PIB Press Releases


		4th March, 2003


		Ministry of Railways Free rail travel facility extended to Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains for PVC, MVC and Vir Chakra awardees Hereafter, the Param Vir Chakra , Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra awardees will travel alongwith a companion in AC 2 /AC 3 tier of Rajdhani and chair car of Shatabdi/Jan Shatabdi Express trains as well. ...................... Ministry of Railways Cancellation of Shatabdi Expresses The Ministry of Railways has decided to cancel three Shatabdi Expresses on Bareilly-New Delhi, Bhatinda-New Delhi and Tata-Hawrah routes due to poor patronization during the current financial year 2002-2003. ...................... Election Commission Electoral Management Bodies across the world to meet In New Delhi Election Commission of India in collaboration with International Institute for democracy and electoral assistance (Sweden), is organising three days' meet of Electoral Management Bodies in New Delhi from March, 2003. ...................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Need to educate people on reforms stressed The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the reforms are in the interest of the people and not elitist. ...................... Ministry of Water Resources Sutlej-Yamuna link The review petition filed by the State of Punjab having been dismissed by the Supreme Court on 5th March, 2002, the Union Government should construct the Punjab portion ...................... Ministry of Water Resources Removal of silt from canals Irrigating being a state subject, the responsibility of planning, investigation, funding alongwith priority, execution, operation and maintenance of irrigation projects ...................... Ministry of Water Resources Seeking the US expertise for inter-linking of rivers The project of lining of major rivers under national Perspective Plan (NPP) being studied by National Water Development Agency (NWDA) is a mega project ...................... Ministry of Human Resource Development Student-Teacher ratio in Technical Institutions and Engineering Colleges The teacher-students ratio for under-graduate degree level technical institution in Engineering and Technology is 1:15, as per information furnished by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). ...................... Ministry of Human Resource Development Educational qualification for teachers The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has prescribed educational qualifications for teachers in their Notification issued on 13.11.2002. ...................... Ministry of Human Resource Development Reforms in Higher Education Recent initiatives taken to strengthen the technical education system include the decision to introduce Credit-based system in technical education, ...................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Urban Haats to benefit 36 thousand artisans With a view to providing a permanent marketing outlet to the artisans community from rural as well urban areas, a plan scheme titled "Setting up of Urban Haats" was launched in the year 1999-2000. ...................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Kerala tops the list of HUDCO defaulters The following is the state-wise defaultee position in respect of government agencies for the quarter ending 31.12.2002: - ...................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation National Urban Transport Development Fund to be set up during 10th Plan The Minister of State for Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation, Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan has stated in a written reply to Shri Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi in Lok Sabha today ...................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas New oil reserves Shri Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that the initial inplace hydrocarbon accretion ...................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Revenue to ONGC from overseas projects ONGC-Videsh Limited (OVL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) set up for ...................... Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Exploration of petroleum products in Rajasthan Shri Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today ...................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Smt. Sushma swaraj to meet Prof. Richard Feachem In a major initiative to support India's efforts to mobilise a broad public- private response to AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, ...................... Ministry of Law & Justice Press communique The President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sharadkumar Devprasad Dave, Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court, ...................... Ministry of Finance & Company Affairs Shri G.N. Ramachandran releases compendium on Techniques of Investigation for Assessments The Minister of State for Finance (Revenue) Shri G.N. Ramachandran today released a compendium on 'Techniques of Investigation for Assessments". ...................... Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Subsidy dues of fertilizer industry The total outstanding dues as on 31.12.2002 for 19 urea manufacturing companies/Cooperative Societies is Rs. 1432 crore approximately...................... Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Inter-Ministerial Group for pesticide industry Government has set up an Inter-Ministerial Group of officers to go into various issues concerning the pesticide industry...................... Ministry of Coal Production of coal The production of coal in the country has increased from 313.70 million tonnes in 2000-01 to 327.79 million tonnes in 2001-02...................... Ministry of Coal Production by Private Sector in coal mines A total of 27 captive mining blocks have been allotted as on 28.11.2001...................... Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation Expansion of National Capital Region National Capital Region covers an area of 30,242 Sq. Kms...................... Ministry of Home Affairs Suicide attacks by militants The various aspects including the strategies and modus operandi adopted by the Islamic terrorist groups in different suicidal attacks in the country...................... Ministry of Home Affairs Organizations engaged in terrorist action As many as 35 organizations are engaged in terrorist activities in various parts of the country. ...................... Ministry of Home Affairs Talks with militant organisations in the North-East Though the Government has entered into cease-fire with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I/M) faction (NSCN-IM), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang faction), Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), ...................... Ministry of Home Affairs National Disaster Management Agency A proposal for setting up a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the Ministry of Home Affairs has been initiated. ...................... Ministry of Home Affairs P. Balasubramanian appointed Secretary Department of Posts The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Smt. P. Balasubramanian as Secretary, Department of Posts. ......................