PIB Press Releases


		19th December, 2002


		Ministry of Law & Justice Justice V.N. Khare takes over as Chief Justice of India The President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of India to Shri Justice Visheshwar Nath Khare, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court of India, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here today. ...................... UPSC Section Officers'/Stenographers' Limited Departmental Competitive Examination on schedule The Section Officers'/Stenographers' (Grade-B/Grade-I) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2002 is scheduled to be held by the Union Public Service Commission from 26th to 29th December, 2002. ..................... Ministry of Commerce & Industry Shourie to attend 5th BIMST-EC Ministerial Meeting in Colombo Shri Arun Shourie, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Disinvestment and the North East, will represent India in the 5th BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka & Thailand Economic Cooperation) Ministerial Meeting to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 20th December, 2002. ..................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting DD Advisory Committee to improve programme quality Doordarshan has constituted a Research Advisory Committee consisting of eminent personalities in the field of Communication Research to advise Doordarshan on strengthening in-house research and improving programme content/quality. ..................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Foreign TV Channels pay more tax Income Tax paid by satellite channels in India for financial year 2000-2001, the foreign television channel companies have on an average, paid higher amount of Income Tax than their Indian counterparts. ..................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting FM Radio auction gives Rs. 155 crore revenue The Government has earned so far a total revenue of Rs. 155.12 crores on account of open auction of FM radio stations, which includes earnest moneys, but excludes Bank Guarantees lying with the Government. ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Judges involved in sex scandal The Government has consulted the Supreme Court of India. The Court has informed, "as per the In-House Procedure adopted by the Supreme Court of India as well as by the High Court, ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Delimitation of Constituency in Himachal Pradesh On the request of Election Commission of India, the delimitation work in respect of the State of Himachal Pradesh would be taken up by the Delimitation Commission and finalized after the completion ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Report of Sixteenth Law Commission All Reports of the Sixteenth Law Commission would be treated as confidential until tabled in both Houses of Parliament. ..................... Ministry of Law & Justice Entry of foreign lawyers The Bar Council of India has been empowered under the Advocates Act, 1961 to frame rules for discharging its functions under the Act, which can be amended by the said Council only. ..................... Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions No proposal to amend Constitution to check abuse of PSCs The Government is not considering to amend the Constitution in order to check the abuse of office by Chairmen and other members of Public Service Commissions. ..................... Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports National Youth Festival 2003 to be held in Thiruvananthapuram The VIIIth National Youth Festival will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, from January 12 to 16, 2003. ..................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Loans for projects by financial institution There is a decline in the quantum of loans disbursed by Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), IFCI Ltd., Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and ICICI Bank and increase in loans ..................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Shortcomings in implementation of projects A committee was set up by the Government, inter alia, to examine the extant procedures for investment approvals and implementation of projects and suggest measures to simplify and expedite the process of public and private investment. ..................... Ministry of Civil Aviation Air connectivity set to go up substantially in North-East Air connectivity in the North Eastern region is set to improve substantially with the proposed indication of four ATR-42-320 aircraft into the fleet of Alliance Air. ..................... Ministry of Water Resources Task Force set up on interlinking of rivers A Task Force has been set up on interlinking of rivers with Shri Suresh Prabhu as chairperson, Shri C.C. Patel as vice-chairman and Dr. C.D. Thatte as member secretary. ..................... Ministry of Communications & IT Internet/E-mail/Computer facilities in rural and tribal areas The Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has undertaken a scheme for setting up Community Information Centres (CICs) at 487 ..................... Ministry of Science & Technology Transgenic mustard yields 20 per cent more The transgenic mustard hybrids have shown a 15 to 20 percent increase in yield over national and regional varieites, during limited field trials. ..................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Workshop on MPLAD Scheme concludes The second workshop on MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for the Members of Parliament concluded here last evening. ..................... Ministry of Defence Defence ties with USA Government has a proposal for expansion of bilateral defence cooperation with Untied States of America. ..................... Ministry of Defence Development of engines for LCA The indigenously developed Kaveri engine for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has accumulated more than 1200 hours of ground testing. ..................... Ministry of Defence Irregularities in Army recruitment A few complaints have been received regarding irregularities in Army recruitments by Zonal Recruiting Offices/Branch Recruiting Offices, cutting across State-borders. ..................... Ministry of Defence High speed interceptor boats Two high-speed interceptor boats built by M/s ABG Shipyard were extensively tested by the Coast Guard for ascertaining their speed vis-à-vis the approved design specifications. ..................... Ministry of Defence Joint venture by HAL The Public Sector Defence Undertaking M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is not looking for partners abroad. ..................... Ministry of Defence Main battle tank With the induction of 124 fully formed imported tanks and production of 186 tanks through Semi Knocked Down and Completely Knocked Down kits, ..................... Ministry of Defence Defence export to touch Rs 230 crore Based on the memoranda of understanding with the Defence public Sector Undertakings and in consultation with the Ordnance Factory Board, Defence exports are targeted at Rs 230 crore in the current financial year. ..................... Ministry of Defence Violation of International Air Space by Pakistan Pakistani aircraft have violated the Indian air space seven times during this year. Five of these cases were reported in January and two in February. ..................... Ministry of Steel Steel Executives Federation observes Silver Jubilee The Steel Executives Federation of India (SEFI) today celebrated its silver jubilee by organizing a seminar on future of public sector steel industry in the country. ..................... Ministry of Labour Reduction in number of organised workers : Total workforce 39.7 crore As per the Sample Survey carried out by National Sample Survey Organisation during 1999-2000, estimated workforce in the country was 39.7 crore. ..................... Ministry of Labour Voluntary Retirement Scheme in 169 Public Sector Enterprises The Government has introduced a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) in order to effect rightsizing of these enterprises by rationalizing their surplus manpower for achieving better performance. ..................... Ministry of Railways Railways initiates joint venture with States The State Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have come forward with proposals for the formation of joint venture with Ministry of Railways to undertake suburban transport projects in Mumbai, ..................... Ministry of Railways Railways use borrowed money for develop Funds to the tune of Rs.23.832 crore have been raised from the market by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC) on behalf of the Railways till end of November ..................... Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Extension of Annapoorna Yojana A proposal for modifying the `Annapurna Scheme' had been received when the Scheme was being administered as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme by the Government. ..................... Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Prices of pulses The first advance estimate of foodgrains production for 2002-03 indicates the kharif production of pulses at 4.24 million tonnes as against the production of 5.09 million tonnes ..................... Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution National Consumer Forum According to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the responsibility for setting up of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions in the States and UTs ..................... Ministry of Labour V. V. Giri National Labour Institute V. V. Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI) is a premier Institute of Labour Research, Training and Education. ..................... Ministry of for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Sale of land by HMT The non-performing assets of HMT Watches are proposed to be disposed off for discharging its liabilities and reducing debt burden as per the Turnaround Plan approved in 2000. ..................... Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Production of new Shunt Reactor model by BHEL BHEL has developed "Controlled Shunt Reactor" and put it into normal operation on the Itarsi-Jabalpur 400KV line of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL)/Itarsi. ..................... Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Scheme for rehabilitation of workmen of PSUs Government have formulated a Scheme for Counselling, Retraining and Redeployment (CRR) for the employees of Central PSEs, ..................... Ministry of Textiles Shri Rana calls for assured power supply to Powerloom Sector The Minister of Textiles, Shri Kashiram Rana, has called upon the States to provide an assured supply of electricity to the powerloom sector at reasonable tariff. ..................... Ministry of Labour Rs. 200 crore realised as Statutory Provident Fund dues from defaulting establishments The Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh told the Rajya Sabha today that Rs.200 crore have been realised as statutory Provident Fund dues during the last two financial years from defaulting establishments. ..................... Ministry of Labour Variable Dearness Allowance for mine & construction workers revised Workers employed in various mines are to receive higher Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) with effect from October 1, 2002. ..................... Ministry of Tourism & Culture Secretary Culture presents Shrikant Dutt Memorial Award for the best book on the North-East -2002 Shri Dhanendra Kumar, Secretary, Department of Culture presented the Shrikant Dutt Memorial Award for the Best Book on the North-East-2002 .....................