PIB Press Releases


		8th December, 2003


		Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas First Minister level review of cooperation between India and Sudan held JWG set up; to meet in Khartoum in early 2004 Shri Ram Naik, Shri Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Dr. Awad Ahmed El Jazz, ............................. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment All countries must evolve regulations for international adoptions- Shri Nagmani India has called upon all countries to develop rules and regulations to prevent international adoption from becoming a source of trafficking of children. Inaugurating a three-day International Meet on Adoptions, ............................. Ministry of Defence Defence Minister condoles the demise of Air Chief Marshal Mehra The Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes has expressed deep sorrow on the demise of former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) Surinder Kumar Mehra. ............................. Ministry of Defence Former Air Chief Marshal SK Mehra departs for heavenly abode Air Chief Marshal Surinder Kumar (Polly) Mehra, former Chief of the Air Staff, passed away on 8th Dec 03 at 1100 hrs due cardiac arrest at his residence at Gurgaon. ............................. Ministry of Tribal Affairs Literacy among tribal girls in the country Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that it is a fact that Literacy rate among tribal girls is very low. ............................. Ministry of Water Resources Damage in States due to floods The information received from State Revenue Authorities on the damage caused due to floods during the current year in var\ious States where an area of 35.874 lakh ha. ............................. Ministry of Water Resources Assistance to West Bengal for flood control The Government of West Bengal informed that the State Government is aware of drainage congestion encountered in the district of Purba Medinipur (East Midnapore) particularly ............................. Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizers Government interacts with chemical industry An Inter-active Session of Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals with Industry Association/Representatives of Chemical, Petrochemical and Pharmaceutical Sector was held here today. ............................. Ministry of Environment & Forests Centre gives Rs. 4.81 crores for afforestation programme in Assam Funds have been provided to thirteen Forest Development Agencies in the current financial year under the National Afforestation Programme ............................. Ministry of Environment & Forests Centre clears Gujarat forest project for external assistance Gujarat's proposal on Integrated Forestry Development Project-II has been included in the list of projects which were posed to Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for seeking external assistance during the year 2003. ............................. Ministry of Environment & Forests Environmental clearance for mining projects Environmental clearance was accorded to 2 mining projects in the country involving forestland during 2003, namely Bhubaneshwari Opencast Coal Mine Project ............................. Ministry of Agriculture Assistance to States for sugarcane growers The Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal , Punjab and Haryana Governments have expressed their unwillingness to avail in its present form, the one time assistance offered by the Centre to mitigate hardships of sugarcane farmers. ............................. Ministry of Human Resource Development Thirty six children to get National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement The National Child Awards for Exceptional Achievement, for the year 2002, will be given to 36 children in the age group of 4-15 years. ............................. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government interacts with chemical industry An Inter-active Session of Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals with Industry Association/Representatives of Chemical, Petrochemical and Pharmaceutical Sector was held here today. ............................. Ministry of Food Processing Industries Financial assistance to states for setting up food processing units The Ministry of Food Processing Industries provides financial assistance to States for major schemes of establishing food processing units. ............................. Ministry of Steel Proposal to revive IISCO Government has approved a proposal for revival of the Indian Iron & Steel Company (IISCO). Implementation of this proposal has been initiated as follows : ............................. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government committed for overall development of entertainment sector The Government has taken several initiatives to bring about changes in the entertainment sector in the interest of the overall development of this sector. ............................. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry sanctions over 7,000 proposals of NGOs for Grant-In-Aid The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has sanctioned 7,171 proposals received from Non-Governmental Organisations for grant-in-aid during the last three years. ............................. Ministry of Science & Technology India against Patent Laws not beneficial to humanity - Dr Joshi India is against patent laws that are not beneficial to humanity as a whole. In fact all precautions must be taken to protect the patent rights of the developing world. ............................. Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Knowledge and Leadership of Project Managers counts in timely implementation: Mookherjee "Timely implementation of projects in any country depends on the knowledge and leadership styles of Project Managers who bring in place a plan on paper into reality in a given cost and time frame." ............................. Ministry of Ministry of Science & Technology India calls for closer dialogue and interaction among world scientists India has called for closer dialogue and interaction among scientists of the world. In fact, all nations should join hands to learn from each other and share experiences for bringing about excellence in science that is relevant to the society. ............................. Ministry of Railways Emphasis on use of Hindi in railways The Chairman, Railway Board, Shri R.K.Singh has called upon the Railway personnel including the Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Railways to maximize the implementation of the use of Hindi as the Official Language of the Union. ............................. Ministry of Steel Expansion of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant There is a proposal for installation of IVth Coke Oven Battery at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). Details of the proposal are as under : ............................. Ministry of Steel Upgradation of existing facilities by SAIL Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) intends to invest Rs.800-1000 crore every year to upgrade the existing facilities during 10th Plan period (2002-07). ............................. Ministry of Rural Development Additional central assistance to Assam to restore rural drinking water supply in flood affected area Ministry of Rural Development has released funds to the State Government of Assam and Tripura for Rural Drinking water and sanitation respectively during 2003-2004. ............................. Ministry of Railways Steam locomotives for promotion of heritage tourism Indian Railways have earmarked Nilgiri Mountain Railways on metre guage and Darjeeling Himalayan Railways on narrow guage for promotion of heritage tourism by steam locomotive. .............................