'38'

    Full utilization of rain water is not possible due to topographical and environmental constraints, evaporation and vegetation losses and for allowing certain amount of water to flow in the river for maintaining the river regime. The projected (2000) utilization of water (surface and ground) is about 750 billion cubic metres leaving 372 billion cubic metres of utilizable water as unutilized.

'18'

    The Steel Ministry has directed all public sector units and allied organisations within the Ministry to undertake a dry run to test the contingency plan for Y2K compliance between 24^th to 31^st December 1999. The decision was taken at the final review meeting of Y2K compliance chaired by Steel Secretary Shri. A.K. Basu. Steel Secretary said that the contingency plan had been drawn up taking into account guidelines drawn by the Government on Y2K compliance for different sectors of the economy and Government departments. He also stressed on the necessity of having a clear-cut communication plan so that the norms could be uniformly applied to all sectors within the Ministry.

    The representatives of key public sector units and allied organisations informed the Ministry that all of them had conducted Inter-Plant/Third Party audit and had tested the business and embedded systems which had been declared Y2K compliant. PSUs had set up critical management centers and control rooms fully equipped with logistic and technical support across their Plants and Corporate offices to meet any Y2K challenge. Effective Rollover plans have also been put in place and respective Y2K related work forces have been identified and put on alert from 24^th December, 1999 to 15^th January, 2000 to attend to any Y2K related contingency arising. The Ministry in order to facilitate the process had appointed Y2K Nodal officers at PSUs to ensure uniform flow of information, effective man management and identification of critical functions in each Steel Plant.

    The Y2K action group in the Ministry of Steel was set up in February 1999. The group initially prepared an approach paper on the Y2K problem and outlined the compliance methodology defining critical dates for Y2K. It also identified the complete methodology for inventory impact and impact assessment for Y2K. Review meetings were held in the month of May, August, September and November 1999. The issues discussed included review of testing and auditing of Y2K compliance systems/services identification of key supply chain dependencies, review of contingency plan for mission critical functions and compliance of major suppliers of PSUs.

    The Ministry has reported 100 per cent Y2K compliance from SAIL, RINL, NMDC, MOIL, MECON, SIIL, MSTC, HSCL, FSNL, BRL and KIOCL.

'36'

UMA BHARATI CALLS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM

    Minister of State for Tourism, Ms. Uma Bharati, has said that there was an urgent need for the development of Tourism in a sustainable manner to preserve natural and cultural heritage as that natural and cultural heritage attractions are, by nature, unique and fragile. Mass tourism to these areas may do irreparable and irreversible damage to the main foundation of tourism. Ms. Uma Bhararti was addressing the international conclave on tourism for sustainable development organised by ASSOCHAM here today.

    Ms. Uma Bharati said that to meet the various requirements for sustainable tourism development, Ministry of Tourism is in process of preparing a new National Tourism Policy providing for people's participation in the development of tourism, creating awareness about Eco-tourism. Besides this the Government has also evolved the guidelines for development of Eco-tourism to ensure regulated growth of Eco-tourism with its positive impact on environment. She said that Tourism development should be compatible with the environment and socio-cultural characteristics of the local community and it should be planned as a part of overall area development strategy.

    Highlighting benefits of tourism, the Minister said that presently tourism is a major segment of Indian economy. Direct employment in this sector during 1997-98 was estimated to be about 9.8 million and the total employment including indirect was about 21.4 million. Large percentage of the employment was generated in backward and remote areas. The employment generation capacity of tourism industries per unit of investment is also one of the highest in the country. The foreign exchange earnings from Tourism during 1998-99 is estimated to be more than 12,000 crores. In view of this high economic potential tourism needs strategic planning for its development otherwise, however, this dynamic growth in the tourism industry, though attractive in terms of revenue and employment generation, could pose a problem on a longivity of the industry, the Minister warned. She called upon the travel and tour industry to come forward and draw a time bound plan for sustainable development of the tourism as it would ultimately help the industry as well as society.

ROAD TO BE NAMED AFTER LATE GURMUKH NIHAL SINGH

    A road in the educational area of New Delhi will be named after the late Gurmukh Nihal Singh, a former Chief Minister of Delhi. The renamed road will begin at the Lady Sri Ram College T-junction and skirt along Frank Anthony School and Lajpat Bhawan. The inaugural ceremony will be performed by Shri Jagmohan, the Minister for Urban Development on Sunday.

    Gurmukh Nihal Singh, who took over as Governor of Rajasthan state after the abolition of the Delhi State assembly, subsequently revived, spent most of his life in the educational field. He was Professor of Political Science at the Banaras Hindu University and had founded the department. Later, he took over as Principal of the H.L. College of Commerce in Ahmedabad before assuming charge of Ramjas College in Delhi. He later became Principal of Commerce College, Delhi.

    The pendency of criminal cases in the courts has gone up over the years. While in the Supreme Court it has come down from 3810 criminal cases in May 1997 to 3394 criminal cases in May 1998, the pendency of such cases in all the 18 High Courts in the country has gone up to 3.72 lakh criminal cases as on December 31,1998 from 3.44 lakh criminal cases on December 31,1997. Similarly, the pendency of criminal cases in the District and Subordinate Courts went up to 1.34 crores as on December 31,1998 from 1.33 crores on December 1997.

    Meanwhile, the Centre has been taking a series of steps to simplify procedures and speed up of disposal of cases following recommendations of expert bodies like the Law Commission of India. Keeping this in view, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Bill, 1994 has been moved in Parliament. Besides, the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 154^th report have been incorporated in the Bill.

    Further, various other measures have been taken by the Government including appointment of Special Judicial and Metorpolitan Magistrates and adoption of the alternative modes of disputes resolution. In addition, the Supreme Court and High Courts have taken a number of steps for expeditious disposal of cases. These include grouping and classification of cases involving similar question of law, setting up of specialised benches and computerisation of listing of cases.

    Added to this, following a direction given by the Supreme Court in its judgement of May 1,996 in Writ Petition (Civil), No.1128 of 1996, Common Cause versus Union of India, the Subordinate Courts have been directed to close cases involving minor offences, pending for two years and more in which proceedings have not commenced. This measure is intended to bring down pendency of cases and expedite their disposal.

'12'

    The Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha, which is headed by Shri Dipankar Mukherjee, Member of Parliament, presented its 114^th Report on the petition to the Rajya Sabha on December 8, 1999,praying, inter-alia, for redefining the term ‘railway accident’ in the Indian Railways Act 1989 and to create machinery for payment of immediate and adequate financial compensation for injury or death of persons or other losses on railway premises.

    The Committee heard the petitioners, the Chairman and the officials of Raiway Board and went through the written material produced before it and on the basis thereof, formulated its recommendations/observations. The petition was signed by Prof. Manubai D.Shah, Managing Trustee, Consumer Education and Research Centre, Ahmedabad and three others and countersigned by Shri Dinesh bhai Trivedi, then M.P., and had been presented to the House by the latter.

    The recommendations and observations of the Committee are reproduced below:

    ‘The Committee has noted that there are quite a substantial number of unmanned level crossings obtaining at present in the country and the criteria for conversion of these crossings into manned ones/construction of over bridges/under bridges involves a two way approach for sharing of cost between the Railways and the State Governments. The Railways, in any case have been converting on an average 100 such crossings into manned ones every year for the last five years and the progress from that point of view has not been very encouraging. Based on that reckoning, it would take approximately 240 years for manning of all the unmanned level crossings, which would mean a prolonged spell of recurring accidents at such unmanned level crossings as has unfortunately hitherto been the case. The Chairman, Railway Board himself admitted in the course of his submissions before the Committee that they are equally concerned about the problem of unmanned level crossings and a programme to cover larger number of crossings has been worked out and increased allocations are being sought to cope with the problem. The Committee, however, feels that no clear picture about the shape of exact amount of money flowing to the Railways for conversion of unmanned level crossings into manned ones and construction of Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) / Railway Under Bridges (RUBs) has emerged and the Railways are simply in the midst of projecting their requirement. The Committee, in this context has in particular noted that the position about the quantum of amount which would become available to the Railways from out of the National Highway Fund as a result of the cess/duty on diesel and petrol for construction of bridges and carrying out safety works at Railway crossings is also not clear. The Committee is fully conscious that there are financial constraints in undertaking the mammoth task of manning all the 24,000 plus level crossings in one go, yet, it would like to emphasise that a clear time frame should be laid down for completing this task and there should be a separate budgetary outlay every year for this purpose, together with the details of the identifiable sources from which this outlay is proposed to be met. The Committee would also like the Government to clearly specify allocations of funds, which would accrue to the Railways during the years 1999-2004 from out of the National Highway Fund for the aforesaid purpose. The Committee also recommends that there should be no provision of unmanned level crossings on the new railway lines, which are proposed to be laid in future’.

'42'

    The Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Suresh Prabhu has said that the Government will keep food security in mind while evolving a long term policy for the fertilizer sector.

    The Minister was speaking while inaugurating the Seminar on "Maintaining Fertilizer and Food Security in the Emerging World Trade Order" organised by the Fertilizers Association of India (FAI), here today. Shri Prabhu said that the Government has in the past given an agreed time frame to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for lifting quantitative restrictions on various categories of fertilizers except urea. However, in respect of urea and DAP in which the country has established sizeable production base indigenously, protection by way of tariff will be essential in the interest of food security and promoting their use for achieving higher production. The Minister added that, however, the Government also expects that the fertilizer industry will also develop the right attitude and face the new challenges by displaying new initiatives and innovativeness.

    Shri Prabhu said while a base for indigenous production of phosphatic fertilizers has been built, the Government is concerned also about the high incidence of subsidy and increasing outflow by way of concession. In the present phase of the country’s liberalisation programme this will receive greater attention as the fiscal deficit needs to be restrained.

    Speaking on economic liberalisation, the Minister said that the fertilizer sector also has to fall in line with rest of the economy. Total decontrol and deregulation would, therefore have to be the ultimate goal for the sector. The Government now intends moving towards further deregulation which will encompass urea also after taking into account its physical capacity on one hand and need to make fertilizers available to farmers at a reasonable price on the other. The Government endeavour will be to formulate an action plan for translating this into a long term policy for the sector. This would include inter-alia the Government’s decision on the recommendation made by the High-Powered Fertilizer Policy Review Committee.

    Touching further upon the issue of subsidy, Shri Prabhu said while the necessity to reduce the burden of subsidy is a legitimate concern this will require to be balanced with socio-economic aspects of the problem. Currently about 70% of fertilizers are being used in 100 out of 426 districts chiefly on irrigated cereal crops, sugarcane and cotton. In addition, fertilizer subsidy cannot be viewed in isolation from food subsidy. The fact that a number of small and marginal farmers produce foodgrains for self-consumption rather than the market also cannot be lost sight of. A phased programme and policy frame for attaining decontrol and deregulation may, thus, be essential.

    Referring to the retention pricing scheme the Minister said it has contributed to a great extent to the satisfactory level of production. However, aberrations in the scheme have also crept in. The industry has to come forward and join hands with the Government in setting necessary corrections in pricing policy to contain the burgeoning subsidy and concessions, the Minister added.

    The Government is also aware that the quantity of fertilizer subsidy has increased because of the dismantling of the administrative price mechanism for petroleum products. The Minister exhorted the industry to give maximum emphasis on cost reduction measures and improving energy efficiency.

    Concluding his speech the Minister said a policy of new capacities will have to be evolved. The problem is also linked to the likely availability of LNG. It is proposed to get a detailed feasibility report to take a view on the investment needed for creating new capacities.

    Earlier, the Chairman of FAI Shri V.N. Rai delivered his speech at the Seminar.

    State Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir had asked the Railways to examine possibility of providing fencing on both sides of Railway track from Jammu to Ghagwal for security reasons. Proposal to provide this fencing at an estimated cost of Rs. 12.90 crore has been sent to J & K Government for their acceptance. Work will be taken up after it is sanctioned by J & K Government and necessary funds provided by them.

        This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in the Rajya Sabha today.

    Railways are taking several steps to check corrupt practices in ticket booking and reservation. Regular checks are conducted to nab the touts in railway premises by Railway Protection Force(RPF) and Vigilance and Commercial Departments. Joint raids on unauthorised travel agents are conducted with the help of Government Railway Police(GRP) and Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI). Checks are conducted on the premises of authorised Rail travel agents to see if any irregularities are committed by them.

    Besides preventive checks are conducted in a discreet manner by vigilance to detect cases of irregularities and malpractices in booking and reservations with the connivance of the railway staff. These checks and raids are intensified during summer, important festival times and year ending rush. The staff held responsible are taken up under Discipline and Appeal Rules. Close Circuit TV cameras have also been installed at a few reservation offices in order to keep an eye on the activities of unscrupulous elements.

    Railways have endeavoured to reduce the problem of the gap between supply and demand of reserved accommodation on trains by introducing new trains, augmenting the capacity of existing trains and running special trains during busy seasons. Important trains have been augmented with 24 coaches.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in the Rajya Sabha today.

    There are at present 526 book stalls held by unemployed graduates in all the 9 zones of Indian Railways. Railways award all new bookstall contracts to unemployed graduates, their cooperatives, partnership firms, associations and cooperative societies of actual workers and vendors. For this they invites applications through Press Notifications and contracts are awarded after following prescribed procedure. However, non-profit making philanthropic organisations like Gita Press, Sarva Seva Sangh, Rama Krishna Mission etc. can be allotted book stalls on platforms as special case.

    Book Stall Licencees sell only books, news papers, periodicals and literature of good quality on national integration and communal harmony including that in regional languages. Sale and display of objectionable literature or any obcence publication is not permitted. They have to regularly pay their dues to the Railways and do all work connected with management of book stalls including train side vending only by themselves. Over-charging of publications and misbehavior with passengers is viewed seriously.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Digvijay Singh in the Rajya Sabha today.

    Where a scheme of a mutual fund offers any assured return, or in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which is the regulatory authority, the return proposed is in the nature of an assurance to the investors, SEBI has insisted that the mutual fund should honour its commitments. In case the fund is unable to pay the same to the investors, the shortfall has to be borne by the sponsors of the asset management company of the mutual fund. The Indian Bank Mutual Fund had floated the Ind Jyothi Scheme in 1990 and the Ind Prakash Scheme in 1992 which offered assured returns. Subsequently, SEBI received complaints from investors stating that the fund was not honouring its commitments made under the schemes. Accordingly, on 30^th November, 1999, under Section 11B of the SEBI Act, 1992, SEBI issued directions to Indian Bank Mutual Fund to pay the assured returns to the investors and in case it is unable to do so, the shortfall shall be borne by Indian Bank which is the sponsor as well as the Principal Trustee of the mutual fund.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Balasaheb Vikhe Patil in a written reply to a question by Shri Dinsha Patel in the Lok Sabha today.

    Government has decided that all cases where the information provided in the audit report is incomplete or such non-commital replies are furnished so as to render the remarks or the report meaningless, should be reported by the assessing officer to the Commissioner of Income Tax. The matter thereafter, be taken up by the Commissioner of Income tax to see if the case reflects any professional negligence on the part of the Accountants signing the audit report. Action for initiation of disciplinary proceedings in terms of section 288 of the Income tax Act should be immediately taken by the commissioner of Income tax with the approval of Chief Commissioner of Income tax as the case may be.

    The responsibility of tax audit has been entrusted to the chartered accountants under the Income tax Act, 1961. Therefore, it has been felt necessary to make them accountable for any professional misconduct.

    The Central Board of Direct Taxes have issued instructions with immediate effect to the field officers to report any professional negligence on the part of the chartered accountants in preparing the tax audit report to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in terms of section 288 of the Income tax Act, 1961, as the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is entitled to institute proceedings against its member Chartered Accountants who submit faulty tax audit reports.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri V. Dhananjaya Kumar in a written reply to a question by Shri Suresh Ramrao Jadhav in the Lok Sabha today.

'16'

    Under the WTO, members may provide tariff protection to their domestic industry within the overall limits of their respective commitments. A Member may also increase its tariffs so long as such increase does not exceed the commitment so made, Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Commerce & Industry Minister, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. He said representations have been received from the natural rubber producers for increasing the import duty on polyurethane. However, the duty structure of various products including polyurethane and synthetic rubber is decided after taking into account the level of protection required for the domestic industry while keeping in mind the concerns of the user industry.

'16'

EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCILS TO BE RESTRUCTURED – MARAN

    The government proposes to restructure the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today. In view of the significant changes that have taken place in the international trading environment in recent years, it was felt necessary to restructure the EPCs’ in order to improve their functioning and make them more effective. Moreover, with emergence of new sectors of export importance, criteria need to be laid down regarding establishment of new EPCs, the Minister said.

    A Sub-committee consisting of three senior officers of the Ministry was established in July 1998 for the purpose. Based on the report of the Sub-committee model bye-laws/articles of association are being finalised. These steps are expected to improve the functioning of existing EPCs.

PRESS NOTE

    Subject: Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production and Use-based Index (Base 1993-94=100) for the month of October, 1999.

    The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 for the month of October, 1999 have been released by the Central Statistical Organisation. The General Index stands at 145.6 which is higher by 8.7% compared to the month of October, 1998.

    The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of October, 1999 stand at 117.9, 149.7, and 142.6 respectively, with the corresponding growths of –1.7%, 9.7% and 10.3% compared to the month of October, 1998. The cumulative growths during April-October, 1999-2000 over the corresponding period of 1998-99 in the three sectors have been 0.2%, 7.5% and 8.1% respectively, with the overall growth in the General Index being 6.9%.

    Twelve out of seventeen two-digit industry groups have shown positive growth during the month of October, 1999 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. Machinery and Equipment other than Transport Equipment have shown the highest growth of 17.8% followed by 17.1% for Leather and Leather & Fur Products, and 16.3% in Basic Chemicals & Chemical Products (except products of Petroleum & Coal). On the other hand, Rubber, Plastic, Petroleum and Coal Products have shown a growth of –8.4% followed by a growth of –7.3% in each of the three industries viz., (i) Jute and other Vegetable Fibre Textiles (except Cotton); (ii) Wood and Wood Products; Furniture and Fixtures and (iii) Metal Products and Parts, except Machinery & Equipment.

    As per Use-based classification, the growth in October, 1999 as compared to October, 1998 is 12.9% in Intermediate goods, 5.9% in the Capital goods and 5.8% in Basic goods. The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of 8.7% and 8.6% respectively, with the overall growth in Consumer goods being 8.7%.

    Statements giving Quick Estimates of the Index of Industrial Production at the 2-digit level of National Industrial Classification and by Use-based classification for the month of October, 1999 alongwith the growth rates over the corresponding month of previous year including the cumulative indices and growth rates are enclosed.

    Union Minister of state for Health & Family Welfare Shri N. T. Shanmugam has informed Rajya Sabha today in a written reply that the Govt. is examining the feasibility of formulating a comprehensive legislation for discouraging use of tobacco products.

    It has been estimated by I.C.M.R. that on an average about 8 lakh deaths occur annually in the country due to tobacco. This estimate is on the basis of a nationwide survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation on the prevalence of tobacco use and the maximum and minimum relative risk of death on account of consumption of tobacco and tobacco products, as reported in Indian literature.

    Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Shri. N.T. Shanmugam has informed Rajya Sabha today in a written reply that the Medical Council of India’s recommendations to effect changes in the Establishment of Medical College Regulations 1993 are under the Govt’s consideration. The modifications proposed by the MCI were finalised with such modifications as were considered appropriate by the Govt. The main Changes proposed are given below:

1. Applications for setting up new medical colleges be received between 1^st August to 31^st August in a calendar year by the Central Government.
2. The requirements of beds in the hospital of a college for 50 students be reduced to 400 beds; for 100 students to be reduced to 500 beds and for 150 students to be reduced to 750 beds.
3. At least 25 acres of land should be owned and possessed by the applicant to set up a medical college. In the regulations of 1993 the size o the plat is not specified.
4. There would be admission of only one batch in a calendar year in which permission is granted.
5. The applicant should provide bank deposits in the joint name of the applicant and Medical Council of India as per the amount specified and the interest thereon should accrue to the Medical Council of India.
6. The teaching hospital should be owned by the applicant. Colleges are not to be set up in rented buildings.
7. Letter of intent for setting up a medical college may be issued by the Central Government to the applicant without MCI inspection of the institution and on consideration of MCI report on evaluation of the application in terms of the desirability and prima-facie feasibility for setting up the medical college at the proposed location.
8. A broad format be prescribed for Essentiality Certificate so that necessary information is available to the MCI and the Government to make their recommendations.
9. A schedule of receipt of applications for establishment of new medical colleges and processing of the application by the Central Government and MCI be prescribed.

'39'

UNETHICAL TRADE PRACTICES AGAINST CONSUMERS RIGHTS

    According to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 the seller of the goods are liable to repair/replace the defective goods or return the money etc. to the consumers. Therefore, "Goods once sold will not be taken back" etc. are not enforceable under the law. The provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 are quite adequate and effective to protect the interest of consumers in case of defective goods purchased or delivered to the consumers for any consideration. Aggrieved consumers have the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices in the consumer courts for getting appropriate relief.

    This information was given in Rajya Sabha today by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Shri V. Sreenivasa Prasad in a written reply to a question.

IMPORT OF SUGAR AND EDIBLE OILS

    The total quantity of sugar imported under Open General Licence (OGL) during the last three financial years (April to March), i.e. 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 has been 2131 Mts. 3,46,905 Mts. And 8,57,691 Mts. Respectively (based on the data published by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Calcutta).

    The quantity of edible oils imported under OGL during the last three oil years (November to October), i.e. 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 has been 12.83 lakh Mts., 18.93 lakh Mts, and 33.00 lakh Mts. Respectively (based on the returns received from importers) upto December 1,1999.

    As regards import of edible oils, as a supplemental measure, the Government has had to resort to import of edible oils which has been placed on O.G.L. with an import duty at the rate of 16.5%. The import Policy has proved to be consumer-friendly, it has helped in ensuring availability of edible oils at reasonable prices to the consumers.

    As regards import of sugar, no sugar has been imported on Government account. The imports of sugar have been made by various parties under OGL, as per their own commercial judgement.

    This information was given in Rajya Sabha today by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Shri V. Sreenivasa Prasad in a written reply to a question.

    The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said that the Government is determined to create conditions that will enable more and more successful world class Information Technology enterprises to grow on Indian soil. He said this is necessary not only for creation of wealth, but also for employment generation, which will help reduce regional and social disparities.

    Launching the National Venture Fund for Software and IT Industry (NFSIT)here today, the Prime Minister assured Banks and financial institutions of appropriate supportive measures to facilitate their efforts for setting up similar venture capital funds. Shri Vajpayee urged the promoters of the Venture Capital Fund to learn and adopt best international practices in managing this fund. He said that this should not be run in a bureaucratic manner and if necessary we should further modify and improve its operations by learning from successful Venture Funds. The Prime Minister also launched the website of the Venture Capital Fund and released a brochure.

    The National Venture Fund is a close ended ten year fund with an initial corpus of one hundred crore rupees. The main objective of the fund is to meet the total fund requirements of the software and IT companies, particularly, small enterprises, to enable them to achieve rapid growth rates and maintain their competitive edge in domestic and international market. The fund has been set up by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in association with Ministry of Information Technology.

    Speaking on the occasion, the Information Technology Minister, Shri Pramod Mahajan said that it is not the Government’s idea to be the regulator. But on the other hand it will work as a facilitator. Instead of red tapes, he said, there will be red carpets for domestic and foreign players. Shri Mahajan said, the Government has a role to play as there is a need to re-write the laws as the society moves towards a digital world. He said our aim is to create an environment in which people with ideas and innovative brains can create wealth in India itself instead of going abroad.

    Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister, Shri Yashwant Sinha said a National Register of Innovation will be created and assured to make the fund larger. He hoped that the next millennium must belong to India. The Finance Minister said a new national policy on competition is being formed.

    The Information Technology Secretary, Shri P.V. Jayakrishnan, welcoming the guests, said that this SIDBI, the Industrial Development Bank of India and the Ministry of Information Technology have already contributed Rs.60 crore for the Venture Capital Fund. He said so far the Fund has received applications for Rs.136 crore.

    A brochure on External Assistance giving status of external loans, donor-wise, covering their utilisation, repayment, total external debt outstanding has been brought out by the office of the Controller of Aid Accounts & Audit (CAA&A) on annual basis. The extracts of this brochure for the year 1997-98 are also available on the internet at the website  "http://www.nic.in/finimin". The brochure for the year 1998-99 is likely to be published by the end of this month and will be subsequently available on the above website.

    Monthly utilisation status of all ongoing lines of credit and external debt outstanding on government account on quarterly basis are also available at the website.

    CAA&A deals with external loans obtained by the Government of India from various multilateral and bilateral donors. CAA&A is a part of the External Finance Division of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance.

'40'

    The key to success for the domestic industry is to lay emphasis on quality and affordable pricing, said Shri Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries here today while addressing the Annual Conference of All India Food Processors' Association. The Government, he said had already initiated action for formulating a food processing policy covering all aspects relating to the food sector and invited suggestions from the Association to be incorporated in the policy.

    Referring to fiscal concessions and incentives to augment critical financial resources available to the industry the Minister requested that positive suggestions should be forwarded to the Ministry so as to pass on the benefits to the consumers. The present Government had already started dialogue with State Governments for rationalisation of taxes and levies which will help in increasing trade without any barriers within the domestic sector; Shri Hussain said. He also cautioned the industry that the WTO agreement is going to be crucial for the domestic industry as it will have to face competition from goods produced in other countries.

    The Minister also gave away awards for the excellent work done in the field of food processing industries on the occasion. Earlier, in his welcome address, Shri P.P.S. Dhillion, President of All India Food Processors' Association of India pointed out that the greatest hurdle for food processors is lack of adequate working capital which needed to be speedily streamlined. Banks should be directed to lent on priority basis to this sector at a very low rate of interest to attract large investments in the processed food sector, he added.

'24'

    The Minister of Communications, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan has agreed to consider an unanimous proposal by the Chambers of Industry for the creation of a suitable dispute settlement mechanism between the licensor and licensee (service providers) on the pattern of Lok Adalat. The suggestion came from the senior representatives from telecom industry during a meeting presided over by the Minister, here today. Industry representatives felt that such a mechanism will help speedy, and out of court resolution of disputes between the licensor and licensee obviating the lengthy process of adjudication. They suggested that the dispute settlement panel should comprise of Government representatives from various ministries like Communications, Finance, Industry etc. Shri Paswan took a positive note of the suggestions and requested the industry representatives to submit detailed proposals in this regard at the earliest. He further said that the proposed mechanism should in no way undermine the role assigned to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) under the Act.

    The meeting which lasted for more than three hours was specially convened at the behest of the Minister to discuss the current telecom scenario in the country, address the concerns in the present context and identify measures to accelerate promotion of private investment in telecom sector.

    Other important suggestions by the industry which the Minister agreed to consider include operationalisation of Universal Service Obligation Fund which include contribution from all service providers to fulfill the target of rural telephony expeditiously, provision of telephones in rural areas through very small aperture terminal (VSAT), and application of the concept of calling party pays (CPP) on pager service.

    Asked about the corporatisation of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) by a member of industry the Minister said that the decision to corporatise DoT has already been taken and process will be put on a fast track taking into account the issues concerning all the stake holders.

    To a suggestion to reduce custom duty to zero on those telecom equipment which are not manufactured in India but are required by the industry to set up modern telecom infrastructure the Minister said the matter will be taken up with the Finance Ministry immediately.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks Shri Paswan urged the industry to be a partner in the Government's effort to provide world class telecom infrastructure and modern telecommunication services both in rural and urban areas. Stating that nothing can stop India becoming an IT super power at the turn of the millennium the Minister referred to the new investment opportunities emerging out of NTP-99 in the field of basic, cellular and other value added services. The industry should take full advantage of it, he added.

    Shri Paswan said that on no account there should be any mistrust between the industry and the Government and if there are any differences they should be sorted out across the table. It is only a feeling of mutual participation and trust which will contribute in supplementing each others efforts and promote national interest. Shri Paswan said that for achieving the target of 'telephone on demand' by the year 2002, a tele-density of 7 by the year 2005 and 15 by the year 2010, the public and the private sector should play an important role in modernising the telecom infrastructure by leveraging the latest global technological advancement.

    Other issues which came up during the meeting included timeframe required for supplementary agreements to be signed for shifting to the NTP-99 regime, setting up of cellular STD/PCOs in villages, private operators to be on a par with DoT with regard to right of the way for laying cables, bidding for vacant circles, use of KU band and foreign satellites by ISPs, tripartite agreement with regard to financial institutions and matters relating to regulation.

    The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Communications, Shri Tapan Sikdar, Chairman, Telecom Commission, Shri Anil Kumar, Secretary, Department of Telecom Services, Shri P.S.Saran and other senior officials of the ministry. The industry was represented by CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, COAI, ABTO, IPSA, Internet operators and heads of financial institutions - ICICI, IDBI and IFCI.

    Thanking the minister for his initiative the representatives of industry welcomed the NTP-99 and the policy of migration from fixed licence fee to revenue sharing regime. They said that the pragmatic and constructive approach of the Minister is commendable in initiating this kind of discussion. In this connection Shri Paswan said he will be holding this kind of meeting every three months and assured the industry of every possible help.

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    India's bilateral trade with Russia during the last three years is as under :-

    Details of items/goods exported from India to Russia and imported from Russia to India are available in the Foreign Trade Statistics of India published by DGCI&S, Calcutta, copies of which are available in the Parliament library.

    An agreement was signed on 4^th May, 1992 between the Government of India and the Government of the Russian Federation on Trade and Economic Cooperation to promote trade and economic cooperation on a stable and long term basis. The Article 6 of the Arrangement between the Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of the USSR and the Reserve Bank of India for implementing the provisions of the letters dated 28-29 January, 1993 and 6^th September, 1993 exchanged between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of India dated 6^th September 1993 stipulates that in accordance with the Letters of Exchange, the repayment of State credits received from the Indian side will be used by the Russian Side for the purchase of goods and services from India that are permissible for export under the import and Export Policy of the Government of India in force from time to time.

    This information was given by Shri Murasoli Maran, Minister of Commerce and Industry in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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    Almost all countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, North East Asia, East Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America have shown keen interest to expand trade with India. The names of the countries include :

1. Commonwealth of independent States and Baltic States :

Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghystan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

2. Europe

European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg, U.K., Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia.

Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tongo, Kribati, Tuvalu, Soloman Islands, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Phillipines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar.

Japan, China, Taiwan, North & South Korea, Mongolia, Hongkong, Macau.

5. America

USA, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Central American countries and all countries of Caribbean community.

6. Africa

Cameroon, Senegal, Zambia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Liberia, Uganda, Nigeria, Angola, Rwanda, Ghana, Ivory-Coast, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Namibia Ethiopia, Seychelles, Botswana, Swaziland, Gambia, Tanzania, Mauritius, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin.

7. Western Asia and North Africa

Baharain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Arab Republic of Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya.

Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka.

The business proposals are discussed from time to time whenever Joint Trade Committees/Joint Trade Commission meetings take place with partner countries.

This information was given by Shri Murasoli Maran, Minister of Commerce and Industry in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

    In reply to another question, Shri Maran informed that the Government has received representation from the National Dairy Development Board to formulate a suitable import policy in respect of dairy products in the country to prevent indiscriminate import of dairy products. However, in 1997, when India notified 2714 items to WTO for phased removal of import restrictions thereon, some of the dairy products were also included in the said list. An import policy based on quantitative restrictions is violative of our commitment to WTO. Protection to most of our dairy industry products is available through tariff mechanism.

    Union Home Minister, Shri L.K. Advani said that respect for Human Rights is inherent in our culture. The provisions of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 figure in the Fundamental Rights of the Indian Constitution. Shri Advani was addressing a function organised here today, by the Delhi Police on the World Human Rights Day.

    Highlighting the role of the police in protecting human rights of the people, Shri Advani said that the role of the law enforcing agencies including police is two-fold – on the one hand they protect the Human Rights of the citizens and on the other they fight with the people who violates human rights. He mentioned that generally police is blamed for violation of human rights but organisation of such functions by the police departments prove that they are conscious and aware of the human rights.

    Shri Advani stated that the main reason for the success of democracy in our country is the respect and tolerance for the dissent views. Despite illiteracy and diversity democracy has flourished in full bloom even when there were doubts about it, added the Minister.

    In his welcome address Union Home Secretary, Shri Kamal Pande said that the setting up of the National Human Rights Commission is the reiteration of the commitment of the Indian people to uphold human rights. "Our record of human rights ever since independence has strengthened our faith, that despite our multi-faceted problems, we can continue to address these issues successfully", said the Home Secretary.

    Shri Kamal Pande informed the gathering that a National Action Plan Committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to draft a National Action Plan for human rights education in the light of United Nation’s guidelines. He said that the Ministry is particularly concerned about complaints against personnel of the Central para military forces for whose actions and omissions the Ministry is directly responsible. He said that the forces are sensitised from time to time about their constitutional responsibility to uphold and respect the dignity and freedom of each individual even while engaged in warding off threats to the internal security of the country.

    The Government has decided to include Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom Day on 13^th December, 1999 in the list of Restricted Holiday to be observed in Government offices during the year 1999.

    Consequent upon the change of designation of members of the Council of Ministers, the following Minister/State Minister have become the Chairman/Vice-Chairman of the Hindi Salahakar Samiti of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

    Speaking on the occasion of the Twentieth Annual General Meeting of National Institute of Hydrology Society (NIH) here today, Dr. C.P.Thakur, Union Minister for Water Resources emphasized the need for scientific management of utilizable water resources in the coming century. He added that techniques and methodologies developed should be transferred to field agencies for application to real life problems.