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CENTRE
PLANS TO IMPORT FIBREGLASS BOATS
The Centre plans to import fiberglass boats from China and Japan to meet the immediate
requirement of boats in the country, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said today.
He said a delegation of officials visited Japan and China to study the possibility of importing
fiberglass
boats. It returned a few days ago.
He held discussions with the Prime Minister on the boat building capacity in India and
the facilities available in China and Japan. Many fishing boats were damaged in the December 26, 2004 tsunami and the
country required a good number of mechanized fiberglass boats for fishing. After considering the boat
building capacity in India, the number of boats to be imported would be decided, he said.
Mr. Aiyar inaugurated two community sheds and presented five
fiberglass boats to fishermen at
Tharangampadi in the district under the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council and
Centre of Relevance and Excellence (TlFAC-CORE) programme of the Department of Science and Technology
and the project implemented by the Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy
(SASTRA), Thanjavur.
Mani Shankar Aiyar,
Union Petroleum Minister, handling over the keys of a fibreglass
boat to a fisherman at Tarangapadi in Nagapattinam district on
Saturday
He said the university built sheds on 420-sqft area at a cost of
Rs.1.30 lakhs. The cost would
be four-five times more if they were built by the Public Works Department. Moreover, it would have taken years
to complete the work.
He said the SASTRA could build only 35 out of the 40 community sheds under the TIFAC-CORE project
in the coastal villages and the rest could not be built at Poompuhar, as
the Government did not allot poromboke site. The Minister also laid the foundation for community sheds and
inaugurated two computer
centers at Tharangampadi and Pazhayar.
Mr. Aiyar alleged that officials did not pay attention to the northern side of the district in providing
tsunami relief and concentrated only on Akkaraipettai and other areas near Nagapattinam and
Velankanni. Several coastal hamlets, including Chandrapadi,
Manickapangu, Chinnangudi, Pudukuppam, Pazhayar, did not
get proper relief.
Edible oil shortage
He said edible oil shortage was reported at Tharangampadi and several other coastal villages.
Bhupinder Singh Suri from New Delhi, a social worker and recipient of Sir Jamnalal Bajaji Award, had been
giving relief to the people in the village. Mr. Suri distributed 2,000 kg of edible oil to the villagers
at Tharangampadi yesterday and today, he said.
R. Sethuraman, Vice-Chancellor, SASTRA, who presided, said the university would provide the
syllabus for the computer-coaching centre in the villages and conduct free examination and coaching for
students in the affected areas.
- The Hindu dated on 20.03.2005
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