Friday, September 10, 2010

JVC for Design and Development O\of Multirole Transport Aircraft

The effort to design and develop a Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA) by India and Russia received a significant boost with the signing of shareholders agreement for setting up of a joint venture company.

A Joint Venture will now be formed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and the Russian Partners namely United Aircraft Corporation & Rosoboronexport to Co-develop and Co-produce Multirole Transport Aircraft (MTA).

MTA is a 15-20 tonne payload capacity Aircraft which would meet the requirement of the Indian Air Force and the Russian Air Force. The project has been approved by both the Government of India and the Government of Russian Federation.

The main features of MTA are: Maximum take-off weight 65 tonnes, Payload Capacity 15-20 tonnes, Cruise Speed 800 kmph, Range 2500-2700 km, Service ceiling 12 km. The Aircraft will have two engines, state of the art features such as fly-by-wire, full authority digital engine control, modern avionics and glass cockpit.

The total development cost is around US $ 600.70 million (approx Rs.2900 crores) to be equally shared by both the sides. It is planned to manufacture 205 aircraft with 50:50 work share between HAL and the Russian partners.

A Joint Venture Company (JVC) is being established with its headquarters at Bangalore, India for executing the MTA project in which HAL and Russian participants will have equal shareholding.

E-Passport Manufacturing Facility Installed at India Security Press, Nasik

India Security Press (ISP), a unit of Security printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd manufacturers Passports and other travel documents for Ministry of External Affairs. 
ICAO has suggested implementation of e-Passport world wide, keeping in view the changing global scenario, faster and easier customs clearance and high tech security concerns. In compliance to the same, e-passport facility has recently been created at ISP.

This sophisticated e-Passport machine will manufacture e-Passport of international quality with due quality checks, high productivity and less rejection. With the introduction of this machine, SPMCIL will be in a position to manufacture more than 8 million e-passports in a year and meet the entire requirement of the country.
 

Benchmarks for the Urban Water Supply

The Ministry of Urban Development has formulated Service Level Benchmarks for the urban water supply sector with the intention of emphasizing service delivery outcomes, enforcing accountability and facilitating performance monitoring.

The benchmarks indicators in respect of the water supply sector include coverage of water supply connections; per capita supply of water; continuity of water supply, quality of water supplied, efficiency in redressal of customer complaints etc. Benchmark values have been specified for each of the indicators.

CERC Liberalises Grid Access to Green Projects

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has taken an important regulatory initiative. While the threshold capacity for connecting to inter-State grid will be 250 MW for thermal power stations, the threshold has been reduced to 50 MW for the hydro electric generating stations and other generating stations using renewable sources of energy.

Another important regulatory change has been made to permit connectivity to inter-State grid to stations which have individually installed capacity of less than 50 MW but approach the Central Transmission Utility (POWERGRID) collectively with an aggregate installed capacity of 50 MW and above.

State Transmission Utilities in many stations, particularly in North-eastern states, are not presently in a position to extend connectively to their systems and this difficulty was hindering the development of hydro electric stations and renewable source based stations.

Coal Resources in North-East

As per the latest inventory of Geological Resources of Coal in India by the Geological Survey of India, 1471 Million Tonnes of Geological Resources of coal have so far been estimated in the NE region. Of this, 388, Million Tonnes are in Assam and 576 Milliion Tonnes in Meghalaya. In Assam three opencast mines viz., Tirap OC, Tikak OC and Ledo OC are in operation under North Eastern Coalfields Limited (NEC) of Coal India Limited (CIL). In Meghalaya, coal is being produced by the local people as per the extant customary and tribal land rights.


In Meghalaya, the only lease held by NEC, CIL is Simsang, which had expired in 2008 and its renewal is yet to be received

Chief Vigilance Commissioner

Chief Vigilance Commissioner
At a ceremony held today at 1315 hrs at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Shri P.J. Thomas was sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner. He made and subscribed the oath of office before the President. 

Sh. Thomas holds Master’s Degree in Physics & Economics and has done a one year course in Public Administration at International Institute of Public Administration, Paris. He is proficient in French in addition to English, Hindi and Malayalam.

Sh. Thomas has held important assignments in the Government of Kerala as Secretary in Finance, Industry, Agriculture, Law & Justice and Human Resource Development Departments. He was the Founder Director of Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. He became Chief Secretary of Kerala in 2007 and moved to Government of India as Secretary in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in January, 2009. He has been Secretary in Department of Telecommunication since October 2009 and is credited with steering 3G auction which created a new bench mark in the country. 

6th Indo-Oman Joint Commission Reviews Bilateral Economic Relations

Shri Sharma emphasized the priority attached by Indian Government for cooperation with Oman in Petroleum, Gas and fertilizer sectors while the Deputy PM (oman) underscored the need for greater cooperation in capacity building and information technology. Omani side agreed in-principle to invest in India for revival of few closed plants of Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI) and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd. (HFCL) and the expansion in RCF (PSU of Government of India) through investment by Oman Oil Company.

India-Oman Joint Investment Fund initiative is expected to function as a catalyst to promote and partnership between the private sectors of the two countries and enhance the trade and investment between the two countries. Shri Sharma stressed on the need for the fund to be operationalised and augmented immediately.

A number of sectors have been identified for investment cooperation such as (a) Agriculture (b) Air ports, sea ports and railways (c) Hospitals (d) Power including nuclear power (e) Renewable energy including solar and wind energy (f) Mining (g) Oil and gas (h) Education and skill development (i) Tourism (j) Healthcare (k) Infrastructure and (l) Chemicals and Fertilisers. 

The Omani side expressed its keenness for
  • setting up super-speciality hospitals in India in the form of Joint Ventures
  • Investments in agro processing specially in Indian SEZs
Oman has a strategic location,  which offers huge opportunities for Indian products to these markets apart from the GCC.  

Bharat Tirth

Railways to Run ‘Bharat Tirth’ Trains Across the Country from Next Month a bid to promote tourism in the country and also to emphasize our ‘Unity in Diversity’, the Indian Railways will be launching 16 different circuits of ‘Bharat Tirth’ touching all the important destinations across the country from next month. The objective of Indian Railways in running ‘Bharat Tirth’ Trains is to provide a comfortable, affordable and memorable experience to the customers of different segments.

The itineraries are so designed that the Bharat Tirth trains would be taken to the rail heads nearest to the tourist destination from where tourists would visit the places of tourist importance. The road journey for sightseeing is organized in comfortable buses and tour escorts accompany them in trains as well as buses.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Some Luminaries of Post Independent India

60 years ago the founders of nation gave us a constitution that scripted a modern democratic republic and 60 years later we pay tribute to 10 remarkable Indians who had translate that vision into reality. The show will take a close look on the lives of these legends of modern India who have made substantial contributions in diverse fields like the Economy, Politics, Healthcare, Science and technology. Some of these legends of modern India who will be featured in ‘Makers of India’ are:

Dr. Sukumara Sen- India's first Chief Election Commissioner who successful oversaw independent India’s first general election in 1952. The show will focus on Sen's successful innovations to ensure that millions of Indians could successfully cast their votes. These include party symbols, multiple ballot boxes and indelible ink, none of which had been tried elsewhere in the world

Mridula Sarabhai- One of our most remarkable yet less publicized women leaders Mridula Sarabhai was a revolutionary democrat, a top women activist, feisty freedom fighter, philanthropist and above all a selfless soul committed to the ideals of freedom, equality and democracy. Apart from her contributions towards the independence struggle, she also fought tirelessly for the civil rights of the Kashmiri people post independence

Dr Ajay & Rani Bhang- This brilliant couple who could have been rich doctors catering to the city elite and lived a life of luxury, chose instead to serve poor adivasis in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. The Bhang couple also led a campaign against alcoholism. This got great support in more than 600 villages and now the district is a liquor free zone.

Dr. Satish Dhawan- Dr. Satish Dhawan served for many years as the Director of both ISRO and Indian Institute of Sciences, and was an architect in making them the pride of Indian science. In a country where centers of learning rise and fall with its founders, ISRO and IISc have managed to maintain their high standards till today.

Kamaladevi Chattopadyay - Described as the "supremely romantic figure of the freedom struggle," Kamaladevi Chattopadyay was to our cultural life what Mahatma Gandhi was to the life of the nation. She was a Brahmin turned socialist, a teenage bride turned feminist, a political leader who shunned office, an aristocrat who nurtured and renewed our crafts and was instrumental in setting up the Cottage Industries Emporium and the All India Handicrafts Board.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt-Chandi Prasad Bhatt is a great pioneering environmentalist, an actor and thinker of remarkable range and achievement who, by virtue of his own innate modesty and lack of command over English, remains much less known and honored than is his due. He has no trumpet, nor any trumpeters. In him lives a spirit, of quiet service, that once existed freely in Indian politics and activism.

V M Tarkunde-As a Judge of the Bombay High Court, Judicial discipline required that Tarkunde did not participate in social movements or in public decade. He, therefore, retired pre-maturely in 1969. He shifted to Delhi and started practicing in the Supreme Court. There, in the mid 1970s, he became a leading light of the anti - emergency movement. He helped found Citizens for Democracy and the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties. Much later, in the 1990s, he led the first investigation into human rights abuses in Kashmir. He was a democrat in the deepest sense, who sowed the seeds of humanism in post independent India.

Dr. Shivarama Karanth-No Indian since Rabindranath Tagore has excelled in as many fields as Karanth. He led environmental movements many decades before it became a serious issue in India. When he was 85 years old, Karanth trekked over 800 KM in the Western Ghats to create awareness about the importance of rain forests among the people. 87 year old Karanth even fought a Lok Sabha election on a Green platform in 1989.

Verghese Kurien-The remarkable life of Verghese Kurien illuminates, inspires and sometimes amuses. His speech and writings rise above the din of ideology and partisan rhetoric to provide clear and refreshing insights on varied subjects - Development, Technology, Marketing, and the Empowerment of India's Rural Producers. Here is a man who embodies the finest values of the Indian Republic as well as the deepest aspirations of Mahatma Gandhi's home state of Gujarat.

Dr. M S Swaminathan- In 1960s, India was facing a 'ship to mouth existence’ surviving on hand-outs of low quality wheat from the Western powers. Poverty and hunger was rife; our political sovereignty was threatened. These challenges were overcome through the work of a group of dedicated visionaries, one of whom was the scientist M. S. Swaminathan. Now in his eighties, Swaminathan still works and travels tirelessly throughout India.

National Council for Tribal Welfare

For cause of welfare of tribals, an apex body ‘National Council for Tribal Welfare’ (NCTW) headed by the Prime Minister has been constituted.

The Council would provide broad policy guidelines to bring about improvement in the lives of the ST community in the country. It would also review the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, implementation of Schedule-V and Schedule-VI of the Constitution, monitor the implementation of Tribal Sub-Plan and the programmes aimed at protecting vulnerable tribal groups. Meetings of the Council would be linked with the meetings of the National Development Council (NDC) to ensure that they are held regularly and the Chief Ministers are able to attend during NDC meeting.

Swami Vivekananda Values’ Education Project

Government of India had earlier decided to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in a befitting manner. A National Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The National Implementation Committee in today’s meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has approved in principle Swami Vivekananda Values Education Project at the cost of Rs.100 crore with the following objectives:

· To emphasize upon inculcation of Swami Vivekanada’s values among the students of different schools and colleges all over the country who are busy in highly competitive environment at the cost of other aspects of life.
· Involving the youth through competitions, essays, discussions and study circles.

· Publishing Swami Vivekananda’s complete work in different languages.

· Emphasis on Swami’s ideals in colleges and universities as well as setting up of Swami Vivekananda’s ‘Chairs’ in different universities and Centers.

· International programmes including conferences, seminars and lectures abroad in overseas universities.
· Focusing on Vivekananda’s teachings on Yoga to develop its proper understanding and establish standard for it.

· Utilizing the electronic media for prorogating of Swami’s message through All India Radio, Television, CDs, DVDs, Internet, Website and Films on Vivekananda.

· Encouraging research on religion and harmony, interfaith dialogue and bringing Swami’s ideals into current scope.

· Commemorating his CHICAGO Address about Indian culture through an Endowment for an Annual Lecture.

· Involving States and different organizations in commemorating CHICAGO travels throughout India and to preserve some important heritage sites.

· Creating a campaign through catch word or phrase or logo and involving fresh ideas through press and competitions.

· Under the ‘Print Media’ programmes various publication activities will be taken up including distribution of complete work of Swamiji’s to the libraries of 311 Indian universities , 465 government approved libraries and 100 Indian Embassies in different countries.

Under ‘Electronic Media’ programme, two feature films on Swami Vivekananda’s life & activities and Swami Vivekanands’s Call to the Nation, two animated films for children, TV programme entilted “Swami Vivekananda’s Answers” will be produced and made available at subsidized rates, besides producing 3-4 audio-DVDs on selected works of Swami Vivekananda.

Under the ‘Youth Programme’, Vivekananda Centre for Youth Counselling will be set up in 9 major cities for counseling to groups and invidividuals, two National Youth Conventions with the themes ‘National Growth/Development’ and ‘Religious Harmony’, five Regional Youth camps and a number of youth camps at State level will be held.

Under the “Special Service Activities”, a project titled “Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa” named after the child Ramakrishna will be taken up for development of neglected children by providing food, dress, basic education and health care at 150 places.

Under the Cultural Programmes, two International Seminars on India’s role in building terror-free society and Swmai Vivekananda’s vision of the future of Mankind, 10 National Seminars on Swami Vivekananda’s relevance in 21st Century, 16 State level seminars on Indian culture beside an exhibition on national integration will be organized.

Besides above, the National Implementation Committee also approved the following proposals in principle:

The Committee approved to assist Kolkata Municipal Corporation in converting Sister Nivedita’s residence in Baghbazar into a befitting memorial. Archeological Survey of India (ASI) would undertake work for restoration of aforesaid building while Ministry of Culture, Government of India would support to set up a Museum as part of Vivekananda Memorial Celebrations.

The Committee also approved in principle to extend necessary support to Ramakrishna Mission, Barrackpore, West Bengal which is involved in propagating and disseminating the ideals and teachings of Swami Vivekananda.
The Committee approved commemoration of CHICAGO Address of Swamiji’s in 1893 through a memorable programme and an Endowment for an Annual Lecture among others.

Besides above, the Committee also agreed in principle to design Logo and issue commemorate Coins on the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

Union Minister for Health and Family & Family Welfare suggested to name District Wellness Centres for propagating Yoga to be renamed as Swami Vivekananda District Wellness Centre to mark the occasion. He suggested that 150 such District Wellness Centres will be set up in the first year followed by 75 such centers each in next two years. Thereby, the total 300 such centers will be setup in the country in next three years.

India and South Korea Sign two Landmark MoUs to Boost Defence Cooperation

Heralding a new chapter in the history of defence cooperation, India and South Korea today signed two landmark Memoranda of Un

Heralding a new chapter in the history of defence cooperation, India and South Korea today signed two landmark Memoranda of Understanding to give a huge boost to the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Antony said  New Delhi will be happy to see the defence industry relationship to be more than a buyer-seller relationship and its further evolution into Transfer of Technology, joint production and joint R&D etc.
The talks covered a wide range of security issues- both regional and global.
Maritime Security
- maintaining peace as well as ensuring  safety and security of sea lanes of communication in the region.
-securing vital energy supplies that pass through the Indian Ocean. 
-like- minded countries working in the Gulf of Aden to coordinate efforts and also exchange information on the happenings in the area.
Regional Security Scenario
- have to maintain balance and restraint even in the face of grave challenges to our security. Our intention is to develop friendly and cooperative relations with all our neighbours  
East  Asian Architecture 
-India looks at itself as an integral part of East Asia. India is a founding member of East Asia Summit and as such, looks at the emerging architecture in East Asia as open and inclusive. 
‘That  is why we welcome the decision of ASEAN Foreign Ministers to move towards the inclusion of the United States and Russia as members of the East Asia Summit.