PIB Press Releases


		25th February, 2003


		Ministry of Railways Railway Budget 2003-2004 The Railway Budget for 2003-2004 will be presented by the Minister of Railways Shri Nitish Kumar immediately after the question hour in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) at 12.00 noon on February 26, 2003. ...................... Ministry of Railways Rail fares for Indrail pass revised The Ministry of Railways has issued orders revising the fares of Indrail Pass for the elite luxury tourist train, Palace on Wheels. ....................... Prime Minister's Office Prime Minister's statement to the Indian Media Following is the full text of the statement by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the Indian Media at Kuala Lumpur today: ....................... Ministry of Rural Development Non-release of State's share of funds Some States have not contributed their full share for implementation of employment and poverty alleviation schemes of the Ministry of Rural Development. ....................... Ministry of Rural Development Reorganisation of Vigilance/Monitoring Committees The Ministry of Rural Development has reconstituted the Vigilance and Monitoring (V&M) Committees at the State and District levels with greater role for Members of Parliament. ....................... Ministry of Mines Conservation of mineral resources For conservation and systematic developments of minerals, the Central Government in term of Section 18 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 have notified Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 (MCDR). ....................... Ministry of Mines Aluminium production 99-00 to 2001-02 The production of aluminium by the primary producers in the country during 2001-02 was 6.34 lakh tonnes against 6.41 lakh tonnes in 2000-01 and 6.18 lakh tonnes during 1999-00. ....................... Ministry of Environment & Forests India ratifies first regulatory framework on living modified organisms India has become a Party to the first international regulatory framework in respect of living modified organisms (LMOs) by submitting the instruments of ratification of Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the UN Headquarters. ....................... Ministry of Power Anant Geete calls for a total solution for electricity meters Power Minister, Shri Anant G. Geete has called for a total solution for metering, meter reading, billing and collection. ....................... Ministry of of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation 10 thousand Janta flats offered to Employees Provident Fund Organization 10,000 Janta flats, already constructed by DDA, have been offered to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Organization for allotment under Shramik Awas Yojana to EPF subscribers. ....................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Delhi Metro Rail Project to break even at 21.82 lakh passenger trips per day The break even passenger carrying capacity of Delhi Metro Rail projected per day for viable operation is 21.82 lakh passenger trips per day on the completion of the project in 2005. ....................... Ministry of Labour The Nation-wide Social Security Number Scheme launched President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam reiterated the government's commitment that social security to the organized and unorganized workforce will continue to be the governments priority even in the era of liberalization. ....................... Ministry of Home Affairs Rooting out corruption Government is fully alive to the need to root out corruption and to ensure transparency in its dealings as far as possible. ....................... Ministry of Home Affairs Displaced Kashmiri families Available reports say no Kashmiri migrant family has returned to their homes so far. ....................... Ministry of Home Affairs White paper on terrorism The Lok Sabha was informed today that there is no proposal to issue a White Paper on Terrorism in order to check trans-border crime and terrorism. ....................... Ministry of Water Resources Danger due to siltation of Kharsrota river in Orissa The Government of Orissa has informed that they are aware of the fact regarding the problem of villages on the bank of Kharasrota river and the Kharasrota river is posing danger to the villagers at 29 locations ....................... Ministry of Water Resources Linking of North-Eastern Brahmaputra river with Farakka The Central Water Commission in 1982 had prepared a Feasibility Report on Jogighopa Barrage and Brahmaputra-Ganga Link Canal Project flowing through Bangladesh by gravity, ....................... Ministry of Water Resources Search for water in various States Central Water Commission (CWC) is monitoring the storage position of 70 important reservoirs of the country including 3 of Rajasthan, 2 of Himachal Pradesh, 6 of Orissa and 10 of Maharashtra. ....................... Ministry of Rural Development Punjab gets Rs.190 lakh and foodgrains under SGRY The Ministry of Rural Development has released Rs.190 lakh as advance second instalment to six districts of Punjab under Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY - 1st stream) for the year 2002-03. ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Revision of Dealers' commission With the dismantling of the Administered Pricing Mechanism in the petroleum sector effective 1.4.2002, the Government is no longer fixing the dealers' commission on petrol and diesel, ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Creation of Clean Energy Corridor Shri Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL) has submitted a proposal ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Allocation of exploration work India, including its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has more than 4% of the world's total sedimentary basins. ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Remedy for oil spills at sea India has developed a product "Oilzapper", as an environment-friendly remedy for oil spills at sea. Oilzapper was developed by the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) in a project supported by the Department of Bio-Technology. ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Oil exploration projects with Iran A consortium of Indian Companies, namely, ONGC-Videsh Limited (OVL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) and Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an Exploration service Contract with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on 25.12.2002 for the Farsi offshore block in Iran. ....................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Impact of crude prices on oil import A comparison of the quantum and value of the imports of crude oil and petroleum products during the period April-November 2002 with April-November 2001 is given below: ....................... Ministry of Science & Technology Indo-Belarusian joint centres in Laser and Optics in the offing India and Belarus and to set up joint research and development-cum-technology transfer centres in optic components as well as laser. ....................... Ministry of Law & Justice Justice S.N.Phukan Commission of Inquiry Hon'ble Justice S.N.Phukan has assumed charge of the Justice S.N.Phukan Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Government of India ....................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Swedish Parliamentarians call on I&B Minister The delegation of Members of Parliament from Sweden called on the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad here today. ....................... Ministry of Small Scale Industries Promotion of exports from the North Eastern Region Minister of State for Small Scale Industries and Department of North East Region, Shri Tapan Sikdar has called upon the investors to make efforts for production of world class products ....................... Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Demand and production of fertilizers The requirement of major fertilizers namely, urea, DAP and MOP is assessed for each State/Union Territory for each crop season of Kharif and Rabi before the commencement of the season. ....................... Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Paint industry shows growth Under the liberalized economic regime the Paint Industry has been exempted from licensing requirements and the investment decision are taken by the entrepreneurs, ....................... Ministry of Coal Production of coal The target of coal production in the country for the year 2002-03 has been fixed at 335.80 million tonnes by the Ministry of Coal. ....................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting I&B Minister urges magazines to help bridge information gap The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has called upon the magazines and periodicals to sensitize their readers to inculcate an instinct to develop. ....................... Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs 5th National Youth Parliament Competition Awards presented The prize distribution function of the 5th National Youth Parliament Competition, 2001-2002 for universities/colleges was held today at Mavalankar Auditorium. Shri O. Rajgopal, .......................