Monday 31 October 2011

China to launch Shenzhou-8 spacecraft

China will launch the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft on November 01 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located about 1,600 kms from Beijing.

According to the Chinese space agency (CNSA), the spacecraft will be remotely docked with the Tiangong 1 space module (launched on September 29), Xinhua reports.

This unmanned docking attempt - China's first - will be followed in 2012 with the manned Shenzhou 9 mission, which will perform a manned docking (also China's first) with the Tiangong 1 module.

Shenzhou 8 will feature a Russian androgynous docking module in place of the usual orbital module, and will perform its docking operation under ground control.

Vettel wins inaugural Indian Grand Prix


Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida on October 30.
Racing for the Red Bull Racing-Renault team, Vettel took total control of the race right from start, after he had claimed pole position from Saturday's qualifying session.
The win at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) was Vettel's 11th win this year and puts him on course to equal the record for the most number of wins in one F1 season, a record currently held by Michael Schumacher from 2004.
The race track at the BIC had been complemented by most of the participating teams for the challenging corners and the width of the track, which were expected to contribute to an exciting race weekend.
However, Vettel proved to be too good for the rest of the competition and despite strong attempts by McLaren's Jenson Button, the champion managed to hold on to his lead easily throughout the 60-lap race. Vettel also set the fastest lap of the race — on the very last lap — for the third time this season.

India's focus on centralised sewage system faulty

Even as 54 per cent of India’s total population does not have access to clean and safe toilets (according to a UNICEF finding for 2008), experts have criticised the government for its ‘centralised approach’ towards sewage treatment, a critical aspect of maintaining sanitation.
“It is a matter of shame. India accounts for 58 per cent of those who practice open defecation across the world,” Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh had recently said in a public function while talking about the findings for 2008 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
But experts have cautioned that building sanitation capacity without coupling it with decentralised treatment of sewage generated from it, will lead to an increase in many social and health problems. 
3000 years needed
“Even if we put a halt to the development of the cities at this very point in time, it will take us 3000 years to put sewer lines and cover the entire country with centralised sewage treatment plants at this rate. At present, only 269 towns of the more than 7000 towns and cities in India have sewage treatment plant according to government’s own data,” Mr Pathak said, citing the Central Pollution Control Board data.
He said that he has arrived at the conclusion after analysing the rate at, which the government has constructed sewer lines in the country since the first sewer system was laid down in 1870 in Kolkata.
The Central Pollution Control Board, in its 2005 report ‘Status of sewage treatment in India’ has stated that if the issue of sewage treatment is not treated urgently, it will fast “magnify to an unmanageable level”.
The report, one of the most recent ones available, has stated that the position of sewage treatment is “dismal” in the country. Though human waste is not the only component of sewage, it forms an important component in spreading pollution to the water bodies.
Terming the substantial emphasis on centralised sewer system as faulty and impractical, Dr. Pathak said, “It is impossible to cover all the towns and cities in India with this kind of centralised sewage system. First of all, the cost of construction, for laying down sewer lines and building treatment plants is prohibitive. Such plants need enormous quantity of water for flushing. Even the cost of maintenance is very high.”
“The decentralised method of sewage treatment will not only help provide safe sanitation to millions of deprived Indians, it will also solve a very big pollution concern and provide dignity to many, apart from generating energy,” he said.
Lauded as a sanitation innovator and social reformer, Dr. Pathak has received many awards including the Stockholm Water Prize in 2009 for the “development of cost-effective and culturally appropriate toilets and related treatment systems…”
His invention Sulabh Sanitation System was recognised by the UN-Habitat as ‘Global Urban Best Practice’. The UN-Habitat has awarded him with the ‘Scroll of Honour’. The UNEP (United Nations’ Environment Programme) also awarded him with the ‘Global 500 Roll of Honour’ a few years ago.
The Sulabh Sanitation system has been built in 1.2 million homes in India till now and in 8000 public places.
“Sulabh has trained people from 15 African countries. We have also started our work in Cambodia, Laos and such other countries. I have not patented the technology so that it can be freely used anywhere in the world,” Dr. Pathak said.
“The most important part is that the waste gets disposed in-situ. Further, energy can be generated from that waste. Thus the community or a small group of families can benefit from it. Most importantly, the government will not have to bother about making arrangements for carrying and treating it,” he said.

BASIC countries to frame common position on Kyoto protocol

The Environment Ministers of BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, India and China — will frame a common position ahead of the crucial Durban climate conference on several issues including the second commitment period of Kyoto protocol.
Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan will visit Beijing to attend the ninth meeting of BASIC countries. It is mainly for preparing the negotiations for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference. The climate conference in Durban will be held from November 28 to December 9.
The Kyoto protocol favours legally binding agreements, which call for mandatory emission cuts by the rich countries and voluntary cuts by the developing nations. India is opposed to any legally binding cuts for the developing countries.
On whether China is in agreement with the recent statement issued by Heads of the IBSA, the official said, “China is broadly in agreement with that [IBSA] approach.” Though maintaining that the two approaches are “slightly different on some issues,” the official stressed that “India believes that China generally agrees.”

Malabar ornithological survey: Kerala sets new benchmark

The Forest Department of Kerala has just completed the first-ever ornithological survey for the Malabar region recording 341 species of birds.
The survey is one of a kind notable for its sheer depth and span, more comprehensive than all such surveys undertaken so far in India. Hopefully, the five-member team including four eminent ornithologists commissioned by the Forest Department of Kerala, having completed such a through status report on the birds of Kerala, has established a new national benchmark for all such wildlife surveys in future.
The survey spans locations in North Kerala, which covers Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargode districts. The area extends from the Ghats, through the midlands, to the seacoast, which lies north of Palakkad Gap.
The forest areas studied are the Silent Valley National Park, Mannarkad forest division, Nilambur North and South divisions, the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary and their neighbouring areas as well as the Reserve Forests of Kasargode district and the wetlands of North Malabar.
Twelve locations, within them 58 sites and 103 transects, covering a distance of 2,200km were identified in the survey. This included six habitat types – tropical evergreen, tropical moist deciduous, tropical dry deciduous, Shola grassland, low elevation evergreen grassland and wetland areas.
The 341 species of birds surveyed comes to 73.27 per cent of all bird species so far recorded from Kerala. The survey could successfully estimate the density of 48 species of birds. Yellow-browed Bulbul is credited with the highest density (122.4 birds/sq km) followed by Small Sunbird with a density of 109.7.
The other high-density birds recorded are White-cheeked Barbet, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Black-headed Babbler and Oriental White-eye. Interestingly the density estimate also includes some of the skulking birds such as Indian Blue Robin, White–throated Ground Thrush and Spotted Babbler but the density of such birds could not be estimated during the Travancore-Cochin Survey 2009.
Density estimate for six migratory birds including Green Leaf-Warbler, Large–billed Leaf Warbler and Blyth’s Reed Warbler, and for some Western Ghat endemic birds such as Blue–winged Parakeet, Malabar Hornbill, Grey–headed Bulbul and Indian Rufus Babbler are also be obtained.
The survey also records the encounters of raptors, globally-threatened species of birds, rare birds, and abundant birds, as well as sightings of heronries of Malabar and breeding nests of birds. Of the 1,149 individual raptors belonging to 32 species encountered, 11 species are migrants and 21 residents. The two critically endangered vulture species, the White-backed vulture and Red-headed vulture, are sighted in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, the only region in Kerala that supports these vulture species.
22 of the 341 species surveyed belong to globally-threatened category as notified by IUCN. Alarmingly, of the 22 threatened species 17 are residents and, of which 9 are specifically endemic to Western Ghat. 15 species of birds are found to be abundant in the region, of which two are migrants, and one endemic. They include Yellow-browed Bulbul, Small Sunbird; Green Leaf-Warbler, Large–billed Leaf-Warbler and the three species of Bulbuls including the Black Bulbul.
15 species are found to be rare with only one sighting for each. Syke’s Warbler, Indian Grey Hornbill, Jerdon’s Bush Lark and Sirkeer Malkoha are some of the rare birds recorded. 121 breeding records for 58 species, of which five records each are for Malabar Grey Hornbill and Small Sunbird, four for White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, one each for Nilgiri Laughing-thrush and Black and Orange Flycatcher, and two for Wayanad Laughing-thrush, all of which are endemic to Western Ghat.
The landmark survey was conducted by an efficient team of five ornithologists led by C. Sasikumar, the Chief Investigator, and his four research associates, C.K. Vishnudas, S. Raju, P.A. Vinayan and V.A. Shebin. The surveyors spent a year (from November 1 2010 to the middle of October 2011) during, which they had covered over 4000 km, trekking through treacherous forest areas enduring extreme weather conditions and threats from wild animals.

The Hindu Literary Prize goes to debut novel


For the second successive year, a debut novel struck gold at The Hindu's “Lit for Life” literary festival. Rahul Bhattacharya bagged the ‘The Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction 2011' for his The Sly Company of People Who Care.
The book, which narrates a young Indian's Caribbean adventures in the company of a Guyanese diamond-hunter, was virtually deadlocked for the prize with the English translation of N.S. Madhavan's Litanies of Dutch Battery, but eventually won the day for “its consummate artistry, its refusal to exoticise India — or Guyana … and its non-judgmental attitude to the characters.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and a plaque.
Presenting the prize to the Delhi-based author, writer and MP Shashi Tharoor said it was important to support the efforts of The Hindu to celebrate good writing in English in fiction, especially as the challenge of getting people to read in an increasingly television-dominated culture was a formidable one.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Bhattacharya, who is also a cricket writer, joked that he was feeling a bit like (Mohinder) Amarnath running through the West Indies line-up in 1983 (when India won the World Cup).

Thursday 27 October 2011

sushil kumar wins Rs. 5 crore jackpot on Kaun Banega Crorepati 5


KBC 5 has  got its first contestant to win ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 5′. Sushil kumar from Bihar who is a computer operator and a tutor has won the jackpot amount of Rs 5 crore. Sushil Kumar earns Rs 6000 per month .the episode will be telecated on 2 November.Five months back, he got married.
 Sushil made wise moves while answering the questions. His deftness and presence of mind saw him cross all the hurdles until he got stuck at the thirteenth question, which was about the colonial power that withdrew its involvement from the Nicobar Island in 1968.
Sushil was doubtful about the answer so he made use of two of his lifelines – Phone a Friend and Double Dip – and came up with the answer that won him the dream amount. As a youngster, Sushil wanted to take the civil services exams. He wanted to come to Delhi and prepare for the exams. However, he could not do so as he was unable to afford the expensive coaching classes in the Capital. Now, after having won the bounty, Sushil plans to enroll himself at a prominent coaching institute in Delhi and start preparing for his dream job.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Durban climate negotiations meet won't be easy for India

India could find itself in a tough spot at the UN-sponsored climate negotiations in Durban, especially on the question of the legal nature of the global effort to deal with the climate change.

At the pre-conference meeting this week, host South Africa made it clear that the Durban meet would find a "resolution" to the contentious issue of continuing with the Kyoto protocol beyond December 2012 and "agreeing" on the legal nature of a future climate change system.

With South Africa, which is a BASIC constituent, coming out in the open and declaring its willingness to link the Kyoto Protocol with a legal pact that covers all countries, India will be forced to deal with pressure not only from developed countries but also constituents of the developing country, G-77 and China.

India's unequivocal objection to address the possibility and the legal nature of a global climate change agreement may find New Delhi isolated from the OPEC countries.

Experts say that a resolution of the legal form question may not be possible at Durban, especially with the US unwilling to make any big moves. With India continuing to take a hard position on the issue, it could mean that New Delhi would among those blamed for a less than successful outcome.

The tag of a "deal breaker" is a situation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sought to avoid. Many view India's recent amended proposal to include unilateral trade measures, intellectual property rights and equitable access to sustainable development, in the provisional agenda of the meet is being seen as "obstructionist" and "hard line".

This is because unlike the Chinese, who are willing to move forward provided that Washington reciprocates, India has made no provisional offers. Thereby closing the avenue for a mutually acceptable deal. Sources indicated that there is a general sense of disappointment with the "absence of flexibility in the Indian position".

At Durban, the big political question will be to find a way forward to ensure that global effort to reduce emission is undertaken in a manner that is "balanced, fair and credible" which will "preserve and strengthen the multilateral rules-based response to climate change".

India confronts US, EU at WTO over national solar power generation programme

India has stoutly defended its national solar power generation programme at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), where the US and the EU raised objections to its requirement of mandatory use of locally-made equipment.

India refuted allegations at a recent meeting of the WTO's committee on trade related investment measures, or Trims, that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission violated global trade rules.

"The mandatory use of solar modules manufactured in India, in the project, and the 30% local sourcing requirement is to give a boost to the nascent domestic industry and make non-renewable energy more affordable in the long run," the official said.

Along with the EU, the US, which has also taken up the issue bilaterally with India, raised the issue at the WTO meeting on Trims saying the mission requirements prevent them from exporting their technology and equipment.

India has, however, maintained that it is within its rights to lay down such guidelines for its energy security, especially since other countries like Canada and Italy also encourage local procurement for solar projects.

Yet, India is firming up its defence in case the US or the EU decides to lodge a formal complaint against the solar mission.

Japan has recently lodged a formal complaint against Ontario, Canada, at the WTO for establishing a feed-in tariff program, in which electricity generated by using renewable energy is subsidised. The programme favours equipment made in Ontario. "Although, in Canada's case local purchase is linked to tariff concessions, the basic regulatory requirement is similar in both countries," a Delhi-based trade lawyer who did not wish to be named said.

"One could also argue that since NTPC, which is a public sector body, will purchase solar power generated by the projects, it could amount to government procurement which is not bound by WTO rules," the lawyer said. He added that the Trims rules prohibiting local sourcing can be interpreted variously.

The national solar mission was launched last year to promote use of solar energy as part of the government's initiative under the national action plan on climate change. While investors in the solar projects will get incentives, such as relief on import duty for capital goods and exemption from excise on inputs, the government has put in place clauses of compulsory domestic sourcing of inputs, which will differ in the three phases of the mission.

World Bank may fund Mumbai'sTrans Harbour Link project

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project that connects Sewri and Nhava port here is likely to get a boost as the World Bank has shown keen interest in funding the said project.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing the project, said that it was in talks with the World Bank for funding the project. “The World Bank has been funding our few projects.

Six-lane road bridge

“They have now shown interest in funding our ambitious MTHL project,” the MMRDA Commissioner, Mr Rahul Asthana, said here. The 22-km, around Rs 8,300 crore MTHL will be a six-lane road bridge with provisions for two lanes for a Metro line.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) was handling the project initially, but it was later handed over to the MMRDA.
The World Bank had earlier tied up with the MMRDA to fund the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). “MMRDA is also in talks with the World Bank for its metro rail projects,” another official said.
The Authority is also in talks with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for providing soft loans for its other projects, including the metro rail project, the official said.
In August, the MMRDA had appointed a consortium of Arup Consulting Engineers and KPMG to conduct a techno-economic feasibility study of the MTHL. The consortium is expected to submit the report by October next year.

Monday 24 October 2011

World Polio Day to be observed on October 24 2011


Only one polio case has been detected so far this year in the country making it the longest polio-free period ever since eradication efforts were launched. The only case of polio reported this year has been from Howrah district in West Bengal on 13th January 2011 as compared to 39 cases in the country in the same period of 2010. For the first time no case of polio has been reported from UP (since April 2010) and also from Bihar (since September 2010). No case of type 3 polio has come up for over a year.  Closest ever to eradicating polio, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has decided to treat any fresh case of polio as a “public health emergency” in order to achieve polio eradication from India at the earliest. An Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan has been drawn up to intensify measures to build the immunity of children in all high risk areas and also to conduct intensive  immunization campaigns rapidly in response to any polio cases if they occurred.

In context of World Polio Day, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad noted that while the progress this year is remarkable, the risk still persists. “We are close to our goal but are not taking any chances. Efforts will be further intensified in the country to stop any residual poliovirus circulation and also to prevent any polio cases following an international importation,” he observed. Shri Azad also noted that the remarkable progress follows introduction of bivalent Oral Polio vaccine besides persistent efforts over the last few years in the highest risk areas and in reaching the most vulnerable populations such as the newborns, the migrants and the mobile populations.
To mitigate the risk of polio importation from Pakistan which is experiencing a spurt in cases and has re-infected China, polio immunization has begun at the Wagah border and Attari train station in Punjab since September and Munabo in Barmer district of Rajasthan since this month. All children crossing over into India by road and train are being administered polio vaccine. An alert has been sounded in the states bordering China to step up polio surveillance.  Continuous polio vaccination is also being carried out at 81 transit points along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar since April this year, the Minister said.
A series of new initiatives have been taken this year.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has put in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP). All states in India are preparing their EPRP. As a part of this plan, Rapid Response Team have already been constituted and (i) high-risk districts (ii) blocks (iii) villages are being identified to roll out measures to scale up routine immunization; address polio associated risk factors such as hygiene, hand washing and diarrohea management with the use of zinc and ORS. The plans are also identifying and putting resources in place to roll out of rapid and intense emergency response to any polio case.
A new communication campaign personalizing the message for polio immunization from ‘Har bachcha har bar’ (every child every time) to ‘mera bachcha har bar’ (my child every time) has been rolled out. The new campaign encourages all parents to take action to protect their children against polio. These measures are in addition to the intense efforts already being made in the polio endemic states of UP and Bihar to ensure that the children living the highest risk areas and specially the youngest children, the newborns, are rapidly protected. A 107 Block Plan that addresses actions to improve actions to improve polio coverage and routine immunization in 107 high risk blocks of UP and Bihar in addition to tackling risk factors such as reducing incidence of diarrhea, improving sanitation and water quality is being implemented. 
Special strategies are being implemented to protect children on the move – those of migrants, nomads, construction sites and brick kiln workers and the families returning to their homes in the endemic states on important festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Chatt. Mobile and transit vaccination teams immunize children at railway stations, inside running trains, at bus stands, market areas, brick kilns, construction sites etc. Around 5 million children are immunized by transit and mobile teams during every round in UP, Bihar and Mumbai alone. Polio immunization is also carried out at religious congregations such as the ongoing ArdhKumbh in Bihar, the annual ShravaniMela, Urs in Ajmer and elsewhere in UP and Bihar. 

India’s progress and efforts have been lauded by both national and international experts and bodies. The India Expert Advisory Group on Polio Eradication, which reviewed the programme in July mentioned that India is on track to eradicate polio. The International Monitoring Board (IMB) of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in its October report has said that India is on track to interrupt transmission in 2011. Lauding India’s efforts, the IMB said India had pushed barriers after barriers to reach a very favorable position. India stands alone as the country that has demonstrably made consistent progress over a prolonged period of time.

It is pertinent to note that in 1985, there were estimated 2 lakh polio cases in the country in the wake of which polio vaccine was universalized and integrated in the Universal Immunization Programme for administration across the country. In 1995, when Pulse Polio Programme was launched, there were still an estimated 50,000 polio cases in the country. However 2010 was the turning point when only 42 polio cases were reported. Every year two National Immunisation Days (NIDs) are carried out in January and February.  During each NID nearly 17.2 crore children are immunized. Nearly 23 lakh vaccinators under the direction of 155,000 supervisors visit 20 crore houses to administer oral polio vaccine to children under the age of 5 years. The polio campaigns during the rest of the year cover polio endemic states and other areas at risk of importation of poliovirus. 

Saturday 22 October 2011

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011


The Human Development Index (HDI) in the country rose by 21% says a report while cautioning that health, nutrition and sanitation remained key challenges for India. India Human Development Report, 2011, prepared by Institute of Applied Manpower Research, placed Kerala on top of the index for achieving highest literacy rate, quality health services and consumption expenditure of people. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Goa were placed at second, third and fourth position respectively.

The report was released on October 21 by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the presence of Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. It said, as on today, two-thirds of the households in the country reside in pucca (cemented) houses and three-fourth of families have access to electricity for domestic use. According to the report, India's HDI has registered an impressive gains in the last decade as the index increased by 21 per cent to 0.467 in 2007-08, from 0.387 in 1999-2000.


However, it noted that Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Assam are those states which continue to lag behind in HDI and remain below the national average of 0.467. At the same time, the quantum of improvement in HDI in some of the poor states was higher than the national average, the report said, citing the cases of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Assam. The overall improvement in the index was largely attributed to the 28.5 per cent increase in education index across the country.


It ranges from 0.92 for Kerala to 0.41 in the case of Bihar. The improvement in the education index was the "greatest" in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to name a few, the report said. The analysis also indicates that improvement in the health index, as compared to education, has been lower. It ranges from 0.82 in Kerala to 0.41 in Assam. It observed that despite the Right to Education Act, school education faces challenges of quality and employability. The report also said that despite improvements, health, nutrition and sanitation challenges are most serious.


Stating that open defecation was posing a serious threat to health and nutritional status, the report said even though half of the population had access to sanitation in 2008-09, there was still wide inter-state variation. It said 75% households in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Uttarakhand do not have toilet facilities. The report revealed even in Nirmal Gram Puraskar winning villages, toilets are often being used for storing, bathing and washing purposes. On the issue of right to food and nutrition, the Human Index Report revealed that calorie consumption has been declining and the intake of calories by poor are way below the recommended norm.


The report said Gujarat fares the worst in terms of overall hunger and nutrition among the industrial high per capita income states. The report also noted that "India is the worst performer in terms of low birth weight, underweight and wasting among children in BRIC and SAARC countries”. Reacting to the findings, Ramesh said increased focus should be laid on health and nutrition during the 12th Plan period even as he lauded the growth in the education sector. "On nutrition, I am puzzled as to why high rate of malnutrition continue to persist even in pockets of high economic growth," he said referring to findings of Gujarat. The minister said total expenditure on sanitation has been only one-tenth of the resources allocated for the water sector.


Ramesh attributed the positive growth in education to Central "interventions" like Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan and RTE. The report said between 2002-03 and 2008-09, there has been an improvement in condition of people's housing with 66% population residing in pucca housing. In rural areas, share of household in pucca houses has increased from 36% to 55%. It said a greater proportion of Muslims than the SCs and STs live in pucca houses due to their urban concentration. The report revealed that three-fourths of all households had access to electricity, with 75% households having access to electricity for domestic use. Insofar as tele-density was concerned, the report said it increased at an "impressive pace" over time from 22% in 2008 to 66% till December 2010, largely led by growth in urban tele-density.


It said good governance and social mobilisation by state governments was reflected by the fact that SCs and OBCs in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were better off than even the upper castes in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh in terms of various health outcome indicators. The report also highlighted the fact that 60% of the poor were concentrated in states like Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It said though incidence of poverty declined over the years across states, the above said states performed much worse than others in terms of poverty reduction. Further, asset ownership both in urban and rural areas continued to be highly unequal and concentrated among top five per cent of households.

Pakistan wins UNSC seat

Pakistan narrowly won a hotly-contested seat to the UN Security Council on October 21 joining India as a two-year non-permanent member on the body.

India, which is already serving as a non-permanent member for the 2011-2012 term, is believed to have voted for Pakistan, the two sides having made common cause on many issues at the UN except for Kashmir. Pakistan's term is for two years beginning January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013, overlapping with India for one year.

Pakistan just about scraped through, securing 129 out of 193 votes in the United Nations General Assembly, exactly the two-third majority required to win the seat. Its principal opponent in the Asia-Pacific region, Kyrgyzstan, won just 55. This would be the seventh time Pakistan would serve on the Security Council, and the fourth time its term would overlap with India. India won its latest two-year term by securing a landslide 187 votes.

Guatemala and Morocco were the other members who joined the 15-member council, five of whom are permanent members with veto powers. The other ten are non-permanent members on two year rotations. There will be a second round of voting for two more seats, one in Africa between Togo and Mauritania and one in Eastern Europe between Azerbaijan, Slovenia and Hungary. Pakistan avoided a second round by just about managing to get the required 2/3rd majority in the first round itself. 



The last time India and Pakistan served together on the council was in 1977. With India and Pakistan on the council next year, seven of the 15 members will be nuclear powers.

Friday 21 October 2011

An unprecedented step in space cooperation


A Soyuz rocket lifted off on October 21 on its maiden flight from Europe's space base here, carrying the first two satellites in the Galileo geo-positioning system.
The launch marked an unprecedented step in space cooperation, being the first by the veteran rocket beyond Russia's historic bases at Plesetsk and Baikonur.
As mission controllers counted off the final seconds, Soyuz's main engines ignited, a cluster of umbilical masts flipped back and at 1030 GMT the rocket clawed its way skywards through a pounding tropical rain.
After a nine-minute flight through Earth's atmosphere, its final stage, the Fregat, fired up to drive the satellites toward their orbital slots, a last leg that should take more than three hours.
“The first part of this mission has gone well,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, chief executive of Arianespace, which markets launches at Kourou.
October 21st  launch came after a 24-hour postponement caused by a faulty valve in a ground system designed to disconnect fuel lines to the rocket's third stage just before flight.
Soyuz is a space legend, for it traces its lineage to 1957 with Sputnik, the first satellite, and to the first manned flight, by Yuri Gagarin, in 1961. October 21st  launch was the 1,777th in the Soyuz saga. It has a success rate of 94.4 per cent. A symbol of national pride in Russia, the rocket was deployed at a specially-built pad at Kourou under a 2003 deal intended to complete Arianespace's marketing range.
Arianespace says it has orders for 14 Soyuz launches from Kourou, including the third and fourth satellites in the Galileo constellation next year. Galileo is intended to give Europe independence in satellite navigation, a vital component of the 21st-century economy, from the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). When completed in 2020, it will comprise 27 satellites and provide accuracy to within a metre, compared to three to eight metres for the GPS.

The ‘Arab Spring’ and beyond

The Arab Spring is a misnomer used by the media to describe the uprising that the self-immolation of Mohammad Bouazizi unleashed in Tunisia on December 18, 2010 in protest against police corruption and ill-treatment — a spark that ignited into wildfire and spread to Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and to other countries. In January, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, the fountainhead of Islamic fundamentalism.
But it was in Egypt that the computer-literate working class youth and their supporters among middle-class college students, created a veritable revolution, fanned by the whirlwind of many human rights activists, labour, trade unionists, students, professors, lawyers, and especially unemployed youth. A Facebook page set up to promote the demonstrations, attracted tens of thousands of followers. The government mobilised the riot police and resorted to infiltration to break the uprising, but the demonstrations by students and labour activists continued in Tahrir Square, until President Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign on February 11, 2011, after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency.
The euphoria that chants such as “the people and the Army are united” that had reverberated around Egypt’s squares created, was rudely snuffed out within a week by the Egyptian military Generals, who grabbed power from President Hosni Mubarak. They did not identify themselves as partners in the revolution, but claimed to be the sole bearer of its legitimacy. The haste with which they discarded the façade of secularism that Mubarak’s authoritarian regime was using against the Muslim Brotherhood, resulted in the largest demonstration on Friday, July 29, by thousands of Islamists since the uprising, calling for the imposition of strict Shariah law. Many demonstrators carried Saudi Arabian flags and placards that said: ‘Bin Laden is in Tahrir.’ As recently as 2009, the Brotherhood had called for a ban on women or Christians serving as Egypt’s President.
Tahrir Square, once the scene of wild celebrations, turned into a battlefield as the Army moved in to disperse the activists, beating them with clubs and electric rods, and even firing live ammunition. Hundreds have since been thrown in jail and 12,000 civilians have been tried in military tribunals — a number that is far more than was treated thus during Mubarak’s 30-year dictatorship. Widespread torture by beatings, electrocution, and even sexual assault by military personnel, has been reported. The police, in connivance with the authorities, have shot and killed Coptic Christians who protested against Islamists that had set fire to their churches. The Egyptian Coptic Patriarch, Chenouda III, was awarded the 2000 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence for encouraging interfaith dialogue.
The Islamic retrogression is a far cry from the colourful secular flowers that had blossomed during the Arab Spring with the establishment of the Baath Party in 1946. “Baath,” which means "resurrection" or "renaissance," was a movement that was founded in Damascus by two Syrian intellectuals: Michel Aflaq, a Greek Orthodox Christian (1910-1989), and Salah al-Bitar, a Sunni Muslim (1912-1980). In the early 1930s, Alfaq and Bitar had gone to study at the Sorbonne University in Paris and worked together to formulate a doctrine that combined aspects of Arab nationalism and socialism committed to Arab unity and the freedom of the Arab world from the clutches of Western colonialism.
On their return to Syria in the early 1940s, they became school teachers, and together with a significant number of Christian Arabs as founding members, they promoted Baathist ideology within a nationalist and secular political framework that rejected the faith-based orientation. These ideas of protecting the minority status of non-Muslims, found favour with the progressive leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement such as Nasser in Egypt, Nehru in India, Tito in Yugoslavia and Sukarno in Indonesia, since the secular ideology helped them to stabilise the ethnic and communal conflicts in their newly independent countries. They also supported the Baathist concept of socialism that differed from classical Marxism.
These were among the reasons for Baathism having grown rapidly, establishing a number of branches in different Arab countries. Baathism went on to form governments in Syria and Iraq, as well as in Egypt briefly when Syria merged with Egypt in 1958, to become the United Arab Republic. There could not have been better interlocutors than Aflaq, representing the Greek civilisation, and Bitar, personifying the Phoenician culture. They conceived their respective religions as a mere appendix attached to the Greek and Phoenician classical antiquity that spread across the Mediterranean region from 1550 BC to 300 BC.
This region, known as the ‘Fertile Crescent,’ comprising ancient Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, was home to the earliest urban communities in the world, spanning some 5000 years of history. It was in ancient Iraq that the first literate societies developed in the late 4th millennium BC. They developed the first cities and complex state bureaucracies, using a highly sophisticated writing system. Their scholars compiled historical, juridical, economical, mathematical, astronomical, lexical, grammatical and epistolary treatises. They invented the first two-wheeled wooden carts and built roads, earlier than 3000 BC. It was this cradle of civilisation that the illegal Anglo-American invasion destroyed. The invaders installed bin Laden’s jihadists to promote their Islamic agenda.
Taha Hussein (1889-1973) was the senior mentor of Aflaq and Bitar. He was one of the most influential 20th century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, known as the pioneer of the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. An admirer of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, he was a nationalist, and his vision of Egyptian secular culture was embedded in what he called “Pharaonism.” He believed that “Egypt could only progress without reclaiming its ancient pre-Islamic roots.” He opposed Saudi Arabia’s Stone-Age Islamic culture of the desert that was alien to the rich Arab cultures of the Fertile Crescent.
Taha Hussein was prosecuted for his views and lived in exile for several years. It was not until the 1950s that he was rehabilitated, on the eve of Egypt becoming a republic, and appointed Minister of Knowledge (now the Ministry of Education). This gave him the opportunity to initiate a number of educational reforms, such as free education for children. Like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India, Taha Hussein left no stone unturned to make education secular. He transformed many of the Koranic schools into secular primary schools and secularised not only the Al-Azhar but also a number of scientific universities that he established. He upgraded several high schools to colleges, such as the Graduate School of Medicine, Agriculture and others.
Since the United States’ alliance with bin Laden’s Mujahideen destroyed the secular Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1989, and dismantled the secular Baath administrations in Iraq for the benefit of al-Qaeda jihadists, the abortion of the 2011 Arab Spring has given the Anglo-Americans another wonderful opportunity to install Islamists in the Arab world. These ferocious vultures are now hovering over Syria, the last bastion of Baathism, under the pretext of democracy, to tear apart the amity between its Muslim and Christian communities. But so far they have found no ruse to directly attack Syria, as President Bashar al-Assad could not be accused of “possessing weapons of mass destruction capable of destroying Western civilisations within 45 minutes.” So the Arab Spring has become the Trojan horse to supply arms and ammunition to the dissidents and escalate the conflict into an emergency to isolate Syria by imposing United Nations sanctions.
The computer-literate students and working class youths and their supporters among the middle class who had initiated the protests, are naturally baffled, as I was when India was partitioned by the British colonialists. The impact of the divide-and-rule policy was even more devastating on the subcontinent’s Sufi Islam as Pakistan’s military dictators uprooted it to cut the Gordian knot with Mother India’s secular and pluralist culture. The political scenario in the Arab countries seems to be heading towards one similar to the struggle now being waged in Pakistan between Muslim fanatics and the more moderate sections of society,
As with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Ennahda Party of the Islamist Rachid Ghannouchi is expected to win the elections in Tunisia next month and choose an Assembly to draft a new Constitution. His biographer Azzam Tamimi wrote: “The real struggle of the future will be about who is capable of fulfilling the desires of a devout Muslim. It’s going to be about who is Islamist and who is more Islamist, rather than about the secularists and the Islamists.” During a re¬cent debate with a secular critic, Ghannouchi asked: “If the Islamic spectrum goes from bin Laden to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which of them is Islam?” And he argued: “Why are we put in the same place as a model that is far from our thought, like the Taliban or the Saudi model, while there are other successful Islamic models that are close to us, like the Turkish, the Malaysian and the Indonesian models — models that combine Islam and mo¬dernity?”
Ghannouchi seems unaware of Prime Minister Erdogan’s antecedents. As Mayor of Istanbul in 1995, he declared that “the New Year’s Day is a Christian holiday and not a legitimate cause for celebration by Muslims,” and that “shaking hands with the opposite sex is prohibited by Islam.” In 1997, he identified Turkish society as having “two fundamentally different camps — the secularists who follow Kemal Atatürk’s reforms, and the Muslims who unite Islam with Shariah laws.” The secular lullaby he is singing to put his people to sleep and join the European Union, is symbolised by the Islamic hijab with which President Gul’s wife wraps her head.
Regarding Indonesia and Malaysia, Ghannouchi would have known better had he married an Indonesian Muslim — as I did in 1963 — and witnessed how the indigenous syncretistic cultures derived from the secular Buddhism and multicultural Hinduism are being systematically destroyed by the innumerable Wahabi mosques and fundamentalist madrasas that the Saudi petrodollars have built in these countries.
The omens are ominous as thousands of Islamists in Tunis have protested against the screening of a film they condemn as “un-Islamic and blasphemous.” And in Cairo, a student attending a Salafist protest meeting asked: “If democracy means majority, then why do they want to impose on us the views of the minorities — the liber¬als and the secularists — when we Islamists are the major¬ity? Salafis are the extremists that espouse violent jihad against civilians as a legitimate expression of Islam.”
The Arab Springers seem well on their way towards subscribing to the Sunni majoritarian culture and becoming another “epicentre of terrorism” like Pakistan, where even the moderate civilians are throwing rose petals on the assassin of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who was assassinated for defending a Christian woman condemned to die for insulting Islam. The judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court who sentenced Mumtaz Qadri to death has gone into hiding after lawyers attacked his courtroom, and a spate of protests and death threats. Banner-carrying mobs in Lahore, Rawalpindi and other cities are “saluting Qadiri’s glory,” and some fundamentalist organisations have announced huge rewards for anyone who would kill the judge.
“Pakistan once had a violent, rabidly religious lunatic fringe. This fringe has morphed into a majority. The liberals are now the fringe. We are now a nation of butchers and primitive savages. Europe’s Dark Ages have descended upon us,” said Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad.

Obama honours Indian-American activist Vijaya Emani

U.S. President Barack Obama has honoured Indian-American activist Vijaya Lakshmi Emani posthumously with the Presidential Citizens Medal for her courage in overcoming and speaking out against domestic abuse in the Indian-American community, according to an IANS report from Washington.
“Breaking long-held taboos, Vijaya Emani lent her voice to protect Indian-American women from domestic violence,” Mr. Obama said while presenting the nation's second-highest civilian honour to Emani's daughters -- Sujata and Nirmala -- in the East Room of the White House.
“She was a trailblazer who shared her personal story to help other battered women overcome abusive relationships,” Mr. Obama said of Emani, who was killed on January 15, 2009 at the age of 51 when she was hit by a truck in Ohio.
Vijaya Emani was born at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh to Indu Rani and G. Venkataramana Reddy and she was a meritorious student at every level of her education. She made her way to the United States in 1986 after graduating in engineering from Osmania University in 1980 and later received her M.S. degree in Computer Science from Cleveland State University.
With her marriage ending in divorce, she overcame personal struggles to bring up her daughters with the help of her mother. Vijaya came to the forefront of the Indian community, first working with the Northeast Ohio Telugu Association, then with the Federation of Indian Community Associations and with Greater Cleveland Asian Community later.
She initiated single-parent support groups and opened discussion about immigrant domestic violence. An advocate of women's empowerment and community involvement, Vijaya rose to be a civic leader to one of the largest minorities in the city of Cleveland. She worked to help set up the India Cultural Garden in 2002 and installation of Gandhiji's statue in 2006.
The news of Vijaya Emani receiving the award from Mr. Obama aroused keen interest in the elite sections of Kurnool town, Several citizen activists launched a search to trace her roots. The former Mayor S. Raghurami Reddy, social activist K. C. Kalkura and collector of antique objects Venkateshwar Reddy were in the forefront among them.

Pawar Calls for Reforms in Agriculture Marketing

Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Shri Sharad Pawar has called for reforms in agricultural marketing. He said, the prevailing system which comprises regulated markets set up by the States under APMC Act has become a constraint on farmers’ ability to market their produce at the best possible prices. Shri Pawar was addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here today.

The Minister said, large number of intermediaries and large transaction costs, such as market fee, entry tax make marketing reforms a priority. He said, “ We continue to pursue this with States and have achieved some success. Our model APMC Act of 2003 has been adopted, to varying degrees so far by 17 States and nine States have also framed the Rules . There is no APMC Act in Bihar, Kerala, Manipur, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra, & Nagar Havel, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.”

Shri Pawar said, “Farmers, specially small and marginal are unable to take advantage of the market system and often have to resort to distress sale. Access to safe and scientific storage facility, coupled with efficient credit is the solution.” The Minister said that Centre endeavours to provide this through Grameen Bhandarn Yojana. Since inception of the scheme in 2001, over 25 000 godowns representing incremental capacity of about 290 lakh MT with a total investment of Rs. 800 crore have been sanctioned.

Under the Grameen Bhandaran Yojana subsidy is being provided @ 25% of the project cost to all categories of farmers, Agriculture graduates, cooperatives & CWC/SWCs. All other categories of individuals companies and corporations are being given subsidy @ 15% of the project cost. In case of NE States, hilly areas and SC/ST entrepreneurs, their cooperatives and women farmers, the subsidy is 33.33%.

This scheme has now been further rationalized, on the basis of feedback and suggestions received from the states. Capital Cost norms have been revised to more realistic levels: from Rs. 2500/- to Rs. 3500/- per tonne in respect of godowns of capacity up to 1000 tonnes and from Rs. 1875 to Rs. 3000 per tonne for godwons exceeding 1000 tonne capacity. For the North Eastern and hilly States, the norm permissible is now Rs. 4000/- per tonne. Similarly, the scheme which hitherto could take up schemes of maximum capacity of 10,000 tonnes can now go upto 30,000 tonnes (25,000 for NE and hilly States).

Dr. Charan Das Mahant, Minister of State for Agriculture was also present in the meeting.

MPs who participated in the meeting are: Shri A Ganeshamurthi, Shri Dhruva Narayana Rangaswamy, Shri M. Krishnaswamy, Dr. Pulin Bihari Baske, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Sardar Sher Singh Ghubaya, Shri Ramesh Rathod and Shri Kunvarjibhai Bavalia of Lok Sabha, Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Shri Vikram Verma, Dr. K.P. Ramalingam, Shri T.M. Selvaganapathi, Smt. Mohsina Kidwai and Smt. Renubala Pradhan of Rajya Sabha and Shri Raj Babbar, Lok Sabha as Special invitee.

Indo-French Joint Military Training : Ex Shakti – 11

An Indo-French Joint Military Training Exercise SHAKTI – 2011 held at Chaubattia with effect from 09 to 21 October 2011 under the aegis of Garud Division. French Army has been represented by four Officers and 50 troops of the 13 Mountain Infantry Battalion while an equal number of officers and troops participated from Second Battalion the Bihar Regiment, under the aegis of 99 Mountain Brigade of the Indian Army.

Exercise Shakti – 11 the first ever Indo-French exercise between the two nations which aimed not only at training troops in Counter Terrorist Operations but also in enhancing defence cooperation and military relations between the two nations. It has provided an ideal platform for the personnel of the two countries to share their experiences on counter terrorist operations; especially in mountainous terrain. The exercise was conducted in the areas adjoining the salubrious town of Ranikhet which provided an excellent opportunity for the contingents of the two countries to practice and rehearse drills and procedures related to operations in this rugged terrain.

The activities conducted during training includes familiarization with weapons & equipment being used by both the countries, introduction to the organization, concept and basic tactics at infantry company and platoon level and modalities of conducting complex operations like Area Domination Patrols, Cordon and Search operations and Search and Destroy Operations in counter insurgency environment. Personnel from the French contingent also got a chance to fire infantry weapons being used by the Indian Army during day as well as night.

The training culminated in a 48 hours Consolidation Exercise in which troops of both nations carried out a daring Search and Destroy Operation in the general area of Pilkholi village on the outskirts of Ranikhet. The troops had reached the area of operations after a grueling march throughout the night of 20th Oct 11 and thereafter carried out a precise, well coordinated and executed operation to neutralize the 2 terrorists hiding in the dense forests of Pilkholi. The search and destroy mission included clearing and destruction of a terrorist hideout, employment of the Quick Reaction Teams to neutralize escaping terrorists and carrying out a thorough search of the dense forest. The highlight of the event was an audacious and surgical Raid by heliborne commandoes of both armies on a simulated target. The commandoes of the French Army also employed their Paragliding skills and laid effective stops by employing three paragliding commandoes during the raid. The final phase of the exercise was reviewed by Brigadier General Herve Wattecamps and Colonel Bertrand Lavaux as representatives of France and Major General Rajesh Arya, Vishishtha Seva Medal, General Officer Commanding, 6 Mountain Division and Brigadier A K Yadav, Commander, 99 Mountain Brigade representing India.

The General Officer Commanding during the interaction with the press, said ‘During the course of training, besides honing their counter terrorism skills and sharing their experiences on the Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorist operations, the troops developed a remarkable mutual understanding and inter-operability that will further strengthen relations between our two great armies.’ The General Officer declared the exercise an ‘unprecedented success’.

Indo Oman Air Exercise – Eastern Bridge – II Concludes at Jamnagar

A four day joint exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) concluded October 21,  at Air Force Station Jamnagar. The exercise, named “Ex Eastern Bridge - 2011” marks the second of the series, the first was held in Oct 2009 wherein six IAF Jaguars had operated at RAFO Thumrait, Oman. It is the first time that the RAFO Jaguars have participated in a Joint exercise held in India.

The RAFO contingent comprised of six Jaguar aircraft and 115 personnel. The IAF’s Jaguars and MiG 29s based at Jamnagar have participated in the exercise.

RAFO Jaguars had ferried in directly from Thumrait and landed at Jamnagar. Two years back when the IAF contingent visited Oman, their Omani counterparts had expressed keen interest and desire to fly over Indian terrain which has a vast variation quite unlike the Omani flatbed desert. After having flown from Air Force Station Jamnagar, they would understand the challenges the IAF routinely encounters flying over the varying Indian landscape with deserts to the North and dense vegetation and hills towards South Gujrat.

After the familiarization of RAFO contingent with local flying operational procedures at the base, the exercise commenced on 17 Oct 2011. The 04 day long exercise involved a variety of flying missions from each other’s best practices in terms of operational, maintenance and administrative procedures. The exercise gave vast exposure to the aircrew of RAFO and IAF, towards missions involving long duration sorties with in flight refueling, large force strike packages, air to ground bombing and maritime strike roles routinely performed by the IAF both independently and in mixed operations.

This exercise did not only enrich the IAF and RAFO professionally but culturally also as the Omani people and Indians share a similar culture. The Ex provided an opportunity of rich interaction between the personnel of both countries. Veterans of EX- Eastern Bridge-I in 2009 also got a chance to meet old friends from RAFO. This has strengthen the bond between the Air Forces, IAF and RAFO.

At the culmination of the exercise an informal social interaction and a friendly football match between the teams of the participating contingents have been played with an aim to enhance mutual understanding and bonhomie. The Omani’s have shown a fondness for Indian cuisine and have especially liked the Khakras, samosas and Dhoklas.

National Policy for Welfare of Senior Citizens

The National Policy on Older Persons, 1999 envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter and other needs of older persons to improve the quality of their lives.

The Ministry of Social Justice &Empowerment is implementing the scheme of integrated programme for Older Persons under which financial assistance is provided to Non-Governmental Organisation, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Local Bodies,etc. for running and maintenance of old age homes. An amount of Rs 60.73 lakh, Rs.52.02 lakh and Rs. 67.18 lakh were released to NGOs in Assam for running and maintenance OAHs under the scheme during 2008-09, 2009-10, and 2010-11 respectively.

Besides, Various concessions/Facilities like income tax rebate; concession in rail and air fare; separate queue for older persons and geriatric clinic in several government hospitals, etc.are provided to senior citizens by the Central Government.

Thursday 20 October 2011

NOBEL PRIZES 2011

Saul Perlmutter thumb pictureBrian P. Schmidt thumb pictureAdam G. Riess thumb picture
THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS
Saul PerlmutterBrian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae"
Dan Shechtman thumb picture
THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
Dan Shechtman "for the discovery of quasicrystals"
Bruce A. Beutler thumb pictureJules A. Hoffmann thumb picture
THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann "for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity"
Ralph M. Steinman thumb picture
THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE
Ralph M. Steinman "for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity"
Tomas Tranströmer thumb picture
THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
Tomas Tranströmer "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality"
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf thumb pictureLeymah Gbowee thumb pictureTawakkul Karman thumb picture
THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Ellen Johnson SirleafLeymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work"
Thomas J. Sargent thumb pictureChristopher A. Sims thumb picture
THE PRIZE IN ECONOMIC SCIENCES
Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims "for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy"

Tuesday 18 October 2011

FIFTH IBSA SUMMIT


Concerned at the debt crisis in Eurozone, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of South Africa and Brazil on Tuesday asked Europe and other advanced economies to take urgent steps to prevent the global economy from slipping into a double-dip recession.
They also demanded reform of global institutions of governance, including the United Nations and financial bodies, to address the current global challenges.
Dr. Singh and South African and Brazilian Presidents Jacob Zuma and Dilma Rousseff respectively discussed the crisis being faced by the advanced countries at a day-long trilateral summit. They were in agreement that the situation needed to be prevented from spiralling out of hand.
Dr. Singh said the world financial and capital markets were showing signs of “acute distress” due to the negative signals sent by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and recessionary trends in the “traditional engines” of global economy – the United States, Europe and Japan.
“Developing countries cannot remain untouched by the negative impacts of these developments. Their ability to address their developmental challenges has been adversely affected,” he said at the 5th India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Summit.
“We hope effective and early steps will be taken by Europe and other advanced economies to calm the capital and financial markets and prevent the global economy from slipping into double-dip recession,” Dr. Singh said.
With G-20 Summit in the offing in Cannes early next month, the Prime Minister said the IBSA should coordinate their positions in the run-up to it to ensure that priorities of the developing economies were adequately reflected in the deliberations of the grouping.
The grouping was united in its efforts to address the deficit in global governance, he said and pressed for enlargement of the U.N. Security Council to reflect the present day reality. 


 IBSA needs to step up pace on trade within the grouping and security

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attened for the Fifth IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) Summit at a time when all three are serving concurrently as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and there are questions about its relevance after South Africa joined the BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) grouping in which it was the only one among the three excluded till the Sanya summit held in April.
Starting as a grouping that was stung by western intransigence at the Doha Round of trade talks, India has differentiated it from BRICS by pointing out that it is a grouping of democracies from three continents.
But as was seen at the BRICS summit in Sanya, China, most formulations in the joint statement closely mirrored those at previous IBSA summits. The difference lay in IBSA's accent on tackling socio-economic distress due to globalisation and setting in place a trilateral trading bloc — two aspects not even on the radar of the BRICS grouping.
Its Fund having won the Millennium Goals award with its operations in seven countries, besides the two Sudans, should IBSA focus more on South-South cooperation? Or should it take a more prominent role on the global political stage as it did recently by sending a joint delegation to Damascus to encourage democratic changes and a peaceful resolution to the situation?
The answer perhaps lies buried in the joint statement issued last month by IBSA Foreign Ministers, which sought to see the two issues from a unified perspective. The Ministers made it a point to stress that IBSA was a grouping of “democracies” all from the south (South Asia, South America and South Africa) and that it was committed to batting for the developing countries by seeking changes in the global political, economic and financial architecture.
Indeed, since its inception, IBSA has focussed on more aspects than BRICS. BRICS pulls more weight on political and economic issues as two of the members — Russia and China — are permanent UNSC members. On the economic side, one is in G-8, the other has become the world's second largest economy. But IBSA brings about more focus and has expended much energy on tackling the social aspects of globalisation internally.
IBSA exertions have led to as many as 16 working groups, a dozen memoranda of understanding with another five in the pipeline awaiting ratification at Tuesday's summit. So far, that has meant inter-continental travel for a wide swathe of the society of these countries — journalists to academics and bureaucrats to civil society activists. For IBSA to retain its relevance, operationalisation of intentions in papers and declarations is the key.
Also IBSA would have to step up the pace on two other aspects — intra-IBSA trade and security. India has already signed a Preferential Trading Arrangement (PTA) with Mercosur (of which Brazil is a part) and so have Mercosur and SACU (South Africa Customs Union). That leaves just the India-SACU agreement to seal the triangle.
On security, the three nations have different perspectives on security issues. Brazil is more concerned about issues in its Latin American backyard. South Africa lays more emphasis on developments in the African world, of which there are many, while India's geo-strategic interests lie in its immediate neighbourhood. But they have sought to find common ground in the seas that border them. This has resulted in two rounds of naval exercises called IBSAMAR. But officials feel IBSA has not really lived up to its potential and this summit provides an opportunity to carve out a path that draws on but also differs from the BRICS strategy.

National Implementation Committee (NIC) for Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya meets in New Delhi

The first meeting of the National Implementation Committee (NIC) for Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was held at New Delhi  on  18th October  under the Chairmanship of Dr. Karan Singh, Member of Parliament and Chairman of ICCR in the presence of Kumari Selja, Minister of Culture & HUPA and other members of the Committee. The Following decisions were taken in the meeting :

The inaugural ceremony will be held in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 25th December, 2011 at a grand scale in which appropriate releases will be made and year-long events schedule will be launched. The commemorative events will continue for one year and the concluding function will be held on 25th December, 2012 at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya has made great contributions as a freedom fighter, visionary educationist, fearless legislature, powerful advocate, stalwart journalist, tireless social reformer and above all as a magnanimous leader who gave utmost importance for the establishment of human and ethical values in society. It was decided that all efforts will be made to highlight his contributions to the humanity and to the national life and to take his messages to public through all means including print and electronic media.

It was also decided that large number of seminars, conferences and workshops will be held throughout the country on the various aspects of life and work of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya. A national level conference will be held in Delhi. Pt. Malaviya made contributions in almost every aspects of social life like education, legislation, spreading social harmony, spreading of moral spiritual values etc. In addition to this, he has tremendously contributed towards the country’s freedom as a freedom fighter. Seminars and workshops will concentrate on his these contributions. His greatest contribution is in the field of revival of ethics and values in the society which will be focussed in these seminars and workshops.

Steps will be taken for compilation and preparation of archives and dissemination of publications and works related to Pt. Malaviya lying in different forms in various places. Steps will also be taken to collect the audio tapes of the available speeches of Pt. Malaviya for the archival and dissemination purposes.

5 Judges Appointed to The Patna High Court

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (1) Shri Justice Rakesh Kumar, (2) Shri Justice Birendra Prasad Verma, (3) Shri Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, (4) Shri Justice Akhilesh Chandra, and (5) Shri Justice Mungeshwar Sahoo, Additional Judges as Judges of the Patna High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective office.

First meeting of the Advisory Council of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms

Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law and Justice, here today chaired the first meeting of the Advisory Council meeting of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.  Mullappally Ramachandran, Minister of State for Home Affairs; Ali Mohd. Sagar, Minister of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, Jammu & Kashmir; Shri G. E. Vahanvati, Attorney General of India and most of the other members of the 15- member Council were present in the meeting.

Addressing the Council,  Khurshid said that the National Mission will ensure a well coordinated response of the Executive and the Judiciary for speeding up delivery of justice in the Country and to reduce the delay in the disposal of cases by the courts. “ This”, he said “ would reinforce faith of the people in the rule of law and secure a social order in which the legal system of the nation promotes justice and ensures that opportunity for securing justice is not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.” The Mission, spanning 5 years from 2011 to 2016, will focus on two major goals as envisaged in the Vision Document, namely:

i) Increasing access to justice by reducing delays and arrears in the system; and

ii) Enhancing accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards and capacities.

Secretary, Department of Justice,  Neela Gangadharan, who is the Convenor and the Mission Leader, gave an overview presentation on the National Mission to Council.

The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms was approved by the Union Cabinet on 23rd June this year. The broad areas covered by the National Mission are policy and legislative changes, re-engineering of procedures, human resource development, leveraging ICT and improve physical infrastructure of subordinate courts. Infrastructure development for the subordinate judiciary is the major thrust area of the National Mission. Inadequacy of infrastructure facilities in District and Subordinate courts has remained a major bottleneck in the judicial system largely contributing to the accumulation of arrears. In order to augment the resources of the State Governments for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary the Central Government outflow would be around Rs. 5,500 crore over five years of the National Mission.

SEBI Panel rejected the Proposal to raise Mutual Fund Net Worth Cap to Rs 50 crore

A SEBI-constituted panel on mutual funds in October 2011 retained the minimum capital requirement to start a fund house at Rs 10 crore, rejecting a proposal to increase the net worth criterion. The move was welcomed by smaller fund houses and firms planning to enter the asset management business in Asia's third-largest economy, India.

A mutual fund advisory committee in 2010 had proposed to raise the capital base of asset management companies to Rs 50 crore from Rs 10 crore to ward off non-serious players and to ensure higher safety for investors. SEBI however pointed out that higher capital requirement will be a difficult barrier for smaller institutions wanting to start the fund management business.

It was pointed out that even developed nations have lower capital requirement than India. In the US, the base capital required to start an asset management business is Rs 55 lakh, if converted into Indian rupees.

The first guideline on base capital criteria, which mandated funds to have a minimum capital of Rs 3 crore, came out in 1993. Sebi increased the net worth criterion to Rs 6 crore and then to Rs 10 crore after CRB Mutual Fund collapsed in 1996-97.

The mutual fund advisory committee had in 2010 also recommended a higher net worth requirement to protect investors and funds from short-term liquidity stress. Well-capitalised funds, the committee argued would be better placed to handle unforeseen redemption and issues arising from lower market liquidity.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Launched in Jammu and Kashmir

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, jointly sponsored by the Centre and State governments was formally launched by State Health and Family Welfare Ministry in Srinagar on 13 October 2011. The scheme has been initially launched in the twin capital districts of Jammu and Srinagar and will be gradually extended to all the districts of the State. The initial launch of the scheme will benefit around 66000 BPL families in Srinagar and Jammu.

 Entitled to cashless hospitalization coverage for most of the diseases through the network of identified hospitals up to expenditure of 30000 rupees per family per annum. This will cover five members of a family which include the head of the household, spouse and up to three dependents. The Central and State Governments will pay the premium to the healthcare providers (insurance companies) being selected by the State Government. The contribution will be on 90-10 basis annually and the beneficiary family has to pay only registration fee of 30 rupees only. Data of every family will be stored in the computer and head of the family will be provided with Smart Cards, which will enable their admission in the designated hospitals.

India and UK agreed to Work towards the MoU in Areas Related to Urban Development

Kamal Nath Minister of Urban Development, Government of India and Gregory Clark, Minister of State for Decentralization and Cities agreed to work towards a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and UK on 14 October 2011 at London. The MoU would aim at enhancing cooperation and deepen the engagement between India and UK in the areas of capacity building, land economics, heritage management, sustainable master planning, transport planning etc. Another area of cooperation would be the sharing of knowledge in the formulation of Public Private Partnership Models.
 Kamal Nath was in London on 14 October 2011 to participate in the UK India Business Forum organised by the UKIBC, UK Trade & Investment and Indian Chamber of Commerce.

India and United States agreed to Explore New Models for Educational Institutions

India and United States agreed to explore new models for educational institutions to take knowledge partnership to a higher level. This will also help in further deepening the bilateral strategic  cooperation. In a Joint Statement issued at the end of the India-US Higher Education Summit in Washington, the goals of the partnership were outlined.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, during discussions in the summit, made it clear that India is keen to strengthen teacher exchange programmes to promote development of human resources. India intends to sponsor initially up to 1500 faculty and junior scholars to leading universities and research institutes in the United States.

World’s First Drug was Created by the Scientists to Prevent Blindness from Cataracts

Australian Scientists created the world’s first drug which can prevent blindness from cataracts. At present, the only treatment available to prevent the blindness from cataracts is to remove surgically the affected eye lens and replace it with a synthetic lens. Cataracts are formed when a protein, known as calpain, clouds the eye lens and impairs vision. This is for the first time that a non-surgical cure for the debilitating condition was discovered.

Friday 14 October 2011

Linking genetic changes to human diseases becomes easy


The parts of the human genome that control when and where genes are turned on have been successfully identified.
The map created with this information will be a shot in the arm for researchers trying to understand and interpret genetic changes linked to human diseases.
The results are published in Nature on October 13, 2011.
This has become possible by comparing the sequences of 29 mammalian genomes. The genomes of mammals studied include those of chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, mice, dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, squirrels, fruit bats, horses, cows, and even elephants.

Conserved regions

The authors were able to detect highly conserved regions of the genome in all the 29 mammals studied. The highly conserved regions have remained the same across species for a very long time.
These highly conserved regions make up nearly 4 per cent of the human genome. They were also able to ascribe potential functions to around 60 per cent of the bases found in the conserved regions. This comparative study has helped in understanding how the regulatory controls have remained the same across all mammals.
Compare this with just about 1.5 per cent of the human genome that was found to encode for protein sequence when genome was studied in isolation. But when a comparative study was done with the genomes of mouse, rat and dog, it was found that at least 5 per cent of the protein sequence was probably functional.
A very interesting offshoot of this study was the certainty with which scientists could understand how evolution dating back to more than 100 millions years ago has contributed to adaptation to different environments and lifestyles.

Rapid evolution

For instance, they were able to pinpoint the specific proteins that are under rapid evolution, like those for the immune system, taste perception, and cell division. Even the protein domains within genes — like those related to bone remodelling and retinal functions – have been found to be evolving rapidly.
Of special interest is the finding that certain DNA controls have been changing only in human and primate genomes.
If scientists were earlier able to identify 200 such regions, the latest study has helped in expanding the list to more than 1,000 regions. This will help in understanding human evolution.

Health implications

The study has particular relevance in helping us understand genetic variants or mutations closely tied to certain diseases. Individuals suffer from certain diseases when these mutations are disrupted.
Surprisingly, most of the genetic mutations have been identified in the non-protein coding regions of the genome. But for this comparative study, it would have been very difficult to identify mutations that cause diseases in the non-protein coding regions.
“Sequencing of additional species should enable discovery of lineage-specific elements within mammalian clades and provide increased resolution for shared mammalian constraint,” the authors note.
The authors were also able to assign or suggest possible functions for more than half of the 360 million DNA letters present in the conserved elements. These regions have been carefully preserved across mammals for millions of years.
The authors now intend to sequence 100 to 200 mammalian species so as to achieve single-nucleotide resolution.

The advantages

The biggest advantage of comparing the sequence of many mammals becomes apparent in the case of humans.
For instance, even to undertake experimental studies to know the functional regions requires prior knowledge of the biochemical activity sought.
But “comparative approaches provide an unbiased catalogue of shared functional regions independent of biochemical activity or condition,” the authors write. “It can thus capture experimentally intractable or rare activity patterns.”