Finish Technology For Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  ATOMIC ENERGY

QUESTION NO  1249

ANSWERED ON  11.08.2011

Will the Minister of ATOMIC ENERGY be pleased to satate :-
(a) whether Government is planning to introduce Finnish technology for Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether this technology has ever been used in India; and
(d) whether Finnish technology would ensure nuclear safety?
   

ANSWER

     
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE (SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY)
(a) No, Sir.
(b) does not arise.
(c) No, Sir.
(d) The nuclear power reactors planned to be set up at Jaitapur are not based on Finnish technology but are 1650 MW evolutionary pressurised water reactors (EPRs) developed by Areva, France. The EPR design has been evolved from the several years’ operational feedback of N4 reactors in France and KONVOI reactors in Germany. The first EPR is under construction in Finland. EPRs are also under construction in France and China. The EPRs have not been set up in India earlier. The EPRs are reactors with advanced safety features, which include four independent safety trains housed in independent seismically qualified buildings, a core catcher, passive core cooling provisions which will ensure cooling of the fuel even in the worst case of fuel melt down thus preventing radioactivity releases, and hydrogen re-combiners to prevent hydrogen explosion.

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Food Inflation

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION 

UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO . 37 

 ANSWERED ON 01.08.2011

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :-

(a) whether food inflation is still on the rise across the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices are likely to further increase pressure on prices of household articles including food items; and

(d) if so, the steps proposed to be taken by Government?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K. V. THOMAS)

(a) & (b): No Sir. The WPI based primary food articles inflation rate (%) after having reached a peak of 21.85% in the month of February, 2010 had declined to 10.66% in the month of April, 2011 and further to 8.38% for the month of June, 2011.

(c) : A hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices is likely to have an indirect impact on prices of household articles including food items.

(d) : The steps already taken by the Government to contain food inflation are given in Annexure I. 

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SC Directive On Food Grains Distribution

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION 

STARRED

QUESTION NO . 15 

ANSWERED ON 01.08.2011

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :-
(a) whether the Supreme Court has issued any directive to release foodgrains to prevent starvation deaths and malnutrition;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken/proposed to be taken by Government to implement the directive?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K.V. THOMAS)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 15 DUE FOR ANSWER 01.08.2011 IN THE RAJYA SABHA.
(a) to (c): In the Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 of 2001 – PUCL v/s UOI & Others on Right to Food, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in its order dated 14.5.2011 has directed that as a one-time measure, it is absolutely imperative in the larger public interest, to reserve 5 million tons of food grains for distribution to the 150 poorest districts or the extremely poor and vulnerable sections of our society. The Central Vigilance Committee on Public Distribution System (CVC on PDS) headed by Justice (Retd.) D.P. Wadhwa has been requested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to identify the poorest districts or poorest segments of society and ensure that additionally allocated food grains reach this segment from time to time.
2. Pursuant to the above orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the recommendations received from the CVC on PDS, additional allocation of 2,57,336.67 M.Ts of rice and wheat have been allocated for three months to 45 districts in the States of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Manipur, Haryana, J&K and Rajasthan on 21st July 2011.



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New Proposals For Disinvestment In PSU's

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO . 1428

ANSWERED ON 23.11.2010

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state :-

(a) whether Government has any new proposal for more disinvestment of its holding in public sector companies;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of public sector companies likely to be disinvested and possible revenue likely to be generated through disinvestment process; and

(d) the details of public sector companies disinvested and revenue generated and invested during the last three years?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(S.S. PALANIMANICKAM)

(a) to (c) The following disinvestment proposals have been approved by Government and are under various stages of implementation :

(i) MOIL Limited: The Initial Public Offering by way of disinvestment of 10% by Government in conjunction with 5% each by Government of Maharashtra and Government of Madhya Pradesh is expected to open for public subscription on 26th November, 2010 as mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus.

(ii) Shipping Corporation of India Limited: The follow-on public offering by way of disinvestment of 10% of paid-up equity capital of the Company in conjunction with issue of fresh equity of 10% by the Company is expected to open for public subscription on 30th November, 2010 as mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus.

(iii) Hindustan Copper Limited: The follow-on public offering by way of disinvestment of 10% of paid-up equity capital of the Company in conjunction with issue of fresh equity of 10% by the Company. The Red Herring Prospectus is yet to be filed.

(iv) Steel Authority of India Limited: The follow-on public offering by way of disinvestment of 5% of paid-up equity capital of the Company in conjunction with issue of fresh equity of 5% by the Company. The Red Herring Prospectus is yet to be filed.
It is not feasible to estimate the realization, as the same would depend inter alia on factors such as the market conditions at the time of actual disinvestment, the investor feedback and the advice of the Book Running Lead Managers for the transaction.

(d) Government has disinvested its shareholding by way of public offerings in the domestic market during the last three years.

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Menace Of Bogus Ration Cards

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

STARRED

QUESTION NO . 70

ANSWERED ON 12.11.2010

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :- 

a) whether Government is aware of the magnitude of the problem due to bogus ration cards;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the action plan adopted to weed out bogus ration cards throughout the country and the prescribed time limit for such exercise;

(d) the details of bogus ration cards identified and weeded out during the last five years, State-wise;

(e) the details of financial loss caused to the nation due to these bogus cards; and

(f) whether Government intends to bring in any legislation to deal with this menace firmly?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI SHARAD PAWAR)

(a),(b), (c), (d), (e) & (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 70 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 12.11.2010 IN THE RAJYA SABHA.

(a) to (f): Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State/Union Territory (UT) Governments. Central Government is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation of foodgrains upto the designated depots of the Food Corporation of India. The operational responsibilities for allocation of foodgrains within the States/UTs, identification of eligible Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, issuance of ration cards to them and supervision over and monitoring of functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) rest with the concerned State/UT Governments.

Government is aware of the problem of Bogus Ration Cards. Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001 mandates the State/UT Governments to issue ration cards to eligible applicants and to conduct periodical checking of ration cards to weed out ineligible and bogus ration cards as well as bogus units in ration cards.

To streamline the functioning of TPDS, in consultation with the State Governments, a Nine Point Action Plan was evolved in 2006, which inter-alia includes continuous review of BPL/AAY lists and to eliminate bogus/ineligible ration cards. Instructions had been issued to all State/UT Governments to carry out an intensive campaign from October, 2009 to December, 2009 to review the existing lists of BPL/AAY families and eliminate ineligible/bogus ration cards. As a result of implementation of this Action Plan, 25 State/UT Governments have reported by 30.09.2010, deletion of 178.87 lakhs bogus/ineligible ration cards. A statement showing Statewise number of bogus/ineligible rations cards deleted by the State/UT Governments with effect from July 2006 onwards is at Annexure.

Details of financial loss has not been estimated and there is no proposal to bring in any specific legislation to weed out bogus cards. However, as mentioned above, the PDS (Control) Order, 2001 mandates weeding out of bogus cards. Instructions have been issued from time to time to weed out bogus ration cards. Instructions have also been issued to all State/UT Governments to issue warning to the bogus card holders, through advertisements in the newspapers, to surrender the bogus cards.

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 70 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 12.11.2010
Statement showing the number of bogus/ineligible rations cards deleted by the State/UT Governments with effect from July 2006 onwards (Updated on 30.09.2010)

Sl.  No	State	Nos. of  bogus/ ineligible ration   cards   deleted eliminated
			(in lakhs)
1	2	3
1	Andhra Pradesh	10.46
2	Assam	0.56
3	Bihar	1.51
4	Chhattisgarh	4.65
5	Delhi	16.32
6	Gujarat	8.64
7	Haryana	0.03
8	Himachal Pradesh	0.02
9	Jharkhand	0.65
10	Karnataka	6.45
11	Kerala	0.00	&&
12	Madhya Pradesh	24.97
13	Maharashtra	29.45
14	Meghalaya	0.00	*
15	Mizoram	0.02
16	Orissa	2.50
17	Rajsthan	0.03
18	Sikkim	0.01
19	Tamil Nadu	3.97
20	Uttar Pradesh	8.72
21	Uttarakhand	0.16
22	West Bengal	59.67	(individual cards)
23	Chandigarh	0.08
24	Lakshadweep	0.00	$
25	Puducherry	0.00	**
TOTAL		178.87

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