'19'

WORKSHED CUM HOUSING SCHEME TO BENEFIT 50,000 EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED PERSONS IN GUJARAT

    Besides imparting training for starting the unit during the initial period, the tool kits will also be provided so that economic activities could be started and sustained. About 5000 work- sheds are also proposed to be made available for Handicraft workers in the worst affected areas of Surender Nagar and Kutch. DC (Handicrafts) and DC (Handlooms) would jointly help in the reconstruction efforts. The Office of the Development commissioner for Handicrafts is also working on a Work-shed cum Housing scheme for Ten talukas in Bhuj District having maximum concentration of Handicrafts workers. Out of this 4000 units are proposed to be constructed in rural areas while 1000 units in urban areas. An amount of Rs 5 Crore is proposed to be spent on this scheme.

    Moreover the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handicrafts has contributed Rs. 50 lakhs as share capital assistance to Gujarat State Handicraft Development Board to assist the artisans.

‘6A’

NEW ASSIGNMENT FOR DR. V.S. RAMAMURTHY

'16'

50,000 METRIC TONNES OF ONION RELEASED FOR EXPORT

1. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) -- 25,000 metric tonnes;
2. Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) -- 10,000 metric tonnes;
3. Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. (GAIC) -- 5000 metric tonnes;
4. The Spices Trading Corporation Ltd. (STCL) -- 2500 metric tonnes;
5. AP-State Trading Corporation- 2500 metric tonnes;
6. The Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. (KSCMF) -- 2500 metric tonnes; and
7. The National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) -- 2500 metric tonnes.

'16'

OMAR ABDULLAH FOR RAISING INDO-SUDAN TRADE TO OVER US $ 100 MILLION

RATIFICATION PROCESS FOR BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT TO BE EXPEDITED

    The Minister offered India's cooperation and experience for the development of Sudanese economy and infrastructure. India could provide consultancy in telecom, railways, information technology, irrigation & power, petroleum & natural gas, fertilisers, chemicals & pharmaceuticals and infrastructure/construction projects, he said. India, Shri Abdullah said, would be happy to provide training in different fields particularly for the development of small and medium sized industries in Sudan. Sudan on its part could augment export of organic chemicals, cotton, metals and ores, lentils and could make a fresh start in fruits, the Minister said. "We can combine our efforts for setting up of joint ventures in the two countries as well as in third countries for production of commodities for which we together have necessary ingredients", Shri Abdullah said. The Minister said that he was sure that the entrepreneurs of India and Sudan would take advantage of the immense potential that the two countries possessed in various sectors particularly for the purpose of exports of a variety of products.

    Referring to Sudan's bid for seeking accession to the WTO, Shri Abdullah said that as India believed in the universal membership of WTO, it would be supportive of Sudan's membership. "We hope that this development will be helpful in expanding Sudan's external trade and consequently its bilateral trade with India…. I would like to mention that our joint efforts for broadening economic cooperation would have better chances of success if we take steps to eliminate trade impediments and promote trade facilitation measures. The deliberations between business persons will provide good opportunity to identify such steps and the modalities to implement them", he said.

    Welcoming the large scale Indian participation in the ongoing Khartoum International Fair, the Minister hoped that the interaction at the Fair and exposure about India amongst Sudanese business persons would provide the necessary boost to the bilateral trade. The Minister that he was confident that similar participation by the Sudanese side in important Indian fairs such as the India International Trade Fair would strengthen the momentum gathered at the Khartoum Fair. Stating that the meeting would provide ample opportunities for the two sides to get educated about measures which could help in finding new areas for mutual advantage, Shri Abdullah said that he was very optimistic about further strengthening the friendly relations between India and Sudan.

'7'

'7'

DCA ORDERS PROSECUTION AGAINST AHMEDABAD BASED SOFTWARE COMPANY

    Prosecutions for violation of the provisions of Section 269 (1) of the Companies Act, have also been ordered for failure of the company to appoint a Managing Director/ Whole Time Director/ Manager. The provisions of Section 269 of the Companies Act require a company with paid up capital of Rs. 5 crore and above to have a Managing Director/Whole Time Director/ Manager.

    Prosecutions for violation of Section 383-A of the Companies Act have also been ordered for not appointing full time qualified company secretary even though the paid up capital of the company is more than Rs. 50 lakhs. The Department has also ordered prosecution for violating Sections 62 and 63 of the Act for giving untrue statement and projections in the prospectus.

    The prosecution orders follow inspection conducted by the DCA under Section 209 A of the Companies Act.

WOMEN SELF HELP GROUPS MAINTAIN A CENT PER CENT LOAN REPAYMENT

'8'

THE ADOLESCENT GIRLS DEVELOPMENT SCHEME – "KISHORI SHAKTI YOJANA" IS TO BE EXTENDED TO 2000 BLOCKS

    Underlining the importance of the initiative Smt. Sumitra Mahajan said that the infrastructure of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) will be used for effective implementation of the Yojana. She said the Government is trying to workout a strategy to bring the entire country under the purview of the scheme and make it universal. The yojana is currently under implementation in 507 blocks of the country benefiting about 3.5 lakh adolescent girls, through the Anganwadi Centres both in the rural as well as urban areas, she said.

    Elaborating the scheme, Smt. Mahajan said that economic empowerment of women alone will not help much and hence we should aim for the holistic development of the adolescent girl, the stage which is the most eventful for mental, emotional and psychological well-being. The other highlights of the scheme include vocational training, more social exposure, development of decision making capabilities, promotion of awareness about health, hygiene, nutrition and family welfare, home management and child care. Only such steps will make the adolescent girls to become productive and useful members of the society. Smt. Mahajan said that the Centre alone cannot effectively implement the scheme without the cooperation of the State Governments, non-governmental and social organisations and charitable institutions.

    The Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development Shri B.K. Chaturvedi in his Presidential remarks said what is more important is sensitisation and awakening among the adolescent girls about the Yojana. The new initiative is primarily aimed at breaking the inter-generational life-cycle of nutritional and gender disadvantage and providing a supportive environment for self-development of adolescent girls, he said. He also spoke of other schemes being launched in this year of Women Empowerment.

    Representatives from various States, Government Departments and non-governmental organisations are attending the meeting.

    Aimed at enlisting international participation in the highway construction sector, the Workshop will provide a forum to clear misgivings and will present the road building scenario in perspective. First-of-its-kind, it will also provide an over-view of the initiatives already undertaken for facilitating smooth working of international contracting industry in terms of repatriation of money, dispute resolution mechanism, system of contract management and implementation besides taxation and such other matters.

    NHAI has been mandated to execute four laning programme of National Highways Development Project comprising about 13000 kms. of National Highways within the next 7 years; besides, many of the State Highways will be upgraded within the said period to provide necessary support to the highways system. This will be implemented through large number of contracts of over Rs.200 crores so that state-of-the-art technology and expertise of international standards could be made available from experienced foreign contractors. It is with this background that NHAI, in association with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, the World Bank and Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) have devised this initiative to provide a forum for international contractors to interact with their Indian counterparts.

    The two-day Workshop will deliberate on opportunities available to international contracting industry for working on major highway and bridge construction projects and on the prospects of continued availability of such opportunities to them in the future.

    Viewed as an attempt to address the concerns of the international contracting industry about the working environment in India, the Workshop will also focus on ligistics like availability of local technical manpower and road and bridge construction equipment.

    In this first-ever-major-initiative of its kind, the NHAI has taken care to involve all important players concerned with the programme, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, as also senior functionaries of the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission.

    The Programme is jointly sponsored by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, NHAI, the World Bank and CII and will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Road Transport & Highways Major General B.C. Khanduri (Retd). The valedictory address will be delivered by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Member, Planning Commission. Other important personalities expected to address the Workshop include Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Shri Ajit Kumar; Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Shri Ashoke Joshi; Chairman, NHAI Shri Deepak Dasgupta; Mr. Chris Hoban, Expert from World Bank and Shri Arun Bharatram, President, CII and Shri Ajit Gulabchand, Member, CII.

    The Confederation of Indian Industries, who are co-sponsoring the effort and representatives of several major State Governments will be on hand too for valuable interaction.

‘11’

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS TOMORROW

    The countries, which are participating in this seven-day bonanza, are Australia, China, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, India, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and U.S.A.

    Festival being organized by the Films Division, Ministry of I&B includes imaginative packages. Films on the Indian Classical Maestros like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Yamini Krishnamurthy and Mallika Sartabhai, selected films of Loksen Lalvani, student films from Israel , India and Australia and a short fiction film package from France will be screened.

    The Festival will open with the Screening of Oscar Award winning Documentary of 1999 ‘ One Day In September’ directed by Arthur Cohn and Kevein McDonald.

‘34’

APPLICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING SERVICES EXAMINATION, 2001 INVITED

    The last date for receipt of applications is 26^th February, 2001. In the case of applications received by post/speed post from the candidates residing in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Lahaul & Spiti District and Pangi Sub-Division of Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands or Lakshadweep and for candidates residing abroad, the last date for receipt of applications is 05^th March, 2001.

    The application form, alongwith an information brochure containing general instructions for filling up the form, an acknowledgement card and an envelope for sending application can be purchased from any one of the designated head post offices/post offices and selected field post offices throughout the country on cash payment of Rs. 20/- (Rupees Twenty only). Candidates interested in applying for this examination must use this form only.

    In case candidates have any difficulty in obtaining Application Form/Central recruitment Fee Stamp from any of the designated Head Post Offices/Post Offices, they should immediately contact concerned Postmaster or UPSC’s "FORMS SUPPLY MONITORING CELL’ over Telephone No.011-3389366/FAX No.011-3387310.

    For filling up the application form, the candidates should refer to the detailed instructions given in the Commission’s advertisement published in Newspapers and Employment News dated 27^th January, 2001.

    UPSC have a Facilitation Centre near Gate ‘C’ of its campus. Candidates may obtain any information/clarification regarding their application/candidature on working days between 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. in person or over telephone numbers 011-3385271 and 011-3381125 from this counter.

'21'

    43 hotlines have been opened connecting important places for immediate communication between the district and state administration for relief and rehabilitation work. 25 Special Task Force teams have been specifically deployed which are working round the clock and are fanning out towards rural areas to restore communication facility. VSAT terminals have also been commissioned for instant communication from the most affected Taluka headquarters.

    In phase-II, the Ministry will extend all possible help to set up solar home lighting systems and solar heaters when the rehabilitation work starts in the quake-hit area.

    In addition, the entire staff of the Ministry would contribute a day’s wages to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund as also the staff of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry. Further, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency would contribute Rs. 15 lakh to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund separately.

    Shri M. Kannappan, Minister of Non-Conventional Energy Sources has conveyed these decisions to the Prime Minister today.

    Shri Digvijay Singh said that Railways have taken some initiative like obtaining direct power supply from central generating agencies but it is looking towards the Ministry of Power which has initiated steps to wards significant reforms in the power sector.

    Earlier, inaugurating the Seminar the Minister for Power, Shri Suresh Prabhu appreciated the role played by Railways in the country’s development by providing cheap and affordable commuter and passenger services as also by transporting goods including essential commodities at cheaper rates.He said that in order to help the Railways continue performing this catalytic role, it is necessary that its energy requirements are met at reasonable rates. He assured that the Ministry of Power will extend all cooperation in this regard.

    Delivering the key-note address, Shri N.K. Chidambaram, Member Electrical and the Patron of the Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers dwelt on the various initiatives taken by the Indian Railways. He said that Indian Railways are among the first few to boldly adopt the 25 KV AC system and now practically all the modern railway systems in the world operating on 25KV AC. The Indian Railways have already replaced the highly wasteful resistance control method with the tap changer technology for AC locomotives. These are now being upgraded with the latest state-of-the-art three phased technology using induction motors. He said the Indian Railways have also decided to switch over to the three phase technology in the area of suburban and urban commuter traffic for electrical multiple units popularly known as EMUs.

    The two-day Seminar has been organised by the Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers of the Indian Railways. It will dwell on various electrification aspects of the Indian Railways including Electricity Pricing & Tariffs, Urban & Suburban Rail Based Transit System,Energy Efficient Rolling Stock, Energy Management in Power Supply Systems and Infrastructure etc. The Seminar will also deliberate on future emerging technologies such as magnetic levitation, linear induction motor and fuel cell technologies.

'8'

WCD ANNOUNCES REHABILITATION MEASURES FOR QUAKE-HIT GUJARAT

    Ten working women hostels, 50 short stay homes and 200 more creches are also to be set up in Gujarat. Rs. 50 lakh has been earmarked under The Scheme for Setting up of Employment and Income Generating Training-cum-Production Units for Women (NORAD) and Rs. 20 lakh has been earmarked for sanction under general grants-in-aid.

    These steps were announced by the Minister of State for HRD Smt. Sumitra Mahajan after being briefed by a team of the Department of WCD which had toured the quake-hit areas. She will also be touring Gujarat on the 6^th and 7^th of this month to assess the impact of these schemes. Besides, a nodal officer of the rank of Joint Secretary has been designated to monitor these relief measures on a day-to-day basis.

‘11’

SALE PROCEEDS FROM FILM FESTIVAL BROCHURES TO BE CONTRIBUTED TO QUAKE RELIEF

    In order to extend a helping hand to the earthquake victims the organizers have declared that the entire proceeds from the sale of the Main Brochure DIFF 2001 will go to the earthquake relief fund. The authorities appeal to all film lovers to make a fruitful contribution for a noble cause. The Main Brochure is prices at Rs. 50/- per copy.

    At the same time, ONGC-Videsh Limited with the full backing of the Government of India has bagged a substantial stake of 20% in a large oil and gas field in Russia, Sakhalin-1. The contract will be signed in Moscow on February 10 in the presence of Shri Ram Naik, Minister (P&NG). "This is a new landmark in the traditionally friendly Indo-Russian relations and a major milestone in India's quest for oil security through equity oil abroad", observed Shri Naik.

    Shri Naik further added, "The contribution of equity oil and gas from Sakhalin-1 project at 2-4 million metric tonne of oil per annum and 8 million cubic metre per day of gas would be equal to the total oil and gas production of ONGC from the States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu. With a proposed investment of Rs. 8,000 crores, it is the largest ever oil and gas project approved by the Government of India as foreign investment. World's oil giant Exxon-Mobil is the operator. ONGC Videsh has also signed a contract for undertaking exploration work in oil rich Iraq for Block No. 8".

    To promote NELP blocks, in the first phase of the Oil Mission, a high level Government delegation led by Shri Ram Naik, held first road show in New Delhi on January 10, the second one in London on January 18-19 and third one in Houston on January 22-23.

    Shri Ram Naik, is now embarking on the second phase of the promotional road shows to be held in Tokyo on February 5-6 and in Singapore on February 8-9. The road show at Tokyo has been organised keeping in view the presence of number of companies with enormous financial muscle. Singapore is the base of multinational oil companies as well as companies operating in South East Asia and Far East Asia and Australia and New Zealand. The other members of the delegation are Shri E. Ponnuswamy, Minister of State, P&NG, Shri Naresh Narad, Additional Secretary, Dr. Avinash Chandra, Director General of Hydrocarbons, Shri J.M. Mauskar, Joint Secretary (Exploration), Shri B. Bharali, Adviser (Exploration) and Dr. A.R. Sihag, Director (Exploration Contracts).

    Supplies of 20.45 lakh litres of Diesel and 8.62 lakh litres of Kerosene have been made available to the affected areas from 27^th January to 1^st February, 2001. An additional quota of 450 lakh litres of Kerosene has been approved for distribution in the earthquake-affected areas. This additional allocation is over and above the normal monthly allocation of Kerosene to Gujarat. Direct supplies of Kerosene started in the affected areas from 28^th January. Of 60 retail outlets in Kutch, 56 are operating now. Further, all the 13 LPG distributors in Kutch are operating. Sufficient number of loaded-trucks are kept ready at Kandla for despatch.

    Oil Industry's three units of Territorial Army have been deployed for relief and restoration work. Further, 271 volunteers/medical assistants have been mobilised.

    Following emergency equipments and utility items have been provided by Oil PSUs to assist the Civil Administration in the relief operations.

'28'

    The Minister emphasised that the government’s policy is for developing clean, green, cheap, reliable and sustainable energy, all of which objectives are possible with hydro power. She said cheap power was necessary for development and that the government was concerned about the current mix between hydro and thermal, which is in favour of thermal at 76:24 at present. In addition the country must use all available resources in its development efforts and this makes it necessary for India to use its hydro potential, she added. Concluding her address, Smt. Mehta said hydro power was also needed for maintaining grid stability and reliability.

‘7’

    Electricity supply has been restored in 478 out of the 925 villages damaged in the earthquake, and it is expected that over the next three to four days the remaining villages would be given power supply.

    The repair and restoration work is being jointly carried out by the engineers of the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) and the Central Sector PSUs under the Ministry of Power. This follows the time-bound action plan drawn up following the meeting between the Minister of Power Shri Suresh Prabhu and the Gujarat Minister for Energy Shri Kaushikbhai Patel in Ahmedabad earlier this week. Shri Prabhu had been camping in the state to supervise restoration work in the power sector.

‘43’

‘49’

EFFORTS ON TO SAVE TRAPPED MINERS

    Following the disaster, Control Rooms are being set up in Headquarters of all subsidiary companies. Heavy duty pumps have been rushed to the mine site from BCCL and ECL. Work of installation of pumps have been started on a war footing. Drilling machines are also being used for accessing the trapped miners.

    Situation is being monitored round the clock. All-out efforts are being made to save the people trapped underground.