RS passes three bills

The Indian majority amendment bill, 1999, prescribes a uniform age of 18 years for attaining 8216;majority8217; for all including minors under guardians appointed or declared by a court of justice.

The bill seeks to remove certain archaic provisions in the indian majority act, 1875, which include fixing of 21 years of age for reaching majority for minors under guardians whereas for the rest it is only 18 years.

The administrators-general bil, 1999, seeks to enhance the monetary limit from rs 50,000 to rs two lakh for issuing certificate to a person claiming assets of a deceased other than as a creditor.

The assets exclude any sum of money deposited in a government savings bank or any provident fund under the pf act.

Rs-ld securities

Parliament adopts securities amendment bills

New Delhi, Dec 1 pti parliament today approved two securities amendment bills with the rajya sabha passing the measures by a voice vote and finance minister yashwant sinha assuring the house that utmost transparency and caution would be maintained while undertaking derivatives trading to protect small investors.

The bills, passed by lok sabha yesterday, seek to amend the definition of securities to permit trading in derivatives and transfer the appellate functions of government to the securities appellate tribunal.

Replying to a discussion on both the bills, sinha said the derivatives trading would only be permitted in selected stock exchanges that have the proper mechanisms to deal with it.

The measures would quot;facilitate market operations, regulate markets, make them deeper and equipped and protect the interests of small investorsquot;, he said.

While the securities laws amendment bill 1999 included derivatives as securities in the securities contracts regulation act 1956 to allow trading in derivatives, the second amendment transferred appellate functions of the government to the tribunal to hear appeals against orders of adjudicating officers appointed by securities and exchange board of india sebi. Pti tvs rcr rb rb mvs 12011603 b

Ms Rcr rb kvv mvs 12011725 b

Lsq-orissa

1506 Fishermen missing; 9885 deaths in orissa supercyclone

New Delhi, dec 1 pti about 1,506 fishermen are missing after orissa8217;s supercyclone last month which claimed 9,885 lives, the lok sabha was informed today.

Reports from the state government said 4.44 lakh livestock also perished in the cyclone, minister of state for agriculture sbpbk satyanarayan rao said in a written reply.

The cyclone affected 125.60 lakh people and 14,190 villages, damaging 18.29 lakh houses and 18.43 lakh hectares cropped area, he said.

In reply to another question, the minister said centre had no plan at present to build permanent cyclone shelters in collaboration with the orissa government.

Construction of permanent cyclone shelters was part of state governments8217; reponsibilities which include relief, restoration and rehabilitation measures in the wake of natural calamities.

There are no laid guidelines for declaring any calamity, including the supercylone in orissa, as a national calamity, he said.

State governments can take aid from the calamity relief fund crf, national fund for calamity relief nfcr for calamities of rare severity to undertake relief and rehabilitation measures.

Orissa8217;s supercyclone has, however, been treated as a national calamity and relief measurestaken up on a national scale, the minister added. Pti tp sa mvs 12011528 b

Rsq-nhpc

No decision yet on takeover of nhpc by ntpc: kumaramangalam

new delhi, dec 1 pti government has not yet taken any decision on takeover of national hydel power corporation by national thermal power corporation and the proposal is only one among the options being considered, power minister rangarajan kumaramagalam said in rajya sabha today.

Replying to questions in the upper house, kumaramangalam said quot;no decision has been taken. These are the options. I am open to any advice as the problem is big and no single person can take a decisionquot;.

Stating that about 35,000 mw of additional capacity of hydel power had to be installed in the next 10 years to increase the share of hydel power compared to thermal power, kumaramangalam said this would require an investment of about rs 1,100,000 crore.

Ntpc with reserves to the tune of rs 12,000 crore has the ability to raise about rs 45,000 crore compared to nhpc, which is a nascent organisation, he said.

The other options included merger of nhpc and ntpc, hiving off of ntpc8217;s assets to a subsidiary company and to keep both the companies independent but allow purchase of equity, he said.

Kumaramangalam had earlier said that the government was considering a proposal to allow ntpc to buy the entire stake of the government in nhpc. Pti sgt rb rb tiv 12011234 b

Lsq-pak

Coup has not altered pak8217;s hostile policies towards india

New Delhi, dec 1 pti pakistan has made no moves to withdraw troops from the line of control loc where they had been inducted in large numbers during the kargil conflict, lok sabha was informed today.

The military coup in that country has not altered its aggressive approach or hostile policies towards india and it continued to sponsor cross-border terrorism in jammu and kashmir and elsewhere in the country, minister for external affairs jaswant singh informed the house in response to a written question.

He said pakistani forces continued firing across the loc and the international border in jammu and kashmir and statements by pakistani spokesmen including general pervez musharraf indicated that its assertion of territorial claim in the indian state continued.

Singh said the state of jammu and kashmir is an intergral part of the indian union and a part of the territory of the state is under pakistan8217;s illegal and forcible occupation.

He said india is committed to resolving all outstanding issues with pakisan in accordance with the simla agreement and the lahore declaration. quot;We expect pakistan to demonstrate its adherence to these agreements through its abandonment of cross-border terrorism and hostile propaganda.quot; Pti rls rb rb tiv 12011255 b

Lsq-ctbt

Consensus of all political parties sought on ctbt,other issues

new delhi, dec 1 pti government today sought consensus of all political parties on a wide range of issues including the ctbt, lok sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, external affairs minister jaswant singh said: quot;this requires the creation of a positive environment as we work towards creating the widest possible consensus domestically.quot;

He said india also expected other countries would adhere to this treaty without any conditions. Pti sri rb rb mvs 12011317 b .