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| Rs 990 Cr R&B projects
formulated for Jammu Sagar for expeditious execution of NABARD Projects Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 24 : Under the massive rural road connectivity programme launched by the government with NABARD funding Rs 990 crore projects.....more BSNL
will enter into NEW DELHI, Apr 24: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will soon enter into internet and mobile telphony.....more Rs
12 lakh compensation CHANDIGARH, Apr 24: A local court has ordered Life Insurance Corporation.....more WFP
to help Uttaranchal DEHRA DUN, Apr 24: The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations......more |
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Attainment of 8 pc NEW DELHI, Apr 24: A parliamentary committee has expressed serious doubts over attainment of an eight per cent economic growth rate suggested by the.......more More
taxes for states: NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Highlighting the need for hiking the states’ share of taxes, the Constitution Review Commission has recommended that the .......more ‘Manufacturing
units BANGALORE, Apr 24: Senior Vice-President of the Information Technology Giant Infosys P Balasubramanian.....more Gujarat
receives NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Gujarat has received two loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its power......more |
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Rs 990 Cr R&B projects
formulated for Jammu Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Apr 24 : Under the massive rural road connectivity programme launched by the government with NABARD funding Rs 990 crore projects have been formulated for construction/upgradation of roads in Jammu division. This was revealed at a high level meeting held here today to review the progress of NABARD funded projects in Jammu division. Minister for Works, Mr. Ali Mohammed Sagar presided. The meeting was informed that 547 projects in Road and Building sector for Jammu division have already been submitted to NABARD. Out of these 215 schemes costing Rs 203 crore stand sanctioned. The sanctioned projects include 46 in district Jammu, 24 in Kathua, 37 in Udhampur, 25 in Rajouri, 11 in Poonch and 38 in Doda. All the 215 projects are targeted to be completed by March 2003. In Jammu division 20 schemes have already been completed. These include 14 in district Jammu, 2 in Rajouri and one each in Kathua, Udhampur, Poonch and Doda districts. Seven projects in Irrigation and Flood Control sector have already been approved by NABARD for funding while 34 projects are in pipeline. Speaking at the meeting, the Minister asked the engineering departments to expedite work on the NABARD funded projects so that rural areas get better road connectivity. He said road communication is vital for the overall economic development of the people especially in the rural areas who are lacking most of the basic amenities. The Minister said while formulating projects for NABARD funding, it should be ensured that all the areas of the State get equitable share of the projects to ensure balanced development of the State. He said thrust however should be laid on the hilly and remote areas which are lacking in road communication facilities. Mr. Sagar said under the NABARD programme 300 villages have already been provided road connectivity in the State. The Minister said the legislators should be involved right from the formulation stage of the projects upto their execution. He said the legislators should act as main planners in the formulation of developmental programmes as they can better assess the developmental needs at the grass root level. He said involvement of legislators in the formulation and execution of developmental programmes has also brought in an element of transparency and accountability in the works sector which has been hailed at various levels. The Minister said that all the NABARD projects pending disposal at various levels should be cleared within 20 days. He said action would be taken against the officials who are causing inordinate delay in the processing of projects. The Minister hailed the role of NABARD authorities, who, he said have been highly considerate and accommodative in the sanctioning of projects for the State. The meeting was attended by Minister for Information and Transport, Mr. Ajatshatru Singh, Minister of State for Works and Power, Mr. Qamer Ali Akhoon, Minister of State for Works, Irrigation and Flood Control, Mr. Govind Ram Sharma, Minister of State for Social Welfare, Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Former Minister, Mr. Sharief Tariq, Dy. Speaker, Legislative Assembly, Malik Ghulam Haider, Legislators of Jammu division, Principal secretary Works, Mr. Ajit Kumar, Chief General Manager NABARD, Mr. Banwar Puri, besides Chief Engineers of R&B, PHE, and Irrigation and Flood Control departments Jammu. |
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BSNL will enter into internet, moblie services: Mahajan NEW DELHI, Apr 24: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will soon enter into internet and mobile telphony to provide these services in all the districts of the country, Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Pramod Mahajan told Parliament today. Replying to a specific query by former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar during the question hour in the Lok Sabha, the minister said the former’s constituency, Balia in Uttar Pradesh and other rural areas would get these services. The services of the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) and several other private companies in the sector are so far restricted to big cities and urban areas. Mr Mahajan said the Government had given licenses to 428 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and of them, 161 ISPs are providing internet services in the country. Referring to a specific question, the minister said the Government would consider upgradation of ISPs at Hyderabad from A2 to A1 as and when it was required. During 2001-02, as many as 72 applications for ISP licences, which entailed a token fee of Rs one a year, were received from 60 companies. He said 49 licences were issued to 42 companies. (UNI) |
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Rs 12 lakh compensation awarded to Giani Zail Singh’s widow CHANDIGARH, Apr 24: A local court has ordered Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to pay a compensation of Rs 12 lakh to Pradhan Kaur, the widow of former President Giani Zail Singh who died in 1994 as a result of injuries sustained in a road accident in Punjab’s Ropar district. The court of Additional Sessions Judge T S Klar, while awarding the compensation here yesterday, directed that the insurance company pay interest at the rate of nine per cent to Kaur. Kaur had filed a claim for Rs one crore in the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT) saying her husband had a monthly income of around Rs five lakh including the benefits available to a former President of the country. The court also awarded a compensation of Rs 90,000 to one Basant Singh, nephew of Zail Singh who was also injured while travelling in the ill-fated car. Besides, a compensation of Rs 3,80,000 was awarded to the car driver Parvinder Singh. Zail Singh was injured when his car collided with a truck near Handoor Mihalpur village on Fatehgarh Sahib-Chandigarh Road in November 1994. The former President died in the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here on December 25, 1994. (PTI) |
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WFP to help Uttaranchal attain food security DEHRA DUN, Apr 24: The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations will help the Uttaranchal Government in working out procedures and methods for optimal use and mobilisation of resources towards attaining the goal of food security. As a step towards improving household food security, the WFP in collaboration with the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has initiated the setting up of community food banks in the state, Dr R S Tolia, Principal Secretary, Forests and Tribal Development, said at a press conference here on the eve of the state consultation on food security in Uttaranchal to be inaugurated by Chief Minister N D Tiwari here today. The state consultation was aimed at strengthening the food assistance programmes in Uttaranchal, Dr Tolia said, adding that the issue of hunger and combating food insecurity would be taken up for detailed deliberations during the two-day consultation. WFP’s Deputy Country Director Wolfgang Harbinger told the mediapersons that of the 800 million undernourished people in the world, 200 million were in India alone. "This is a paradox as India also has the largest surplus of foodgrains in the world," he said. He said the WFP, which was already operating in six districts of the state — Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Almora, Bageshwar and Nainital —, had initiated a series of central and state-level consultation workshops in order to help the Governments hasten their efforts to combat hunger and halve the number of undernourished people by the year 2015 — the target agreed upon at the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996. The WFP would also give a momentum to Government initiatives and investments in moving "towards hunger free India". Uttaranchal was identified as one of the moderately food insecure states in the country through a food insecurity mapping exercise initiated by the WFP in collaboration with the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation. The WFP would look at the possible role it can play to facilitate the monitoring of the state’s progress towards food security, Mr Harbinger said. The state consultation would also look at critical partnerships of the Government, the United Nations, other international agencies and the civil society to work out concrete solutions to hunger and undernourishment, he said. The two-day meet would also help look into the adequacy of certain food assistance schemes such as the public distribution system, integrated child development services, mid-day meals and the food for work programme . The WFP is engaged in eradicating hunger and malnutrition, building capacities of local institutions, enabling eco-restoration and creating alternate livelihoods for lasting advantages to the poor in close collaboration with the Central Government and the State Governments. Besides Uttaranchal, the WFP also aims to help Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand to attain the goal of food security. (UNI) |
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Attainment of 8 pc growth
during 10th plan NEW DELHI, Apr 24: A parliamentary committee has expressed serious doubts over attainment of an eight per cent economic growth rate suggested by the Planning Commission for the tenth five year plan period (2002-07) in the backdrop of a dismal performance during the ninth plan. "The committee are seriously apprehensive of likely spurt in the economic growth rate to eight per cent as envisaged in the tenth plan. Unless all concerted steps are taken with a view to identifying various constraints, the target is difficult to achieve," the standing committee on finance said. In the report on demand for grants of the Ministry of Planning, it said that though monitorable targets for the tenth plan covering economic, social and environmental dimensions of human development present a rosy picture, the practicality of attainment of these targets is to be viewed against the backdrop of the ninth plan scenario. "Overall performance of the economy has seriously suffered during the ninth plan. This is particularly due to the dismal performance in the primary sectors and a not so impressive performance in the secondary sector," it said. Expressing concern on the fall in the domestic savings and real investment during the ninth five year plan, it said "unless steps are taken in right earnest to step up these, the projected eight per cent growth does not seem feasible". It said multi-pronged strategies such as increasing gross tax to GDP ratio, enhanced public investment in key sectors such as infrastructure, rural development and agriculture coupled with fiscal prudence and judicious use of resources were of paramount importance. (PTI) |
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More taxes for states: Constitution Review Commission NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Highlighting the need for hiking the states’ share of taxes, the Constitution Review Commission has recommended that the states be allowed to levy certain taxes, which were otherwise in the domain of the centre. The Commission, headed by former Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachalliah, also asked the Government to set up ‘Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission’ for eliminating trade barriers among states. "An appropriate amendment to the constitution on this behalf should be made to include certain taxes, now levied and collected by the union, to be levied and collected by the states," it said. It would be better to make a consensus list of services to be taxed by the states even if the formal taxing power was exercised by the union, the report submitted recently to the Government, said. The report also said it might be worthwhile to provide explicit taxing power to the states on certain specified services. "A de facto enumeration of services that can be taxed exclusively by the states should get priority from policy makers with a view to augmenting the resource pool of the states," it said, adding, "specific enumeration of services that may become amenable to taxation by the states should be made." (PTI) |
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‘Manufacturing units must concentrate on value-addition’ BANGALORE, Apr 24: Senior Vice-President of the Information Technology Giant Infosys P Balasubramanian exhorted the Indian manufacturing industry to exploit the global recession situation to its advantage by concentrating on value-added products. Delivering the keynote address at the Indian Institute of Materials Management here, last night, he said providing value addition would be golden opportunity for India to turn the recession scenario into its benefit. The industry must focus on life-cycle cost of the materials, direct interaction between the materials management team with customers, identify and add on services in delivering goods. He observed that the advent of IT, computers and communication network in last decade had ushered globally a revolutionary change. The communication costs with vendors now had dramatically come down besides cut in time. In next five years, the cost would become zero, he hoped. Dr Balasubramanian said there was a paradigm shift in the global scenario which had led of made to order instead of made to stock depending upon the customers needs. Product schedule could be determined through computers in future, he added. Public sector HMT Ltd Chairman and Managing Director R A Sharma, in his address, observed that the Indian engineering manufacturing industry faced various constraints like lack of manpower, high level of investment. But there was a sign of gradual improvement, he felt. He said recession was abating but stressed the need for supply chain management to be globally competitive. Citing SCM in his own company, he said hmt had recently directed some of its ancillory units to initiate corrective measures to improve their functioning. But some of them not paying attention were facing closure threat. It was difficult to change the mindset of ancillary unit owners who always expected good business, he added. (UNI) |
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Gujarat receives 2 loans from ADB NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Gujarat has received two loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its power sector reforms programme, Minister of State for Power Jayawanti Mehta told the Raja Sabha today. The policy programme loan for reforms and restructuring in the power sector totalling 150 million dollars will be released by this year-end, while the project loan totalling 200 million dollars will be come by mid-2005, she said. Energy policy: An energy policy committee has been set up in the planning commission to recommend an outline of the energy policy for the next 15 to 20 years, Ms Mehta said. The committee is chaired by Member Energy, Planning Commission and other members including secretaries in the ministries of power, coal, petroleum and natural gas, non-conventional energy sources, environment and forests, and the Department of Atomic Energy. Experts from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research and Tata Energy Research Institute are also associated in the committee. Enron dispute: The Government has denied that the United States warned India that if persisting dispute with enron over the power dues is not resolved early, the country will have to forego large amount of foreign direct investments. However, Ms Mehta, said some commercial disputes had arisen between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and the Dabhol Power Company (DPC). Both parties have initiated legal proceedings against each other alleging violation of the power purchase agreement. The issues are sub-judice. The Central Government has refused to make payments to the DPC as demanded under the counter-guarantee agreement. Due to this, Ms Mehta said, DPC has initiated arbitration proceedings. Power theft: The reply to a question minister admitted that the theft of power was still taking place in Delhi and the entire country despite change in the meter policy. Power distribution falls under the jurisdiction of State Governments and the action to contain theft of power has to be taken by power utilities, she said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. Still, she said, the Central Government has given priority to reduction of transmission and distribution losses including power theft. The Central Electricity Authority has issued guidelines for conducting energy audits in power systems, she said. With the help of computerisation of billing process, abnormal consumption of consumers is being detected. If consumption is less than 15 per cent of the average, cases are immediately inspected for detecting tampering of meter or theft of energy, she said. Ms Mehta said the Government has also set up a steering committee for preparing guidelines for improvement of sub-transmission and distribution systems on a scientific basis. These include guidelines on energy accounting and audit which will help in containing commercial losses, she added. The minister said necessary amendments had been effected in the IE Act 1910 to make theft of electricity a cognizable offence. Stricter provisions and penalties are envisaged in the electricity bill 2001 in case of power theft, she added. (UNI) |
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