Sher Shah's guns among 23 pieces of Indian history go missing!
Over 300 farmers committed suicides in 2014
152 ceasefire violations along Indo-Pak border this year
India has 63 million diabetics, second only to China
IAF has lost 30 aircraft since 2011
Here’s a round up of some information the nation learnt from Parliament on Tuesday.
Sher Shah's guns among 23 pieces of Indian history go missing!
A total of 24 centrally-protected monuments and artefacts including rock inscriptions of Satna in Madhya Pradesh are untraceable.
The list includes monument such as guns of Emperor Sher Shah at Sadia in Tisukia in Guwahati Circle and states in which the monuments were missing are Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Replying to a question, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Tourism and Culture, Mahesh Sharma, said Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has made efforts to locate the untraceable monuments through field offices based on old records, revenue maps and published reports.
The minister also said that the National Monuments Authority has not submitted any specific report to the government on disappeared or untraceable historical monuments under ASI.
Over 300 farmers committed suicides in 2014
Over three hundred farmers have committed suicides this year due to agrarian distress, with maximum cases reported from Maharashtra.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said Maharashtra government has reported 204 suicides by farmers till April 2014 due to agrarian distress.
Among other states, Telangana reported 69 suicides committed by farmers, Karnataka (19), Gujarat (3) , Kerala (3) and Andhra Pradesh (3).
Balyan informed that the Centre has taken several steps to revitalize the agriculture sector and improve the condition of farming community on a sustainable basis by increasing public investment, improving farm practices, rural infrastructure, extension and marketing, among others.
The current budgetary allocation for Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation is Rs 22,309 crore which has been finalized based on requirements of various schemes or programmes in consultation of planning commission, the reply added.
Rs 3784 crore in foreign donations went to NGOs in 2013-14
A total of Rs 3,784 crore has been received as foreign donations by various non-government organisations across India during 2013-14.
The highest, Rs 546 crore was received as foreign donations by 1,344 NGOs in Tamil Nadu, Rs 480 crore by 1,022 NGOs in Andhra Pradesh, Rs 385 crore by 951 NGOs in Kerala and Rs 378 crore by 734 NGOs in Maharashtra, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha.
Rs 360 crore was received as foreign donations by 367 NGOs in Delhi, Rs 356 crore by 594 NGOs in Karnataka, Rs 347 crore by 812 NGOs in West Bengal and Rs 125 crore by 539 NGOs in Odisha.
The minister said that in 2012-13, voluntary agencies in the country received Rs 10,963 crore as foreign donations while in 2011-12, they received Rs 11,554 crore.
152 ceasefire violations along Indo-Pak border this year
152 ceasefire violations have taken place so far this year along the India-Pakistan border in which 15 people were killed and 115 others injured.
In the recent past, Indo-Pak border/ Line of Control have witnessed increased hostilities from Pakistan side and in October there were rampant ceasefire violations, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.
As reported by the state government, till October 31, 2014, there were 152 ceasefire violations in which 13 civilians and two security personnel were killed and 101 civilians and 14 security personnel were injured.
Rijiju said a large number of people were affected by the heavy firing/ shelling in the border areas of Kathua, Samba and Jammu district.
People of these areas were temporarily shifted to safer places and were accommodated by the administration at various government buildings and were also provided free ration, he said.
However, after the ceasefire violations stopped from across the border, they returned to their homes, he said.
472 Naxals surrendered this year, highest in 3 years
A total 472 Naxals have surrendered to security forces in Maoist-affected states so far this year, highest in last three years.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha that of the 472 Maoists who surrendered till October 2014, 247 laid down arms in Chhattisgarh, 80 in Odisha, 76 in Andhra Pradesh, 30 in Maharashtra, 17 in Jharkhand and 15 in Telangana.
The total number of Naxals who surrendered in 2013 was 283, 445 in 2012 and 394 in 2011.
Rijiju said to bring left-wing extremists into the mainstream, the state governments have their own surrender and rehabilitation policies.
The central government reimburses the expenditure incurred by the state governments for rehabilitation of surrendered LWEs in terms of its own policy in this regard.
It has revised the guidelines for the scheme in the affected states with effect from April 1, 2013. The rehabilitation package in the revised policy includes an immediate grant of Rs 2.5 lakh for high-ranked LWE cadre and Rs 1.5 lakh for middle/lower-ranked cadres who surrender before the state government concerned.
The cadres are provided a monthly stipend of Rs 4,000 for a period of three years for vocational training, Rijiju said.
India has 63 million diabetics, second only to China
India is home to 63 million diabetics, second only to China, the government said, adding that a programme to contain its spread has been expanded all over the country.
Health Minister J P Nadda told Rajya Sabha that campaign, National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS), has been extended to all the states..
"During the 11th Five Year Plan, the focus was on 100 districts in 21 states for prevention and control of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and stroke. In the 12th Five Year Plan, the programme has been expanded to all the states in the country," he said.
While health is a state subject, the central government supplements their efforts and facilities including those for testing and treatment for diabetes are provided in various government institutions.
IAF has lost 30 aircraft since 2011
Thirty Indian Air Force planes have met with crashes since 2011, costing the country over Rs 1,160 crore and the main reasons are human and technical error, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
Statistics given by him showed that the number of accidents had come down over the years.
The maximum number of crashes had taken place in 2011-12, when 13 aircraft were lost.
Six crashed in 2012-13 and an equal number in 2013-14 and in 2014 so far, five crashes have taken place.
Among the aircraft that crashed, three were Su-30s, two Mirage 2000s, four Jaguars, three Mig-29s, one Mig-27, and eight Mig-21s which have often being described as "flying coffins".
"The loss to the government assessed so far is estimated at Rs.1,161.50 crore in terms of value of the crashed aircraft," Parrikar said.
The minister added every IAF aircraft accident is thoroughly investigated by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to ascertain the cause of accident and the recommendations of the completed CoI are implemented.
"The main reasons for these accidents were human error and technical defect," he said.
Besides these crashes, two Mi-17 helicopters of IAF were destroyed during relief operations, one in 2011-12 and another in 2013-14.
"IAF aircraft accidents during such operations in aid of civil agencies are not included in the statistics maintained for aircraft accidents," the written reply said.
