From: Press Information Bureau Ministry of I&B <pib.kolkata@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Subject: Releases............pt1Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Limits Prescribed to the Industries to Cut Down of Gaseous Pollution
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
CPCB has evolved the emission standards which have been notified by Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986, for various industries including 17 categories of industries. The industries have to provide appropriate pollution control equipments to meet these notified standards.
The limits prescribed for gaseous pollutants released from various seven categories and incinerators are given below :
| Sl no | Type of Industry | Gaseous Pollutant | Limits |
| 1 | Fertiliser | Fluoride | 25 mg/Nm3 |
| Acid Mist | 50 mg/Nm3 | ||
| NOx | 3 kg/Ton of Acid | ||
| SOx | 4 kg/Ton of conc. H2SO4 | ||
| 2 | Cholro alkali | HCl | 15 mg/Nm3 |
| Cl2 | 35 mg/Nm3 | ||
| 3 | Pesticide | HCl | 20 mg/Nm3 |
| HBr | 5 mg/Nm3 | ||
| Cl2 | 5 mg/Nm3 | ||
| CH3Cl | 20 mg/Nm3 | ||
| NH3 | 30 mg/Nm3 | ||
| H2S | 5 mg/Nm3 | ||
| 4. | Copper Smelter | SO2 | 4 kg/Ton of Conc. H2SO4 |
| 5. | Zinc Smelter | SO2 | 4 kg/Ton of Conc. H2SO4 |
| 6. | Petroleum Oil refinery | H2S | 150 mg/Nm3 |
| CO | (Gas fuel)150 mg/Nm3 (Liquid fuel)200 mg/Nm3 | ||
| NOx | (Gas fuel)350 mg/Nm3 (Liquid fuel)450 mg/Nm3 | ||
| SOx | (Gas fuel)50 mg/Nm3 | ||
| (Liquid fuel)1700 mg/Nm3 | |||
| VOCs(fugitive emission) | Benzene- 20 mg/Nm3 | ||
| Toluene/Xylene-150 mg/Nm3 | |||
| 7. | Integrated Iron & Steel Plant | CO | 3 kg/tonne of Coke produced |
| NOx | 500 mg/Nm3 | ||
| SO2 | 800 mg/Nm3 | ||
| 8. | Sponge Iron Plants | CO | 1% Vol./Vol. |
| 9. | Industry specific Incinerator(Pharmaceutical/ pesticide) | HCl | 50 mg/Nm3 |
| SO2 | 200 mg/Nm3 | ||
| TOC | 20 mg/Nm3 | ||
| Heavy Metals | 1.5 mg/Nm3 | ||
| Dioxins and Furans | 0.1 ng TEQ / Nm3 0.2 ng TEQ / Nm3 |
Depending upon the type of industry and expected gaseous emission, SPCBs/PCCs are also prescribing industry specific emission standards. These standards may vary from state to state.
kp/dk/kol/13:30 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Election Commission
Bye-election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council by the Member of Legislative Assembly
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
There is a casual vacancy in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council occurred due to the resignation of a sitting member Shri Jugool Kishor, elected by the member of Legislative Assembly, on 17.06.2010. His term office will expire on 05.05.2012.
The Commission has decided to hold a bye-election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council by Members of Legislative Assembly to fill up the above said vacancy in accordance with the following programme: -
| Sl.No. | Subject of Programme | Dates and Days |
| 1. | Issue of Notifications | 6th September, 2010 (Monday) |
| 2. | Last Date of making nominations | 13th September, 2010 (Monday) |
| 3. | Scrutiny of nominations | 14th September, 2010 (Tuesday) |
| 4. | Last date for withdrawal of candidatures | 16th September, 2010 (Thursday) |
| 5. | Date of Poll | 23rd September, 2010 (Thursday) |
| 6. | Hours of Poll | 9.00 A.M. to 4.00 P.M. |
| 7. | Counting of Votes | 23rd September, 2010 (Thursday) at 5.00 P.M. |
| 8. | Date before which election shall be completed | 25th September, 2010 (Saturday) |
rm/dk/kol/13:30 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Weekly Data of Influenza A H1N1 (For the Week Ending 22ND August 2010) and Cumulative No. of Lab Confirmed Cases & Deaths – Statewise
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
| Sl. | State | Lab confirmed cases reported during the week 16th August to 22nd August 2010 | Lab confirmed cases cumulative from May 2009 | Death of Lab confirmed cases during the week 16th August to 22nd August 2010 | Death of Lab confirmed cases cumulative from May 2009 |
|
| Delhi | 257 | 10277 | 5 | 112 |
|
| Andhra Pradesh | 103 | 1269 | 3 | 81 |
|
| Karnataka | 291 | 3376 | 8 | 225 |
|
| Tamil Nadu | 72 | 2427 | 0 | 7 |
|
| Maharashtra | 411 | 8492 | 40 | 717 |
|
| Kerala | 9 | 2879 | 0 | 118 |
|
| Punjab | 1 | 182 | 0 | 41 |
|
| Haryana | 15 | 1977 | 0 | 38 |
|
| Chandigarh(UT) | 0 | 321 | 0 | 8 |
|
| Goa | 15 | 115 | 0 | 6 |
|
| West Bengal | 4 | 253 | 0 | 4 |
|
| Uttarakhand | 2 | 137 | 0 | 13 |
|
| Himachal Pradesh | 0 | 23 | 0 | 8 |
|
| Jammu & Kashmir | 0 | 112 | 0 | 4 |
|
| Gujarat | 46 | 1625 | 12 | 340 |
|
| Manipur | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Meghalaya | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Mizoram | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
|
| Assam | 0 | 52 | 0 | 2 |
|
| Jharkhand | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Rajasthan | 12 | 3404 | 4 | 203 |
|
| Bihar | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Uttar Pradesh | 47 | 1396 | 1 | 27 |
|
| Puducherry | 0 | 90 | 0 | 6 |
|
| Chhattisgarh | 7 | 68 | 0 | 11 |
|
| Madhya Pradesh | 18 | 121 | 6 | 45 |
|
| Daman & Diu | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Orissa | 25 | 78 | 0 | 6 |
|
| Nagaland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 1335 | 38730 | 79 | 2024 | |
|
Note:
1. Till date, samples from 163289 persons have been tested for Influenza A H1N1 in Government Laboratories and a few private Laboratories across the country and 38730 (23.7%) of them have been found positive. 2. All 1335 cases reported during the week are indigenous cases. 3. Seventy nine deaths (Maharashtra-40, Gujarat-12, Karnataka-8, Delhi-5, Madhya Pradesh-6, Rajasthan-4, Andhra Pradesh-3 and Uttar Pradesh-1) have been reported during the week. For more information including trend analysis kindly visit the website at:
ds/gk/dk/kol/13:32 hrs. | |||||
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Joint Scheme for Conservation of Forests
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
In Maharashtra, the State Forest Department and the Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) constituted under the Scheme "Gramasthanchya Sahabhagatoon Van-vyavasthapan" (i.e. management of forests with cooperation of villagers) work together for conservation of forests as per the State Government's resolution of 25th April, 2003. The general body of JFMCs consist of all adult and willing members of Gram Sabhas constituted under the Mumbai Panchayati Raj Act, 1959. The Executive Committee of JFMC also has a representative from Village Gram Panchayat.
The State Government of Maharashtra has proposed following Schemes during the year 2009-10 to be implemented through JFM.
| Sl. No. | Name of Scheme | Outlay (Rs. in crore) |
| 1. | Joint Forest Management Scheme (State) | 12.06 |
| 2. | Joint Forest Management Scheme (District) | 3.98 |
| 3. | Soil and Moisture Conservation (State JFM methodology based) | 8.31 |
| 4. | Akkalkuwa-Dhadgaon (Tribal Sub-plan) – JFM methodology based | 6.50 |
| 5. | Integrated Forest Development Scheme (Tribal Sub Plan) – A new scheme proposed on JFM methodology | 20.00 |
|
| Total | 50.85 |
The Annual Work Programme 2010-11 under Centrally Sponsored Scheme: Intensification of Forest Management Scheme of the State of Maharashtra, implemented by Ministry of Environment and Forests through State Forest Department, is yet to be finalized.
Ministry of Environment and Forests is implementing National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme for regeneration of degraded forests and adjoining areas in the country including state of Maharashtra. The scheme is being implemented through a decentralized mechanism of State Forest Development Agency (SFDA) at State level, Forest Development Agency (FDA) at Forest Division level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at village level and the members of local bodies are represented in the FDAs and JFMCs. As on 31.3.2010, 800 FDA projects have been approved in 28 States in the country to treat an area of 1.69 mha. through 42535 JFMCs since inception of the scheme in 2002.
kp/dk/kol/13:33 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
SEZ Projects
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The SEZ projects are considered under the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 and its amendment, 2009 which elaborates the process. As per EIA Notification 2006, the decisions on proposals are taken within 105 days from the receipt of the complete information.
Details of the two Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project proposals from Gujarat submitted for appraisal and decision regarding environmental clearance are as follows :
| S.No | Project details |
| 1 | Construction of SEZ for proposed Oil & Gas, Petrochemical sector at Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation-Vilayat (Vagra) Industrial Estate, Vilayat, Bharuch District, Gujarat by M/s. Gujarat Hydrocarbons and Power SEZ Ltd. received on 25.06.2010 |
| 2 | Construction of proposed Pharmaceutical & Fine Chemicals SEZ at Gangad & Kalyangadh, District Ahmedabad, Gujarat by M/s. Dishman Infrastructure Ltd. received on 22.06.2010 |
kp/dk/kol/13:33 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
Dr. Farooq Abdullah Launches Website on Green Buildings on Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
On the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas-2010, a new website on Green Buildings was launched by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy here today. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has developed a Green Rating of Indian Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) in consultation with various stakeholders. The rating system is in harmony with NBC 2005, ECBC 2007 and other IS codes. This website imparts knowledge about the basic means of developing new/existing building into a green building. One of the main features of the website is to provide a virtual feel of the building that is to be designed, through use of relevant software.
Since 2004, 20th August - birth aniversary of our late Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi is celebrated as Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas throughout the country. Large number of school children and students participates in various competitions, paintings organized by States/ Union Territories (UTs).
Government of India has taken a decision that all new Government buildings will be constructed with minimum 3-star GRIHA rating. So far, 65 projects have been registered with ADaRSH, an independent society created by the Ministry for implementing green building programme. Out of these projects, 25 are from Government sector.
dsm/skk/dk/kol/13:33 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Higher Support for Market and Product Diversification for Export Push Support for Technological up-Gradation
Leather, Handloom, Textiles Sector Benefitted
Anand Sharma Unveils Annual Supplement 2010-11 to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry while announcing the annual supplement 2010-11 to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 stated that, "We are on course to achieve the export target of US$ 200 billion in the fiscal year 2010-11 and over the remaining 3 years of Policy, we should be able to come back on the high export growth trajectory of 25% per annum and by 2014, we expect to double India's exports of goods and services." Following are the Highlights of the Annual Supplement.
Higher Support for Market and Product Diversification
1. Additional benefit of 2% bonus, over and above the existing benefits of 5% / 2% under Focus Product Scheme, allowed for about 135 existing products, which have suffered due to recession in exports. Major sectors include all Handicrafts items, Silk Carpets, Toys and Sports Goods (all of which were earlier eligible for 5% benefits); Leather Products and Leather Footwear, Handloom Products and Engineering Items including Bicycle parts and Grinding Media Balls (all of which were earlier eligible for 2% benefit).
2. 256 new products added under FPS (at 8 digit level), which shall be entitled for benefits @ 2% of FOB value of exports to all markets. Major Sectors / Product Groups are Engineering, Electronics, Rubber & Rubber Products, Other Oil Meals, Finished Leather, Packaged Coconut Water and Coconut Shell worked items.
3. Instant Tea and CSNL Cardinol included for benefits under VKGUY @ 5% of FOB value of exports.
4. Nearly 300 products (at 8 digit level) from the readymade garment sector incentivised under MLFPS for further 6 months from October, 2010 to march, 2011 for exports to 27 EU countries.
Support for Technological up-gradation
5. Zero duty EPCG scheme, introduced in August 2009 and valid for only two years upto 31.3.2011, has been extended by one more year till 31.3.2012. In addition, to give a boost to technological up-gradation for additional sectors as well, the benefit of the scheme has been expanded to cover paper & paperboard and articles thereof, ceramic products, refractories, glass & glassware, rubber & articles thereof, Plywood and allied products, marine products, sports goods and toys and additional engineering products.
6. Additional Towns of Export Excellence (TEEs) announced viz. Barmer (Rajasthan) for Handicrafts; Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) for Textiles; and Agra (Uttar Pradesh) for Leather Products.
Benefit and flexibility to Status Holders:
7. Status Holders contribute to a substantial part of our exports. To support them to upgrade their technology, 1% Status Holder Incentive Scheme (SHIS) introduced in August 2009 and valid for only two years upto 31.3.2011, has been extended by one more year for 2011-12 exports. In addition, to give a boost to technological up-gradation for additional sectors as well, the benefit of the scheme has been expanded to cover chemical & Allied products, paper, paperboard and articles thereof, ceramic products, refractories, glass & glassware, rubber & articles thereof, plywood and allied products, electronics products, sports goods and toys and additional engineering products.
8. Additional flexibility provided for transferability of Duty Credit Scrips being issued to Status Holders under paragraph 3.13.4 of FTP under VKGUY scheme by allowing transfer of scrip for import of cold chain equipments to unit(s) in the Food Park.
Stability / Continuity of the Foreign Trade Policy:
9. The popular and exporter friendly Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme has been extended beyond 31.12.2010 till 30.06.2011.
10. Availability of concessional Export Credit: Interest subvention of 2% for pre-shipment credit for export sectors namely, Handloom, Handicraft, Carpet and SMEs for all export sectors, have been allowed till 31.3.2011 in the budget 2010-11. This facility has now been extended to a number of additional products pertaining to sectors like Engineering, leather, textiles, Jute.
11. Advance Authorization for Annual Requirement shall also be exempted from payment of anti-dumping & Safeguard duty in line with the underlying principle that goods and services should be exported and not the taxes and levies.
Procedural Simplification and Reduction of Transaction Cost:
12. Exporters shall now have the flexibility to get a high value EPCG authorisation by filing their EPCG application on Annual basis, without the need to file the application for individual capital goods from time to time. It will reduce transaction time and cost.
13. Exporters shall now have the flexibility to Club Advance authorisation with Advance Authorisation for Annual Requirement for the purpose of account closure.
14. To impart flexibility to exporters and to facilitate smooth clearance of consignments, a Single customs notification for the two variants of Advance Authorization scheme namely advance authorisation for physical exports & deemed exports shall be issued. It will also eliminate the ambiguity in clubbing of such exports.
15. Adhoc Norms ratified under Advance Authorisation scheme shall henceforth apply to all cases for the same export product upto one year not only prospectively but also retrospectively.
16. Clarification on the availability of 4% SAD refund benefit, as given by DOR in terms of customs Notification No. 102/2007, only to trader importers, to be also extended to manufacturers, who sell the imported items like traders.
17. Chartered Engineer Certificate for Advance Authorisation on self declared basis, has been dispenced with. This will reduce documentation and the transaction cost.
EDI Initiatives:
18. To reduce the transaction cost and time, the scope and domain of EDI is endeavoured to be continuously broadened. To remove redundancy of repeated submissions of RCMC, an 'e-RCMC' initiative has been commenced. Under this, the Export Promotion Councils would upload the RCMC data of their members on DGFT's website only once, thus reducing the procedural burden of repeated submissions and associated cost and time.
19. Facility of a data preparation module for Advance Authorization and Export Promotion Capital Good (EPCG) has been provided on an offline mode, which would reduce the need of continuous online interaction for long and address the connectivity and server response issues significantly.
20. In order to provide wider choice to the users and enlarge access for online filing, additional licenced certifying authorities for digital signatures and banks for electronic fund transfer (EFT) operations have been included in the gamut of EDI operations.
21. The online message exchange for Annual Advance Authorization and Duty Free Import Authorization (DFIA) shall also be made operational with Customs w.e.f. 1.12.2010.
Leather Sector:
22. Leather sector shall be allowed re-export of unsold imported raw hides and skins and semi-finished leather from Public bonded warehouses, without payment of any export duty. This will facilitate the logistics for establishment of such warehouses and easy access to raw material for the leather sector.
23. Finished Leather export shall be entitled for Duty Credit Scrip @ 2% under FPS.
24. Additional 2% bonus benefits over and above the existing benefits under Focus Product Scheme would significantly benefit the Leather Sector.
Handloom sector:
25. Duty free import of specified trimmings, embellishments etc. shall be available on Handloom made-ups exports @ 5% of FOB value of exports.
26. Additional 2% bonus benefits over and above the existing benefits under Focus Product Scheme would significantly benefit the Handloom Sector.
Textiles sector:
27. Duty free import of specified trimmings, embellishment etc shall be available @ 3% on exports of polyester made-ups in line with the facility available to sectors like Textiles & Leather.It will promote export of products such as micro cloth, which has become popular in home textiles.
28. Readymade Garment sector granted enhanced support under MLFPS for a period of further 6 months from October, 2010 to March, 2011 for exports to 27 EU countries.
Gems & Jewellery sector:
29. The list of items allowed for duty free import by Gems & Jewellery sector has been expanded by Inclusion of additional items such as Tags and labels, Security censor on card, Staple wire, Poly bag. This will reduce the cost of the product to some extent.
Handicraft Sector:
30. The facility of duty free import of tools under Duty Free Import scrips for Handicraft sector shall be made operational.
31. Additional 2% bonus benefits over and above the existing benefits under Focus Product Scheme will significantly benefit the Handicrafts and Silk Carpets sectors.
Service sector:
32. Scrips issued under Served From India Scheme (SFIS) can now be used for payment of duty on import of Vehicles, which are in the nature of professional equipment.
Agriculture and Plantation:
33. Instant Tea and CSNL Cardinol included for benefits under VKGUY @ 5% of FOB value of exports.
34. Oil Meals (Cotton, rape seed, groundnut), Castor Oil derivatives, Packed Coconut Water and Coconut Shell worked items shall be entitled for benefits @ 2% of FOB value of exports to all markets under FPS.
Engineering and Electronics:
35. Additional 2% bonus benefits over and above the existing benefits under Focus Product Scheme will significantly benefit Bicycle parts and Grinding Media Balls exporters.
36. Additional items of Engineering, namely, Pipes & Tubes, Electric Generating Sets, Cast Articles of Iron & Steel, Ferro Manganese and Ferro Silicon shall now be entitled for benefit @ 2% under FPS.
37. A number of Engineering items namely, Machine Tools, Compressors, Iron & Steel Structures including Transmission Towers and Scaffolding, LPG Cylinders, Ductile Tubes & Pipes shall now be entitled for benefits @ 2% of FOB value of exports to all markets under FPS instead of their exports to specific markets under MLFPS earlier.
38. Telecom Equipments, Colour TVs, Audio Systems, Optical Media, Semi-conductors, Capacitors, Resistors, PCBs, LEDs, Conductors, Desktops and Notebooks shall now be entitled for benefits @ 2% of FOB value of exports to all markets under FPS instead of their exports to limited market under MLFPS earlier.
Toys and Sports goods:
39. Additional 2% bonus benefits over and above the existing benefits under Focus Product Scheme will significantly benefit the Toys and Sports Goods Sector.
40. Benefits under Zero duty EPCG and SHIS schemes will significantly promote technological upgradation of Toys and Sports Goods sectors.
rj/dk/kol/13:34 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Presidents Secretariat
President of India contributes rupees One Lakh to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund towards rehabilitation of cloud burst victims in Leh
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has contributed Rupees One Lakh from her salary to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, towards utilization for the rehabilitation of the poor and needy persons affected by the recent cloud burst in Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. The President had made a specific mention of the natural calamity in her address to the Nation on August 14, 2010, on the eve of the 63rd Independence Day.
sh/rk/dk/kol/13:34 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Finance
Auction for Sale of Government Stock
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
Government of India have announced the sale (re-issue) of (i) "7.17 percent Government Stock 2015" for a notified amount of Rs. 5,000 crore (nominal), (ii) "7.80 percent Government Stock 2020" for a notified amount of Rs. 4,000 crore (nominal) and (iii) "8.26 percent Government Stock 2027" for a notified amount of Rs. 3,000 crore (nominal) through price based auctions. The auctions will be conducted using uniform price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on August 27, 2010 (Friday).
Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.
Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Negotiated Dealing System (NDS) on August 27, 2010. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m.
The result of the auctions will be announced on August 27, 2010 and payment by successful bidders will be on August 30, 2010 (Monday).
The Stocks will be eligible for "When Issued" trading in accordance with the guidelines on 'When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities' issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI /2006-07/178 dated November 16, 2006 as amended from time to time.
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
New Delhi: Bhadrpada 01, 1932; August 23, 2010
dsm/by/gn-285/10/dk/kol/13:35 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Railways
Statement from the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Railways on the News Item Related to Expenditure on Movement of Official Files Published in A Section of Media on August 23, 2010.
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
In connection with the above news item (mostly sourced to agencies), this statement is to put the record straight. The full context of an RTI reply, on which the said news item is based, is given below:-
1. There are two aspects of the news item carried by a section of media. Firstly, an impression has been created that frequently files have been carried to Kolkata by officials attached to Railway Minister for her consideration. Secondly, the expenses for travel of these officials for this purpose, of around Rs.11 lakhs in one year as mentioned in the said news items give an impression as if the expenditure on travel of officials is made for carrying the files. Both these impressions are erroneous.
2. It is clarified that hardly ever files have been carried to Kolkata for clearing from the Railway Minister, except in a few emergent cases.
3. Officials attached with the Minister of Railways accompany the Minister as per the entitlement of a Union Minister. Most of such travels are part of the duty of the personal staff attached to the Union Minister, and have little to do with the clearance of file work.
4. Number of travels by the other officials of the Railway Minister to Kolkata or to any other place, are undertaken, inter-alia, for various official purposes; (a) to discuss official issues with the Zonal Railways, (b) attending railway functions, (c) review of projects, etc.
5. Hence it is misleading and out of context to club the travel expenses of the Minister's staff as having been incurred for one single task of clearance of files from the Railway Minister.
aks/hk/lk/tr/dk/kol/13:35 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Elephant Reserve in Orissa
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The Government of Orissa has notified three Elephant Reserves namely Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi and Sambalpur. Permission for notification of South Orissa Elephant Reserve and Baitarani Elephant Reserve (which includes Keonjhar Forests) has been accorded by the Ministry in the year 2005. The State Government has yet to notify these two Elephant Reserves.
Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the State/UT Governments are empowered to constitute any area of faunal importance as a protected area. In the case of wild elephants, migratory corridors have been identified. Where the corridors consist of only notified forests and/or protected areas, statutory cover already exists. But there are corridors with non forest lands also and they need statutory cover. For such corridors, the State/UT Governments have been requested to provide legal cover either under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 or under Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
kp/dk/kol/13:35 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Guidelines for Exploratory Bore Holes
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests through Forest Survey of India (FSI) and the Ministry of Coal through Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI) have jointly undertaken an exercise to overlay the forest cover map on the coal block boundaries in respect of 9 coalfields in the country and identified various coal blocks as category 'A' (No-Go) and Category 'B' (Go). As per this exercise, 153 coal blocks covering about 2,68,000 ha have been categorized as category 'A' out of total number of 602 coal blocks covering about 6,48,750 ha. The exercise for other coalfields is still on.
The Forest Advisory Committee a statutory committee under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, in its meeting held on 17.06.2010, revisited the proposal for exploratory bore holes in forests by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) on the plea that GSI's activities are of general survey nature and done systematically all over the country for locating mineralization for better land use planning. The Committee, after considering the views of Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Coal, GSI, Indian Bureau of Mines & others and taking into account the non-destructive nature of exploratory bore hole drilling and their insignificant impact on the ecology of forest areas, recommended for allowing Geo-scientific investigation by GSI and other Government agencies and Prospecting Exploration (G3) under prospecting license, involving shallow pitting, trenching and sampling, including collection of samples of rock, soil, fossils, water, stream sediment, etc., and drilling of up to 20 boreholes per sq km up to 8 inch diameter in the case of coal, lignite and metallic ores and 16 boreholes per sq km up to 6.6 inch diameter in the case of non-metallic ores without attracting the provisions of the Act provided there is no felling of trees.
kp/dk/kol/13:36 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Global Carbon Space
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The Government has not abandoned its stance on the 'per capita' approach to equity in the climate change negotiations on the global carbon space. India has consistently maintained that the long term goal of stabilisation of climate should be preceded by a paradigm for equitable access to the global atmospheric resources on the basis of per capita accumulative convergence of emissions.
In the recent international negotiations on climate change, the developed countries have argued that major developing countries including India should make a commitment to undertake the mitigation actions. India has argued that actions of developing countries to address climate change are to be taken in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Such actions are to be voluntary in nature and shall be taken in accordance with the relevant domestic policies and programmes. These can be enhanced if international support in terms of finance and technology is available.
kp/dk/kol/13:36 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Smt. Ambika Soni Constitutes Committee to Study Feasibility of Granting Accreditation to Outstation Journalists
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
In response to requests received from media persons, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni has constituted a committee to study the feasibility of granting accreditation to outstation journalists (Outside Delhi). The committee duly constituted, shall also look into the processes likely to be involved for considering the matter.
Under the Terms of Reference, the constituted committee shall give its recommendations within a period of six months from the date of its constitution i.e. 20 Aug. 2010. Principal Director General (M&C): Press Information Bureau shall convene the meetings of the committee. The constituted committee has been mandated to give its recommendations to Secretary, I&B within the stipulated time frame of six months.
The members of the constituted committee are as follows:
• Shri Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief, Tribune
• Ms. Navika Kumar, Political & Economic Editor, Times Now
• Shri Asad Raza, Chief of Bureau, Rozana : Rashtriya Sahara
• Shri Sachidananda Murthy, Resident Editor (Delhi), Malayala Manorama
• Shri Dinkar Raikar, Group Editor, Lok Mat, Mumbai
• Shri Aditya Sinha, Editor-in-Chief, New Indian Express, Chennai
• Shri Asim Ali Khan, Editor, Siasat, Hyderabad
• Shri Kanaksen Deka, Editor, Dainik Agradoot, Guwahati
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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
* * * * * *
Prime Minister's Office
PM Greets the Nation on Raksha Bandhan
New Delhi: August 24, 2010.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has greeted the nation on the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
In a message the Prime Minister said Rakhi symbolizes affection and reinforces family bonds. He said "on this auspicious occasion let us make renewed efforts to ensure the dignity and well being of women and to promote peace and harmony in society."
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Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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