PIB Press Releases


		18th July , 2002


		Ministry of Law, Justice & Company Affairs Transfer of cases to fast track Courts As per available information, 1,35,502 cases have been transferred to Fast Track Courts out of which 58,662 cases have been disposed of by them.................. Ministry of Law, Justice & Company Affairs No reservation of seats for SCs/STs in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council of States The Constitution provides for reservation of seats to be filled by direct elections in the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies only for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.................. Ministry of Law, Justice & Company Affairs Election Reforms The Government discussed with the political parties on July 8, 2002 the situation arising out of the judgement of the Supreme Court of May 2, 2002.................. Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Procurement of foodgrains Procurement of wheat by public procuring agencies was brought to a close in all the wheat procuring States from May 31, 2002, except in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.................. Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Storage of foodgrains In July' 2000, the Government of India announced National Policy on handling, storage and transportation of foodgrains.................. Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution Losses in non-completion of projects As on 31.12.2001 there were 458 projects costing Rs.20 crore and above in the central sector.................. Ministry of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises Withdrawal of Navratna status from PSUs There is no proposal under consideration to withdraw the Navratna status of any particular PSE.................. Ministry of Defence Shooting of UAV One Indian Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was shot down by a Pakistan Air Force aircraft on June 07, 2002.................. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension New appointment The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri R. M. Abhyankar.................. Election Commission Each state to have at least one tourism and cultural hub The Centre has decided to develop at least one cultural-tourism hub in each state.................. Ministry of Defence Test flight of LCA Test flight of second prototype of indigenously built light combat aircraft was conducted recently.................. Ministry of Defence Setting up of Military Station in Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Government had indicated its willingness to offer land in Una to the Army in two pockets separated by a strip of land.................. Ministry of Defence Firing by Pakistan There has been frequent exchange of firing along the Line of Control and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir since December 18, 2001.................. Ministry of Defence Production of Light Aircraft Project Definition Phase and Pre Project Phase for developing Naval Variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) has been completed................... Ministry of Defence Manufacturing of Unmanned Aircraft 'Lakshya' India has manufactured the Unmanned Aircraft 'Lakshya to cater to the needs of the country.................. Ministry of Defence Unified command of Armed Forces Neither have the three wings of the Armed Forces viz. the Army, the Navy and the Air Force been unified nor is there any such proposal under consideration of the Government at present.................. Ministry of Defence Manufacturing of Field Shelters Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has designed and developed an Integrated Field Shelter, which is productionised by a private agency in the trade.................. Ministry of Defence Development of National Highway no 44 Border Roads Organisation has drawn up time bound action to plan for improvement, double laning and maintenance of National Highway No. 44.................. Ministry of Defence Rescue facilities with Indian Coast Guard Indian Coast Guard has in its inventory 52 ships and 42 aircraft at the disposal of respective Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres to carry out search and rescue operations.................. Ministry of Defence Violation of Human Rights In the period under consideration, three complaints regarding violation of human rights have been received from serving Armed Forces personnel .................. Ministry of Defence Testing of Missiles Seven development flight trials have been carried out since January 2002 which includes two flight tests of Naval versions of Trishul.................. Ministry of Defence Compensation to farmers The Defence Forces have not acquired any land of the farmers along the line of Control and International Border in connection with current mobilization of the troops in the border areas.................. Ministry of Defence Destroying of terrorist camps There are about 70 to 80 terrorist training camps operating in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan.................. Ministry of Railways Railways to raise fund for new projects The Ministry of Railways has taken the decision to strengthen the Golden Quadrilateral and the diagonals connecting the four metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.................. Ministry of Statitics & Programme Implementation Freezing of Public Sector Infrastructure Projects As on 31^st March, 2002, there are 32 projects which have not been able to progress due to various reasons after incurring an expenditure of Rs. 1020.79 crore. These projects have been frozen.................. Ministry of Statitics & Programme Implementation Delay in Mega-Projects As on 1^st June, 2002, 38 mega projects (costing more than Rs. 1000 crore) are being monitored by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Of these, 11 projects have registered time overruns, while 14 projects have recorded cost overruns with reference to their approved.................. Ministry of Culture & Tourism Tourism Ministry provides Rs. 2 Crore for upgrading Buddhist Monastries The Ministry of Culture will be spending Rupees 2.00 crore for upgrading Buddhist monastries and restoring the Leh Palace. This was stated by Shri Jagmohan, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, while inaugurating the Photo Exhibition.................. Ministry of Textiles Steps to boost Sericulture Industry In order to mitigate the hardship faced by sericulture farmers in Karnataka, Government has decided to provide a soft loan of Rs. 1.5 crores to Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation for purchase of cocoons on condition.................. Ministry of Defence Fernandes congratulates Dr APJ Abdul Kalam The Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes has congratulated Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on winning the Presidential election today. In his message Shri Fernandes said that the nation could not have asked for a better President .................. Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers hails Plastic Sector for quality packaging material For a country like India which has hopes of becoming an economic super power in the years ahead, the concerns on economic and environmental issues.................. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports XVII Commonwealth Games - Shooting & Table Tennis Medals at stake –107(34 Gold+34 Silver+34 Bronze).................. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Sale of equity shares by IOCL Indian Oil Corporation Limited has requested the Government to permit issue of fresh equity shares up to 10% of the existing paid up capital of the company. Decision is yet to be taken by the Government.................. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Purchase of oil fields by ONGC Videsh ONGC Videsh Ltd., (OVL) has signed a production sharing contract with M/s Petrovietnam in 1988 for undertaking exploration in Blocks 6.12E and 19 of Vietnam Offshore. As a result of the exploration work undertaken by OVL alongwith.................. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Security cover to Oil and Gas Pipelines The threat perception and vulnerability of various oil installations including Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline's under water link with the oil and gas fields of the Mumbai coast, has intensified due to recent terrorist activities in different parts.................. Ministry of Power Clarification This is with reference to the news item appearing in a section of the press, on July 18, 2002 regarding the Possibility of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) taking over the Dabhol Power Project.................. Ministry of Power Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme Monitoring Committee approves Sub-Transmission and Distribution project proposals worth Rs. 1,196 Crore covering 105 Towns The Minister of Power, Shri Suresh Prabhu chaired the 5^th Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP).................. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways CNG Norms A statement has appeared in a section of Press on 18^th July, 2002 on the subject of CNG bus catching fire on 17^th July, 2002 in Civil Lines area of New Delhi. The news item incorrectly mentions that the updated CNG norms.................. Prime Minister's Office Prime Minister condoles the death of Shri Mata Prasad Singh The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has expressed grief over the death of Shri Mata Prasad Singh.................. Ministry of Home Affairs Government decides to continue the deferment of ban on BLT The Government of India has decided to continue the deferment of ban on BLT under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 for a period of six months beyond July 21, 2002.................. Ministry of Steel SIIL's Q1 sales up 14 per cent The Sponge Iron (India) Ltd. (SIIL), Hyderabad has produced 15,740 tonnes of sponge iron during the first quarter of this fiscal against 15,715 tonnes during the same period last year..................