WEDNESDAY, THE 18 TH AUGUST, 2004 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at a.m.)

Transcription

1 11-00 a.m. WEDNESDAY, THE 18 TH AUGUST, 2004 (The Rajya Sabha met in the Parliament House at a.m.) 1. Starred Questions The following Starred Questions were orally answered:- Starred Question No.321 regarding Central Rural Sanitation Programme. Starred Question No.322 regarding Expenditure incurred on the security of VIPs. Starred Question No.323 regarding Non-utilisation of funds under the Rural Drinking Water Schemes. Starred Question No.328 regarding Target for generating employment opportunities. Starred Question No.329 regarding Inclusion of Tulu language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Starred Question No.330 regarding Subsidy on import of wind power electric generating units/parts. Answers to remaining Starred Question Nos. 324 to 327 and 331 to 340 were laid on the Table. 2. Unstarred Questions Answers to Unstarred Question Nos to 1623 were laid on the Table Noon 3. Felicitations to Shri Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore The Chairman, on his behalf and on behalf of the House, offered felicitations to Shri Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for winning a silver medal in the Double Trap Shooting Competition at the Olympics in Athens on the 17 th August, p.m. 4. Felicitations to the Chairman Shri Santosh Bagrodia on his behalf and on behalf of the House, offered felicitations to the Chairman, Rajya Sabha for being awarded the prestigious Anuvrat Award for the year p.m. 5. Papers Laid on the Table Shri Shivraj Vishwanath Patil (Minister of Home Affairs) laid on the Table under sub-section (2) of section 156 of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992 a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Notification G.S.R. 181(E) dated the 10 th March, 2004, publishing the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Motor Transport and Motor Mechanic Cadre (Group B and C posts) Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 2004, along with delay statement. Shri Shankarsinh Vaghela (Minister of Textiles) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers:

2 (i) (a) Annual Accounts of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Textile Management (SVPITM), Coimbatore, for the year and the Audit Report thereon. (b) Review by Government on the Accounts of the above Institute. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. (ii) Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India (Ministry of Textiles) and the Handicrafts and Handlooms Exports Corporation of India Limited for the year Shri P.M. Sayeed (Minister of Power) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers: (i) Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India (Ministry of Power) and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for the year (ii) Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India (Ministry of Power) and the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited for the year Shri Shriprakash Jaiswal (Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs) laid on the Table under sub-section (4) of section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Notifications of the Ministry of Home Affairs: (1) G.S.R 219 (E) dated the 26 th March, 2004, publishing the Citizenship (Second Amendment) Rules, (2) G.S.R 456 (E) dated the 19 th July, 2004, publishing the Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, Shri A. Narendra (Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development) on behalf of Smt. Suryakanta Patil laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following papers: (a) Annual Report and Accounts of the Council for Advancement of People s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), New Delhi, for the year , together with the Auditor's Report on the Accounts. (b) Review by Government on the working of the above Council. (c) Statement giving reasons for the delay in laying the papers mentioned at (a) above. Shri P. Chidambaram$$ (Minister of Finance) laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Notifications of the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), together with an Explanatory Memorandum on the Notifications: (1) Notification No. 82/2004-Customs, dated the 18 th August, 2004, seeking to amend Notification No. 21/2002-Customs, dated the 1 st March, 2002 so as to reduce effective rates of customs duty on petrol, diesel, kerosene (for PDS) and LPG with effect from the 18 th August, 2004, under section 159 of the Customs Act, 1962.

3 $$ At 4-16 p.m. (2) Notification No. 44/2004-Central Excise, dated the 18 th August, 2004, seeking to amend Notification No. 6/2002-Central Excise dated the 1 st March, 2002, so as to reduce effective rate of excise duty on petrol, diesel and kerosene (for PDS) with effect from the 18 th August, 2004, under sub-section (2) of section 38 of the Central Excise Act, p.m. 6. Reports of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce Shri Robert Kharshiing presented the following Reports (in English and Hindi) of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce: (i) Sixty-fifth Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Commerce (Ministry of Commerce and Industry); and (ii) Sixty-sixth Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Ministry of Commerce and Industry). 7. Reports of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests Shri P.G. Narayanan presented the following Reports (in English and Hindi) of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests: (i) One Hundred Twenty-fifth Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Science and Technology. (ii) One Hundred Twenty-sixth Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. (iii) One Hundred Twenty-seventh Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Biotechnology p.m. 8. Report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture Shri Nilotpal Basu presented the Seventy-eighth Report (in English and Hindi) of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. 9. Reports of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development Prof. R.B.S. Varma laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development (Fourteenth Lok Sabha): (i) First Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department Drinking Water Supply (Ministry of Rural Development); and of

4 (ii) Second Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Department of Land Resources (Ministry of Rural Development) p.m. 10. Reports of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Narayan Singh Manaklao laid on the Table a copy each (in English and Hindi) of the following Reports of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (Fourteenth Lok Sabha): (i) First Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; and (ii) Second Report on Demands for Grants ( ) of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs p.m. 11. Recommendations of the Business Advisory Committee The Chairman informed Members that the Business Advisory Committee in its meeting held on Tuesday, the 17 th August, 2004, has recommended that the working of the Ministries of Water Resources, Rural Development and Power may be taken up for discussion during the week commencing Monday, the 23 rd August, The Committee has allotted four hours for discussion of each Ministry p.m. 12. Matter raised with permission Shri Sanjay Nirupam raised a matter regarding Swatantra Jyoti Smarak at Cellular Jail, Port Blair. Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Urban Development responded p.m.$ (The House adjourned at p.m. and re-assembled at 2-00 p.m. ) 2-05 p.m.@ 13. Calling Attention to Matter of Urgent Public Importance Shri Dipankar Mukherjee called the attention of the Minister of Finance on the reported irregularities in disinvestment of Centaur Hotel, Mumbai and violation of shareholders agreement in post disinvestment period p.m. Shri P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance made a statement. Thereafter, Members sought clarifications on the statement. $ From p.m. to p.m. some points were raised.

5 @ From 2-00 p.m. to 2-05 p.m. some points were raised p.m.## 14. Short Duration Discussion Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi** raised a discussion on the situation arising due to changes in the school text books by the Central Government. The following Members took part in the discussion: 5-04 p.m. 1. Shri Jairam Ramesh 5-26 p.m. 2. Shrimati Sarla Maheshwari** 5-48 p.m. 3. Shri Ashwani Kumar 6-00 p.m. 4. Shri S. Anbalagan% 6-13 p.m. 5. Shrimati Kum Kum Rai** 6-21 p.m. 6. Shrimati Mohsina Kidwai** 6-34 p.m. 7. Shri Bashistha Narain Singh** 6-43 p.m. 8. Shri Shankar Roy Chowdhury** 6-52 p.m. 9. Shri Balavant alias Bal Apte 7-06 p.m. 10. Shri R. Shunmugasundaram The discussion was concluded and the Minister to reply tomorrow, the 19 th August, (The House adjourned at 7-14 p.m. till a.m. on Thursday, the August, 2004) 19 th ## From 4-16 p.m. to 4-17 p.m. See item No. 5 (6). ** Spoke in Hindi. % Spoke in Tamil.

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