PIB Press Releases


		12th December, 2002


		Ministry of Law & Justice Justice V.N. Khare appointed next Chief Justice of India The President has appointed Shri Justice Visheshwar Nath Khare, the senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from December 19, 2002 (forenoon). ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Setting up of National Judicial Commission The recognized political parties have been requested to convey their views on the question of setting up a National Judicial Commission for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts and for evolving a Code of Ethics for the Judges and also on its composition. ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Cases of forgery in Patna High Court The Bench of the Patna High Court presided over by the Chief Justice and Shri Justice R.N. Prasad vide order of August 8, 2002 passed in L.P.A. No. 859 of 2002, has directed the Registrar General of the Court to hold an enquiry in the cases of forgery. ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice No need to eliminate notarised documents There is no proposal under consideration of the Government for eliminating the need to have documents notarized/attested by Oath Commissioners, prior to submission to courts. ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Lok Adalats Organizing Lok Adalats is a continuing process and, by the very nature of the purposes of holding Lok Adalats, the same are need based as such, no specified number of Lok Adalats can be indicated. ..................... Ministry of Coal & Mines Mineral production during October 2002 The mining and quarrying sector registered a positive growth of 7% in October 2002 as compared to the preceding month mainly due to higher production of coal, lignite, natural gas(utilized), petroleum (crude), bauxite, chromite, copper conc., iron ore, manganese ore, dolomite and limestone. ..................... Ministry of Tourism & Culture Revival of Indian Tourism on cards - Jagmohan After temporary set back following September 11 event in New York, the revival of Indian Tourism is on cards. ..................... Ministry of Steel Steel production during April-November 2002 The total production of finished steel in the country, during April to November 2002 has been provisionally estimated at 20.84 million tonnes against 19.78 million tonnes during the same period last year, showing an increase of 5.4 per cent. ..................... Ministry of Small Scale Industries Initiatives for making SSIs globally competitive While globalization and the removal of quantitative restrictions have exposed the Indian Small Scale Industries(SSI) to greater competition, the Government has put in place several measures to help the industries become globally competitive. ..................... Ministry of Labour & Empowerment No linking of Employees Pension Scheme with Consumer Price Index The Employees Pension Scheme, 1995 is not being linked with the Consumer Price Index. Stating this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, the Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh said that such a linkage would burden the scheme with unlimited liability. ..................... Ministry of Labour & Empowerment Efforts on to implement Housing Scheme for EPF subscribers says Labour Minister The Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh told the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour today that efforts are being made to launch the housing scheme announced recently for the Employees Provident Fund subscribers. ..................... Ministry of Communications & IT Shri Pramod Mahajan to chair National Conference on E-Governance initiatives to be held tomorrow In a major initiative to facilitate and assist the speedy implementation of E-Governance Services and projects across the country, the Department of Information & Technology, has convened a one-day National Conference beginning here tomorrow. ..................... Ministry of Labour & Empowerment Stock of foodgrains with FCI The stock of rice and wheat in the central pool as on October 31, 2002 was 205.09 lakh tonnes and 330.59 lakh tonnes respectively. ..................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Quick Estimates of Index of industrial production and use-based Index (Base 1993-94=100) for the month of October, 2002 The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 for the month of October 2002 have been released by the Central Statistical Organisation. . ..................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Speeding up of central projects The measures taken to speed up implementation of Central Sector projects include: ..................... Ministry of Defence Gorshkov deal The negotiations for Admiral Gorshkov are going on. It is not possible to lay down a time limit for such a major acquisition. ..................... Ministry of Defence Implementation of Jafa Committee Report The recommendations of the Jafa Committee are expected to have far-reaching implications for the work of the Military Engineering Service and Directorate General of Quality Assurance, their systems and procedures and the mix of civilian and defence personnel. ..................... Ministry of Defence War histories A committee has been set up to review the release of war histories. The Report of the Review Committee on War History is under consideration of the Government. ..................... Ministry of Defence Fire in Garden Reach Shipbuilders A high level Committee constituted by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) has established that the fire originated from a short circuit inside the Uninterrupted Power Supply located in the adjacent room of Computer Aided Design Centre. ..................... Ministry of Defence Procurement of defective fuses The Ministry of Defence had procured serviceable fuses Qty 9000 at a total cost of Rs. 60.86 crore. ..................... Ministry of Defence Corruption charges against Army Judges Attention of the Government has been drawn to the news-item captioned "Nyay Ki Kursi par baithe hai sena ke dagdaar judge" appearing in the 'Nav Bharat Times' dated September 22, 2002. ..................... Ministry of Defence Manufacturing of defective Shells 105 mm Indian Field Gun High Explosive Squash Head Shells, worth Rs. 6.06 crore, manufactured at the Ordnance Factory, Chanda were found unserviceable during plate proof. ..................... Ministry of Defence Ordnance Factory at Nalanda The foundation stone of an Ordnance Factory laid at Rajgir in Nalanda district of Bihar on April 14, 1999. About 2650 acres of land has been acquired and construction work at the site is in progress. ..................... Ministry of Defence Development of LCA The indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is in advanced stage of flight testing. ..................... Ministry of Defence Implementation of Kalam Committee Report The APJ Abul Kalam Committee on fighter aircraft accidents made a total of 84 recommendations. ..................... Ministry of Environment & Forests Shri K.C.Misra elected Chairman of International Mountain Development Centre Shri K.C. Misra, Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests has been elected as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). ..................... President's Secretariat President condoles death of Nani Palkhivala The President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has expressed his profound grief over the passing away of Shri Nani Palkhivala, an eminent jurist and statesman yesterday. ..................... Ministry of Coal & Mines The Coal and Mines Minister Sushree Uma Bharti decides to open an Provident Fund Office in Godhavarikhani in Karimnagar District To benefit over one lakh workers and the staff of Singereni Coal Company Limited, the Union Coal and Mines Minister Sushree Uma Bharti has decided to open a Provident Fund office in Godhavarikhani in Karimnagar district. ..................... Ministry of Finance & Company Affairs Finance Minister condoles death of Nani Palkhiwala The Union Minister of Finance and Company Affairs, Shri Jaswant Singh has expressed deep grief over the death of eminent jurist, Shri Nani Palkhiwala. ..................... Ministry of Railways Railways use revenue from surcharge on tickets for modernisation 'Safety Surcharge' collected by Indian Railways through tickets from all classes of passengers is used for different works under the Special Railway Safety Fund. ..................... Ministry of Railways Railways launch 'Operation Cleanliness' The Indian Railways have recently launched "Operation Cleanliness" to improve sanitation and cleanliness at Railway Stations and in trains. ..................... Ministry of Science & Technology Top US and European Space Scientists to address Indian Science Congress Space scientists from NASA, ARIANE, European Space Agency (ESA) and from some developing countries including Malaysia and Thailand will be taking part in the 90th Indian Science Congress (ISC), being held in Bangalore in the first week of next month. ..................... Ministry of Science & Technology "Develop Nature-Centric new consciousness in production and consumption patterns - Dr. Joshi to Industry 'Developing a nature-centric new consciousness in production technologies and consumption patterns is the need of the hour' said Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, the Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology here today, at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Press communique In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Purushottam Bapurao Gaikwad, to be an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court, for a period of two years with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. .....................