The objective of the Institute include:
Conclusion.: Thus the institute acts as
a catalyst in development, and the village youths are moulded to carry
forward the development process.
This Centrally Sponsored Scheme is under implementation through the Ministry of Urban Development since 1989-90. The scheme is operated by providing subsidy from this Ministry and loan from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) in a synchronized manner so that the conversion and construction of low cost sanitation units and liberation of scavengers is done on whole town basis.
So far, number of units sanctioned for conversion is 1847749, number of units sanctioned for construction 1516384, number of community latrines sanctioned 3463, number of scavengers liberated 121591, total conversion/construction completed 801016 and total conversion and construction in progress at present 241050.
In terms of financial progress of scheme, the number of schemes sanctioned so far is 811, number of towns covered 1167 with a total project cost of sanctioned schemes at Rs.407.65 crores. Loan sanctioned is of the order of Rs.504.07 crores, subsidy released Rs.175.59 crores and loan released Rs.175.39 crores.
Meanwhile, the Centre has advised all the State Government to frame the Rules for bringing into force the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993.
The rehabilitation of scavengers
so liberated is looked after by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment , earlier known as the Ministry of Welfare.
The Task Force made a detailed study and analysis of the air transport services in the north-eastern region comprises of the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and has suggested measures to improve air services, air cargo, and other allied matters which is relevant for boosting tourism, commerce and economic activity of the region. The main recommendations are:-
A Civil Aviation Development Fund be created, which would be administered
by a Board constituted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. 50% of both,
the Foreign Travel Tax and the Inland Air Travel Tax charged from international
and domestic passengers, should be allowed to be part of the Fund. This
Fund should be utilised to finance aviation infrastructure development
and to subsidise the unviable but essential air services.
The North-East Council, which has been so far giving grant-in-aid to Airports Authority of India for developing infrastructure in the North-East, should revert to the grant-in-aid, instead of loan to Airports Authority of India so that adequate funds are available for the infrastructure development work needed to be carried out in the North-East region.
In order to make air services to/from and within North-East region economically
viable, the following measures should be taken :
IRCON has executed a large number
of Railway contracts in Malaysia before. At present it is giving on lease
23 metre gauge diesel locomotives to Malaysian Railways. The new project
will require engineering expertise of highest order as the railway lines
are to be laid down in marshy lands.
These awards are given each year in three categories to Coal-fired thermal generating units viz. (i) for Meritorious performance, (ii) for lowering of per unit fuel oil consumption (since fuel oil is expensive) and (iii) for lowering of auxiliary consumption (thereby making more power available for the consumers) Hydro stations are not considered under the meritorious awards, because they are peaking stations, used mainly during the peak hours of the day and their generation depends on water availability. Fuel oil is used in coal-fired boilers to stabilise the flame.
The awards for the 1996-97 are to be given away this year. Under the category of Meritorious Productivity Awards, the gold medal is given to power stations for generation of more than 7500 units/kW/year, the silver medal for generating 7100 to 7500 units/kW/year and bronze medal for 6600 to 7099 units/kW/year. Shields are given for generating 6000 units/kW/year or more. These awards are therefore an indicator of the efficiency of the power plant.
Meritorious productivity awards were introduced in
1983 and are given on financial year basis. The incentive scheme for lowering
of specific fuel oil consumption and auxiliary power consumption was started
in 1992 and is given on calendar year basis.
The Pitamber Pant Fellowship Award for 1999, has been conferred on Dr. R. Raghavendra Rao of the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. Dr. Rao will work on bio-prospecting for endangered medicinal and aromatic plant species in the Himalayas.
The B.P. Pal National Environment Fellowship Award
for Bio-Diversity for 1999 year has been awarded to Dr. K.P.S. Chandel,
Ex-Director, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. Dr.
Chandel will study the genetic diversity in the natural occurring intra-specific
populations of Genus Vigna in the Shivalik Hills and Mount Abu, with special
attention to the role of tribal and rural families in the conservation
and enhancement of plant diversity.
The all-India Consumer Price Index for urban Non-Manual Employees CPI(UNME), with base 1984-85=100, for the month of May 1999 has been released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Department of Statistics & Programme Implementaiton; together with the Centre-wise indices for 59 selected urban centres in India. The all-India CPI(UNME) for May 1999, at 344 is 3 points more than the index for the month of April 1999. With the corresponding all-India index for May 1998 being 320, the index for the month of May 1999 has shown a rise of 7.5 per cent over a year.
The average index for the period April, 1999 to May 1999 works out to 343, which is higher by 7.9 per cent over the average index of 318 for the corresponding period of the previous year. The CPI (UNME) for May 1999 in respect of four metropolitan cities of India, together with the corresponding indices for the previous month and for May 1998 are given below:
City May 1998 April 1999 May 1999
Calcutta 304 316 323
Chennai 353 378 380
Delhi 304 349 350
Mumbai 329 346 349
It may be noted that the rise in index for various
centres ranges from 1.6 to 22.9 per cent; with the largest increase being
in the case of Siliguri, and the least in the case of Lucknow. The increases
are between 1.6 to 4.5 per cent for 5 Centres, 4.6 to 7.5 per cent for
30 Centres, 7.6 to 10.5 per cent for 9 centres, 10.6 to 13.5 per cent for
8 centres, 13.6 to 16.5 per cent for 6 centres, and more than 16.6 per
cent for 1 centre. As many as 35 Centres have lower annual percentage increase
as compared to that of the all-India figure of 7.5 percent and 24 Centres
have higher perentage increase as compared to the all-India figure.
The State representatives were generally of the view that the availability of essential commodities is quite satisfactory at present. They also informed the meeting that the price trend of all essential commodities is closely monitored at state level constantly.
The Joint Monitoring Committee on prices and availability
of essential commodities was set up as a follow up action of the conclusion
emerged in the meeting of Chief Secretaries and the Chief Ministers’ Conference
convened by the Prime Minister in November last year. The first meeting
of the Joint Monitoring Committee was held in February this year under
the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs with Chief
Secretaries of 16 States/Union Territories.
Responding to Shri Rane, Shri Jagmohan told him that he would be visiting Mumbai on June 22 to review various urban development projects and try his level best to give fillip to various on-going urban and housing development projects in Maharashtra. He assured Shri Rane that the Centre would provide all necessary assistance to Maharashtra in developing various housing and urban infrastructure projects. Shri Jagmohan also said that he would inaugurate Bandra-Worli Bridge on that day in Mumbai. This bridge has been financed entirely by Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) under the administrative control of his Ministry.
Shri Jagmohan also told the Chief Minister that an
additional piece of land in New Delhi has been allotted to the Government
of Maharashtra as requested by the State Government and possession handed
over.
In the path breaking Judgement, the Tribunal for the first time held that under section 4 of Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, the Associates of Smugglers and foreign exchange manipulators and his relatives cannot be permitted to keep the properties acquired through illegal means by violating the provisions of FERA.
The appeals filed by Harshad P. Mehta and his relatives were dismissed by the Hon'ble Justice J. Eswara Prasad (Chairman) and Smt. Kamlesh Shukla (Member) holding that Harshad Mehta has caused transfer of huge amounts out of the country in conspiracy with others. The contention of the Counsel for the appellants that Harshad P. Mehta's properties cannot be forfeited as he was not a detenue and that the properties of his relatives cannot be forfeited as they are not the relatives or Associates of the detenues was not accepted by the tribunal.
It may be noted that Harshad P. Mehta transferred
thousand crores of rupees out of India through Hawala transactions in conspiracy
with seven others who were detained under COFEPOSA. Movable and immovable
properties of Harshad P. Mehta and that of his relatives, worth several
crores of rupees were forfeited by the Competent Authroity, Mumbai.