'32'
URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER TO HOLD WEEKLY PUBLIC HEARINGS
    The Union Minister for Urban Development Shri Jagmohan will hold a weekly public hearings on every Thursday at 4.00 P.M. at National Buildings Organisation (NBO) Hall, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi. To begin with, the first such public hearings will be held on June 24,1999 at 4.00 P.M. With such public hearings, the Government will launch the drive to redress public grievances speedily. This will also help the Government to attain higher level of efficiency in the Ministry of Urban Development.

    Those who may have any grievance may meet the Urban Development Minister with a brief representation.

    The areas of public grievances would cover Land and Development Office (L&DO), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and other attached and subordinate offices under the Ministry of Urban Development.

    The primary objective of public hearings by the Urban Development Minister is intended to make the Government functionaries and machinery responsive, caring and result oriented at the grassroots level. This is also intended to increase efficiency in the Government by improving field works.

    The public hearings by the Urban Development Minister would be the first of its kind in the Ministry of Urban Development. Shri Jagmohan had introduced a weekly public hearings in the Ministry of Communications, which proved a tremendous success with the aggrieved people getting maximum satisfaction out of redressal of their complaints. On an average, about 1800 aggrieved persons used to meet the Minister during his weekly public hearings.
 
 
 

‘19’
JAN-MAY’99 GARMENT EXPORTS UP 11.5 PERCENTIN DOLLAR TERMS  EXPORTS UP 8 PER CENT IN MAY
    The exports of readymade garments, which account for over 40 per cent of the textile exports from the country, recorded an impressive increase of 11.56 per cent (in dollar terms) in the first five months of this calendar year registering exports of US $ 2367.7 million (Rs. 10076.99 crores) as against US $ 2122.3million (Rs. 8395.52 crores) during the period January – May, 1998. The growth in rupee terms registered even a higher figure at 20.03 per cent. These provisional figures have been complied by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

     During this period, there was 9.04 per cent growth in terms of quantity with 6515 lakhs pieces of readymade garments having been exported as against export of 5975 lakhs pieces during the period January – May, 1998.

    1101 lakhs pieces of readymade garments were exported during the month of May, 1999 valued at US $ 416.5 million (Rs. 1780.1 crores) as against exports of 1062 lakhs pieces worth US $ 385.6 million (Rs. 1562.85 crores) during May, 1998.

Exports to USA, during the period Jan-May 1999 amounted to US$ 729.1 million (Rs. 3102.98) with 1367 lakh pieces having been exported during this period. As compared to Jan-May’98, there has been an increase of 14.30 per cent and 7.62 per cent, in terms of quantity and value respectively.

    In the case of EU, 3138 lakh pieces were exported during Jan-May’99 valued at US$ 878.3 million (Rs. 3738.09 Crores) recording an increase of 9.30 per cent and 9.65 in terms of quantity and value respectively as against the corresponding period in 1998.

    Our exports to Canada have registered a substantial increase of 35.17% in quantitative terms and 19.63% in US dollar terms. Exports to Canada during Jan-May’99 aggregated 319 lakh pieces valued at US$ 98.1 million (Rs.417.94 Crores).

    Our exports to Restricted Countries during Jan-May’99 were to the tune of 4824 lakh pieces valued at US$ 1705.5 million (Rs. 7259.01 Crores). As compared to Jan-May’98, there has been an increase of 12.11 per cent in terms of quantity and value wise, the increase is by 9.29 per cent.

    During the period April-May’99, 2133 lakh pieces valued at US$ 779.9 million (Rs. 3337.30 Crores) were exported which was an increase of 0.57 per cent in terms of quantity and 3.35 per cent in terms of value over the corresponding period last year. The exports to USA went up by 7.96 per cent (in terms of value), 4.76 per cent in case of EU and 22.02 per cent in case of Canada during this period.
 
 
 

'13'
INDIA TO JOINTLY TAKE PART IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WORLD’S LARGEST PARTICLE ACCELERATOR
    India is to take part in a big way in the construction of world’s largest particle accelerator LHC ( Large Hadron Collider) at the European Centre for Nuclear Research in Geneva. For this, the Centre for Advanced Technology of the Department of Atomic Energy based at Indore will be supplying a variety of high technology components including over 2000 superconducting corrector magnets, totalling 25 million dollars. The LHC is a synchrotron of 27 kms in circumference which accelerates two proton beams to energy of 7 TeV (Terre Electron Volts) equal to million million electron volts. The two proton beams travelling in opposite directions will collide and in the collision new particles are generated which reveal the ultimate structure of matter.

    The CAT which has already successfully commissioned India’s first synchrotron radiation source "Indus-1" has taken up the construction of a larger synchrotron radiation source "Indus-2", expected to be commissioned in the year 2002. Indus-2 will have a electron energy of 2,500 million electron volts and current of 300 milliamperes with provision for 27 beam lines for experiments. The CAT is also developing an accelerator for sterilisation of medical and agricultural products. The design and construction of synchrotron radiation sources has enabled the Centre for Advanced Technology of the DAE to develop several other accelerators for medical and industrial applications besides a number of other advanced technologies. A radio therapy machine using a 10 MeV (million electron volts) microtron built at CAT, is also under construction.
 
 

'8’
TECHNICAL GROUP TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF BANSAGAR PROJECT CONSTITUTED
    A Technical Group for monitoring the progress of all the works of Bansagar Project has been constituted by the Executive Committee of Bansagar Control Board at its recent meeting held in Rewa, M.P. The Chief Engineer, Bansagar Project, will be its Chairman. Besides Chairman, the Technical Group consisting of seven members and the Secretary, Bansagar Control Board, Rewa, as the Convenor, has been drawn from M.P., U.P., Bihar, C.W.C. and C.E.A. The group will meet at the project site every year and will identify bottlenecks to find ways to remove them.

    The Bansagar Control Board was constituted in January, 1976 for efficient, economic and early execution of Bansagar Dam and connected works in pursuance of an inter-state agreement among the States of M.P., U.P. and Bihar.
 
 

'15'
GUIDELINES FOR FOREIGN EQUITY INVESTMENT IN THE NBFCs AMENDED

FOREIGN HELD COMPANIES BEFORE NBFC GUIDELINES CAN CONTINUE TO CHARGE FEES

FROM THEIR SUBSIDIARIES/JVs FOR PROVIDING SERVICES

    The Government has amended guidelines for foreign equity investment in the Non-Banking Financial Services sector to provide for a minimum capitalisation norm of US$ 0.5million, for the activities which are not fund based and only advisory or consultancy in nature, irrespective of the foreign equity participation level.

    The above provision would be applicable in the following permitted NBFC activities for foreign equity investment.

    It may be noted that under the guidelines of foreign equity investment in Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) issued on 21st March, 1997 and amended on 16th October, 1998, foreign investment proposal for purely financial consultancy services were not subjected to the capitalisation norms as applicable to the NBFCs subject to certain conditions. Apart from the above mentioned amendments, the other provisions of the guidelines of 21st March, 1997 and 16th October, 1998 would continue to be applicable in the above cases.

    The Government has also decided to allow foreign held companies which had FIPB approval for undertaking specific activities on their own prior to issue of NBFC guidelines, and which by way of restructuring dilute their holdings through Joint Ventures (JVs) with domestic participation in downstream subsidiaries to undertake such "specific activities" confined to rendering of support and facilities to only its downstream subsidiaries/JVs on an 'arms length basis' with the option of charging fees for the same. The above would further be subject to a formal agreement being entered into by the Holding Company with the downstream subsidiaries (JVs) concerned.

    It may be noted that the guidelines of foreign equity investments in Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) issued on 21st March, 1997 and amended from time to time, 100% foreign owned NBFCs would act as a holding company and specific activities would be undertaken by step-down subsidiaries with minimum 25 % domestic equity.

    There have been cases where foreign owned holding companies, who had earlier been permitted to undertake specific activities on their own prior to the issue of guidelines and which, through restructuring, undertake such specific activities with domestic participation through down stream subsidiaries have sought permission to charge fees by the holding company for providing services for the step down subsidiaries.
 
 

‘5’

TRIPURA TO GET 12 COMPANIES OF PARA MILITARY FORCES

HOME MINISTER MEETS THE PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES FROM J&K

    Shri Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister, Tripura called on the Union Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani, here today. Shri Sarkar apprised the Home Minister of the withdrawl of some coys of Central Reserve Police Force from Tripura for deploy ment in Jammu & Kashmir. He apprehended that extremist violence may escalate in view of the above decision as the elections to the 3-tier Panchayat Raj institutions in the State are due in July, 1999. Accordingly, the Chief Minister requested for the restoration of the Force.

    Shri Advani gave a patient hearing to the problem posed by Shri Manik Sarkar. He assured that 6 training coys of CRPF will be put immediately in position to partly off-set reduction of Force.

    BSF have been directed to mobilise 6 coys for counter-insurgency operations. Details will be given by BSF shortly. The Chief Minister was satisfied with the outcome of the discussions and expressed gratitude to the Home Minister.

    Shri Chaman Lal Gupta and Shri Vaidya Vishnu Dutt, former MPs from Jammu Divisions alongwith other public representative from J&K also met the Home Minister today. The representatives brought to the notice of the Home Minister the current security concern of the area. The plight of the local people who have got temporarily displaced due to cross-border shelling and militant-activities also figured during the discussion.

    The Home Minister assured them that he would look into the matter with the view to ensure that appropriate action is taken in time.