PIB Press Releases


		4th December, 2003


		Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Import and export of petroleum products Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, in a written reply today informed the Lok Sabha that the export of petroleum products during the period April to September, 2003 are 7,118 thousand metric tonne (TMT)............................ Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Refining capacity of crude oil Shri Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the Lok Sabha while replying to a question that as against the overall consumption of 104.126 million metric tonne (MMT) of petroleum products in the country during 2002-03............................ Ministry of Defence NCC Delegation returns from Vietnam An NCC Delegation comprising of two officers and twenty cadets have returned back after a fortnight visit to Vietnam............................ UPSC Applications for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2004 invited The Union Public Service Commission will hold the Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and certain Group 'A'/Group 'B' Central services/posts on 16th May, 2004............................ Ministry of Defence Theft of computers There was a theft of 18 computers Central Processing Units (CPU) from two laboratories of DRDO situated in Metcalfe House, New Delhi in October, 2003............................ Ministry of Defence Akash Missile Project The Government has not decided to discontinue the Akash Missile Project. The main objective is to develop medium range surface-to-air Missile with a range of 25 km............................ Ministry of Defence Missile Stock The shelf life of Indian inventory of missiles is in the range of 06 to 21 years............................ Ministry of Defence Procurement of Rocket Launcher A proposal is under consideration for procurement of Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System, PINAKA, indigenously developed by DRDO. Pinaka is developed by many development partners from Public and Private Sector Units............................ Ministry of Defence Procurement of Advance Jet Trainers The Government has approved the procurement of 24 HAWK Advanced Jet Trainers from M/s BAE Systems, UK in flyaway condition and 42 to be licensed manufactured at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. No agreement has been signed with UK in this regard............................ Ministry of Defence Infiltration in J&K The infiltration level along the Jammu and Kashmir level continued to remain as high as in the previous years............................ Ministry of Defence Procurement of spares for Sea Harriers and Sea King helicopters The spares for the Sea Harrier aircraft are being procured from the Original Equipment Manufacturer of the aircraft in the UK. No spares for the Sea Harrier are being procured from the US............................ Ministry of Defence Conducting of Defence Service Exam in regional languages The question papers of National Defence Academy (NDA), Naval Academy (NA) and Combined Defence Services (CDS) examinations are objective type in nature and printed only in English medium............................ Ministry of Defence Casualties caused by avalanches Avalanches in the snow bound areas of Jammu & Kashmir are a regular occurrence during winter months............................ Ministry of Defence Ezhimala Naval Academy The Ezhimala Naval Academy in Kerala is planned to be commissioned in December 2004............................ Ministry of Defence Expansion of Rashtriya Rifles The Government had taken a decision in the year 2000 to raise six Rashtriya Rifles (RR) battalions with related infrastructure, every year over a period of five consecutive years............................ Ministry of Defence Opening of Military Stations The Army is in the process of acquiring land at Anandpur Sahib (Punjab), Una (Himachal Pradesh) and Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), for setting up new Military Stations at these places............................ Ministry of Defence Firing in Kargil sector Firing across the Line of Control in Kargil (LoC) and other sectors is an ongoing. phenomenon............................ Ministry of Defence Crash of aircraft The details of Category-I accidents of defence aircraft, which occurred during the calendar year 2003, the reasons thereof and number of pilots and civilians killed in such accidents, are given in the Annexure............................ Ministry of Defence Supply of FSAPDS The Army has segregated 88,000 rounds of 125 mm FSAPDS (Fin Stabilised Armour Penetrating Discarding Sabot) hybrid ammunition as unserviceable............................ Ministry of Defence Joint exercises with other countries The Armed Forces of India have organized bilateral exercises with the Armed Forces of USA, France, Tajikistan, Singapore, Oman, Russia and China during the last three years till date............................ Ministry of Rural Development Funds to Gujarat for rural water supply Ministry of Rural Development has released Rs. 27.68 crore to State Government of Gujarat towards second installment of funds under Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP)............................ Prime Minister's Office Statement by the PM on his departure for CHOGM Following is the full text of the statement by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee prior to his departure for Abuja, Nigeria to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), today............................ Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Centre approves proposal to amend the constitution to provide reservation in government jobs to economically backward classes The Central Government has approved, in principle, the proposal to amend the Constitution in order to provide reservation quota in government jobs for people belonging to economically backward classes (EBCs)............................ Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Welfare Schemes for cine workers The National Film Development Corporation Ltd. has set up Cine Artistes Welfare Fund of India (CAWFI), registered as Public Charitable Trust, which extends financial help to needy film artistes of yester years............................ Ministry of Information & Broadcasting 39 companies permitted to uplink 104 channels The Government has permitted 39 companies to uplink 104 channels from India, which carry either news and/or current affairs contents or entertainment contents............................. . Ministry of Railways Sale of contaminated water at Railway Station A surprise inspection was conducted by the Minister of State for Railways at Old Delhi Railway station on September 25, 2003 and some deficiencies were noticed in the sealing of Rail Neer bottles and it appeared as if these had been refilled by vendors of four stalls/trolleys............................. Ministry of Railways Deccan Odyssey luxury train A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Indian Railways and the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation for running of a luxury tourist train which would originate and terminate at Mumbai............................. Ministry of Railways Setting up power plant by Railways in Nabinagar The Railways have planned to set up a power plant jointly with NTPC in Nabinagar in Bihar............................. Ministry of Railways Private sector participation in Railways Some identified non-core activities are already being executed by agencies other than Railways............................. Ministry of Railways Sky Bus service The Sky Bus is not in practice in any part of the world. Trials for proving the technology are yet to be conducted............................. Ministry of Railways Passenger amenities at Delhi Railway Stations The proposals for development of passenger amenities at Delhi Main Station (Old Delhi), New Delhi Station and Hazrat Nizamuddin Station are in various stages of implementation............................. Ministry of Railways Expansion of Tamluk-Contai rail line On Tamluk-Digha (87.50 km) new line project, the work of Tamluk-Kanthi (Contai) (56.6 km) section has been completed.............................