Chemical Laboratories of CGWB functioning in the Regional Directorates collect sample of ground water and after their analysis suggest necessary remedial measures to the State Governments. Besides, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) also organises mass awareness programmes among general public and industrial workers regarding pollution of ground water.

    This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Water Resoureces, Smt. Bijoya Chakravarty in a written reply to the question from Shri Brahmakumar Bhatt in the Rajya Sabha today.

    Anthropological Survey of India has been reminded to expedite the submission of their findings.

    This information was given by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram in a written reply to the question from Prof. Ummareaddy Venkateswarlu in the Lok Sabha today.

'5'

JUSTICE MALIMATH COMMITTEE TO RECOMMEND MEASURES FOR REVAMPING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

    One of the important terms of reference of the Committee is to suggest sound system of managing, on professional lines, the pendency of cases at investigation and trial stages and making the police, the prosecution and the judiciary accountable for delays in their respective domains. The Committee will also examine the feasibility of introducing the concept of "federal crime" which can be put on List 1 in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.

    The Committee is chaired by Shri Justice V.S. Malimath, former Chief Justice of Karnataka/Kerala High Court. Other members of the Committee are Shri S. Vardhachari, former Adviser, Planning Commission and Shri Amitabh Gupta, former Director General of Police, Rajasthan, Shri Durgadas Gupta, Joint Secretary, Department of Justice, will act as the Secretary to the Committee.

    The Committee will submit its report within six months from the date of its first sitting.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Ch. Vidyasagar Rao in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

'5'

    The Security Forces deployed along the borders have been alerted and are kept apprised about any reports of smuggling of arms and drugs. Narcotics Control Bureau has taken several steps in close coordination with the Governments of North-Eastern States for checking smuggling of drugs and the position is reviewed from time to time at various levels. Besides modernisation/upgradation of State Police Forces by grant of Central Financial assistance, information received from various sources is shared with the State Governments for taking appropriate steps for checking smuggling of arms and drugs.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri I.D. Swami in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

    The other salient feature of the Bill is that all workers have been brought within its ambit irrespective of their nature of employment. This is for the first time that contract labourers will be provided compensation for death or disability. Another striking feature of the Bill is that in case of delay in payment of compensation, both the interest and the penalty shall be paid to the workman or his dependent or as the case may be. Earlier only interest on the compensation amount was paid to the workers while penalty constituting upto 50% of the compensation amount paid by the employer, was credited to the government.

    Replying to the debate, the Labour Minister Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya described the Bill as a limited effort and said it is a beginning by the government for the welfare of workers. He said that the second National Labour Commission is looking into the framing of a comprehensive Bill for workers’ welfare. Dr. Jatiya said that Labour Ministry is also working on the Agricultural Labours Bill.

    The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 was last amended by Parliament in 1995.

'20'

    While welcoming his counterpart from Iraq, Shri Ram Naik recalled the historic close relations between India and Iraq and the close cooperation that the two countries have had in economic, technical cultural fields based on mutuality of interests. He expressed India's concern at the continuation of UN sanction against Iraq and its humanitarian consequences and assured India's support for peace and stability in the Gulf region. On this occasion, Dr. Amer Mohammed Rashid brought out the vast opportunities that would be available in Iraq and expected the level of cooperation between India & Iraq would be further expanded. Responding to India's request for allocation of higher quantities of 'Crude Oil', he assured for favorable consideration. Currently India imports about 1.5 Million Metric Ton per annum of Basrah Light crude oil for its refineries.

    The Minister further said that oil constituted a core sector of cooperation in the Indo-Iraq relations. He said that considerable progress has been achieved in economic, technical, industrial and cultural areas since the last Joint Commission meeting in Baghdad in July 1999. Iraq fully utilised all the slots allotted for training in technical fields, there were exchange of visits of specialists such as medical experts, engineers, agriculture scientists, etc. India also participated in Baghdad International Trade Fair in 1999 & 2000. The Minister also noted that the range of commodities traded has become more diverse with increase in quantity of tea sold to Iraq and that Iraq has placed an order worth $ 200 million on BHEL for turbines. Shri Ram Naik stated that there was immense potential for further progress in the untapped areas as presently India accounts for not more than 2.8 per cent of Iraq's import. The possibilities exist in areas such as health, industry, education, oil fields supplies, agriculture and the supplies of pharmaceuticals to Iraq.

    The deliberation of the Joint Commission at the Official level are in progress and both sides expressed the hope that the outcome of the deliberations of the Joint Commission would substantially expand cooperation between the two countries by laying a framework for a strong multi-faceted relationship. The agreed minutes of the Joint Commission deliberations are scheduled to be signed by the two sides on 29^th November, 2000 in the presence of Vice-President of Iraq and the Prime Minister.

    The National Agenda for Governance of the Government of India envisages provision of drinking water supply facilities to all rural habitations in five years, subject to availability of funds.

    As the powers to plan, sanction and implement individual rural water supply schemes have been delegated to the State Governments, the schemes are sanctioned and implemented at the State level itself. The Government of India has sanctioned sector reform projects aimed to institutionalise community participation in rural water supply programme in 57 pilot districts since 1^st April, 1999. A statement indicating the sanctioned projects and the sanctioned project costs in at Annexure. The first instalment of funds in respect of 45 projects have been released to the State Governments/district implementing agencies towards the fag end of the financial year 1999-2000 and during the current financial year. The funds in respect of these projects are not released on annual allocation basis, but on the basis of achievement in terms of successful implementation of the project concept.

    Reports have been received from the States of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa regarding scarcity of drinking water due to deficient rainfall and lowering of ground water table. In view of the peculiar situation available in these States regarding scarcity of drinking water, the Government of India has decided to relax the priorities fixed in the Guidelines relating to the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) to rejuvenation, renovation, restoration and replacement of existing rural drinking water supply schemes in areas affected by scarcity of drinking water in the above mentioned States. Further, the second instalment of ARWSP funds for the year 2000-2001 has been released to Gujarat and Rajasthan in relaxation of the requisite conditions.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri Subhash Maharia in a written reply to a question of Shri Prabhunath Singh, Shri Jai Bhadra Singh, Shri Padam Sen Chowdhary, Shri Shankershinh Vaghela and Shri Jai Prakash in Lok Sabha today.