SICOM Project

The Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh said the major national initiative to protect our coastal ecosystems will start from states of Orissa, Gujarat and West Bengal. Inaugurating the office of the Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) here today , the Minister said this is for the first time that a professional body with experts in various aspects of coastal science and management.

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project consists of four components. 

Under the first component, mapping, delineation and demarcation of hazard lines will be taken up by the Survey of India. Besides this, mapping, delineation and demarcation of environmentally sensitive areas, capacity building of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State Coastal Zone Management Authorities, and a nation-wide training programme will be taken up. A National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) will also be opened in Anna University, Chennai.

Under the second component, pilot studies will be undertaken on the ICZM approach for the coastline of Gulf of Kuchchh. Further, transplantation of corals in the Gulf of Kuchchh and sewage treatment facilities for Jamnagar district would be undertaken. Under the project, a Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative (G.A.N.D.H.I.) will also be developed. The Rs 25 Crore project will focus on overall development and conservation of the environment of Dandi and the surrounding villages based on Gandhian Principles. Among other things, 100 ha of mangroves and 50 ha of bio-shield will be planted along the 8 km coastline of Dandi. The budget for Gujarat is Rs 298.34 crores.

The third component which includes Orissa has budget of Rs 300 crores. This will include capacity building of the state level agencies and institutions, preparation of an ICZM plan for the coastal sediment cells in the stretches of Paradip-Dhamra and Gopalpur-Chilika; regional coastal process study, and priority investments. It will also support capacity building in the area of coastal management and wetland research.

The fourth component will mainly address the coastal zone management issues in three sectors in West Bengal, namely, Sunderbans, Haldia and Digha-Shankarpur.The budget for West Bengal is Rs 300 crores.

India confirms seven payloads for Chandrayaan-2

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that a national committee of experts has finalised seven payloads that will go on the second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, sometime in 2013. Three of the seven payloads are new.

Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft would have an orbiter (satellite), a lander and a rover, is planned to be launched onboard Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in 2013.

While the lander would be provided by Russia, the orbiter and rover are being built by Bangalore-headquartered ISRO. Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft weighs about 2,650 kg at lift-off of which the orbiter's weight is about 1,400 kg and lander about 1,250 kg.

After detailed deliberations and considering the mission needs, weight and power available for scientific payloads, the committee has recommended five payloads to be flown on the orbiter, of which three are new and two are improved versions of payloads flown earlier on Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

The five recommended payloads of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter include:

- Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) from ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Solar X-ray monitor (XSM) from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad for mapping major elements present on the lunar surface.

- L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) from Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad for probing the first few tens of metres of the lunar surface for the presence of different constituents, including water ice. SAR is expected to provide further evidence confirming the presence of water ice below the shadowed regions of the moon.

- Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS) from SAC, Ahmedabad for mapping of lunar surface over a wide wavelength range for the study of minerals, water molecules and hydroxyl present.

- Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE-2) from Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram to carry out a detailed study of the lunar exosphere.
- Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2) from SAC, Ahmedabad for preparing a 3D map essential for studying the lunar mineralogy and geology.

In addition, the committee recommended two scientific payloads on the rover of Chandrayaan-2. The two scientific payloads on Chandrayaan-2 rover are Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) from Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore and Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS) from PRL, Ahmedabad. Both instruments are expected to carry out elemental analysis of the lunar surface near the landing site.

Source: TOI

Nobel Medicine Prize - 2009

This year’s Nobel Prize is awarded to three scientists (Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak ) who have solved one of biology’s great mysteries: How are the chromosomes that carry our genes copied in their entirety during cell division and protected against breakdown? The Nobel Laureates have shown that the answer lies in the chromosomes’ ends – the telomeres – and in the enzyme that forms them – telomerase.

Telomerase and cancer

Most normal cells seldom divide. Their chromosomes do not become too short and their telomerase does not have to be particularly active. Cancer cells, on the other hand, have an unlimited capacity to divide. But how can they retain their telomeres and escape senescence?

It has been shown that 80 to 90 percent of all cancer cells have abnormally high telomerase activity. This prevents them from losing their telomeres despite going through many cell replication cycles. Scientists believe that successive telomere shortening in normal cells can be an important protective mechanism to counteract the uncontrolled cell division that characterizes cancer.

This has aroused hope that it will be possible to treat cancer by blocking telomerase, using either substances that inhibit telomerase activity, or vaccines that cause the immune system to to attack cells with excessive telomerase activity. Several such vaccines are currently being tested in clinical trials on humans.

But many problems remain to be overcome before telomerase can be an effective target for cancer therapy. Merely reducing telomerase activity may not be enough, because some cancer cells have found alternative means of producing telomeres, independent of telomerase. There is also a risk of damage to healthy cells in which high telomerase activity is normal, particularly stem cells.

The importance of functional telomeres in the body’s stem cells is illustrated by the fact that several congenital diseases arise because of defective telomerase. These include some severe forms of inherited anemia, where inadequate replication of stem cells in bone marrow leads to a lack of red blood cells. Certain inherited diseases of the skin and lung are also related to telomerase defects.

For more details: visit Nobel Prize website

Nobel Chemistry Prize - 2009

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 jointly to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath, "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome".

The Ribosome – a complex structure

The human body is built from approximately one hundred thousand billion cells. Each cell contains thousands of ribosomes, which are composed of a small and a large subunit. The subunits are built from rRNA-molecules, constructed from nucleotides, and proteins, made from amino acids. Nucleotides and amino acids, in turn, are built from atoms. In all, a ribosome is built from hundreds of thousands of atoms.

The ribosome connects about ten amino acids per second
Thomas Steitz has taken snapshots of different steps in the chemical reaction where amino acids are connected. The reaction is catalysed by the large subunit. Thanks to work of Thomas Steitz, scientists now know which atoms in the ribosome are involved in the various reaction steps.

Proteins control life

In the human body there are tens of thousands of proteins that build and control life at the chemical level. Examples of proteins are oxygen-transporting haemoglobin, hormones such as insulin and the antibodies of the immune system. Proteins are built from 20 different kinds of amino acids which are linked together in long chains. A protein chain can consist of anything from ten to tens of thousands of amino acids.



The ribosome – a target for new antibiotics
Today, humans have an arsenal of different antibiotics which can be used in the fight against disease-generating bacteria. Many of these antibiotics kill bacteria by blocking the functions of their ribosomes. However, bacteria have become resistant to most of these drugs at an
ominous rate. Therefore we need new ones.

This year’s three Nobel Laureates in chemistry have all produced structures that show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. Some of them block the tunnel through which the growing proteins leave the ribosome, others prevent the formation of the peptide bond between amino acids. Still others corrupt the translation from DNA/RNA-language into protein language.

Several companies now use the structures of the ribosome in order to develop new antibiotics. Some of these are currently undergoing clinical tests, in order to come to grips with the problem of multiresistant bacteria (e.g. MRSA).

Nobel Physics Prize - 2009

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2009 with one half to Charles K. Kao, "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication" and the other half jointly to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor".

Half of the prize is awarded to Charles Kao who made a discovery that led to a breakthrough for fibre-optic communication. Today optical fibres make up the circulatory system that nourishes our information society. Light flows in threads of glass, as thin as a hair, which carries almost all of the telephony and data traffic in each and every direction. Without optical fibres there would be no internet nor broadband. A large share of the traffic is made up of digital images, which constitute the second part of the award. In 1969 Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith invented the first successful imaging technology using a digital sensor, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The CCD revolutionized photography, as light could now be captured electronically instead of on film.

The image sensor, CCD, is the advanced digital camera's electronic eye. Incoming light releases electrons in the CCD's photocells, the pixels. The more light, the more electrons are collected in the pixels.

The CCD array is read out row by row. Electrons slide off the array onto an electronic conveyor belt and are subsequently translated into digital ones and zeros. This digital form makes it easy to manipulate and transfer the images.

Every pixel is a silicon mini-capacitor built in layers that collects the electrons. A variable electric voltage is used for reading out the pixels. In this simple but ingenious way, almost the entire area of the sensor is used to collect light, creating the high performance of the CCD.

Shresth -- Another Feat in cloning

National Dairy Research Institute, N.D.R.I, Karnal has achieved yet another feat by successfully cloning a male buffalo calf named ‘Shresth’. Scientists of N.D.R.I Karnal made this achievement during early hours today through the new and advanced ‘Hand-guided Cloning Technique’. The hand-guided cloning technique developed at NDRI, is an advanced modification of the “Conventional Cloning Technique”.

This cloned calf weighing 41 kg was born through normal delivery with slight assistance carried out by a team of doctors. This cloned buffalo calf is different from the earlier clone calves as, in this case, the foster mother was provided opportunity for normal delivery, the cloned calf was from ear somatic cell of 2 week old buffalo calf, and the embryo which led to successful pregnancy and normal delivery had remained frozen at -196C for one week in liquid nitrogen and brought back to active life upon thawing at room temperature. The earlier two calves were born through caesarean operation and were produced by using cells from foetus and embryonic stem cell, respectively.

The scientists are of the opinion that the cryopreservation of embryos will need to be made as part of technique, so that the embryos could be transported and used at several places.

Earlier the NDRI has produced the world’s first cloned buffalo calf on 6th February, 2009 followed by second on June 6, 2009 and third on August 22, 2010.

O + OEG - ENERGY SECURITY

The oil and oil equivalent gas reserves (O+OEG) in the country has been increasing over the years.  On March end of 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, the balance oil and oil equivalent gas reserves of the country have been 1657.93 Million Metric Tonne of Oil Equivalent (MMToe), 1667.38 MMToe and 1741.16 MMToe respectively.

            Several measures have been taken to accelerate hydrocarbon exploration and production activities in order to enhance energy security of the country.  These measures include:

(i)                Carving out more and more areas for exploration  under various rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and Coal Bed Methane Policy (CBM).

(ii)             Application of Enhanced Oil Recovery/Improved Oil Recovery techniques for increasing recovery factor from existing fields.

(iii)           Acquisition of exploration acreages and producing properties overseas to bring in equity oil.

(iv)            Arresting decline from ageing fields.

(v)               Substitution of oil through use of non-conventional source of energy such as bio-diesel, ethanol etc.

Apart from the above, underground coal gasification and gas hydrates assessment are in the experimental stage.

Natural gas - availability and enhancement Strategy

The Minister further stated that cost of production of natural gas varies from field to field, depending on inter alia geological conditions, age of field,  location of  field, cost of equipments & services, etc.   Gas available under Administered Price Mechanism (APM) and New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) is sold at US $ 4.2/million british thermal unit (mmbtu) inclusive of royalty.   As regards customers in the North-East,  subsidy  of 40% is given by the Government.  Gas available under pre-NELP contracts is sold at an average price of US $ 5.24/mmbtu.  Further, LNG imported under long-term agreement is sold at US $ 6.53/mmbtu, while the price of spot cargo presently varies in the range US $ 5.40-9.4/mmbtu.

            The Petroleum Minister added that Government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to enhance availability of natural gas in the country, consisting inter alia of the following:-

i)                    Intensification of domestic Exploration & Production (E&P) activities through NELP rounds,

ii)                  Coal Bed Methane(CBM),

iii)                 Underground Coal Gasification,

iv)                Gas Hydrates,

v)                  Import of LNG from various countries, and

vi)                Transnational pipelines, viz., Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Pipeline and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

Technology for fixing oil wells

The position taken by ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell, which are clubbing together to put $1 billion into creating and equipping a new not-for-profit firm, the Marine Well Containment Company, is that the capability to do much better than at Macondo depends on having hardware designed for the job and available from day one. The companies outlined their plans at a public meeting held in New Orleans on August 4th by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

As the first diagram shows, the main component would be a containment assembly that could fit on top of a damaged blowout preventer, such as the one from which the Macondo oil poured forth. In the absence of a preventer, the assembly could fit on top of various other bits of wellhead equipment, or even on a bare pipe if it was in good enough condition, thanks to a set of adaptors and vice-like grips designed to let it mate with all the different forms of piping known to be in use at deepwater wells in the gulf.
This assembly would have powerful rams that could seal off the flow once it was attached to the relevant bit of broken plumbing. But it would also have outlets that could divert that flow, if need be, into undersea piping. If a well was badly damaged, the pressure that would build up if it were capped might cause it to spring another leak somewhere else. There were worries for some time that something like this would happen at Macondo.
Despite the assembly’s versatility, there might be times when it would have nothing to latch on to—if, say, all the sea-floor kit had toppled over, or if oil was gushing out of a hole in the seabed some distance from the well proper. For cases like this the system will have a range of watertight structures called caissons, which are based on the suction-pile technology used to emplace deep-sea moorings and foundations.

A giant sucking sound
A suction pile is open at one end. That end is put into the sediment into which the pile is to be stuck. The air is then pumped out and water pressure pushes the pile into the ooze, as shown in the second diagram. To make an oil-collecting caisson, such a pile would be used as a collar around a funnel-topped tube that would sit over the leak. Various sizes of caisson will be built, including one 15 metres (50 feet) or so in diameter, large enough to fit over a whole blowout preventer.
Once the caisson was in position, the pile would be pumped out and driven into the ooze. The caisson would fill with oil from the leak. A containment assembly would then be attached to the top of the caisson to send the oil elsewhere. The caisson could not simply be capped, because the oil pressure would blow its suction pile out of the sea floor.
Whether or not a caisson was used, the oil from the containment assembly would then pass through a manifold—a sort of switching yard for pipes—to one or more floating risers leading to the surface and held vertical by buoys. Here, as the third diagram shows, it would be collected by “capture vessels” kitted out with special modules that would flare off dissolved gas and pump the liquid into adjacent tankers. The whole system could cope with a flow of 200,000 barrels a day—more than three times the 63,000 barrels a day the government estimates was the Macondo well’s peak flow rate. The capture vessels could take other jobs around the gulf, but on contracts that allowed them to break off immediately in case of emergency.
Throughout the system there would be ways of warming things up and injecting antifreeze to stave off the formation of icelike methane hydrates. If the capture vessels had to leave in the teeth of a hurricane, there would be a system for injecting dispersants into any oil that spilled out of the risers. That should lessen its impact.
If this equipment had all been available in April, its proponents say it might have capped Macondo in weeks. The companies also say the system should never be needed if wells are properly designed and operated, and that they hope their billion-dollar backstop will never have to be used. The various reports into the Deepwater Horizon disaster will doubtless say the same, while endorsing the newly planned capabilities, or some variant thereof, and making some further drilling conditional on having them in place.

Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership

India will establish a Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership. The Centre will be owned and managed by the Government. It will be open to international participation through academic exchanges, training and research and development efforts. The Centre is aimed at strengthening India’s cooperation with the international community in the areas of advanced nuclear energy systems, nuclear security, radiological safety and radiation technology applications in areas such as health, food and industry. This initiative was announced by Prime Minister at the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington on 13th April 2010.

A phased approach will be followed for setting up of the Centre and no expenditure has so far been incurred on the Centre.

Launch of IPv6

The Government decided to facilitate the use of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) in the country in June 2009.

National IPv6 Deployment Roadmap was released in July 2010. Salient features of this roadmap include action plan for telecom service providers, formation of Task Force for implementation of IPv6, formation of Indian IPv6 Centre for Innovation and development of standards and specifications for IPv6 conformance and interoperability etc.

The steps taken by the Government for transition from Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) to IPv6 by stakeholders include the following.

         i.            Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) in Department of Telecom is coordinating with all stakeholders for transition from (IPv4) to IPv6.

       ii.            Central Government Ministries/Departments, State Governments and Telecom operators have been advised to procure IPv6 complaint equipments.

      iii.            Five workshops were held in New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata during 2009-10 for creating awareness and working out methodology for transition from (IPv4) to IPv6.

     iv.            IPv6 training program was held in November 2009 in association with Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), Australia.

       v.            Checklist for facilitating (IPv4) to IPv6 transition has been issued by TEC in December 2009.

     vi.            Interactions and meetings are held by TEC with nodal officers from various government organizations and service providers for transition to IPv6.

    vii.            It has been decided to form a Task Force on IPv6 implementation with three tier structure having oversight committee, steering committee and nine working groups.

Growth of Telecom Sector

The Union Government has taken various steps in line with strategy to spur Telecom Sector Growth.  These are:

• Setting up of an independent regulatory body in 1997 – the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), to assure investors that the sector would be regulated in a balanced and fair manner. Further changes in the regulatory system took place with the TRAI Act of 2000 that aimed at restoring functional clarity and improving regulatory quality. TRAI has come out with various regulations and directions, which included Telecom Mobile Number Portability regulation 2009, Telecom Tariff order 2009 as well as orders regarding Quality of Service etc.
• The Universal Service Obligation fund has been introduced in 2003 as a mechanism for transparent cross subsidization of universal access in telecom sector. The fund was to be collected through a 5 percent levy on the adjusted gross revenue of all telecom operators.
• Opening up of its telecom sector to foreign investors up to 100 percent holding in manufacturing of telecom equipment, internet services, and infrastructure providers (e-mail and voice mail), 74 percent in radio-paging services, internet (international gateways) and 49 percent in national long distance, basic telephone, cellular mobile, and other value added service.
• Decision of not capping on the number of access providers in any service area. 122 new UAS licenses were granted in 2008 to 17 companies in 22 service areas for benefit of consumers by increased competition.
• Permission of dual technology spectrum under the same UAS/CMTS licence.
• Decision to introduce Mobile Number Portability (MNP), that will alow susbscribers to retain their existing numbers while switching over from one service provider to another.
• With a view to regulate unsolicited calls from telemarketers, a regulation has been implemented whereby “National DO not call Registry” has been put in place.
• Conclusion of Auction of 3G/BWA Spectrum in 22 circles for Telecom Service Providers. Rollouts expected by the end of 2010.
• Target has been set to achieve 40% rural teledensity by 2012.
• Target has further been set to achieve 20 million Broadband connections by end of 2010.
• Broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2012.

Navigation System by ISRO

Indian Space Research Organisation is developing its own navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The IRNSS will have a constellation of 7 satellites and complementary ground infrastructure. The IRNSS system is planned to be made operational by end of 2014. Government has approved the IRNSS project at a total cost of Rs. 1420.00 crores in May 2006 for both space and ground infrastructure.

Saral Satellite by 2011

India plans to launch SARAL (Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA) satellite to monitor the sea water level. SARAL satellite will carry an Altimeter (ALTIKA) for studying the sea surface heights; and ARGOS payload, which is a satellite based data collection platform.

SARAL satellite is a joint project of Indian Space Research Organisation and the French National Space Agency. The ALTIKA and ARGOS payloads are built and supplied by the French National Space Agency. The satellite building and launching are the responsibilities of Indian Space Research Organisation.

The satellite bus is under fabrication at Indian Space Research Organisation. Integration and testing of the payloads are ongoing at the French National Space Agency. The satellite is likely to be launched in 2011.

This Information was given by Sh.Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions & Parliamentary Affairs in reply to a written question in Lok Sabha today.

Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership

India will establish a Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership. The Centre will be owned and managed by the Government. It will be open to international participation through academic exchanges, training and research and development efforts. The Centre is aimed at strengthening India’s cooperation with the international community in the areas of advanced nuclear energy systems, nuclear security, radiological safety and radiation technology applications in areas such as health, food and industry. This initiative was announced by Prime Minister at the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington on 13th April 2010.

A phased approach will be followed for setting up of the Centre and no expenditure has so far been incurred on the Centre.

Exploration of Thorium

India is known to be the only country in the world operating the Kamini reactor with Uranium 233 based fuel. The Indian Advanced Heavy Water Reactor is the only large scale reactor that has been designed and developed to produce a large fraction, nearly 2/3rd of its power from the fission of Uranium 233 in the equilibrium state of this reactor core.

In the early stages of development of nuclear energy in the world, several fuel options were investigated by different countries. These investigations also covered the use of thorium. Notably, the Shippingport Pressurised Water Reactor in United States and Arveitgemeinschaft Versuchs Reaktor (AVR) and Thorium High Temperature Reactor (THTR)-300, the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors in Germany demonstrated the use of thorium bearing fuel. However, no major programme was pursued for recycling of thorium based fuel and large scale utilization of thorium in reactors where a major component of power came from fission of Uranium 233.

India has been working on the development of technologies for Utilisation of Thorium for Nuclear Power Generation since the inception of the Indian Nuclear Programme. As a part of this work thorium has been irradiated in our Research Reactors and also in Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. Technologies for reprocessing of irradiated thorium fuel for the separation of Uranium-233 have also been developed on a pilot plant scale. Uranium-233 thus separated has been used as fuel in research reactor Purnima-II and later in the 30 kw Research Reactor Kamini now in operation at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). Thorium based fuel has been manufactured and loaded in the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) critical facility for Reactor Physics experiments as well. Further development of technologies for large scale commercial level manufacture and reprocessing of Uranium 233 bearing fuels is underway.

Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of Department of Atomic Energy has established 10.70 million tonnes of Monazite resources in the Beach sand placers along the eastern and western coast of the country as well as the inland placers in parts of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Jharkhand. Monazite resources contain about 9-10% of Thorium Oxide. About 8.5 lakh tonnes of thorium metal can be recovered from the said Monazite resources which will be used for future programmes of DAE.

Technology to Predict Tsunami

The Government has developed an advanced Expert Decision Support System (DSS) based on state-of-the-art Information Technology (IT), Visualization, geo-spatial and remote sensing technologies to build Indian Tsunami Early Warning System.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning System comprises a real-time network of seismic stations, Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPR), tide gauges and 24 X 7 operational tsunami warning centre to detect tsunamigenic earthquakes and to monitor tsunamis and to provide timely advisories to concerned government departments and to vulnerable community by means of latest communication methods with back-end support of scenario database, vulnerability modelling and Decision Support System.

Following are the Major Components of the Indian Tsunami Warning System:

i) Dedicated Tsunami Warning Centre operating on 24x7 basis for generation of timely advisories.
ii) A network of land-based seismic stations for earthquake detection and estimation of focal parameters in the two known tsunamigenic zones and to communicate the same to the Early Warning Centre in near-real time.
iii) A network of BPRs (that could detect and measure a change in water level of 1 cm at water depths of up to 6 km of water) to detect and monitor tsunami around these two tsunamigenic zones.
iv) Real-time observational network for upper ocean parameters and surface met-ocean parameters.
v) A network of real time tide gauges, radar-based coastal monitoring stations and current meter moorings to monitor progress of tsunami and storm surges.
vi) Generation of high resolution data base on bathymetry, coastal topography, coastal land use (for costal areas within 1-3 km in general and for 10-25 km at selected areas near coastal water bodies). vii) Coastal vulnerability modelling & Inundation mapping.
viii) Capacity building, training and education of all stake holders on utilisation of the maps, warning and watch advisories.
This information was given by the Shri Prithviraj Chavan ,Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in a written reply to a question by Shri K N Balagopal in Rajya Sabha today.

Missile Development Programmes

Status of missile development programmes, currently being run in the country, are given below:-



(i) Nag - It is a 3rd Generation Anti-Tank Missile having ‘top attack’ and ‘fire and forget’ capability with a range of 4 km. Its validation trial based on User Trial feedback has been completed successfully. Missile system is ready to enter production /induction phase.

(ii) HELINA - It is the Helicopter Version of 3rd Generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile with a range of more than 7 km. Launchers have been cleared for captive carriage trials and handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for carriage trials.

(iii) Astra – It is Air-to-Air Missile system for beyond visual range, designated to be a missile for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Its two guided flight trials from ground launcher have been undertaken during July 2010.

(iv) LR-SAM – It is a Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) jointly developed / produced by DRDO and IAI, Israel. Its Ballistic flight trials was undertaken in May 2010.

(v) MR-SAM – It is a Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MR-SAM) jointly developed/produced by DRDO and IAI, Israel. Its preliminary design has been carried out. Pre-tender briefing to all prospective vendors has also been carried out.

(vi) Agni Series of Surface-to-Surface Missiles: Agni-I with a range of 700 km and Agni-II with a range of more than 2000 km have been developed and inducted into Services. Agni-III with a range of 3000 km is ready for induction into Services.

(vii) BrahMos – it is a Supersonic Cruise Missile. It has twin roles against sea and land based targets and can be fitted on multiple platforms including ships, submarines, aircraft and mobile ground platforms. The missile has range of 290 km with 200 kg warhead and a speed of more than 2.8 mach number. BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile development programme started as a joint venture between India and Russia through an Inter Government Agreement in February 1998. It has already been inducted in Indian Navy and Indian Army. The Air Version of the missile is under development.



Except BrahMos, no offer has been received from any country for joint venture in missile development programmes. There is no plan to accept the conditions of Missile Technology Control Regime.



This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri SB Wankhede and Shri AP Shivaji in Lok Sabha today.

Measures to Increase Coal Production

Apart from initiating a series of measures, Ministry of coal has allocated 208 coal blocks to private and public companies to enhance coal production in the country. In addition, major steps taken by Coal India Ltd. to increase production of coal in its command area, which in turn enhances the supply to power sector is as under:-

• CIL has identified 142 new projects during XI Plan period the ultimate capacity will be 380.22 Mt. Out of 142 identified projects, 76 projects have been approved so far, and the expected contribution from these new projects will be 110.95 Mt in the terminal year of XI Plan (2011-12).

• Six high capacity underground mines identified for development and Operation through latest international technology.

• Restart mining in 18 abandoned mines belonging to three of its subsidiaries namely ECL, BCCL and CCL with appropriate technology forming JV with reputed mining companies.

• To meet coal demand, import coal by acquisition of mining stake abroad through Special Purpose Vehicle(SPV)/Coal Videsh.

• Up gradation of equipment size matching with bench height and stripping ratio are being introduced. For Dumper, up gradation from 35/50 T to 60T, 85T to 100T, 120 T to 150 T as well higher sizes are being introduced.

• Use of high capacity hydraulic shovels (10 to 25 CuM) will find increased acceptability. High capacity dozers of sizes up-to 850 HP will compliment the higher capacity excavators.

This was stated by Minister of State for Coal, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha Today.

Gagan to be Launched Tomorrow

India to be 4th Country in the World to have Satellite Based Navigation System

To Provide Satellite Based Augmentation System Services over India and neighbouring regions the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) -  a Satellite Based Navigation System (SBNS) is being launched tomorrow by the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel.  This system is expected to provide enhanced navigation performance for critical applications like Civil Aviation, Marine Navigation, Train & Road Transport, Precision Farming, Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, Surveying and Mapping (Geodetic & Geodynamic), Mining etc. GAGAN is a planned implementation of a Satellite Based Navigation System developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to deploy and certify an operational SBAS for the Indian Flight Information Region, with expansion capability to neighbouring Flight Information Regions (FIRs).  When commissioned for service, GAGAN is expected to provide a civil aeronautical navigation signal consistent with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) as established by the Global Navigation Satellite System Panel (GNSSP).  ICAO has endorsed Global Navigation Satellite System as Future Air Navigation System (FANS) for civil aviation.              The project involves establishment of a full complement of Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) consisting of 15 Indian Reference Stations (INRES), 3 Indian Navigation Land Uplink Stations (INLUS), 3 Indian Mission Control Centers (INMCC), 3 Geo-stationary Navigation payload in C and L bands and with all the associated Software and Communication links.             Global Positioning System (GPS)             The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite navigation system designed to provide instantaneous position, velocity and time information anywhere on the globe and in its vicinity.             The baseline satellite constellation consists of 24 satellites positioned in six earth-centered orbital planes.  The orbital period of a GPS satellite is one-half of a sidereal day or 11 hours 58 minutes.  The orbits are nearly circular and equally spaced about the equator at a 60-degree separation with an inclination of 55 degrees relative to the equator.  The orbital radius is approximately 26,600 km.  With the baseline satellite constellation, users with a clear view of the sky have a minimum of four satellites in view.             Need for Augmentation ·         Current GPS constellation cannot support requirements for all phases of flight. ·         Integrity is not guaranteed (all satellites are not monitored at all times; time-to-alarm is from minutes to hours, no indication of quality of service). ·         Accuracy is not sufficient (even with Selective Availability off, vertical accuracy>10m). ·         Availability and continuity must be met. How GAGAN works The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data is received and processed at widely dispersed INRES which are strategically located to provide coverage over the required service volume.  Data is forwarded to the INMCC, which process the data from multiple INRES to determine the differential corrections and residual errors for each monitored satellite and for each predetermined ionospheric grid point (IGP).  Information from the INMCC is sent to the INLUS and uplinked along with the GEO navigation message to the GAGAN GEO satellite.  The GAGAN GEO satellite downlinks this data to the users via two L-band ranging signal frequencies (L1 and L5), with GPS type modulation, to improve the accuracy and availability and provide integrity. Seamless Coverage GAGAN will provide augmentation service for GPS over India, Bay of Bengal, South-East Asia, Middle East expanding upto Africa.  GAGAN will be compatible and interoperable with other SBAS systems such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) of USA, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) of European Union (EU) and the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) of Japan. It will fill the gap between the European EGNOS and the Japanese MSAS to provide seamless air navigation service across regional boundaries. GAGAN Benefits To Civil Aviation Sector ·         Improved Efficiency/Economy Ø         Direct Routes Ø         Increased Fuel savings Ø         Precision approach at all Runways Ø         Significant cost savings due to withdrawal of ground aids Ø         Reduced workload of Flight Crew and ATCOs Ø         Improved Capacity through reduced aircraft separation ·         Higher Accuracy, Global Coverage ·         Improved Safety  Ø      Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) Ø      Enhanced Air-to-Air Surveillance: ADS-B Ø      Availability of MSAW facility (Min. Safe Altitude Warning) ·         Reduced Noise Pollution To Non-Civil Aviation Sector   ·         Marine Navigation ·         Train & Road transport ·         Precision Farming ·         Search and Rescue (SAR) operations ·         Surveying (Geodetic & Geodynamic) ·         Scientific community.