PIB Press Releases


		2nd December, 2002


		Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Smt. Sushma Swaraj condoles Abu Abraham's death The Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Sushma Swaraj has condoled the death of noted cartoonist Abu Abraham who passed away in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Adoption of Court Management Techniques The subordinate judiciary is under the control of the concerned High Courts..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Amendment in the Indian Evidence Act The Government has proposed to amend the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 to make it more friendly to women..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Cases of Nationalized Banks in Lok Adalats Lok Adalats in Delhi are hearing cases of loans relating to nationalized banks..................... Election Commission Partywise position of candidates in Gujarat Assembly Election-98 Ministry of Steel Revival package for IISCO Burnpur Works of Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) is not in a good condition due to technological obsolescence, ageing of plant and equipment, outmoded technology and lack of necessary capital inputse............ Ministry of Steel Kudremukh Iron Ore Company The Supreme Court of India in its judgement of October 30, 2002 has permitted Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL), a public sector unit of the Steel Ministry to continue mining at Kudremukh till December 31, 2005............ Ministry of Steel Joint Plant Committee The Ministry of Steel finds that even after decontrol , the core functions of Joint Plant Committee (JPC), that works under the Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel, Calcutta, in terms of data collection, analysis and other support to the ministry still persist and cannot be replicated............. Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Justice Shri K.S. Gupta appointed Member NCDRC Justice Shri K.S. Gupta, Judge of the High Court of Delhi has been appointed as a whole time member of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)............ Ministry of Science & Technology NEERI to take up EIA studies for GEECL The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), of CSIR based at Nagpur is to undertake Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies in Raniganj coalfields, West Bengal at the behest of the Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd. (GEECL)............ Ministry of Rural Development Measures to promote rural industries The Government through the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) under the rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) is encouraging people to set up industries in rural areas throughout the country for promoting rural industries including agro based industries i.e. vegetable, fruit processing industries, herbal cosmetic, medicinal plants based industries, etc............ Ministry of Tourism & Culture Development of tourism curcuits During the 10^th Five-Year Plan the Department of tourism proposes to identify six tourism circuits and one Destination in each State annually to develop tourism infrastructure............ Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension New appointments The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the following :............ Ministry of Labour & Empowerment Over 5.5 lakh Indian emigrants granted clearance for employment abroad More than 5.53 lakh Indian emigrants requiring emigration checks were granted clearance to take up employment abroad since January 2001 to September 2002............ Ministry of Labour & Empowerment Inflation Rate falls but Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers rises The Rise/ Fall in index varied from centre to centre during October 2002............ Ministry of Labour & Empowerment Consumer Price Index Numbers (General) for Industrial Workers Ministry of Railways RITES bags new contract in Tanzania RITES Ltd, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, has bagged yet another challenging and time bound contract for rehabilitation of wagons from Tanzanian Railways............ Ministry of Railways Steam Locos on Hill Railways to boost tourism - Bandaru Dattatraya Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce steam locomotives on all hill railways and on various tourism circuits with the support of Ministry of Tourism, to give further fillip to rail tourism, said Minister of state for Railways Shri Bhandaru Dattatraya here today............ Ministry of Food, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Increased offtake of foodgrains during April--October 2002 Offtake of foodgrains from the central pool under PDS during April to October 2002 was ten million tonnes. The total offtake of foodgrains under PDS during the last one year, April to March 2001-02 was 13.83 million tonnes and 12.04 million tonnes during 2000-2001 (revised)............ Ministry of Commerce & Industry Arun Shourie clears FDI worth Rs.490 crore Shri Arun Shourie, Minister for Disinvestment and Commerce & Industry, has approved 15 proposals of foreign direct investment (FDI) amounting to Rs.490 crore, on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)............ Ministry of Human Resources Development Funding for IITs to be linked to research - Dr. Joshi The funding being given by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will in the future be provided only if 50% of the money asked for is to be spent on research projects. Innovation is the key to the development of the country............ Ministry of Labour & Empowerment 17 categories of persons exempted from emigration check The Commission on Review of Administrative Laws has recommended for repeal of one of the emigration laws namely the Foreign Recruiting Act, 1874............ Ministry of Rural Development Vice President to release Rural Development Ministry's newsletter tomorrow The Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will tomorrow release, a fortnightly newsletter in Hindi "Grameen Bharat" being brought out the Ministry of Rural Development for effective dissemination of information............ Ministry of Shipping Navigable depth in Kolkata and Haldia Ports For improvement of draught in Hooghly estuary, Government has approved a proposal for execution of River Regulatory Measures at an estimated cost of Rs. 350.84 crores. The various components of the project include:............ Ministry of Shipping Revamping of Inland Water Transport Corporation The Government of India has already approved a Re-organization plan for Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC) Limited, Kolkatta in June, 2001 with a total outlay of Rs. 139.55 crores............ Ministry of Shipping Long-term plan for Inland Water Transport The Government intends to develop Inland Water Transport mode through plan assistance and private sector participation............ Ministry of Shipping Private Sector participation in Port Sector The Government has identified the following areas for private sector participation in Port Sector............ Prime Minister's Office PM's interview to ITAR TASS (Russian News Channel) ITAR- TASS correspondent, Mr. Mikhail Gusman, interviewed the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee............ Ministry of Agriculture Government to procure latest equipment for quality testing of seafoods for export Government has decided to procure latest equipment to test the Seafood for export to the International standards to be installed at seven existing laboratories of various government agencies at Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Mangalore (Karnataka), Mumbai, Cochin and Veraval (Gujrat)............ Ministry of Agriculture Canadian High Commissioner calls on Shri Ajit Singh Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. Peter Sutherland met Union Agriculture Minister Shri Ajit Singh here today to discuss matters of bilateral interest............ Ministry of Food Processing Industries Rs. 250 crore earmarked for development of food processing industries Out of the total 10^th Plan outlay of Rs. 650 crore for the plan schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, an amount of Rs. 250 crore has been proposed for the schemes of Infrastructural Development which include setting up of Food Parks............ Ministry of Commerce & Industry Herbs not patentable Herbs or herbals, per-se, are not patentable under the provisions of the Patents Act, 1970 and will not be patentable even under the patent law recently amended............ Ministry of Steel New Steel Secretary J.S. Gill Shri Jai Singh Gill, former Director General, Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), has taken over today as the Secretary, Ministry of Steel............ Ministry of Steel New KIOCL Chairman Shri P. Ganeshan has taken over today as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL)............