PIB Press Releases


		1st April, 2003


		Ministry of Railways Failure of railway staff blamed for train accident The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Shri Mahesh Chand, Eastern Circle, Kolkata in his preliminary report on collision between 1448 up Shaktipunj Express ........................ Ministry of Railways Kidney patients to get concessions in rail fares From today onwards, kidney patients, when traveling alone or with an escort, for dialysis and kidney treatment operation to recognized hospitals, ........................ Ministry of Railways Rail fare concessions for senior citizens Now all senior citizens, men as well as women, of the age of 60 years and above, will be entitled to 30 per cent conession ........................ Ministry of Railways Refund of duplicate rail ticket charges now allowed The Ministry of Railways has decided that from today onward, the 10 per cent or 25 per cent of rail fare collected for issuing duplicate ticket ........................ Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation New scheme for solid waste management and drainage in selected IAF airfield towns Bird hits are among the major causes of air crashes in our country leading to the loss of costly Defence Aircraft and loss of invaluable lives of Pilots ........................ Ministry of Information & Broadcasting I&B Ministry and ASCI to check objectionable Ads The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) would take steps to harmonize the Advertisement Code under the Cable Television Regulation Act and the Code prescribed by the ASCI in order to check the menace of objectionable advertisement on TV channels ........................ Ministry of Communications & Information Technology BSNL pays maiden interim dividend of Rs.250 crore The country's largest telecom operator, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have paid an interim dividend cheque of Rs.250 crore ........................ Ministry of Mines India Canada sign MoU on mutual cooperation in geosciences A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed today at Ottawa between India and Canada to set up a framework for mutual cooperation in the field of geo-sciences ........................ Ministry of Commerce & Industry Exports up by over 16% India's Exports during April-February, 2002-2003 are valued at US $ 46070.50 million which is 16.76% higher than the level of US $ 39456.36 million during April-February, 2001-2002 ........................ Ministry of Coal Coal production and supply The position in regard to coal production, despatch of coal to the consumers and closing stock during the month of February, 2003 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year is as under ........................ Ministry of Finance & Company Affairs All Industry Rates of Duty Drawbacks for the year 2003-04 notified The Government has notified the new All Industry Rates of Duty Drawbacks for the year 2003-04 ........................ Ministry of Agriculture Shri Ajit Singh calls for correcting inadequacies in farm education The Agriculture Minister Shri Ajit Singh has called for reorienting agricultural education to make it relevant to the emerging challenges in the context of globalisation and opening up of economies ........................ Ministry of Commerce & Industry Record 86% growth in India's exports to China India's exports to China have registered a record growth of 86% during 2002-03 (April-December). Indian exports to China during this period are valued at US $ 1255.90 million (i.e., US $ 1.2 billion) ........................ Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Government signs MoUs with ONGC and EIL for 2003-04 The Government has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Engineers India Limited (EIL). ........................ Ministry of Shipping Shipping sector's performance in 2002-2003 - A birds eye view The Shipping Ministry, created in Nov. 2001, realising the great role of the Shipping Industry in the rapid overall development of the country aimed at self-reliance and dashing performance to achieve the specified targets in each and every segment such as Shipping, Ship building, Ports, Inland Water Transport etc ........................ Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment MoU signed for establishing disability and rehabilitation centres A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Artificial Limb Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Kanpur for establishment of five district disability and rehabilitation centers and two auxiliary production centers at Jabalpur and Bangalore ........................ Prime Minister's Office PM greets people on Ugadi, Chaitra Sukladi, Gudi Padava and Cheti Chand The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has greeted the people on the joyous occasions of Ugadi, Chaitra Sukladi, Gudi Padava and Cheti Chand, here today ........................ Ministry of Agriculture Rs. 535 crore Livestock Disease Control Programme The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved implementation of the Centrally sponsored Scheme on 'Livestock Health and Disease Control' during the 10th Five Year Plan ........................ Ministry of Health & Family Welfare New scheme to lower maternal mortality rate to be launched on 11th April In a major initiative to tackle the problem of maternal mortality rate, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Smt. Sushma Swaraj has said that a new programme "Jannani Suraksha Yojna" would be launched on the 11th April on the occasion of Safe Motherhood Day ........................ Ministry of Finance & Company Affairs Introduction of Value Added Tax by states Chief Ministers of States as well as their Finance Ministers had, uptil now, repeatedly affirmed their commitment to the introduction of VAT from April 1, 2003 ........................ Ministry of Commerce & Industry India, Sweden agree to focus on Doha Development Agenda India and Sweden have agreed to fully observe the development focus in the implementation of the Doha Work Programme and reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives of the WTO Work Programme launched at Doha ........................ Prime Minister's Office 'No operation code named Black Sea launched': PM The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee has today replied to a letter written by Chief Minister of Chhatisgarh, Shri Ajit Jogi. Shri Jogi had written to the Prime Minister yesterday ........................ Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Telephone network crosses five crore mark Telecommunication has emerged as one of the leading infrastructure sectors ........................