Ministers provide written replies in Parliament about govt initiatives on coal production, FDI, millets & others
New Delhi: Domestic coal production in the country is expected to grow by 6 to 7 percent annually in the next few years to reach about 1.5 billion tonnes in 2029-30.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of Coal and Mines Prahlad Joshi said the government has initiated several steps to ramp up domestic coal production in the country in order to achieve self-reliance.
Coal is a major source of energy in the country. Over the years the share of coal in the total primary energy mix has increased and currently more than 72 percent of the electricity generation in the country is coal fired.
The Centre today said that there is no proposal under consideration to provide free internet facility to those people who have no access to internet facility.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India states that there were over 836 million internet subscribers in the country as on 30th June this year. This is 60.73 internet subscribers per 100 population.
In a separate reply, the Minister informed that 93 percent of villages in the country have 4G mobile networks. A total of 45 thousand 180 villages do not have 4G mobile coverage.
Around 281 cases have been taken up by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, FEMA provisions for suspected violations of FDI norms from 1st April 2019 to 31st March this year. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
He said necessary action as per provisions of FEMA has been taken which includes the issuance of show cause notices, adjudication, and imposition of penalty. Penalties of more than two thousand six hundred crore rupees have been imposed under FEMA.
Summers in the country have become hotter by more than 1 degree Celsius on average and the mean temperature is rising continuously primarily due to the release of Greenhouse Gases.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh informed the House that the average maximum, average minimum and mean temperature for the country as a whole during pre-monsoon this year was 34.49, 22.86, and 28.68 degree Celsius respectively, and it was above normal temperature by 1.04, 1.08 and 1.06 degree Celsius.
The Government today, December 21, said wifi access points have been installed in over one lakh gram panchayats so far.
Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a query regarding measures to achieve 100 percent wifi hotspot facility coverage across all gram panchayats.
He said the BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the gram panchayats. The scope of the BharatNet project has recently been extended up to all inhabited villages beyond gram panchayats.
The Government is implementing the National Food Security Mission, NFSM-Nutri Cereals programme in 212 districts of 14 states to increase millets production.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Rural Development Minister of State Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said under the NFSM, the government is providing seeds of high-yielding varieties, farm machinery and conducting training programmes.
The Minister also said that the Government has set a target of 205 lakh tonnes of Nutri Cereals for the States and Union Territories.
