The position with regard to coal production, dispatch of coal to the consumers and closing stock during the month of August, 2000 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year is as under:-

    The Government has taken several measures in conformity with the emerging globalization of Indian economy and various progressive and just socio-economic environment during the last one year since October 13, 1999 when it was sworn in. A total of 65 Central Acts and five Constitution Amendment Acts were enacted by Parliament during the year. Besides, four Ordinances, five Constitution Orders, two Regulations and 2970 Statutory Rules, Orders and Notifications were promulgated. All these were effected to promote second generation economic reforms. In addition, the Government took a policy decision to amend the Constitution of India in the forth-coming Winter Session of Parliament for extending the freeze on delimitation of Parliamentary and State Assembly Constituencies upto 2026. Under the proposed amendment, the Government will undertake readjustment and rationalisation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies in States without altering the number of seats allotted to them in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and Legislative Assemblies, including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Constituencies. The number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies will also be refixed. Thereafter, these will be referred to Delimitation Commission.

'24'

SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN TO RELEASE COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP ON RAJ KUMAR SHUKLA

    The Minister of Communications, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan will release a commemorative postage stamp on the 125^th birth anniversary of the noted freedom fighter Shri Raj Kumar Shukla on 16^th October, 2000 at Motihari in Bihar. Issued by the Department of Posts(DoP), the stamp is in the denomination of Rs. 3/-.

    In India’s struggle for Independence the "Champaran Satyagraha", marks a very important stage. Raj Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi, who had just returned from South Africa, to the plight of the peasants suffering under an oppressive system established by European indigo planters. Besides other excesses they were forced to cultivate indigo on 3/20 part of their holding and sell it to the planters at prices fixed by the planters. This marked Gandhiji’s entry into the India’s Struggle for Freedom. On his arrival at Motihari, the district headquarters, accompanied by Raj Kumar Shukla, Gandhiji was ordered to leave by the next available train which he refused to do and was arrested. He was released and the ban order was withdrawn in the face of a, "Satyagraha" threat. Gandhiji conducted an open enquiry into the peasant’s grievances. The Government had to appoint an enquiry committee with Gandhiji as a member. This led to the abolition of the system.

    Raj Kumar Shukla has been described by Gandhiji in his "Atmakatha", as a man whose suffering gave him the strength to rise against the odds.

    In his letter to Gandhiji he wrote "Respected Mahatma, You hear the stories of others everyday. Today please listen to my story….. I want to draw your attention to the promise made by you in the Lucknow Congress that you would come to Champaran. The time has come for you to fulfil your promise. 19 lakhs suffering people of Champaran are waiting to see you."

    Gandhiji reached Patna on 10 April, 1917 and on 16 April he reached Motihari accompanied by Raj Kumar Shukla. Under Gandhiji’s leadership the historic "Champaran Satyagraha" began. The contribution of Raj Kumar Shukla is reflected in the writings of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India, Acharya Kriplani and of course, Mahatma Gandhi himself. Raj Kumar Shukla maintained a diary in which he has given an account of struggle against the atrocities of the indigo planters, atrocities so movingly depicted by Deen Bandhu Mitra in "Neel Darpan", a play that was translated by Michael Madhusudan Dutt.

    The First Day Cover alongwith the information sheet will be available on sale at all Philatelic Bureaux/Counters and at selected Post Offices.

    A day-long meeting of State Revenue Secretaries is being organised here by the Ministry of Rural Development on October 14, 2000. The meeting which will be inaugurated by the Rural Development Minister Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will take a look into the implementation of ceiling on land holdings and tenancy reforms. Important issues to figure in the discussions will include whether the level of ceiling on holdings and exemptions should be re-defined on the basis of availability and fertility of land and the possibility of constituting special courts to expedite pending cases. The possibility of involving Village Level Agencies to unearth clandestine tenancy would be discussed. The meeting would also deliberate on the need for re-survey to find out the type of soil, source of irrigation and crop pattern besides re-defination of terms like voluntary surrenders and personal cultivation.

    It is estimated that till March 1996, 30.55 lakh hectares were declared surplus of which possession was taken of 26.93 lakh hectares and 21.19 lakh hectares were distributed. The number of beneficiaries was 50.76 lakh. However, the implementation of ceiling laws in various states especially in the distribution of surplus land to the eligible beneficiaries was tardy. While 30 million tenants have got free-hold rights on tenure-hold land on the basis of tenancy reforms, it is estimated that about 15 million concealed tenants still exist who are yet to receive the legal protection provided in the law.

    Hence, the need for effective implementation of land reforms as ‘Land to the Tillers’ still remains a far cry.

    Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has said that the government was determined to undo the 'inspector-raj' so as to remove the roadblocks coming in way of speedier implementation of projects involving foreign direct investment (FDI). While addressing the feedback session with investors from Netherlands here today, Shri Maran, stated that FDI has been one of the defining features of the liberalisation process started in the country in 1991 and also indicated that government was keen to widen the window of automatic clearances for FDI projects. He reiterated that FDI inflows into the country were likely to touch US $ 5 billion in the current calendar year. The feedback session was organised by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

    During the first year of the Government, the Steel Ministry has taken many fresh initiatives to make the steel sector vibrant as steel is a basic and core sector and is crucial to the material development of any modern society. A business and financial restructuring package for Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been approved by the Government, which includes, inter alia, waiver of loan from Steel Development Fund and the Government of India, provision of Government guarantees to raise loan to enable the implementation of Voluntary Retirement Scheme and repayment of past obligations and divestment of its non-core assets while protecting jobs of existing employees. A detailed MOU has been signed between the Ministry of Steel and SAIL incorporating milestones for the implementation of the package. This is a landmark decision in the history of Indian PSU restructuring and would provide SAIL a long-term solution for its rejuvenation. Implementation of restructuring package is in progress and some of the milestones have already been accomplished.

    Soon after the formation of the new government the Ministry of Steel organised a Round Table on Steel on October, 1999 with a view to holding wide-ranging discussions with the captains of the steel industry in the public and private sector, financial institutions, industry associations and experts. Action on important recommendations of the Round Table have been initiated and matters have been taken up with the concerned ministries and agencies.

    Ministry of Steel has constituted a Project Co-ordination Group (PCG) under the Chairmanship of the Minister of State for Steel. Secretaries in the Ministry of Finance, Commerce, Power and Coal, CEOs of Financial Institutions and SBI and President, INSDAG are the Members. The First meeting of the Group was held on March 13, 2000. Various inputs were received on problems and issues relating to the units. Personal interface also took place between the entrepreneurs and members of the PCG. Second meeting in September, 2000 discussed various issues relating to demand generation, duty matters, exim policy and rising cost of inputs. The problems of ongoing iron and steel projects were also discussed.

    Empowered Committee, constituted by the Ministry of Steel has approved specific 20 research project proposals. The total cost of these projects is Rs.149.30 crore. The research areas cover mining and benification of minerals, improvement of properties of coal, reduction in energy consumption, reduction of refractory consumption, improvement in productivity, utilisation and treatment of wastes, control of pollution, improvement of quality, development of human resources etc. All the projects are under implementation.

    Hundred per cent Foreign Direct Investment through automatic route in the Iron & Steel Sector has been allowed by the Government. To provide raw materials and transport linkages to sponge iron, pig iron, steel and coke oven units, Linkage Committee has met and assured supply of main raw materials and committed transport linkages to iron and steel units in the country.

    The Steel Minister met the Finance Minister in October 1999 to apprise him of the current status of the iron and steel sector and suggest certain remedial measures to revive this core sector of the economy. The suggestions related mainly to customs and excise duty structure for iron and steel and its raw materials. In the budget 2000-01, waiver of excise duty on freight and handling charges has been agreed to and anomaly in the duty structure of ferro nickel/nickel oxide sinters/charged nickel has been corrected.

    The Ministry of Railways had agreed to rationalise freight classification of steel and its raw materials with a view to reducing the financial burden on the steel industry. It has also agreed to consider issues relating to minimum chargeable distance. An important outcome was that the Railways, in future, would take all rails in the 52 and 60 kgs. category produced by the Bhilai Steel Plant.

    The Steel Ministry has initiated action on anti-dumping duties levied by the US which has stood in the way of export. The Ministries of Commerce and External Affairs have been requested to take up the issue with WTO.

    The mining companies in the steel sector such as Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) have achieved more than 100 per cent of the targeted production. Production of finished steel from April to July, 2000 has shown an increase of 7.6 per cent and export during this period has grown by 7.46 per cent.

    During this year, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), the only shore-based integrated Steel Plant in India has achieved full ISO-9002 certification, the first for any integrated steel plant in India. The company has achieved highest domestic sales since inception during 1999-2000 and during April-August has exceeded the targets in most of production parameters. KIOCL has got one year extension of lease and government is trying for its further extension for 20 years. NMDC, during April-August, 2000 has produced 14.8 million tonnes of iron ore and exported 6.86 million tonnes. It produced 41.878 carats of diamond during this period.

MINOR RELAXATION IN PADDY PROCUREMENT NORMS IN PUNJAB

   The Government has decided to procure paddy in Punjab with damaged, discoloured, sprouted and weeviled grains up to a maximum limit of 7% instead of 3% provided for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) paddy at Rs. 515 per quintal for grade 'A' and Rs. 485 per quintal for common grade with immediate effect. The Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of Grade `A' and common variety of FAQ paddy are Rs. 540 per quintal and Rs. 510 per quintal respectively during the kharif marketing season 2000-2001. The FAQ paddy shall, however, continue to be procured at Rs. 540 and Rs. 510 per quintal for grade `A' and common variety respectively. The specification of rice however shall remain unchanged and rice of uniform specification (FAQ) only would be accepted by the FCI in the interest of the consumers of rice.

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NATIONAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE SET UP ON CHILD HEALTH

    Government has set up the National Technical Committee on Child Health with the objective of seeking Professional Opinion on Implementation of Programmes for Child survival, health and development. The Members of the Committee have been drawn from National Professional Organizations like The Indian Academy of Paediatrics, National Neonatology Forum of India, Indian Medical Association, Indian Association of Social and Preventive Medicines, Medical Council of India and Nursing Council of India. The Committee will not only advise Government about existing interventions but also suggest additional measures for achieving the Infant Mortality rate of less than 30 per 1000 live births at the earliest. The Committee meets once in every three months and its recommendations will be examined by the Department of Family Welfare in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for operational feasibility. It's maiden meeting was held here last month.

    Government has decided to observe a Newborn Week from 15^th to 21st November 2000 to focus on the infant survival. Marking that occasion, activities at National/State/District level have been planned to orient community and health workers for provision of basic neonatal care. About two thirds of all infant deaths occur during the first month of life. More than half of these deaths take place during the first few days of life. Neonatal survival can be assured through the health care of the mother during the antinatal period, the time of child birth and the neonatal period.

    The Immunization Strengthening Project Reproductive and Child Health Outreach Scheme, Strengthening of Referral Services and organization of RCH camps and Health Melas are among the several programmes of the Government to improve the maternal and Child health status. In addition, a Border Cluster District Project has been launched in select districts with the specific objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by atleast 50 percent in the next four years.

‘5’

    Government of India is taking appropriate and effective steps for the extradition/deportation of Chhota Rajan from Bangkok. The Thai authorities have been advised through diplomatic channels that we propose to seek the extradition/deportation of Chhota Rajan, and that he may be kept under provisional arrest. Extradition papers have been received from the Maharashtra Police. These papers were incomplete in terms of the required legal documentation which the Maharashtra Police had promised to furnish expeditiously. These papers have been received only today and are being examined.

'14'

    Unit-1 of Kaiga Atomic Power Project has been synchronized to the Southern Grid today at 11:34 hrs after authorization from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). This activity has been achieved in a record period of 15 days after criticality of the unit on September 26, 2000 against a normal period of 2 to 3 months. The unit has been operating at 50 MWe level, which will gradually be increased to full power after completion of mandatory tests to ascertain safety and reliability. The total installed nuclear power capacity in the country has now gone up to 2500 Mwe. The Kaiga plant is located in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. It has two units of Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor type each of 220 MWe. The Kaiga Atomic Power Station will supply much needed electricity to the southern grid. Power generated from Kaiga will be shared by five states viz. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondychery.

    It may be noted that unit-2 of the plant was synchronized to the grid on 2^nd December 1999 and dedicated to the nation by Hon’ble Prime Minister on March 05, 2000. Synchronization of the unit-1 within a gap of about ten months of synchronization of unit-2 is a record and has been achieved for the first time.

    Further, it may noted that unit-3 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station which attained criticality on December 24, 1999 and synchronized to the Grid on March 10, 2000, was declared commercial on June 12, 2000. Thus, in about one year period, NPCIL has brought three units to the grid with a total capacity of 660 MWe.

    The Kaiga Plant has been totally based on indigenous resources – design, construction and manufacturing including nuclear material. The Kaiga Plant will use indigenously produced "Natural Uranium" as fuel and indigenously produced heavy water as moderator coolant. The Kaiga Plant uses state-of-the-art technology on par with anywhere in the world. Kaiga design meets all the requirements laid down in the revised safety standards. Safety features based on defence-in-depth, redundancy, diversity and ‘fail-safe’ philosophy have been used at Kaiga. Besides, effects of external events have also been taken into consideration in the design of the plant.

    Further, unit-4 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (220 Mwe) is in advanced stages of completion and expected to achieve criticality during this year. NPCIL posted a profit of Rs. 552 crores (before prior period adjustments) during the financial year 1999-2000. The company paid a dividend of Rs. 61.48 crores to the Government of India. Incidentally, all the NPCIL’s nuclear power plants are operating at capacity factor of plus 85 per cent today.

RS.110 CRORE FOR NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR CONTROL OF BLINDNESS THIS YEAR

    A sum of Rs. 110 Crore has been allocated for the current fiscal year for National Programme for Control of Blindness. Centre has already released Rs.70 Crore to the States and Union Territories till last month. Regional Institutes of Opthalmology have been given Rs.50 Lakh each as outright grant for the development of the infrastructure facilities. A survey on blindness was initiated in 14 selected districts. Planning for Vision 2000 has been initiated.

    World Sight Day is being observed every year on October 12. Screening and correction of refractive errors among school going pupils will be the highlight of this year's programme. The four- pronged strategy of the National Programme for Control of Blindness covering the entire country from this year, is to strengthen service delivery, develop human resources for eye care, promote outreach activities and public awareness and develop institutional capacity.

    During the last financial year, 35 lakh cataract surgeries were conducted in the country, of which about 40 percent were IOL surgeries. In order to reduce the prevalence of blindness at the goal level of 0.3 percent, at least 2 crore 10 lakh cataract surgeries are to be conducted in the next seven years.

    The World Bank funded project of controlling cataract blindness has covered the seven States of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, where prevalence of blindness was found to be higher than the National Average of 1.49 percent. Under this project, assistance was provided to these States for construction of eye wards, operation theatres, procurement of equipments, granting aids to NGOs, training of surgeons in IOL, IEC etc.

   Dr Vallabhbhai Kathiria, the Minister of state for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has said that a Rs.22 Crore Technopark will be built up in Rajkot, Gujarat. The project to be completed in about 18 months with entire funding from NRI’s will be spread over more than 1,50,000 square feet area. He was speaking at a presentation to showcase the IT potential to a group of media persons at the shastri Maidan, the venue of Industrial exposition 2000 here today.