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    The Government has already decided to allow unrestricted entry for the Basic Services in all the telecom circles. Detailed guidelines in this regard prescribing the conditions relating to matters like entry fee, revenue sharing, eligibility criteria will be announced before the end of next month. While framing the guidelines the need to have a level playing field among all the service providers as envisaged in National Telecom Policy-1999 (NTP-99) will be kept in view.

    The Steel Secretary, Shri A.K. Agarwal has appealed to all concerned not to sell or use off-grade, seconds and defectives procured from domestic and import sources as it is detrimental to the consumers. Stressing on use of quality steel, he said that this would build confidence in the steel users which would ultimately result in increased consumption of steel. Shri Agarwal was inaugurating today a workshop on "Steel Intensive Buildings" jointly organised by the Ministry of Steel, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Institute for Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG), Calcutta and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO). The Secretary said structural steel has become one of the important inputs in construction in the most advanced countries like UK, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and France due to its considerable flexibility in design and fabrication facility.

    He emphasised on increasing steel consumption in building sector in India to increase the per capita consumption which is the lowest 24 kg in India – one-fifth of the world average. He said that it is an ideal material for construction in earthquake prone locations due to high strengths, stiffness, ductility and uniform quality. It is environment friendly and fully recyclable on replacement.

    Shri Agarwal said that pre-fabricated elements can be successfully used to build quick-fix structures like rural police stations in areas prone to dacoity and naxalite activities. He suggested development of different types of steels with suitable alloys to make them more corrosion resistant. He stressed on developing cost-effective project-specific high quality steel for major projects in the industrial sector. As a small increase in price results in substantial fall in demand, producers should concentrate on cost reduction initiatives, he said.

    The Secretary outlined the post liberalisation government initiatives for the growth of steel industry and steps taken to boost demand for iron and steel. He said that the Ministry on the recommendations of the Steel Consumers Council, is shortly going to set up a group to suggest modalities for production of project-specific high quality steel. He expected that the deliberations in the workshop would benefit the steel sector and promote intensive usage of steel in the construction.

    The Chairman and Managing Director, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO), Shri V. Suresh gave a comprehensive picture of rural and urban housing and opportunities for use of steel. He said that shelter for all has been a priority area in National Agenda for Governance. The requirement of houses is fast growing and the housing stock is expected to reach 179.1 million by the year 2001. We need to build around 6 million houses every year to wipe out the shortages of 30 million houses at present. He hoped that rapid development in the construction industry and the continued research on building materials would help explore innovative applications of steel. The day is not far enough when steel would prove to be the queen of building materials, he said.

    SAIL Chairman Shri Arvind Pande in his address said that steel is gradually being preferred in construction. He visualised that the construction sector would emerge as the pioneer in the steel revolution in the country. The Development Commissioner, Iron & Steel Shri R.K. Prasannan welcomed the guests and said that the workshop would create an environment for the promotion of steel in construction industry.

    The Minister of Communications, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan launched "Greeting Post", a series of greeting cards for all occasions here today. The entire range of attractive greeting cards with prepaid postage envelopes is a unique concept first time ever in India. The ‘Greeting Post’ a premium product, has been innovatively designed by the Business Development Directorate of the Department of Posts (DoP). The greeting cards will be in two sizes – one is priced at Rs.12/- and the other at Rs.15/- inclusive of postage.

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    The Minister of Surface Transport, Shri Rajnath Singh has stressed the need for a common Action Plan for the transportation of dangerous and hazardous goods in the region.

    Inaugurating the UN ESCAP Seminar on transport of dangerous and hazardous goods here today, the Minister assured full cooperation in this endeavour for harmonization of rules and regulations in the region and training of personnel for safe storage and handling of transportation of hazardous goods.

    Recalling the call given by the Ministerial Conference on Infrastructure held in New Delhi in October 1996 for regional cooperation to avoid loss of human and material resources due to accidents, the Minister underlined the need for training of personnel for harmonizing the rules and regulations for creating awareness among general public. He observed that with speedy economic and industrial growth taking place, huge quantities of dangerous and hazardous goods were increasingly required to be moved from one place to another within the country and outside. He said serious accidents in the past during transportation of such goods had almost invariably occurred on account of inadequate awareness and training of those who handle them. He said, transportation of such goods was considered to be a skilled job and must be handled through properly trained personnel. The Minister expressed the hope that the Seminar would help in the exchange of knowledge, information and skills amongst countries of the region as it was aimed at investigating legislative rules and regulations relating to the transportation of dangerous goods in SAARC countries.

    Lauding the efforts of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in getting the services of international experts, he said they would be able to provide insight into the practices followed in transportation of hazardous goods in their respective countries and the world at large and would help to achieve the ultimate objective to learn and practise safe methods of storage and handling of dangerous and hazardous goods.

    Welcoming the guests, Minister of State for Surface Transport, Shri Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav said that the transportation of dangerous and hazardous goods involved certain risks primarily because of lack of education and expertise in handling them. He said over the years the variety and type of hazardous goods to be moved inland as also across the border had increased and improper handling of such substances could pose major risks to workers safety.

    The Minister said that devising ways and means to prevent such accidents should be of utmost concern and there should be no hesitation in adopting safe practices for transportation of such goods being followed in advanced countries. He called for sharing of knowledge particularly field expertise among experts.

    Mr.J.R.Moon, Chief, General Transport, Coordination and Communications, Transport, Tourism and Infrastructure Development Division, ESCAP and experts from ESCAP and Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and delegates from the countries of the sub-continent and various organizations connected with different aspects of transportation in regard to hazardous and dangerous substances within the country will be presenting their papers during the 4-day Seminar which will conclude on September 8, 2000 with the adoption of recommendations.

    Earlier, Secretary, Department of Road Transport & Highways, Min. of Surface Transport, Shri Ashoke Joshi in his opening remarks welcomed the delegates and hoped that the Seminar will provide useful exchange of views. Shri Alok Rawat, Joint Secretary, Transport, Min. of Surface Transport presented a vote of thanks.

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    The Special Class Railway Apprentices’ Examination 2000, which was originally scheduled to be held on December 10, 2000 has been postponed to December 24, 2000. This was announced by the Union Public Service Commission today.

    The value of flowers exported from the country during 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 is as follows:

    The total quantity and value of basmati and non-basmati rice exported during 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are as under:

   Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P.Thakur has said that his ministry has entrusted the responsibility of undertaking the pre-survey on the requirements of health care, and the post-survey, on the impact of the Health Melas in the areas, chosen for such carnivals in the country. While formally presenting the ISO-9001 certificate to the Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation, a public sector undertaking, under the administrative control of the ministry, at NOIDA, today, the Minister said that public utility organizations can survive only when they satisfy the requirements of the public, on time. He suggested that All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and Indian Council of Medical Research, would serve the patients, as institutes of excellence, in their respective fields, with their staff not demanding higher emoluments.

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    Nawahshahr district of Punjab, Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Shimla and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh have been selected for this year's Satyen Maitra Memorial Literacy Award. The award is given to two to four best performing districts under the Adult Education programme. As a number of districts have completed the Post Literacy Phase (PLP) after the completion of Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) Phase, this year award is given to two TLC and two PLPdistricts

    During 1999-2000, Nawahshahr district ranked first and Aligarh district ranked second under the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) phase. In the Post Literacy Phase (PLP), the award has gone to Shimla and Hamirpur districts.

    In Nawahshahr, the TLC project was initiated in November, 1997 and was completed in June 1999. The success rate of the district as a whole is 60.3%. In Aligarh district, 72.2% of the sampled learners achieved National Literacy Mission norms with success rate for the district at 53 per cent.

    Under the Post Literacy Programme, 53,116 were enrolled in the Shimla district and has achieved the quality of post-literacy index of 82.4%. In Hamirpur district of the State the quality of post literacy index has been assessed at 64.80%, where the post literacy programme was started for 21,000 neo literates.

    The award was instituted in 1996 in the memory of the great adult educator who died in the same year after rendering selfless service for the cause of Adult Education.

    The awards will be presented at a function here on the 8^th of this month coinciding with the International Literacy Day.

    The Government will adopt holistic and convergent approach for achieving Universal Elementary Education in a Mission Mode through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The Abhiyan to be launched shortly, aims to provide elementary education of satisfactory quality to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. This target is to be achieved by the year 2010 by bridging social and gender gaps with an active participation of the community in the affairs of the school. This information was given by the Secretary, Elementary Education and Literacy Smt. Achala Moulik while inaugurating a seminar on "Teachers As Transformers" organised to mark the Teachers Day. This Seminar was jointly organised by the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy, National Council for Teacher Education and UNESCO.