The head-on-collision between 11 UP and 12 Down Patna-Gaya Passenger trains on August 26, 1998 at Bela station on Patna-Gaya single line broad gauge section of Danapur Division in the Eastern Railway was due to the failure of the Railway staff. This is the provisional finding of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Eastern Circle, Calcutta who held a statutory inquiry to the accident.

    As a result of this accident one person died and 31 persons received injuries of whom 5 were grievously injured. The finding is under the consideration of the Government.
 
 

    Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO), would launch its retail finance lending window from the current year. This has been announced today by Shri Ram Jethmalani, Minister for Urban Affairs & Employment, in the National Seminar on "Safer Cities" organised as part of the World Habitat Day Celebrations. HUDCO, the premier national techno-financing institution in the field of housing and urban development has sanctioned so far 13450 projects worth about Rs. 30,000 crores with HUDCO loan commitment of about Rs.18,000 crores. These projects on completion will help provide over 68 lakh residential units, 4.85 lakh developed plots, 42 lakh sanitaion units, 622 urban infrastructure projects and 555 building centres.

    HUDCO's lending has so far been primarily through bulk lending to the public sector institutions like State level Housing Boards, Development Authorities, Local Bodies, Cooperative Sector agencies, covering both primary and apex bodies, Corporate Employers both at public and private sector, NGOs and CBOs sector and also Private and Joint sector delivery modes. Therefore, the,launching of the Retail Finance lending window would be a significant step towards reaching a wide crosssection of the population.

    The above is in tune with the Government's National Housing and Habitat Policy, 1998, which advocates an increasingly facilitator role for the Public Sector Institutions, in enabling larger access to people, of land, building materials, cost effective technologies and affordable finance. The Policy further advocates promotion of innovative savings and lending instruments to integrate housing finance system into the capital market. A significant thrust is also emphasised on promoting self-help housing as well as shelter upgradation initiatives. This launch is also significant in the context of the larger programme of Two Million-Housing Programme, launched by the Govt. of India.

    HUDCO is uniquely positioned in view of its financing incorporating support initiatives enabling access to land, land assembly, appropriate and cost effective building technology options and its transfer through building centres. HUDCO is expected to have a better reach in view of its nalionwide network of four zonal offices, 15 regional offices and nine development/business development offices that cover the entire country.

    ln addition to lending to individuals directly, HUDCO is expected to adopt a large number of innovative initiatives towards reaching finance to the individuals through the formal sector institutions, both private and public, and employees of Central/State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings. HUDCO would also promote the Savings-cum-'Loan-cum-Insurance linked housing initiatives through the retail lending window, with particular emphasis on NGO/CBO/CBFI initiatives for the weaker sections, poor and the socially disadvantaged. Consultancy services of HUDCO would also advocate and popularise affordable and innovative, alternative building plans as appropriate to different geo-climatic contexts and as affordable to various income groups. The HUDCO retail finance lending window would extend loans both for construction of new houses as well as for upgradation covering repairs and renewals.

    HUDCO's assistance, in addition to finance, would also cover comprehensive technology inputs and guidance on cost effective, environment friendly, ecologically appropriate and energy saving building materials and technologies towards achieving a substantial cost reduction ranging from 15 to 40% on various components of building construction over the conventional options. The National Network of Building Centres promoted by the Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment and HUDCO would substantially contribute towards these efforts. These would help significantly in providing affordable and acceptable housing options to all categories of population.

    The entry of HUDCO, the leading techno-financing institution in the country, in the retail lending arena, is expected to substantially improve the housing finance scenario in the country.

    India and Bulgaria are to sign agreements on Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection, and Double Taxation Avoidance shortly. The Agreement on Speedy and Accurate Exchange of Trade Information will also be signed. The Indian Minister of State for Agriculture Shri Sompal disclosed this in the recently concluded 12th session of Indo-Bulgarian Joint Commission meeting at Sophia, Bulgaria.

    During the meeting an agreement has been reached on mutual participation in each other's trade fairs. Both the sides agreed to effect contacts between Indian Public Sector Undertakings and Electroimpex of Bulgaria for joint construction of Hydro power plants in third countries, including the hydro power plant projects in Nepal and Bhutan.

    To promote the trade and economic relations between the two countries, it was decided to promote the establishment of trade contacts at company level. A series of Memorandums of Undertaking will be signed between the private organizations of the two countries including one between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Bulgarian Industrial Association.

    A Protocol for Scientific and Technical Cooperation has been drafted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Agricultural Academy of Bulgaria to jointly work in the areas of genetic improvement of sunflower, improvement and management of buffaloes and goats, veterinary diagnostics and medicine systems and exchange of plant genetic resources.

    India showed interest in obtaining supply of chemical fertilizers from Bulgaria. Contacts would be established between Bulgarian fertilizer manufacturers and the Indian public sector trading companies like MMTC, STC and PEC. They would consider possibilities of joint production of farm equipment like tractors including small sized two axial tractors drip irrigators sprinkler irrigators and micro sprinklers.

    Bulgaria sought collaboration with Indian research institutions in the areas of remote sensing, Global Positioning Systems (GPs), rural and small size telephone exchanges and medical research. Bulgaria has agreed to consider the Indian request for providing import tariff parity to Indian tobacco with imports from European union countries. India offered cooperation in the field of electronics and computer software in which it has a vast reservoir of skilled manpower and also in railways, mining and steel industries.

    Discussions are being held between India and Bulgaria in five working groups covering the areas of Agriculture General Trade and Industrial Cooperation, Finance, Tourism and Transport. The Tenth session of the Indo Bulgarian Joint business Council meeting will be held this in October this year during the visit of Bulgarian President to India. The 13th session of the Indo-Bulgarian Joint Commission will be held in New Delhi next year.
 
 

TWO-DAY SEMINAR ON SAFER CITIES TO MARK WORLD HABITAT DAY BEGINS JETHMALANI INAUGURATES SEMINAR

    The Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment Shri Ram Jethmalani has said that from today his Ministry would be absolutely transparent. Inaugurating a two-day National Seminar on Safer Cities to mark the World Habitat Day here today Shri Jethmalani said that henceforth anybody could get any information from his Ministry on payment of a nominal fee. He said that this was intended to free his Ministry from malpractices, if any.

    Talking of meeting target of two million houses under the new Housing and Habitat Policy annually, the Minister said that the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, would have to be repealed so that adequate lands were released for building houses in urban areas by private sector. In this connection, Shri Jethmalani announced that the urban land ceiling law would be repealed shortly by an ordinance. He said that the Bhartiya Janata Party Economic Affairs Committee had supported the repeal of urban land ceiling law by an ordinance.

    The other important announcement that the Minister made was that from now onwards Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) would diversify its activities into individual house building credits through its four zonal and nine regional offices. This would supplement the combined efforts of 25 Housing Financial Institutions to provide impetus to building houses in the country. This would also eliminate recession, he said. The Minister further said that Foreign Direct Investment in housing marked by usual bureaucratic obstructions would come through. The Government was looking to private sector and FDI in housing for building houses on a mass scale to meet their shortages.

    As for the concept of Safer Cities, the Minister shared the concern of the people over the growing violence and law and order problem in urban areas and said unless people participated and cooperated with the law and order and the civic authorities, their safety would be in jeopardy.

    The Minister exuded confidence that growing of population would be curbed to cities to make cities safer for all citizens. The Minister was happy that the much awaited Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for citizens of Delhi took off with the commencement of construction work on October 2, 1998.

    The Minister of State of Urban Affairs and Employment Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, who delivered presidential address at the seminar, said that the concept of safer cities had to permeate down the line for action at all levels. He announced that the construction of seven lakh houses for urban areas and 13 lakh houses for rural areas would commence at Hyderabad on October 7, 1998 and thereafter all over the country.

    Earlier, a message on the World Habitat Day from the United Nations Secretary General Shri Kofi Annan, which was read out in the seminar, urged all Member States, Local Governments and citizens of cities around the world to mark World Habitat Day this year by taking action to make their cities safer and better places to live.

    The Minister released four publications to mark the occasion. Later, he opened exhibitions on Safer Cities in the Exhibition Hall of Vigyan Bhavan.

    The conclusion of two-day seminar on safer cities will be communicated to the State Governments and urban administrations in the form of guidelines to make urban life safer and secured.