MEASURES FOR LOW COST HOUSING TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS STANDARDISATION
    The Building Material and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) of the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment is reviewing the status of standardisation on low cost construction practices, housing materials and other aspects related to housing in close collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Standards. The existing standards are being updated and new areas, not yet covered by standardisation, identified. Standard specifications on several innovative materials and techniques have been formulated.

    Public housing and building agencies have begun incorporating standard specification and technologies in their shedules of specifications. The entrepreneurs are being encouraged to set up manufacturing units for some of components not readily available in the market.

    Besides, technologies have been identified for use of industrial and agricultural wastes in manufacturing of building materials. These relate to recycling of flyash, red-mud and phosphogypsum for production of building materials. A good variety of reconstructed wood products are being produced at plant , based on recycling of agricultural wastes and the residues.

    In addition, the BMTPC assisted the Government in formulating the proposal for introducing a package of fiscal incentives to stimulate the increased production of low cost building materials, components based on utilisation of industrial wastes and other cost effective technology.

    The Government has also banned the use of timber in the construction works since April,1993. The BMTPC strives to improve technology environment in housing and building sector through identification, evaluation, validation, standardisation and documentation.
 
 

GIVE NEW THRUST TO ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
SURESH PRABHU ADDRESSES STATE EDUCATION MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE
 
  The Minister for Environment & Forests Shri Suresh Prabhu has said the time is now ripe to give a new thrust and orientation to environment education in school curricula. This will consolidate and strengthen the initiatives taken by the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Environment & Forests and State Governments. Speaking at the conference of Education Ministers of States here today Shri Prabhu said this new thrust should try to make environment education in schools more meaningful and effective.

    Shri Prabhu said he was particularly keen to see that environment is introduced as a separate discipline in the middle and higher levels of school education. He said no environmental issue could be dissected into seemingly different components and each component allotted to a different subject of study. This infusion approach that has been followed so far, has failed to take this aspect into account. That is why the approach has failed he felt.

    The Environment Minister said that whole approach to environment education needs a drastic change not just in contents but especially in teaching methods. He said the present approach which is heavily dependant on bookish and chalk-and-talk methods need to be generously supplemented with practical hands on and out door/field activities. Giving an example Shri Prabhu said children could actually be taken to a badly polluted stretch of a river to check the water quality themselves. They could use simple water testing kits which are readily available. These experiences will make the subject interesting, but will also set children into thinking why the condition of the environment is the way it is. This would in turn lead to better interaction between students and teachers. Similarly children could be given extra marks in school for taking the initiative to plant trees.

    Shri Prabhu said the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed syllabi, curricula and text books incorporating environmental concepts at all levels of school education. He urged the Education Ministers to get a review conducted to see to what extent the (NCERT) syllabus and curricula need to be adopted or adapted suitably in their respective states.

    He also stressed the need to improve better pre-service and in-service training in environment education. There is an urgent need to introduce a component on environment in these training programmes. What is needed is for teachers to adopt the activity oriented project approach to teach environment pro-actively. Teachers have to be made into environment education facilitators, Shri Prabhu said. He particularly stressed on the need to include Environment Education in the DIET and B.Ed programmes in all the States.

    The Minister added that the Government of Maharashtra has taken up this concept in the training programme for primary teachers since 1997. Similarly Maharashtra has already decided to introduce environment education as a separate subject from the next academic year.

    The Minister also felt that a system needed to be created to ensure that students go through a minimum number of out door and non-formal learning experiences besides class room teachings in the environment course. These systems can be both compulsory and optional

    The Environment Minister also said that Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) should also be used to harness the efforts of central and state governments.
 
 

POWER GENERATION TARGET OF NLC FOR SEP 98
EXCEEDED BY 33.92 PER CENT
    Performance of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd. during the month of September 98 was exceedingly well. Power Generation against the target of 827 MU was 1107.52 MU (Gross) which was 33.92 per cent above the target and 4.89 per cent above the generation achieved during Sep 97. Power export was 919.28 MU which was 38.45 per cent above the target of 664 MU. Lignite production was 15.88 lakh tonnes which was 2.45 per cent more than the target and 2.52 per cent above the corresponding period of last year. Overburden removal was 80.25 lakh cubic meter (LM3) and was 4.22 per cent more than the target. Coke production was 10.18 per cent above the target and was 19833 tonnes.

    Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) produced 2.04 MT of raw coal and its off take was 2.05 MT. The raw coal production was 5.15 per cent more and despatches were 2.5 per cent more in comparison to Sep 97.

    CIL coal production during the month was 18.49 mt and despatches were 18.99 mt. The production was 2.22 per cent less and despatches were 2.81 per cent less than the production and off take of last year’s corresponding period. The shortfall was due to less production of 0.453 mt by ECL, 0.408 mt by BCCL and 0.234 mt by CCL. The shortage in off take was due to heavy stock built up at power houses, Paradip and Vizag ports & lower despatches to cement sector and Railway due to demand constraint.

    The outstanding dues from power sector as on September 19, 98 stand at Rs.4613.86 crores, out of which Rs. 2951.98 crores are undisputed dues. NLC outstanding dues from Southern Region Electricity Boards are Rs. 1055.17 crores as on Sep 30, 98.
 
 

HOME MINISTER’S ADVISORY COMMITTEES ON UT
SHOULD BE REGULAR – HOME MINISTER
    Union Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani has said that Home Minister’s Advisory Committee for the Union Territories without Legislature should meet regularly because they serve as an important forum for interaction between the Central Government and the

    Representatives of the peoples. The Minister was addressing the Advisory Committees meeting of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, here today. It was attended by the MPs and Administrators of twin Union Territories besides senior officials of Home Ministry and concerned Central Government.

    The Minister said that such meetings will give the Government an insight into the needs and aspirations of the people in these Union Territories. However, this vibrant mechanism of interaction fell into disuse for last several years. The last meeting was held in November, 1991 after these Committees were practically wound up with expiry of their terms.

    Shri Advani hoped that with the commencement of these meetings, the process of interaction with local leaders of these Union Territories will gain momentum and help the Government to achieve the objectives for which these Committees have been set up.

    The highlight of today’s meeting was the resolve of the Committee to regularise the "teram" plots of forest land given out to people for cultivation on temporary lease basis. It was also decided in principle to open a computerise railway reservation counter at Silvasa and allot priority quota to the administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

    The Committee also discussed issues like improvement of health facilities by filling up of vacant post of doctors; improvement in the working of agriculture department creation of common cadre for the UTs of Dadra & and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu for all gazetted officers and for police officers upto the level of Head Constable and increase in number of seats for professional courses. Several development issues like replacement of bridges, widening of roads etc. were also taken up during the meeting.

    The meeting ended with the resolve to expeditiously clear all pending projects relating to the twin Union Territories.
 

 
PERFORMANCE OF OIL SECTOR DURING FIRST HALF OF 98-99
REFINERY PRODUCTION RECORDS GROWTH
    The cumulative refinery production ( in terms of crude throughput) during the period April-September 1998 was 32.873 MMT. The refinery production at this level was higher than production of 32.284 MMT attained during the corresponding period of previous year.The overall refinery capacity utilisation during the month of September 1998 was 102.3% as against 101.4% during the month of September 1997.The refinery capacity utilisation during the period April-September 1998 was 97.1% as against 104.6% during the corresponding period of previous year.

    The total refinery production during September 1998 at 5.676 MMT was 10.6% higher than the production of 5.130 MMT attained during the corresponding month of the previous year. The crude throughput of all the refineries except Guwahati, Panipat, HPCL (Visakh), MRL (Manali) and BR&PL refineries exceeded their planned targets during the month under review. The shortfall in Guwahati refinery was due to CDU shutdown from 3.9.98 to 11.9.98 as a result of RCO ullage problem because of Coker shutdown from 27.8.98 to 10.9.98; in Panipat it was lower as CDU is under trial operation; in HPCL, Visakh it was due to operating CDU-II at lower thrughput due to LSHS and VGO ullage constraints and in BR&PL, Assam, it was lower due to product containment problem.

Crude Production

    The cumulative production of crude oil during the period April-September 1998 was 16.333 MMT. The production at this level was 3.4% lower than the production of 16.907 MMT attained during the corresponding period of the previous year.

    The crude oil production during the month of September 1998 was 2.558 MMT against the planned target of 2.853 MMT. The achievement works out to 89.7% of the target. The total production during the month was lower than the production of 2.750 Million Tonnes achieved during the corresponding month of the previous year.

    The Oil India Limited exceeded its monthly production target with the target achievement of 105%. However, there was a shortfall in the crude production by ONGC.The achievement of the monthly target fixed for production of crude oil by ONGC was 90.2% for Gujarat, 94.3% for Assam, 115.2% for Tamil Nadu (including Andhra Pradesh) and 93.5% for the offshore areas.

    The shortfall in production by ONGC in Gujarat was due to less than adequate response from thermal EOR schemes at Mehsana, frequent power shutdown affecting production from A/L wells, less gas lift production from Sobhasan due to intermittent breakdown of gas lift compressors, delay in approval for additional production from GS-1/R&D projects in Gandhar field and less production due to monsoon effect/unapproachable well site. In Assam it was due to non-revival of wells affected by bandh/theft/floods and in Bombay High offshore it was due to less production from Heera Phase-III due to less availability of new development wells, closure of high GOR wells in Bombay High field, regular production & well maintenance operations hampered by monsoon and less production from B-173A due to non-availability of additional wells.
 
 

ENHANCEMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER CAPACITY ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN ECONOMY
    The Prime Minister has said that India’s nuclear programme is as safe as anywhere else in the world. We have never had any accident nor has the presence of a nuclear power plant caused any additional radiation – related diseases to its neighbourhood. Therefore, none should be taken in by the ill informed criticism about our nuclear power plants, especially around the sites where we are building new reactors. Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee was speaking at a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of Science and Technology and other science departments, here today. The topic was Atomic Energy and Societal Developments. He said there can be no development without energy. If India has to become a strong and robust economy with an Annual Growth Rate of 7 to 8%, it must quickly meet the growing and larger unmet energy requirements of agriculture, industry, the services and the household sectors. India has large coal reserves but even to reach energy usage levels somewhat comparable with global average, it is necessary for us to use all our energy resources particularly the nuclear power, which can be a source of cheap energy. He paid rich tributes to the Indian nuclear scientists for the successful Pokhran blasts, which has made India a nuclear weapons power. He also complimented them for achieving success in the application of this frontier science in agriculture, health and industry.

    The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. R. Chidambaram said nuclear energy is going to become the inevitable option for meeting our power requirements. He said the gestation period of building nuclear plants has now been brought down to five and a half years from seven. Capital cost of nuclear power is no doubt more but the electricity produced from it will be cheap in the ultimate analysis.

    He said the four reactors of 220 MW capacity being constructed near Kota, Rajasthan and at Kaiga in Karnataka are in advanced stages of construction and are expected to go critical next year. The construction work on two indigenously designed pressurised heavy water reactors of 500 MW is expected to commence at Tarapur soon. An inter-Governmental agreement has been signed with Russia for the construction of two 1000 MW reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu

    Dr. Chidambaram made a presentation at the meeting , the crux of which was the application of nuclear power in a variety of fields including medical, agriculture, industry etc.

    The meeting was attended by the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and heads of science departments among others.

    The Members of Parliament who took part in the discussion emphasised the need to enchance the nuclear power capacity. They wondered that when India has all the capability, why it cannot increase nuclear power in the shortest possible time. One member wanted a setting up of nuclear plants in the Eastern Region as South, North and the West already have them. The members who attended the meeting are : Lok Sabha – Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi, Shri Gurunadha Rao, Shri Uttam Rao Patil, Shri Vitthal Tupe, Shri Udai Lal Anjana, Shri K.P. Munusamy, Prof. R.R. Pramanik

    Rajya Sabha – Smt. Urmilaben C. Patel, Dr. B.B. Dutta, Shri Bratin Sengupta