Registration Of Placement Agencies

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

QUESTION NO  1832

ANSWERED ON  17.08.2011

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to satate :-


(a) whether it is mandatory for the placement agencies to register themselves with local police station across the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof; (C) whether Government has received any complaints against some placement agencies;

(d) if so, the details thereof;

(e) the details of cases booked/registered for minor abuse by the placement agencies; and

(f) the action proposed to be taken against the agencies involving in such activities?
  

ANSWER

      
MINISTER OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

(SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE)

(a) & (b): There are various types of private placement agencies operating in the country. On the basis of their regulation/coverage, these agencies can be broadly classified into four categories:
(i)Manpower Export and Placement Agencies- covered under Immigration Act, 1983 ;
(ii) Labour Contractors covered under Contract (Abolition & Regulation) Act, 1970 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979;
(iii)Private Security Agencies – governed by Private Security Agencies(Regulation)Act,2005; and
(iv) Private Placement Agencies catering to specific needs of the employers/labour market or temporary workers and not covered under first three categories. The first three categories of private placement agencies have to obtain licence and register themselves with respective authorities as per the provisions of relevant Act/Rules. However, the fourth category of private placement agencies is not covered by any specific Act. Some States/UTs have issued guidelines to register them under their Shop & Establishment Act by the Labour Department. In order to safeguard the interest of jobseekers, Ministry of Labour & Employment issued guidelines on 30.10.2003 to the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations to consider regulation of the functioning of Private Placement Agencies, as per local needs. These guidelines do not stipulate mandatory registration with local police station.

(c) to (f) Complaints, if any, are received by respective State Government/UT Administrations, and are dealt with by them as per the provisions of above mentioned Act(s) and /or provisions of Indian Penal Code. The details of these complaints are not maintained centrally.

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Ban On Sand Mining Along River Ganga

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

QUESTION NO  1572

ANSWERED ON  16.08.2011

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS be pleased to satate :-
(a) whether Government had written to the States to put blanket ban on sand mining across India especially along the holy river Ganga;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Government has received any reply from the States; and
(d) the steps being taken by Government to stop the sand mining along the holy river Ganga?
  

ANSWER

      
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a)&(b) The Ministry of Environment and Forests has not put any ban on sand mining across India; however, mining of minerals including sand mining projects having lease area of 5 ha and above require prior environmental clearance under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. With specific reference to illegal river bed sand mining taking place along the Ganga river in Uttarakhand, particularly around Haridwar, the Ministry of Environment and Forests had written to the State Government of Uttarakhand to stop illegal river bed sand mining.
(c) The Ministry of Environment and Forests has not received any response from the Government of Uttarakhand in this regard.
(d) The non compliance of EIA Notification, 2006 would attract action under the penal provision of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

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Impact Of Scam On Economic Growth

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  FINANCE

QUESTION NO  1587

ANSWERED ON  16.08.2011

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to satate :-


(a)whether it is a fact that various scams that took place in the country have hobbled reforms and economic growth of the country;

(b)if so, the details thereof;

(c)whether routine decision making by Government has also slowed which has in turn also affected the economic growth of the country; and

(d)the steps taken/being taken by Government to improve the economic growth of the country?
  
ANSWER
      

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)

(a) The Indian economy weathered the global economic crisis of 2008 well and bounced back to register real GDP growth (at factor cost at constant prices), of 8.0 and 8.5 per cent during 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively. The government is actively pursuing economic reforms to help India grow on a sustainable path.

(b) Does not arise.

(c) No, sir.

(d) The Government has pursued prudent macroeconomic policies on an ongoing basis with a countercyclical focus in recent years, strengthened structural measures to promote growth, develop product as well as financial markets, and increased social spending to provide a stronger foundation to protect the poor.

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Loss Due To Software Piracy

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

QUESTION NO  1441

ANSWERED ON  12.08.2011

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to satate :-
(a) whether it is a fact that software piracy rate is on rise in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether it is a fact that Government has lost about $ 866 million in taxes due to software piracy in the year 2009 alone; and
(d) if so, the steps taken/being taken by Government in this regard?
   

ANSWER

     
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SACHIN PILOT)
(a): There is no official estimate available to ascertain the extent of software piracy in the country.
(b): Does not arise.
(c): Many of the software packages used in India are being imported. Software is exempted from basic custom duty. There is no explicit data available on financial losses arising out of software piracy.
(d): The steps taken by the government to curb software piracy include the following :
(i) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for software in the country is covered under Copyright Act, 1957 as amended and violations attract penal action under Section 63 of the Copyright Act.
(ii) Government has set up a Copyright Enforcement Advisory Council under Ministry of Human Resource Development (the nodal Administrative Ministry), which reviews the progress of enforcement of Copyright Act and also advises on measures – both on the policy & implementation front for its better enforcement. Special Cells for monitoring the enforcement of copyright have been set at Police Headquarters in the States / UTs.
(iii) Instructions have been issued to various Government departments to use legal copies of software.
(iv) Zero custom duty on application software has contributed in reducing costs.
(v) Government is promoting Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) in e-governance applications in the country. A National Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) has been set up to carry out Research & Development, Human Resource Development, FOSS deployment, Support and Awareness in the country. NRCFOSS has brought out an indigenous GNU / Linux based operating system named as Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS) with Indian languages support.

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Robery Incidents In Trains

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  RAILWAYS

QUESTION NO  1530

ANSWERED ON  12.08.2011

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to satate :-


(a) whether incidents of robbery and other related incidents are on the rise in Railways;

(b) the details of robberies that have taken place in trains during the last three years;

(c) the number of persons booked / convicted for robbery during the last three years;

(d) whether security arrangements are adequate for the passengers in trains; and

(e) the steps taken / being taken by Government to provide adequate security to the passengers in the trains?
  

ANSWER 

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI BHARATSINH SOLANKI)



(a): There is increase in the incidents of robbery reported during the year, 2010 in comparison to the years 2009 and 2008. However, there is decrease in the incidents of robbery reported during the year 2011 (Upto June).

(b) and (c): The number of cases of robbery reported during the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 (Upto June) in trains along with number of persons arrested and convicted over Indian Railways are as under:-

Year No of cases of Robbery reported in trains Persons arrested Persons convicted 2008 172 441 28 2009 198 615 52 2010 302 525 58 2011 (Upto June) 126 197 4

(d) and (e): Prevention of crime, registration of cases, their investigation and maintenance of law and order in Railway premises as well as on running trains are the statutory responsibility of the State Police, which they discharge through Government Railway Police (GRP) of the State concerned. As such the cases of crime on Railways are reported to, registered and investigated by the Govt. Railway Police. However, Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRP by deploying their staff for escorting of important trains in affected areas and access control duties at important and sensitive railway stations.

The following measures are being taken by the Railways for security of the passengers:-

1. On vulnerable and identified routes / sections, 1275 trains are escorted by Railway Protection Force daily on an average, in addition to 2200 trains escorted by Government Railway Police of different States daily.

2. An Integrated Security System consisting of electronic surveillance of vulnerable stations through Close Circuit Television Camera Network, access control, Anti-sabotage checks has been approved to strengthen surveillance mechanism over 202 sensitive and vulnerable Railway stations.

3. Regular coordination meetings are held with State Police at all levels to ensure proper registration and investigation of crime by Government Railway Police (GRP).

4. Public awareness against crime like Drugging of passengers is done through regular announcements at stations and in trains.


5. An amendment in the Railway Protection Force Act to enable Railway Protection Force to deal with the passenger related offences more effectively is under active consideration.

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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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Financial Crunch In Air India

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF  CIVIL AVIATION

QUESTION NO  1277

ANSWERED ON  11.08.2011

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION be pleased to satate :-
(a) whether Air India is facing financial crunch for the last two/three years.
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c)whether Government/Management of Air India have taken any steps to improve the financial performance of the Company;
(d):whether the Government has sanctioned Rs.250 crore as advance infusion; and
(e) steps taken/being taken by Government to improve the financial performance of Air India?
  

ANSWER

      
MINISTER OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS & MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION
( SHRI VAYALAR RAVI )
(a) and (b): Yes, Sir. Air India incurred a loss of Rs.2226.16 crore during 2007-08, of Rs.5548.26 crore during 2008-09, of Rs.5552.55 crore during 2009-10 and the estimated loss for 2010-11 is Rs.6994 crore.
(c) and (e): In order to improve its financial performance, Air India has taken various steps such as Rationalization of routes to cut losses, return of leased capacity, reduction of contractual employment, review of all agreement between management and staff on all technical and operational matters and constitution of Turn Around Committee (which includes representatives from senior management and unions) to look at all areas of reduction.
(d): Pending payment of outstanding dues for VVIP operations, Government has paid an amount of Rs.500 crore on ad-hoc basis from the equity provision of Rs.1200 crore to Air India.

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