Giving details about the Annual Programme of GSI for the current year, Dr. Acharyya said that with the expansion of instrumental facilities, seismic and geodetic monitoring by GSI in central and northern India would contribute to the national endeavour of management of earthquake hazard.

    Dr. Acharyya also disclosed that a new programme is proposed on seismic microzonation studies of Delhi urban cluster besides continuing with programmes on seismotectonic evaluation of various critical areas.

    Referring to the activities of GSI in the previous year, Dr. Acharyya said that compilation of Seismotectonic Atlas in 43 sheets covering India and its environs has been completed. He said all earnest efforts would be made to publish this Atlas in the year 2000.

    GSI had deployed its full force for generating valuable data required for constraining isoseismal and earthquake source parameters following the devastating Chamoli earthquake in Garhwal Himalayas, he said. Dr. Acharyya said that to cater to the needs of Uttar Pradesh Government and requests from various central agencies, a site specific survey was conducted in 230 villages in Chamoli, Rurdraprayag and Tehri districts with comprehensive mitigative plans for protection of these villages from earthquake induced slope-stability problems.
 
 

    The new edition of the Constitution will be released in the second half of October,1999 so that the Lok Sabha Secretariat is enabled to provide one copy each of the new edition of the Constitution to the Members of Parliament, elected to the 13^th Lok Sabha (House of the People). The process of General Elections to t he 13^th Lok Sabha will conclude on October 10,1999 with the constitution of the New House, as programmed by the Election Commission of India.

    The pocket size edition of the Constitution of India will incorporate the latest amendment upto the Constitution (Seventy-Eighth Amendment) Act, 1995.

    The pocket size edition of the Constitution of India will act as a handy guide and reference book to the people at large and work as a ready reckoner.
 
 

    The candidature of all the candidates is provisional. They are required to submit the original certificates direct to the Army Headquarters. For any further information, the candidates may contact Facilitation Centre of the Commission, either in person or on Telephone Nos.3385271 or 3381125.

    The result of candidates bearing Roll Nos. 65451, 70241, 86157, 86232, 88000 and 149360 will be declared later on.
 
 

    Addressing the 25th Annual General meeting of the Company, Mr. G.K. Malhotra, Chairman RITES said that in the face of an extremely competitive international scenario, by virtue of its untiring efforts, RITES succeeded in securing prestigious contracts in different fields of activities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia besides making an entry in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

    On the home home front, RITES is in the process of forming a joint venture to lay and commercially exploit an optic fibre based telecom network along the railway track on the Mumai-Chennai section, for which the Ministry of railways have given RITES the ‘right of way’.

    RITES participation in General Consultancy contract of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, involving deployment of a multi-disciplinary team, as a part of an international consortium, is an important landmark.

    A major thrust was made in the highway sector by securing prestigious World Bank aided projects in the states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Orissa and for the North Eastern Region.

    RITES has created a separate wing to provide single window consultancy services to major rail freight customers in the country in the field of transport logistics.
 
 

    The profit before interest and tax for the Corporation is Rs.82.26 crore (Rs.78.15 crore the previous year). The net profit after tax (PAT) is Rs.40.92 crore (Rs.42.34 crore previous year) after providing for interest of Rs.6.26 crore on government loans and foreign currency loans and depreciation of Rs.22.11 crore. The Corporation has paid a tax of Rs.35.34 crore during the financial year 1998-99 (Rs.29.01 crore the previous year).

Earnings Per share:
    DCI’s earnings per share for 1998-99 were Rs.14.61 as against Rs.15.12 the previous year. This is due to higher tax liability during 1998-99.

Projects Undertaken During 1998-99:
    DCI undertook several important contracts during 1998-99 including Capital Dredging for LPG Berth at Visakhapatnam, Maintenance Dredging at most of the major ports and Indian Naval establishments at Visakhapatnam. DCI also undertook the dredging behind the MRPL Jetty at New Mangalore Port and dredging at Bundar Basin and its approaches of Kandla Port.

Ninth Plan Projection:
    The revised Ninth Plan proposals of the Corporation envisage an outlay of Rs.830 crore. This includes replacements of old dredgers and additions to the existing capacity. An agreement has been signed with IHC Holland for construction and delivery of two Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers of 7400 cubic metres capacity with shore pumping facility.
Currently dredging capacity of DCI is about 505 lakh cubic metres and during 1998-99 it undertook dredging of nearly 505 lakh cubic metres which represents cent per cent capacity utilisation.
 
 

    ICAMT will provide small manufacturers with an extensive selection of state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and will allow them to make intelligent decisions on the systems selection that is best suited for their application. The objective of ICAMT is to enhance the competitiveness of entrepreneurs in developing countries, improve their productivity, develop entrepreneurship and build up public/private partnership. The Centre would develop extensive database on the advancement in manufacturing technologies across the globe and provide technical guidance to SMEs to acquire state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies to improve competitiveness. The Centre will also provide International Technology Transfer Brokering to facilitate SMEs to select appropriate technology as well as absorb it successfully. The Centre will play an important role in the promotion of North-South and South-South cooperation and partnership.

    The project for establishment of ICAMT will be implemented in two phases – a Pilot Activity Phase followed by the Operational Phase. The first phase will be for two years i.e., from October 1, 1999 to September 30, 2001. During this period, the Pilot Programme will be implemented to : (a) provide the ICAMT concept, (b) set up an institutional and legal framework, and (c) lay the basis for effective operation of the Centre.

    The cost of implementation of the two year Pilot Phase of this project is estimated to be US$2.7 million. Government of India have agreed to allocate US$1.3 million under the Trust Fund Agreement with UNIDO. UNIDO will in turn mobilize US$1.3 million from other donors/partners. UNIDO has already allocated US$100,000 as seed money to speed up the implementation of the project. The Government of India will also allocate Rs.30 million to the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute, Bangalore to set up necessary infrastructure in its premises for operation of ICAMT.
 
 

    Prizes covered four categories comprising competitions in Hind Essay Writing both for Hindi and non-Hindi speaking personnel, Hindi translation and knowledge of official language policy both for Hindi and non-Hindi speaking officials, Noting and Drafting in Hind for Hindi and non-Hindi speaking personnel and efficiency in Hindi-typing skill. Each category together with its respective sub-category carried first, second , third and consolation prizes of Rs.400, Rs.300, Rs.200 and Rs.100 each respectively.

    Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary, Legislative Department Dr. Raghbir Singh congratulated the recipients of awards in various categories of competitions for promotion of Hindi as the official language of India. He hoped that such incentives would further the cause of Hindi in the Government. He exhorted the officials to take up the working in Hindi medium in the Government more and more from now onwards.

    The fortnight long Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Hindi as the official language which began on September 14, 1999, concluded today. The year long celebrations will conclude on September 14,2000.
 
 

    Admission certificates indicating the time-table and venue of examination have already been issued by the Commission to all the admitted candidates.
 
 

    Arati Gupta (Saha) was born in Calcutta, West Bengal on 24^th September, 1940. Arati was initiated in swimming at the early age of four, and her inherent talent was noticed by Sachin Nag, a swimming ace of yore. Between 1945 and 1951 she won 22 State competitions with an all-India record in 1949. A landmark in her prodigious swimming career was her participation in Helsinki Olympics in 1952 along with Dolly Nazir.

    The crowning glory came in 1959 when she swam across the English Channel on 29^th September, from Cape Gris Nez in France to Sandgate in England. She had to swim 42 miles and it took 16 hours 20 minutes. The ice-cold water could not make a dent in her courage and determination. She was the first woman in Asia to perform that outstanding and courageous feat. She brought glory not only to herself but also to the country when she hoisted the flag of India at Sandgate. The achievement was a culmination of long years of hard work, perseverance, devotion and determination. She was awarded 'Padmashri' in the year 1960. She succumbed to incurable jaundice and passed away on 23^rd August, 1994.

    The DoP, has over the years, commemorated the contribution of Indian women in various spheres, the struggle for independence, the social reform movement, the political field, education and other areas of nation building. In 1998, a special stamp was issued to commemorate the contribution of Indian women in the field of space technology and aviation. The postage stamp on Arati Gupta is a tribute to the achievements of outstanding Indian women in the field of sports.

    The First Day Cover alongwith the information sheet is available on sale at all Philatelic Bureaux/Counters and at selected Post Offices.
 
 

    Dr. Chidambaram also announced that the state-of-the-art, indigenously designed 220 MW(e) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor at Kaiga attained criticality last week. Another 220 MW(e) PHWR, the third unit in Rajasthan is expected to reach criticality in a couple of months. Work on the second unit in Kaiga and the fourth unit in Rajasthan are in an advanced stage of completion. Dr. Chidambaram further said that in addition construction work has also commenced on two 500 MW(e) indigenously designed PHWR reactors at Tarapur. The preparation of the Detailed Project Report for the construction of two 1000 MW(e) reactors at Kudankulam in technical collaboration with Russia is underway and expected to be completed in 2001. To ensure long term energy security, India has chosen to follow a "Closed Fuel Cycle" policy which calls for the setting up of reprocessing plants and breeder reactors, Dr. Chidambaram said.

    Referring to the recommendations of the Senior Experts Group, Dr. Chidambaram said that they could serve as the basis for planning the future programmes of the IAEA. Dr. Chidambaram read out on the occasion a special message from the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which said that the 43^rd General Conference of the IAEA marks the end of an era. But as we know every end is also a beginning. A new millenium beckons us. And we, as responsible member States, must rise to the occasion and ensure that we leave behind a legacy not a liability for future generations.
 
 

    The visiting Andhra Ministers presented a memorandum to the Prime Minister and Minister of State for Agriculture requesting for assistance from the Central Government under the ongoing Plan Scheme and also an assistance of Rs.720 crore from the National Fund for Calamity Relief (NFCR) for meeting the drought situation.

    The Prime Minister further assured that the request for expeditious release of funds under the ongoing schemes would be considered on a priority basis.
 
 

    It was noted that States would have to enlarge their role in promoting investment right from the stage of project to post approval facilitation. The FIIA would be a common platform for the Central and State Governments to identify potential areas for investment and technology flows. The real potential of the state would be perceived by the foreign investment in terms of ability of each state to transfer investment intentions and approvals into actual implementation with the least possible hindrance and irritants.

    The FIIA resolved that a Fast Track Committee (FTC) under each Administrative Ministry would be set up by the Ministry concerned. The FTC would have representatives of Central agencies and State Governments concerned. Besides meeting at regular periodicity, the FTC would review project implementation with respect to each FDI approval and sort out problems arising in the course of project implementation. It would also provide a direct interface between investors and agencies concerned and would attempt to provide each approval holder a check list of approvals along with likely time-frame within which all clearances of the Central and State levels would be made available on the basis of post RBI/FIPB stage. Thereafter, it would review deviation, if any, from the schedule in the check list. The FTC would, on the basis of such reviews, be also be able to identify redundant proposals and also suggest simplification of procedures at the Central and State level, chart out a road map for sector-specific projects and identify impediments to project implementation. The FIIA noted that some issues may remain unresolved and such issues would, therefore, be brought up to the FIIA for resolving at the Central or State Government level.

    It was also resolved that each project would be provided a tracking number which would be common for all post FDI approval stages such as various registrations and clearances. The Authority would monitor all approvals and receive complaints and suggestions from each approval holder as was done in today’s meeting in which responses to individual letters and investors on behalf of FIIA were received, reviewed and referred to Central Government Ministries concerned and State Government agencies for time-barred resolution. It was also decided sector-specific FTCs would meet at fixed intervals based on a pre-determined calendar, which would be widely publicised so as to enable investors to put forth their problems before the Committee.

    FIIA meetings to cover other regions in the first round would be held on September 30, 1999 for Western Region, October 6, 1999 for Southern Region, and October 7, 1999 for Eastern Region.