opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 1402 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: e-Drishti Software
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1402 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## E- DRISHTI SOFTWARE

## 1402.     SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has recently unveiled 'e-Drishti' software that will help Union Railway Minister to keep track of punctuality of trains as well as freight and passenger earnings and much more from anywhere in the country;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is of the  opinion that this will improve the time schedule and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  noticed  that  the  delay  in keeping time schedule makes train journey very uncomfortable and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)
- the details of corrective measures taken till date?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a)&(b):  Yes, Madam.  An 'e-Drishti' interface has been unveiled for  the  Union  Railway  Minister,  Minister  of  State  and  Board Members.   This software includes an interface which provides summary  information  on  punctuality  of  trains for the previous ....2/-

day.  There is also an interface which provides information on current train running on  the Indian Railway  network.    In addition, there are interfaces providing details of freight earning, freight loading and passenger earnings for the previous day & month and cumulative for the year, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

(c)to(e):  Punctuality  of  passenger  carrying  trains  is  being  also monitored rigorously  to improve punctuality performance on a daily  basis  at  Divisional,  Zonal  and  Railway  Board  levels  by Divisional  Railway  Managers  (DRMs),  General  Managers  (GMs) and  Railway  Board  Members  and  senior  officers.    To  ensure running of trains right time when pairing trains are running late, scratch  rakes  are  inducted  and  rakes  are  standardized  to  the extent  operationally  feasible.    Also  various  steps  have  been initiated to improve punctuality such as prioritization of preventive  maintenance  of  assets  to  minimize  asset  failures, capacity  enhancement  projects  by  construction  of  additional loop lines at stations, doubling, construction  of  third line corridors,  automatic  signalling,  construction  of  limited  height subways to replace level crossings, Road Under Bridges (RUB) and Road Over Bridges (ROB) etc.  Besides, punctuality drives are  launched  from  time  to  time  and  staff  involved  in  train operations are sensitized.  In addition, Zonal Railways have also been advised to have better coordination with Civil and Police authorities  of  states  to  deal  with  situations  arising  out  of  law and order problems.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1401 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Stock of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: GAURAV GOGOI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1401 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## Stock of Coal

## 1401.  SHRI GAURAV GOGOI:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) the main reasons for shortage in coal production in the country;
- (b) whether the number of non-pitched plants that have either 'critical' or 'super critical'  stock  of  coal  has  risen  during  the  last  six  months  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  measures  to  increase  the production of coal by Coal India to help ameliorate the coal shortage; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COAL AND RAILWAYS (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a): As on 1.04.2018 the vendible stock of coal with CIL was 55.6 MT and as on 15.12.2018 coal stock was 22.93 MT with CIL.  All India raw coal production has increased from 565.77 MT in 2013-14 to 676.48 MT in 2017-18. The all India coal production during April-Nov. 2018 was 433.90 MT with a growth of 9.8% over the corresponding period of the previous year 2017-18.

(b): There is no shortage of coal, by and large, for the power sector. The number of non-pithead  super  critical/  critical  plants  has  come  down  from  18  (as  on 01.06.2018) to 13 (as on 11.12.2018) as per CEA report.Criticality of a power plant is  not  a  function  of  coal  supply  alone  &  depends  on  multiple  factors  including installed capacity of power plants & scheduling of power from these plants based on merit order dispatch.

As per Central Electricity authority (CEA) report during the period April-Nov 2018, total coal based generation has been 99.16% of the programme generation with a growth of 5.50% over the corresponding period of last year. This has been possible due to increased supply of coal to the power sectorwhich was resulted in 15.52 Million Tonnes (MT)coal stock at power house end as on 16.12.2018 as against the stock of 12.20 MT on 16.12.2017 thereby registering an increase of 27.20%.

(c)&(d): There has  been  a  consistent  effort  to  increase  domestic  coal  production. Coal India Limited (CIL) has increased its production from 462.41 MT in 2013-14 to  567.36  MT  in  2017-18  (four  years),  an  absolute  increase  of  105  MT  as compared to increase of coal production of 31.15 MT between 2009-10 and 201314 (four years).

Further, in the current year during April-November, 2018, the coal production of CIL was 358.32 MT with a growth rate of 8.8% over the corresponding period of previous year. However, the focus of the Government is on increasing the domestic production  of  coal  which  includes  efforts  to  expedite  Environment  &  Forest clearances expeditiously, pursuing with State Government for assistance in land acquisition and coordinated efforts with Railways for movement of coal.

****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Installation of RFID Tags
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, SANTOSH AHLAWAT, A.T. (NANA) PATIL, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1400 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## INSTALLATION OF RFID TAGS

1400.  SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT:

SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)      whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  install  RadioFrequency  Identification  (RFID) tags in all  its  coaches  and wagons to track Cargo movements;
- (a) if so, the details thereof along with reasons for this initiative and the details of expenditure thereof, so far, zone wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  give  hand-held terminals to TTE to give timely information of cancelled tickets and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  details  of  expenditure  incurred  on  this  new  initiatives, zone-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a)&(b):  Yes, Madam.  A project 'Automated Rolling Stock Track & Trace  System  using  radio  frequency  identification'  has  been sanctioned at a cost of ₹62.96 crore under Northern Railway.   The

scope  of  work  include  tagging  of  90,000  wagons,  installation  of 365 fixed readers and installation of 1200 portable readers.

Fitment  of  RFID  tags  on  wagons  started  in  July  2017.    This initiative  aims to automatically track  the  movement  of  any individual rolling stock over Indian Railways.  The expenditure of ₹1.46 crore has been incurred till date.

(c)&(d): Yes, Madam. In order to increase transparency and effect system improvements, Hand Held Terminals with enhanced functionalities  are  being  given  to  Travelling  Ticket  examiners (TTEs) on 51 pairs of trains.   In HHT, there is a provision to send the position of vacant berths/seats due to non-turned up passengers to  next  remote  location  through  HHT  and  Passenger Reservation System (PRS) servers. Similarly, if any cancellation of berths/seats  occurs,  the  position  of  the  same  is  automatically reflected in HHT as and when HHT gets synced with server.

Two  projects  namely,  'Proliferation  of  Hand  Held  Terminals  for TTEs' and 'Expansion of Hand Held Terminals project' have been sanctioned at a cost of ₹30 crore & ₹9.08 crore respectively.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1398 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Reusable Rocket Technology
Ministry: SPACE
Asked by: BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF SPACE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1398

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018

## REUSABLE ROCKET TECHNOLOGY

1398.   SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian Space Agency, ISRO is working on reusable technology  that  would  drastically  cut  the  cost  of  the  space missions carried out by ISRO and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether ISRO has created any technology demonstrator using reusable technology and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether ISRO is  working  on  the  technology  to  enable  orbital re-entry of the space vehicle, to land the reusable vehicle on airstrip  and  on  reusable  rocket  stages,  etc.  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  ISRO  has  any  proposal  to  increase  the  payload capacity of GSLV Mk III from the present capacity of 4 tonnes to 6.5 tonnes so that its dependence on European Spaceports is done away with and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

- MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):
- (a) Yes,  Madam.  ISRO  is  working  on  reusable  technology  for reducing the cost of access to space including the
- development  of  a  winged  body  unmanned  reusable  launch vehicle for launching payloads into low earth orbits.
- (b) Yes, Madam. ISRO has successfully developed a scaled down (1:5)  technology  demonstration  version  of  Reusable  Launch Vehicle -Technology  Demonstrator (RLV-TD) vehicle and successfully  carried  out  the  first  experimental  mission  on May 23, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. In  this  mission,  critical  technologies  such  as  autonomous navigation, guidance & control and reusable thermal protection system have been successfully demonstrated.
- (c) Yes,  Madam.  Development  of  Reusable  Launch  Vehicles  is  a technical  challenge  and  it  involves  the  development  of  many cutting edge technologies. A series of technology demonstration  missions  would  be  required  to  validate  these technologies. In the  next  phase,  an  autonomous  runway landing  experiment  is  planned  releasing  the  RLV-TD  vehicle from  a  helicopter  to  demonstrate  the  runway  approach  and landing  capability.  This  will  be  followed  by  an  end-to-end orbital  re-entry  mission  demonstration  using  a  Technology Demonstration Vehicle boosted by propulsion systems.
- (d) Yes, Madam. ISRO has undertaken the development & qualification  of  Semi-Cryogenic  engine.  Further  development activities  are  planned  to  realise  a  Semi-cryogenic  stage  and uprated version of the high thrust GSLV Mk III cryogenic stage, in order to increase the payload capacity of GSLV Mk III from 4 tonnes to 6.5 tonnes.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1396 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Timely Promotion
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE

## MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1396

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018)

## TIMELY PROMOTION

## †1396. SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  timely  promotion  on  vacancies  created  in  all  groups  of  employees  in  several Central Government Ministries, Departments and Autonomous bodies is not given;
- (b) if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  number  of  such  employees  in  the  Ministries/Departments  and  autonomous  bodies who  have  not  been  awarded  promotion  despite  vacancy  on  retirement  during  the  last three years; and
- (d) the details of the steps being taken by the Government to fill the vacancies on retirement within a fixed period in future?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a)  to  (d):-    The  Department  of  Personnel  and  Training  (DoP&T),  has  issued  guidelines  from time  to  time  regarding  policy  and  procedure  for  timely  conduct  of  meeting  of  Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC).  The Cadre Controlling Authorities (CCA) in the ministries and departments  of  Government  of  India  are  responsible  for  ensuring  conduct  of  regular  DPCs  in accordance with the guidelines and grant of timely promotions.

The  delay  in  grant  of  promotion  occurs  due  to  reasons  such  as  court  cases,  nonfinalisation of seniority list, non-finalisation of Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR) etc.

To streamline the procedure, DoP&T issued instructions vide Office Memorandum (OM) Number  22011/4/2013-Estt.(D)  dated 08.05.2017 prescribing Model  Calendar  for timely convening of DPC meetings.  The ministries /  departments have been advised to ensure strict adherence to the Model Calendar.

The ministries / departments have also been advised vide DoP&T  OM  No. 39020/18/2016-Estt  (B)/3127101  dated  19.12.2016  for  reporting  the  vacancy  position  with respect to Direct Recruitment (DR) posts to the concerned recruitment agencies i.e. Union Public Service Commission and Staff Selection Commission for filling up of such vacancies in a timely manner.

These guidelines are applicable to all Central Government civilian employees and central services except the Railways and services under the control of the Department of Atomic Energy, the  erstwhile  Department  of  Electronics,  the  Department  of  Space  and  the  Scientific  and Technical Services under the Department of Defence Research and Development.

No centralized data regarding the number of employees, who have not been awarded promotion despite vacancy on retirement, is maintained.

******
Lok Sabha Question No. 1394 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Coal Royalty
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1394 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## Coal Royalty

## 1394.      SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Government has any plan to revise the coal royalty;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Central  Government  is  charging  clean  environment  cess  per  tonne production of coal and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the coal bearing States have a share in this; and
- (e) if so, the percentage thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL

## (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a  &  b):  A  Study  Group  was  constituted  on  21.07.2014  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the issue  of  revision  of  present  royalty  rates  on  coal  and  lignite.  The  Study  Group  had  earlier submitted its recommendation on 27.04.2016, however, pursuant to the change in scenario due to implementation of GST and other factors, the matter was again referred to the Study Group  for  reconsideration  of  its  recommendation.  The  final  recommendation  of  the  Study Group  is  under  consideration.  In  addition,  30%  of  the  royalty  in  respect  of  mining  lease granted before 12th January, 2015 and 10% of the royalty in respect of mining lease granted on  or  after  12th  January,  2015,  is  being  collected  by  the  State  Governments  as  District Mineral Fund (DMF).

(c  to  e)  : Taxation  Laws  amendment  Act,  2017  repealed  Clean  Environment  Cess  levied under Finance Act 2010 with effect from 1st July 2017.

* * * *
Lok Sabha Question No. 1393 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Outstanding Payments
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Adhikari Dibyendu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1393 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## OUTSTANDING PAYMENTS

1393. SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to State:

- (a) whether the Railways has huge outstanding payments to diesel and electric power supply PSUs and other companies;
- (b)     if so, the details of outstanding with different companies and State Governments since 2014 onwards; and
- (c) the proposal of the Government to clear those dues?

ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

- (a) No, Madam.
- (b) & (c) Do not arise.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1391 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Nuclear Arsenal by Pakistan
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: T. RADHAKRISHNAN, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, S. RAJENDRAN, SUDHEER GUPTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1391

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## NUCLEAR ARSENAL BY PAKISTAN

1391.  SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI  ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI S. RAJENDRAN:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Pakistan is expanding its nuclear arsenal and has developed warheads for its  delivery as well as converting some of its fighter jets to deliver nukes and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  Pakistan  will  become  the  world's  fifth  largest  nuclear  weapon  state  in 2025, if the current trend continue;
- (c) if so, the response of the Government thereto; and
- (d) the  corrective  measures  taken  /  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  meet  the country's defence requirement and enhance the nuclear capability?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF DEFENCE                                    (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

j{kk ea=h

¼Jherh  fueZyk lhrkje.k )

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(a) to (d): Government is aware of reports on the expansion of Pakistan's capability for fissile material production for nuclear weapons, the expansion in its delivery system capabilities and purported development of tactical nuclear weapons.  Government continues to monitor development in this regard and is committed to taking all necessary steps to safeguard national security and respond to any threat suitably and adequately.

*******
Lok Sabha Question No. 1389 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Budget Allocation for Defence
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: HARIOM SINGH RATHORE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1389

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR DEFENCE

## 1389.  SHRI HARIOM SINGH RATHORE:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is any deficiency in the Defence Budget allocations for 2018-19 to the projections made by the armed forces;
- (b) if so, the service-wise breakup of the same;
- (c) the details of the deficiency, if any, in the revenue and the capital allocations; and
- (d) the  manner  in  which  the  services  are  likely  to  make  up  the  deficiency  in  the budgetary allocation?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(DR. SUBHASH BHAMRE)

र  ा रा य मं ी

(डा. सुभाष भामरे)

(a) to (d): A statement is attached.

*******

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1389 FOR ANSWER ON 19.12.2018

(a) to (d): Details of Projections made by Armed Forces and Allocations made to them at Budget Estimate (BE) stage in the Financial Year 20182019 under Defence Services Estimates (DSE) are as under:-

(Rs. in crores)

| Service/ Organization   | BUDGET ESTIMATE (BE) PROJECTION   | BUDGET ESTIMATE (BE) PROJECTION   | BUDGET ESTIMATE (BE) ALLOCATION   | BUDGET ESTIMATE (BE) ALLOCATION   |
|-------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Service/ Organization   | Revenue                           | Capital                           | Revenue                           | Capital                           |
| Army*                   | 1,51,814.73                       | 44,572.63                         | 1,27,059.51                       | 26,815.71                         |
| Navy                    | 20,188.25                         | 35,695.41                         | 16,618.88                         | 20,003.71                         |
| Jt. Staff               | 3,559.50                          | 2,237.03                          | 2,952.49                          | 844.45                            |
| Air Force               | 35,260.79                         | 77,694.74                         | 28,821.27                         | 35,770.17                         |

(*Excluding DGQA,MF & ECHS)

The allocated funds are optimally and fully utilized towards operational activities. However, if required, the schemes will be reprioritized to ensure that urgent and critical capabilities are acquired without any compromise to operational preparedness.

*******
Lok Sabha Question No. 1388 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: War Museum
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: T.G. VENKATESH BABU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1388

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## WAR MUSEUM

1388.  SHRI VENKATESH BABU T.G.:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has set up a museum and a war memorial in Delhi;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the estimated cost of the project;
- (c) whether it is proposed to set up more such museums / memorials in other parts of the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the time by which the said museum is likely to be set up?

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- (a) & (b): The  Government  has  approved  the  construction  of  National War  Memorial  at  'C'  Hexagon,  India  Gate  and  National  War  Museum  at Princes Park Complex in Delhi in October 2015.  Accordingly, the National War Memorial is under construction at 'C' Hexagon near India Gate.  The cost  of  the  project  as  per  the  contract  signed  with  the  construction company  is  Rs.175.65  Crores  including  amounts  towards  consultancy charges, security, housekeeping, contingency etc.  So far as the National War Museum is concerned, the process of identifying a suitable design has been initiated.   The  tentative cost of  the National War  Museum project  at current  price  level  in  the  year  2015  as  per  the  approval  granted  by  the Union Cabinet is approximately Rs.350 Crores.

(c) to (e): There is no other proposal  to construct a National  War Memorial / Museum in other parts of the country.

******