In his message, Shri Vajpayee has said that ‘Busybee’ as Shri Contractor was known among his admirers, had an uncanny grasp over the pulse of Mumbai and his chronicles of ever changing ways of Mumbai will continue to inspire the columnists for a long time to come.

    Known for his irrepressible humour, Shri Contractor will always be remembered for setting up high standards of journalistic professionalism and ethics, the Prime Minister added.

    "I leave today for a bilateral visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran with which we have historical ties of friendship and cultural affinity. We attach importance to our bilateral relations with Iran both in the bilateral and in the regional context.

    In my meetings with President Seyed Khatami and the Iranian leadership, I hope to discuss substantive areas of bilateral cooperation, as well as focus on regional and global issues. A number of important agreements are to be signed during the visit. They will help in further promoting our mutual interaction.

    My engagements in Tehran also include an address to the Majlis and interaction with leading figures of trade and industry in Iran.

    I will also be visiting the city of Shiraz which has a special historical connection with India".

KERALA

* Total valid votes – 8,364,832

* Total valid votes 30,969,920

    The Department is engaged in the exciting task of enabling the Indian companies to excel in a globally competitive market, create wealth for the shareholders and to the nation by creating an investor friendly environment.

    Last year the Department set up a Committee to recommend modern competition law in the light of international economic development and the need to promote competition including the law relating to mergers and de-mergers; Committee to draft legislation for formation and conversion of cooperatives into companies; Committee of Experts headed by Shri Justice V. Balakrishna Eradi, retired Judge of the Supreme Court, to examine the existing law relating to winding up proceedings of companies to bring in innovation in corporate law and governance as well as suggest reforms in procedures and practice at various stages in the insolvency procedures of companies to reduce inordinate delays in tune with the international practices; Committee to look into why nidhi companies were not doing well and difficulties in enforcing payment discipline by such companies; Committee for Corporate Excellence to explore the possibility of putting in place an implementable system and develop firm infrastructure; and finally a Committee for E-Corporate Governance with a specific mandate to make the filing of returns and such other activities computer friendly.

    All the committees not only submitted their report on time but the Department took several highly pro-active steps to ensure that the important recommendations of the committees become a reality in as short time as possible. In most of the cases, after detailed discussions at the highest levels and at various economic fora, draft legislation has been prepared to be finally passed by the Parliament.

    In the year under review the Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2000 was passed, which aims at bringing in greater accountability, transparency and responsibility and has several features to ensure good corporate governance. The amendments have been welcomed by a wide cross section of the economic community.

    Interestingly, it was India that propounded the concept of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. Globalisation that has many shades, hues and forms has unfolded a vast vista of opportunities to the Indian corporate. Indian corporate sector, thus, has a new tryst with destiny.

    During the year under review, additional principal bench of the Company Law Board was set up at Chennai for the Southern Region.

    During 2000-2001, 5839 prosecutions were initiated against 946 companies and their officers. 7592 cases were decided by the courts, of which, 4003 cases resulted in conviction and imposition of fine of Rs. 29 lakhs. A sum of Rs. 6.2 lakh was awarded as cost to Registrars of Companies.

    In a message, Smt. Swaraj said that Behram mirrored people, events and trends with incisiveness and irreverence and could convey the most complex observations with an astonishing economy of words. In his death, Mumbai has lost a popular chronicler who became a legend in his lifetime, she said.

'8'

CONFERENCE RESOLVES TO MAKE SANSKRIT STUDY COMPULSORY UPTO XII STANDARD

    Another resolution passed at the World Sanskrit Conference said that to improve the acceptability of the language among younger students, it was decided to evolve simple Sanskrit with the help of modern pedagogical techniques and to teach Sanskrit strictly through Sanskrit medium. The Conference also recommended opening up of Sanskrit medium schools to teach all subjects including mathematics, science and social sciences and History in Sanskrit itself.

    The Conference also demanded special research projects to be taken up to develop Sanskrit as a programming language with due support from scientific and technological institutions for the same. Scientists all over the world feel that Sanskrit is the best-suited language for computers, among other natural languages. Its role as lingua-franka and as a natural language medium for machine translation from one language to the other is well known. Since India is a multi-lingual nation, it would be useful to have a common and standard script for all the languages. Scientists and technologists have been asked to develop one common standard scientific font and software for all Indian languages.

    Another resolution urged the Government of India to discover the wealth of knowledge recorded in Sanskrit and make it available to the humankind. According to a study there are more than 50 lakh manuscripts available in India to be brought to light. It also wanted the establishment of an international body of Sanskrit study preferably in collaboration with UNESCO. It noted the recent initiatives taken by the University Grants Commission especially, opening up of spoken Sanskrit centres in the universities and colleges affiliated to it and the introduction of the study of Jyotir Vigyan. Since school-level teachers are the back-bone for the development of Sanskrit, it was suggested that there should be School-level Sanskrit Teachers’ Conference to be held every year, at the district, State and national levels to build a cohesive base.

    The Minister for Human Resource Development Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi who addressed the concluding function made it clear that promotion of Sanskrit will not be at the cost of any other language. He said a number of measures have already been taken for the development of Sanskrit and the Government will look into the recommendations made at the Conference, without delay for action.

'44'

IBM BENEFICIATION PROJECTS

    IBM has also taken up beneficiation tests on limestone sample from Rabriyawas, Pale district, Rajasthan. The recovered concentrate is suitable for cement manufacturing. It has also carried out investigation on tailing dump sample from Graphite, beneficiation plant of the G.R. Graphite, Belapara, Bolangic district, Orissa. It aims at developing a suitable beneficiation process flowsheet on pilot scale for obtaining enriched rare earth product. The recovered concentrate shows considerable enrichment.

    The Seminar will be attended by more than 250 delegates from all over the country which include top-level designers from Central & State design organizations, premier State Irrigation Research Institutions, representatives from leading cement manufacturers, consultants and policy makers, experts, Bureau of Indian Standards and others.

    The storage and disposal of flyash is a major problem which besides causing environmental concern also requires large areas of land including agricultural fertile land for storing it. In our country only about 3% of the total flyash generated so far is being used for construction and other purposes whereas flyash utilization is reported to be 31% in USA, 38% in China, 58% in Germany and 49% in UK. Since flyash can be effectively utilized in various Civil engineering constructions by replacing cement, this waste material can be converted to a useful construction material in one form or the other. But due to lack of awareness in this regard, the full potential of flyash could not be utilized.

    The Minister said that world-wide, small and medium scale industries and business have a special role to play as they support proportionately much more population of a country than large enterprises. In the United States, small enterprises are responsible for as many as eight out of ten new jobs. In Japan, about 75% of manufacturing employment is in small and medium size companies. And in India, 40% of value addition in the industrial sector is from small units and in turn they provide 45% of industrial employment, said the Minister.

    In his address on the occasion, Dr. Abid Hussain, Member Constitution Review Commission, said that in the present era of globalisation, SMEs have to compete with the best of the world. He stressed the need for SMEs to use good and higher technology, as tomorrow’s market will be the competitive and knowledge-based market.

    The International Forum for SMEs with a theme "Accelerating Growth and Enhancing Competitiveness in the Knowledge Economy" is being jointly organised by Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) and National Productivity Council here during April 10-12, 2001. This conference is being attended by 300 delegates from APO member countries of Asia and Pacific Region.

    The MOU was signed between the Secretary Power, Shri A.K. Basu and the Chairman and Managing Director, PGCIL, Shri R.P. Singh.

    The PGCIL has been continuously achieving the excellent rating for the MOUs with the Ministry of Power in all facets of its performance encompassing operational, constructional and financial aspects etc. since its first MOU in the year 1993-94 and is the recipient of "Prime Minister’s MOU Award" for two consecutive years in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

'44'

HZL NET UP BY 54 PER CENT

    Another salient feature of the year was the successful completion of company’s expansion programme to increase zinc metal production capacity at two of its electrolytic zinc smelters by 17000 tonnes per annum i.e. 10,000 tonnes at Debari Smelter, and 7000 tonnes at Vizag Smelter. With this, total installed zinc production capacity of the Company will be 1,69,000 tonnes.

'19'

KASHIRAM RANA URGES STATES TO REAP FULL BENEFIT OF SCHEMES FOR WEAVERS AND ARTISANS

SINHA CALLS FOR THE CREATION OF SEPARATE DEPARTMENT OF TEXTILES IN DIFFERENT STATES

V.DHANANJAYA KUMAR STRESSES ON AGENDA FOR ACTION FOR 2005

STATE TEXTILES MINISTERS CONFERENCE

    Stating that the future of textile exports lies mainly in garments, Shri Kashiram Rana said that the new textile policy has focused on the target of $ 25 b US worth of exports for clothing and readymade garments by 2010. The Government has already taken the far-reaching step of de-reservation of garment industry, he added. This, he said, would remove existing constraints on new expansion and ensure improved cost effectiveness by ensuring economies of scale and also substantially increase employment in this highly labour intensive industry, the Minister further said.

    Stressing on weaving and processing as the most critical links in the value addition chain, the Textile Minister stated that 56% of the fabric in the country is produced in the decentralized power-loom sector on old plain looms, the majority of them being obsolete and capable only of defective fabric at a very poor productivity rates. Out of 16.5 lakh looms in the sector, their are only about 8000 shuttle less looms while the number of automatic looms is not more than 50,000, the Minister informed. Similarly in the processing sector the proliferation has been mainly of low-end technology without consideration of quality and a massive effort is required to modernize both sectors and upgrade the quality of Indian made fabrics, Shri Kashiram Rana said. Speaking of the benefits to the Textile Sector in the recent budget announcements, Shri Kashiram Rana said that the weaving and processing sector would benefit substantially due to an increase in the depreciation rate of machinery installed under TUFS to 50% from the existing 25% and reducing customs duty on some of the machinery.

    Shri Rana urged the States to make adequate financial allocations for centrally sponsored schemes to reap full benefits of the schemes like Baba Sahib Ambedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana and Deen Dayal Hathkargha Protsahan Yojana. Stressing on the structural and fiscal adjustments in the textile sector, Shri Rana emphasised on the needs for another set of reforms for liberalization and growth.

    Shri Yashwant Sinha called on the State Govts. to create a separate Department of Textiles in their states in order to provide a new thrust for the textile sector in the new global order. Speaking at the State Textile Ministers Conference, Shri Yashwant Sinha said that the handicraft and handloom weavers should be insulated from vagaries of market fluctuations to save them from taking extreme steps like suicides. For this some of the recently launched Bima Schemes should be suitably adapted for the benefits of workers in the country. Shri Sinha stressed on the need for involving States with regard to implementation of schemes for the benefit of weavers and artisans. "We should evolve the commonality of approach between States and Govt. of India", he said. He complimented the excellent representation from the North-Eastern States and hoped that this would ensure increasing involvement of these States in the National mainstream.

    Shri V.Dhananjaya Kumar, the Minister of State for Textiles said that the agenda for the conference is the "Agenda For Action For 2005". Translated into effective action, this set of programmes would prepare all the segments of the industry to successfully meet the challenges of the post MFA era and to reach it to that pre-eminent global standing i.e. the policy goal, he added. Speaking about the speculation and anxiety in the textile industry, shri Dhananjay Kumar stated that the reform process began about 7 years ago, when the agreement on textiles and clothing was signed to fully integrate trade in textiles with the WTO in 10 years time. That 10 years period has now come to a close, he said and cautioned the industry that little over 3 years from now, textile will be free of the restrictions of quotas. Hence there is a need for adjustment, alternation and for adaptation, the Minister said.

    Shri Anil Kumar, Secretary (Textiles) hoped that the conference would help us in preparing the agenda for the growth of textile sector for future.

    During the course of the meeting both the Ministers also reviewed in detail the follow-up action that had been undertaken after the signing of the MoU on bilateral IT co-operation last year. Both Ministers were unanimous that the strategy agreed upon to promote state-to-state partnerships in IT would not only widen co-operation but it would also increase trade prospects, offer wider markets for IT products, IT services, facilitate institutional tie-ups and widen the scope for joint ventures and collaborations. The MoU had not only institutionalised co-operation at bilateral level, it had also facilitated efforts to combine skills and collective search for investor friendly third country markets jointly. Another key area touched upon during the discussion was related to IT education. Both the Ministers agreed to build a common net work and joint education programme in IT between like-minded educational institutions of both countries. An initiative in this regard would widen opportunities not only for the promotion of IT related skills in the education sector but also fine tune HRD skills with emerging technologies.

    Earlier in the day the IT Minister had detailed discussions with Mr. John Brumby, MP Victorial Treasurer and Minister of State and Regional Development. The discussion centred on promoting business linkages between Victoria and IT corporates in India. The key highlight of the Minister's visit to Melbourne was the visit to the Joint Technology Park. The Joint Technology Park is a private sector initiative in Australia which has been setting up Technology Parks across the Australian Continent. The officials of the Park in their meeting with Mr. Mahajan evinced keen interest in setting up a similar Software Technology Park in Bangalore. The Minister was informed that the Company was willing to invest quite favourably in setting up this facility very soon. The Minister assured the representatives that all possible help in this regard would be given to them. Later in the day Shri Mahajan is scheduled to address the Australia-India Information Industries Net Working event, a meeting of the top IT Corporates of both the countries.

    It is estimated that there are about 18,000 villages in remote and difficult locations which cannot be electrified by extending the grid due to terrain difficulties and economic reasons. Such locations include hills, forests, deserts and islands. These 18,000 villages are located mostly in Central and Eastern and North Eastern India.

    Decentralised generation based on renewable energy sources is considered to be a viable option for the electrification of remote villages. The main renewable energy technologies which can be used are solar, biomass and small hydro power. To discuss the technical, administrative, and financing issues connected with the large scale deployment of these technologies, a Workshop on Village Electrification through Non-Conventional Energy Sources is being organised in the capital by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) tomorrow. The day-long Workshop is being attended by State renewable energy agencies, manufacturers, financial institutions and non-government organisations. The Workshop will be inaugurated by the Minister of State (independent charge) for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Shri M. Kannappan.

The Ministry has already been bringing the benefits of electricity to thousands of households in unelectrified villages through its programmes being implemented during the past decade. Solar home lighting systems as well as small photovoltaic power plants have been installed in over 1,000 villages and hamlets in several States. Successful examples of village electrification can be found in the Sundarbans region of West Bengal, the hill districts of UP (now Uttranchal), Rajasthan and the island territories. The Ministry recently sanctioned a project for the electrification of 90 villages in the Bastar region of Chattisgarh under a project jointly funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

"19"

    The Minister exhorted the doctors and scientists to make full use of this opportunity to interact with participants from different states and those who have come from abroad. They should try to understand more about the Sports Medicine and Sport Sciences system prevailing in other countries and take advantage from them. She expressed hope that the deliberations at the Congress will give a new impetus to Sports Medicine in our country and the issues arising will facilitate the Ministry while formulating policies and programmes in the future especially in achieving excellence in sports.

    The existing academic curriculum in the medical colleges does not include Sports Medicine as a subject. With the result the young doctors who come out of medical colleges are not aware of the potential of Sports Medicine in enhancing not only sports performance and but also in advising the general public on the importance of taking up physical fitness programmes to improve their health. This is an area which needs the attention of Health Ministry and Medical Council of India. With their cooperation in this area we will be able to strengthen our sports medicine set ups at different centres to benefit our sports persons, the Minister added.

    Sushree Uma Bharti said that our schemes provide opportunities to sports doctors & scientists to proceed abroad for advanced training their areas. There are Sports Sciences Research Fellowships available to them to work with sports persons at various levels. They have started showing encouraging results but still a lot needs to be done. Nevertheless, the knowledge the experts gain is not adequately translated into action and transferred to sports persons on the field. This is an area we need to concentrate on. The sports sciences laboratories which the Sports Authority of India has established at different centres are doing a good job in helping sports persons. The Government is looking into the need for providing sports medicine backup at the new centres which are opening in different parts of the country. For this we need adequate trained manpower and equipment support. The State Governments and the private sector also have to come in.

    The various policy recommendations of the Committee are setting up of an apex organisation to generate knowledge, on regular basis, in respect of identification of consumer needs and India’s comparative advantages in meeting those needs; market driven or demand based production to be a "Mantra" to withstand competition successfully; product and process development in high productivity areas; strengthening and multiplication of institutions like CFTRI and encouraging corporate farming and contract farming to help achieve comparative advantage.

    The recommendations include evolving free market system, development of alternative marketing systems including development of rural periodic markets, setting up of export centres of excellence as markets of National importance, encouraging agro- processing industries with various agricultural subsidies and starting forward marketing operations in important agricultural commodities.

    The recommendations also include preparations of micro- level plans for investment in infrastructure, supply chain management and other facilities for the marketing system. Enactment and application of National Agricultural Marketing Act, Onl-ine Market Intelligent Service, setting up of Marketing Extension Service, provision of Rural Scientific Storage and Warehousing, Education of Farmers through TV Kisan Channel, strengthening marketing statistics, including Agriculture Marketing in Concurrent List, creation of State level apparatus for agricultural marketing, promotion of private entrepreneurship, issue of multipurpose Kisan Cards and required budgetary allocations are some of the other recommendations.

    Shri Nitish Kumar, at the outset suggested Chairman, Expert Committee, Shri Guru to mainly emphasize on the issues of marketing as to how the producer and the consumer both can be benefited and the ways to improve the marketing system.

    The Conveners of different Working Groups under the Committee, Dr. B.D. Pawar, G. Ramachandran, T.R. Verma and Member-Secretary, Shri M.K. Mandal, were present during presentation.