The increased rates for commercial and residential lands in the National Capital Territory of Delhi come into force with retrospective effect from April 1,1998. The revised rates would be valid for a period of two years upto March 31,2000. The last time such revision took place was effective from April 1,1994.

    Similarly, the increase in one time premium rate per acre on Government land and ground rent for institutional allotment in the National Capital Territory of Delhi by 10 per cent comes into force with retrospective effect from April 1,998. The last time such premium rate and ground rent were increased was in 1994 which was valid upto March 31,1998.

    The rates for residential and commercial purposes are based on existing Floor Area Ratios (FARs) prescribed for various areas. These rates would be increased proportionate to increase in FARs. As for hotels and cinema sites, each case would be specifically considered in consultation with the Ministry of Finance.

    There are five zones in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The 10 per cent increase in the rates of lands for commercial and domestic purposes will be uniform to the varying rates of land per acre in each zone.

    Similarly , the one time premium rate per acre for transfer between Central Government Departments has been fixed at Rs.22 lakhs with no annual ground rent of the percentage of premium. The Government land allotted to other institutions will, however, be the one time premium rate per acre along with annual ground rent.

    The details of the land rate for commercial and domestic purposes as also the one time premium rate per acre on Government land to be charged from the institutions with annual ground rent have been enumerated in details in the handouts issued on April 20 and 21,1999 respectively. The details are contained zone-wise in the Government notifications of April 16,1999.

    All Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, Lt. Governor of Delhi, Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax, Delhi, have been informed of the Government of India’s decision for immediate implementation of its April 16,1999 notifications.
 
 

    This programme aims at increasing the performance levels of the employees by communicating a positive image of themselves and the Indian Railways. It will help build a value system which will enable the employees to handle customers courteously, handle complaints in a positive manner, handle indifference positively, have a positive regard for themselves and others, get along with others by giving them what they need and develop a customer charter of rights.
 
 

    In another important development, the DoP has been conferred the International Award for Excellence as Best Communication Pavilion by the Wisitex Foundation for the latest technology display at the 2^nd International Exhibition - Infrastructure and Investment'99 held from 20^th to 23^rd April 1999 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
 
 

    Speaking on the occasion the Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Youth Affairs and Sports, Sushri Uma Bharti said the development of a child is very important for the country’s future. She recalled a number of programmes being undertaken by the Government and said that the schemes should be enhanced to the highest international levels for the benefit of our children. She expressed happiness that all the three individual awardees were women.

    The Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development said that every single child must have all basic right and that the Government is committed to child welfare. She said all sorts of exploitation of children should be eliminated and in this the non-Governmental organisations have an important role to play.

    The five institutions and three individuals who received the awards are :
 

    The Corporation also accepted the recommendation of creating in-house super specialist facilities in some of the leading ESI hospitals and introduction of health record booklet in respect of each beneficiary.

    As regards the long term measures for sustained improvement in medical services under the ESI scheme, the Corporation decided to obtain the views of major trade unions and employers organisations in the first instance and their evaluation by the Standing Committee of the Corporation before these recommendations come up for consideration at the board level.

    The special meeting of the members of the ESI Corporation was convened here last evening at the initiative of Union Labour Minister , Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya to consider the recommendations made by the Sathyam Committee for improvement in medical care services under the scheme. The Committee had been constituted earlier by the Government of India, in July last year, under the Chairmanship of Mr. S. Sathyam retired Secretary to Government of India for the indepth study of the existing infrastructural facilities, their utilization and effectiveness of service delivery system.

    Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jatiya highlighted the need for bringing about visible transformation in the functioning of the scheme to enhance is social usefulness and wider acceptance among the working class. He said that Sathyam Committee report could be the base for a positive and purposive take off for furtherance of social security under the ESI Scheme.
 
 

    The results could be accessed at the following website address:

    http:\\www.nic.in\persmin
 
 

    The total number of candidates in the 4 lists is 733 including 77 belonging to Scheduled Caste, 37 to the Scheduled Tribes and 282 to the Other Backward Classes. The first three toppers in the Civil Engineering Group are: S. Govinda Rajulu (Roll no. 006021), V. Jithender Reddy (018024); and Anupum Singh (009946). In the Mechanical Engineering Group, Saket Kumar Mishra (Roll no. 043182) stood First; Shailesh R. Kandage (016736) Second; and Maneesh Batrani (007880) stood third. In the Electrical Engineering Group, V. Arun Kumar (037705); Ajay Agarwal (005865); and Amit Kumar Jain (000061) bagged First, Second and Third position respectively. In the Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Group, the first three toppers are: Manish Kumar Bansal (036997); Pawan Kumar Aggarwal (000243); and C. Subba Rao (013071).

    Appointment will be made according to the number of vacancies available and with due consideration to the provisions contained in Rule 5 (b) and 15 of the Rules for the Examination relating to restrictions on the eligibility of candidates admitted to the examination under the age concession and allotment of candidates to the services according to the ranks obtained and preferences of services expressed by them.

    The number of vacancies likely to be filled in various groups are as follows:
 

    The number of vacancies is subject to revision.
 
 

    The system employs a total of 84 parabolic mirrors which concentrate solar radiation on to receivers containing water. The solar heat converts the water into steam which is used to cook rice, dal and vegetables. The system is divided into six units, each of which can be operated independently to cater to fewer number of persons. The design of the system is based on a concept developed by Wolfgang Scheffler of Switzerland.

    The system can prepare all items which can be cooked by steam. It can save substantial amounts of conventional fuel which would otherwise be required for generating steam or cooking food. The system at Taleti has been saving up to 400 litres of diesel per day. Besides this saving, solar cooking is also environment friendly and reduces air pollution.

    The Brahmakumaris Organization have been using a small system capable of preparing meals for 1000 persons at their headquarters at Mt. Abu. The latest installation demonstrates the suitability of this system for use in a variety of establishments where large quantities of food have to be cooked, such as temples, gurudwaras and hostels. Widespread use of this technique will help the country save large quantities of kerosene, LPG or firewood.
 
 

    The two sun-tracking solar panels of IRS-P4, which generate electrical power for the satellite, were automatically deployed by an on-board sequencer immediately after its injection into orbit yesterday. IRS-P4 is being monitored and controlled by ISTRAC stations located at Bangalore, Sriharikota, Lucknow, Mauritius, Bearslake in Russia and Biak in Indonesia. Another station at Wilhem in Germany is providing support for the initial phase of the mision.

    During the next few days OCM will also be tested out and, in about ten days, IRS-P4 will start sending data from its two payloads.
 

KITSAT-3 and DLR-TUBSAT Working Well

    First signals from the German DLR-TUBSAT were received by University of Berlin during its second orbit about 3 hours after its injection into orbit by PSLV-C2. The first signals from the Korean KITSAT-3 were also acquired by the Korean Station during its fifth orbit as expected and this satellite is also functioning normally.

    KITSAT-3 and DLR-TUBSAT were also launched by India’s PSLV-C2 along with IRS-P4 into a 727 km Polar sunsynchronous orbit yesterday from ISRO’s SHAR Centre at Sriharikota.
 
 

    While welcoming the delegation, the Minister recalled the age-old friendly ties and cultural affinity between the people of India & Central Asia. He said that these relations have been further strengthened with the convergence of our policies on various national and international issues during the post-independence period. Shri Sompal underlined the need of further expanding the scope of our existing mutually beneficial cooperation to solve the various common problems of development faced by India & Aral Sea Basin countries. The Minister expressed his confidence and hope that many of the technologies developed by India in the agriculture and water sectors would have direct relevance to the requirement of Aral Sea Basin countries, which India would be happy to store with them.
 
 

    The air action has been taken on account of the following :-

• If not contained at this stage, Pakistan would have been encouraged to extend its Operations further. Delayed reaction would have called for a more severe action, possibly increasing the areas as well as the scope of Operations.
• If the infiltration is not arrested and the infiltrators are not evicted, the alignment of the LOC could well be altered to our disadvantage.
• The security of our vital ground line of communication from Srinagar to Leh, via Kargil would be under threat.
• If militants continued to hold the heights, infiltration in this area would increase.

    It would be in the interest of Pakistan to not only stop aiding the militants by its agencies, but actually ensure their withdrawal and bring the ground position to status quo ante.

    Both fighters and helicopters took part in the operations. Earlier, an IAF aircraft within its won airspace was attacked inspite of prior notice to Pakistan authorities as per the agreement. Due to this we had to use our fighter aircraft also to provide us the freedom of operating within our own air space without any outside interference.

    This is the start of operations and they would continue till our Defence Forces reoccupy our territory. Any escalation of this conflict will be entirely the responsibility of Pakistan.
 
 

    TRISHUL flies in supersonic speed and has a low altitude sensitive radio-altimeter and height lock loop control onboard, to skim over the sea at a very low altitude and hit against sea skimming missiles coming towards our ships. The tracking and guidance have been fully achieved in millimetric band frequency and has necessary electronic counter measures.

    Defence Research and Development Organisation laboratories, BEL, BHEL, BDL and many other industries and naval establishments are partners in the development of Naval-TRISHUL system.
 
 

    The Notification follows Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha's announcement during his Budget speech, 1999-2000 to this effect.

    The salient features of the new Scheme are as under :

• The manufacturers who are eligible to avail of an exemption under a notification based on value of clearances, in a financial year, will be eligible to avail of this facility.
• Duty assessed for each consignment cleared is to be simply recorded in production/clearance register and aggregated at the end of the month. Duty payable (aggregate) on clearances made during a calendar month will require to be paid by 15^th day of the succeeding calendar month either through account current or through MODVAT account. Thus the eligible manufacturers in SSI sector need not pay duty at the time of each clearance.
• The down stream industries will be allowed to take MODVAT credit of the duty paid in the manner prescribed in this Scheme instantly on receipt of inputs and Capital Goods from such SSIs in usual manner.
• In order to safeguard revenue against possible misuse of this Scheme, it has been provided that if a manufacturer fails to discharge the duty liability by the stipulated date, he will be required to pay interest @30% per annum for the period of default together with a penalty of Rs.500 per day. However, the total duty payable, penalty and interest will not exceed the value of the goods cleared by the manufacturer during that month.
• Further, if a manufacturer defaults on timely payment of duty for the second time in a financial year, he would be debarred from availing of this facility in the remaining part of that financial year.

    The Environment Minister had earlier ordered the Inspector General of Forest in his Ministry to send a team of senior officials to the areas affected by the fires. Shri Prabhu had directed that the team, to report on the extent of the fires and discuss with local officials about the various efforts being made to control the problem. The team was also directed to make an assessment of the support which the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest could give to the Uttar Pradesh State Government for tackling the forest fires.