opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 1751 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Pension Rules
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: M. B. RAJESH

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1751 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  MAY, 2016

## PENSION RULES

## 1751. SHRI M.B. RAJESH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the existing rules/guidelines for the pension and revision of pension of the DoT employees absorbed in BSNL;
- (b) whether any restriction is placed on the pension payment of these officials; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) Pension of BSNL employees is regulated under sub-rule 37-A of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. The Department of Public Enterprises issues instructions/orders for revision of pay of employees in Central Public Sector Enterprises which are extended to the working employees of BSNL from time to time. On the basis of the pay revision orders issued by Department of Public Enterprises, pension/family pension of DOT employees absorbed in BSNL are revised with the approval of Cabinet from time to time.
- (b) &(c) As stipulated in sub-rules 22 & 23 of Rule 37-A of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, in the case of BSNL, the pensionary benefits including the family pension shall be paid by the Government and the Government shall specify the arrangement and manner including the rate of pensionary contribution to be made by BSNL and the manner in which financial liabilities on this account shall be met.  As per sub-rule 24 Rule 37-A of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, the arrangement  thus  worked  out  shall  also  be  applicable  to  the  existing  pensioners  and  the employees who are deemed to have retired from Government service for absorption in BSNL. Cabinet  in  its  meeting  dated  27-01-2005,  approved  (Cabinet  Note  dated  14.01.2005)  the payment  of  pension  by  the  Government  in  respect  of  employees  of  DoT/DTS/DTO  who retired  prior  to  1.10.2000  and  those  who  have  worked/are  working  in  BSNL  on  deemed deputation and those who are absorbed in BSNL subject to the following conditions:
- (i) The  annual  pension  liability  of  the  government  shall  not  exceed  60%  of  the annual receipts to Government from the following items:
- a. Dividend income from MTNL/BSNL.
- b. License fee from MTNL/BSNL.
- c. Corporate Tax/excise duty/service tax paid by BSNL.
- (ii) Any amount exceeding (i) above shall be borne by BSNL.
- (iii) Existing system of payment of pension would continue
- (iv) Pensionary contribution from BSNL would be made to Government as per FR116.
- (v) Employees recruited directly by the BSNL on or after 01-10-2000 shall not be covered under this decision.

****************
Lok Sabha Question No. 1750 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Cloud Seeding
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: POONAM  MAHAJAN

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1750 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, May 04, 2016

## CLOUD SEEDING

## 1750. SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  study  the  aerosol effect on the hydrological  cycle,  to  undertake  randomised  cloud  seeding  programme  for rain-enhancement  and  to  improve  climate  models  for  prediction  of  the monsoon  rainfall  under the Cloud  Aerosol Interaction and  Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) programme;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  CAIPEEX  programme  involves airborne  platforms  for  detailed  and  intensive  studying  of  cloud  aerosol interaction  to  provide  a  scientific  basis  for  the  operational  way  of  cloud seeding instead of just using ground based and remote sensing instruments; and
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI Y. S. CHOWDARY)

- (a-b)  Yes Madam. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) is putting its effort for  understanding  the  rain  formation  in  clouds  through  a  research  program, called the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment  (CAIPEEX).  Under  this  experiment,  air  borne  observations  are taken through randomized cloud seeding and seeing the impact.

Airborne  observations  include  detailed  measurements  of  aerosols,  cloud droplets, raindrops and ice particles, registering the growth of clouds before and after the seeding.

CAIPEEX research data have been used to formulate ice nucleation scheme for inclusion of such processes in the forecast models.

- (c-d)  CAIPEEX program uses a combination of radar, other ground based instruments  and  airborne  platforms  along  with  high  resolution  numerical modeling  to  plan  and  conduct  the  seeding  experiment.  The  area  for  cloud seeding  is  determined  based  on  convective  potential.  Aircraft  observations have  to be conducted  before  and  after the seeding  to  determine  the environmental conditions and the quantum of seeding material.

As  things  stand  today,  artificial  rain  making  techniques  involving  cloud seeding  cannot  be  used  for  bringing  rain  clouds  to  rainfall  deficit/drought areas.  These  techniques  can  only  induce  potential  pre-existing  clouds  with adequate cloud droplets, to produce enhanced quantum of rain.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1749 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Vacant Posts
Ministry: SPACE
Asked by: BHARAT SINGH, VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK, RAMESH POKHRIYAL NISHANK

- (a)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF SPACE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1749

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

## VACANT POSTS

1749. SHRI BHARAT SINGH:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK:

DR. RAMESH POKHRIYAL "NISHANK":

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether many important posts are lying vacant in top space research organisations;
- (b) if so, the total number of such posts lying vacant at present;
- (c) the time since when these posts are lying vacant and the steps being taken by the Government to fill these vacancies;
- (d) whether in view of capacity development in the country, the Government has signed any agreement with certain institutes in regard to education and research sector; and
- (e) if  so,  the  names  of  those  organisations  along  with  the salient features of the agreements?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

- No Madam.  At present, all important posts in Indian Space Research  Organisation  (ISRO)  have  been  filled.  All  the

existing  vacancies  are  at  the  induction  level,  wherein freshers are inducted and processes of recruitment for all these posts have been initiated.

- (b) Does not arise.
- (c) Does not arise.

(d)&(e)  ISRO  has  established  Space  Technology  Cells  at  four  IITs (Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur and  Madras), Indian  Institute of  Science  (IISc)  and  University  of  Pune  to  take  up  Joint Research  Programme,  as  a  part  of  extra-mural  research activities in the areas of Space Science, Space Technology and Space Applications.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1748 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1748 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## LAND BOUNDARY AGREEMENT WITH BANGLADESH

1748. SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Land  Boundary  Agreement  (LBA)  signed  in  1974  that provides  for  exchange  of  territories  between  India  and  Bangladesh has raised the question of migration and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether there is any proposal to give enclave dwellers the option of choosing the country they would like to live in and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Union  Government  has  discussed  the  matter  with  the Governments of border States such as Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the State Governments in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

(a) to (d) The Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and Bangladeshi enclaves in India were exchanged pursuant to the Land Boundary Agreement, 1974 and its Protocol of 2011 and stood transferred with effect from the midnight of July 31, 2015. The residents of the enclaves who were included in the joint headcount finalized and exchanged by Government of India and Bangladesh in July 2011 and children born to them after that date were offered the right to  retain  the  nationality  they  had  before  the  actual  transfer  of  territory. Based on the option taking survey which was carried out in July 2015 by the two Governments, 979 persons exercised this right to move to India. No further  movement  is  anticipated.  Government  of  India  has  approved  a compensation  package  of  Rs  1005.99  crore  for  rehabilitation  of the returnees from the erstwhile Indian enclaves from Bangladesh and creation and up-gradation of infrastructure in former Bangladeshi enclaves in India and in Coochbehar district in West Bengal. This package has been worked out after due consultation with Government of West Bengal.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1747 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Use of Khadi
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: DIPSINH SHANKARSINH RATHOD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1747 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## USE OF KHADI

†1747.    SHRI D. S. RATHOD:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether    the  Government  proposes  for  more  use  of  khadi  in Railways; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b): Indian Railways has extant policy of buying its bed sheets and pillow  covers  as  part  of  bed  roll  items  for  all  Rajdhani/Duronto  Trains from Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

Other items like dungri cloth cotton, flag hand signal, dosuti khadi, dusters  cotton  khadi,  sponge  cloth,  honey  comb  towel  khadi  ,  bunting cloth cotton khadi, pugree cloth cotton khadi etc are also procured from KVIC.

Year-wise total expenditure on purchase from KVIC, is as under:

## (Figures in crores of D )

| Year                                   |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |
|----------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Expenditure on purchase of Khadi items |     28.72 |     48.42 |     57.56 |

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1746 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Formal Skill Certification
Ministry: SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1746 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4.5.2016

## Formal Skill Certification

## 1746. ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

## Will  the  Minister  of  SKILL  DEVELOPMENT  AND  ENTREPRENEURSHIP be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  include  a  minimum  percentage  of certified  skilled  workforce  in  the  tendering  process  of  every  manpower  intensive project and increase the minimum percentage every year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  also  proposes  to  create  the  macro  and  micro policies to encourage workers; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (SHRI RAJIV PRATAP RUDY)

(a) to (d) Presently, the Government has not framed any guideline prescribing a minimum  percentage  of  skilled  workforce  in  the  tenders  for  manpower  intensive projects. However, as per National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) Notification dated 27.12.2013, it is mandatory for all training/educational programmes/courses to be NSQF compliant after 5 years of the notification which provides for amendment of recruitment rule of the Government of India and Central Public Sector Enterprises to define eligibility criteria for all positions in terms of NSQF levels after third year of the Notification.

*********
Lok Sabha Question No. 1745 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Extension of Machilipatnam Express
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Y. S. AVINASH REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1745 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## EXTENSION OF MACHILIPATNAM EXPRESS

1745.  SHRI Y.S. AVINASH REDDY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  the  Railways  has  received  any  representation  with  regard  to extension of Machilipatnam Express up to Kadapa railway station and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the decision taken by the Railways thereon; and
- (c) the funds earmarked and released by the Railways therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a)   A large number of representations are received at various level of Railway administration  which inter-alia  include  Railway  stations,  Divisions,  Zonal headquarters and at Railway Board's level for extension of trains.  However, Indian Railways do not maintain compendium of such representations.
- (b)  Extension of trains is an on-going process on Indian Railways subject to operational feasibility, traffic justification, commercial viability etc.  However, at  present  it  is  not  feasible  to  extend  T.  No.  17402/17401  MachilipatnamTirupati Express up to Cuddapah due to non-availability of rake maintenance facilities at Cuddapah.
- (c)   If found feasible, extension of a train is done either by utilizing the same rake if sufficient lie-over time is available or by inducting an additional rake if lie-over time is less and additional rake is available.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1741 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Re-introduction of Horticulture Train
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1741

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## RE-INTRODUCTION OF HORTICULTURE TRAIN

## 1741.   SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

- SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the fact that a lot of farmers, particularly orange and grape farmers, are unhappy with the Railways as they hardly get space on trains to transport their produce to the consuming centres and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  plans  to  re-introduce  Horticulture  train exclusively for carrying farm produce;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the other steps proposed to be taken by the Government to facilitate farmers to transport their farm produce to markets?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) Perishable  parcel  traffic  is  transported  by  Railway  in  the  Brakevan (SLRs)  of  passenger  carrying  trains.    Preference  is  accorded  for clearance  of  perishable  parcels  over  hard  parcels.    To  meet  the demand  of  full  load  of  Parcel  Van(s)  perishable  traffic,  Parcel  Vans (VPs) are attached to passenger carrying trains subject to availability

Contd………

of  room  in  train  and  operational  feasibility.  The  interested  person (including farmer) may register his demand/indents at the concerned railway station. Parcel vans are supplied to the indenter(s) according to  the  date  of  registration  of  indents.    In  addition  to  this,  Indian Railways  also  run  special  parcel  train  for  transportation  of  fruits  in bulk  like  Mango,  Banana,  Orange  etc.  on  demand,  on  a  fixed  path safe between  specific origin-destination stations for faster and transportation.

- (b)  to  (d):    For  transportation  of  horticulture  produce  in  container,  CONCOR has procured 98 Ventilated Isolated Containers specially designed for movement of fruits and vegetables.  A total of 44 trains were run by CONCOR from Raver to  New  Azadpur  carrying  banana  traffic  during the  year  2013.  Thereafter,  there  has  been  no  demand  for  Ventilated Isolated Container trains.

In  addition  to  this,  for  transportation  of  fruit  traffic  in  bulk,  Indian Railways  run  special  Parcel  Trains  for  Banana,  Mango  and  Chiku  to fulfill the demand of this sector.

During the year 2015-16, 41 rakes of mango were moved from Nuzvid/ Vijayawada/ Vijaynagram to Delhi area as against 59 rakes during the year  2014-15.    Similarly,  94  rakes  of  banana  were  moved  from Bhusawal area to Delhi area during 2014-15.

Railways supply rakes for transportation of fruits as and when indents are placed by the parties .

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1739 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: New Shatabdi Express from Nagpur to Mumbai
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1739 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

NEW SHATABDI EXPRESS FROM NAGPUR TO MUMBAI 1739.  SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Railways  has  received  any  request  to  start  Shatabdi Express from Nagpur to Mumbai to reduce the heavy rush on this route; and
- (b) if so, the details of the action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a)  &  (b):  A  large  number  of  representations  are  received  at  various levels  of  Railway  administration  viz.  Railway  station,  Division,  Zonal Headquarter & Railway Board's level for introduction of trains including Shatabdi  Express  trains.  However,  Indian  Railways  do  not  maintain  a compendium of such data. At present, there is no proposal to start a new Shatabdi  Express  from  Nagpur  to  Mumbai  due  to  operational  and resource constraints as Shatabdi Express trains are fast intercity trains having  normal  run  varying  from  three  and  half  hours  to  eight  and  half hours and connecting places approximately upto 700 kilometers apart so that they originate at a particular station in the morning and return back to the base in the evening.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 1738 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Recession in IT
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: ANANT KUMAR DATTATREYA HEGDE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1738

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.05.2016

## RECESSION IN IT

## 1738.   SHRI  ANANTKUMAR  HEGDE:

Will the Minister of Communications & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether due to global economic recession, Communications and Information Technology Industries is also showing such signs;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the likely shortfall in investments; and
- (d) the  estimated  decline  in  the  employment  opportunities  in  the  service  sector  in  India due to the above reasons?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) to (c): According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM),  the  global  economy  is  experiencing  multiple  changes  due  to  stagnation  of economic growth and other changes which inter-alia include fluctuation in currency and equity markets,  commodity  prices  decline,  and  unemployment  issues.  The  Worldwide  information Technology  -  Buisiness  Process  Management  (IT-BPM,  excl.  hardware)  spend  in  2015  was impacted by the volatility in global currencies and other factors resulting in a near flat growth of 0.4  per  cent  at  USD  1.2  trillion  in  2015.  However,  despite  these  economic  headwinds,  global outsourcing registered growth of about 8.5 per cent and is estimated at USD 162-166 billion in 2015.  India continues to be the World leader in outsourcing destination with share of 56 percent of  the  total  global  outsourcing  market.    India's  IT-BPM  industry  is  estimated  to  grow  at  9.0 percent in FY 2015-16 to reach USD 130 billion.

As per the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in the country in Computer Software and hardware sector during the year 2014-15 and 2015-16 (Upto Dec'15) have registered significant growth.

- (d): The employment data related to investments is not maintained. However, the Indian ITBPM industry continues to be a net hirer adding about 2 lakh employees in FY2015-16 reaching a total employee base of 3.7 million.

*******
Lok Sabha Question No. 1736 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-04
Subject: Power Plants for Cheap Power Generation
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: BHARATI DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1736

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.05.2016

## POWER PLANTS FOR CHEAP POWER GENERATION

1736.  DR. BHARATIBEN D. SHYAL:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning to install more Nuclear Power Plants for generation of power/electricity at cheap rates through nuclear energy;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the number of nuclear power plants in the country at present?

## ANSWER

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a)&(b) Yes, Sir.  At present, six nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4300 MW are at various stages of construction/commissioning. Two projects with a total  capacity  of  3400  MW  have  been  accorded  sanction. Of  these,  at  one project, KKNPP 3&4 (2x1000 MW) at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, excavation has  commenced.  The  other  project,  Gorakhpur  Haryana  Vidyut  Pariyojna Units 1&2 (2X700 MW) is being readied for launch soon. Projects based on both indigenous technology and with foreign technical cooperation are also planned in future. Nuclear power is a viable source of electricity generation. The  present  tariffs  of  nuclear  power  are  comparable  to  those  of  the contemporary  conventional  base  load  power  generating  units  (like  coal based thermal power) located in the area/region. The tariffs of nuclear power in  future  are  expected  to  be  comparable  to  those  of  other  sources  of electricity generation.
- (c) At present, there are 21 operational nuclear power plants (total capacity 5780 MW) in the country.

*****