THE PRIEST

 India has been an emerging and vibrant economy with a huge market and the potential to grow as the fastest economy of the world.  This economic upsurge is one of the important drivers for the growth of Indian Ports in the years to come.  Coupled with this, the technological changes in shipping sector have triggered the growth in Indian Ports and provided stimulus for cargo handling. Modernization of Ports                 1)  policy  initiatives   taken  by  the Government  for  increasing  the  pace  of privatization and formulation of guidelines for fixation of upfront  tariffs.                  2)The maritime states also have come up with several policy initiatives and  identified  potential  loca...

Recently world’s highest efficiency solar thermal cooling system was inaugurated at the Solar Energy Centre in Gurgaon in Haryana. The new 100 kW Solar Air-Conditioning System works at 30 % higher efficiency than the current available systems and has several unique features. It is based on the new triple effect absorption cooling technology. The system has indigenously built medium temperature high efficiency parabolic troughs for collection of solar energy and effective solar thermal energy storage in the form of Phase Change Materials. The present system will cater to air-conditioning needs of 13 rooms of Solar Energy Centre. To achieve this, 288 sq meter of Solar Collector area has been installed which generates nearly 60 kW of 210  o  C Pressurized hot water. This heat is used in Vapour Absorption Machine to generate 7  o  C Chilled water which in turn circulates through the Fan coil unit installed in the thirteen rooms. The major attraction of this system is t...

Dhrupad maestro Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar,a  renowned practitioner of the Dagarvani style of music that originated from the Vedas,  fellow of the Akademy passed away on July 27,2011. He was known for the power and spontaneity of his alap and for his rich repertoire of traditional bandishes, some of which date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. During a long carrier of performing concerts, he had distinguished himself by the quality of his raga elaboration and mastery over rhythm. For his outstanding contribution to Hindustani music,.he was elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademy this year.

The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution and operation of a National Social Security Fund for unorganised workers with an initial allocation of Rs.1000 crore to support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, beedi workers etc. This follows the announcement made by the Finance Minister in his budget speech for 2010-11. This Fund will support social security schemes for various segments of unorganised workers as most of these workers (around 433 million) do not have any social security cover in the form of life and disability insurance, health care and pensions. This would facilitate formulation of social security schemes for unorganized workers. The Fund will also facilitate evolution and funding of schemes by various Departments which are currently involved in the welfare of these segments of workers. The Ministry of Labour & Employment will be the nodal Ministry for the operation of the Fund. Background: More than 94% of the workforce is in the unor...

The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution and operation of a National Social Security Fund for unorganised workers with an initial allocation of Rs.1000 crore to support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, beedi workers etc. This follows the announcement made by the Finance Minister in his budget speech for 2010-11. This Fund will support social security schemes for various segments of unorganised workers as most of these workers (around 433 million) do not have any social security cover in the form of life and disability insurance, health care and pensions. This would facilitate formulation of social security schemes for unorganized workers. The Fund will also facilitate evolution and funding of schemes by various Departments which are currently involved in the welfare of these segments of workers. The Ministry of Labour & Employment will be the nodal Ministry for the operation of the Fund. Background: More than 94% of the workforce is in the unor...

The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for the enactment of a new legislation in the form of the Lokpal Bill, 2011. The Bill provides for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Bill envisages setting up the institution of Lokpal consisting of Chairperson and eight Members with the stipulation that half of the Members shall be Judicial Members. It will have its own Investigation Wing and Prosecution Wing with such officers and staff as are necessary to carry out its functions. The Lokpal shall inquire into allegations of corruption made in respect of Prime Minister, after he has demitted office; a Minister of the Union; a Member of Parliament; any Group 'A' officer or equivalent; Chairperson or member or officer equivalent to Group 'A' in any body/ Board/ corporation/ authority/ company/ society/ trust/ autonomou...

An eminent educationist of the first half of 20th century and the grand-son of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He was one of the founders of Osmania University, Hyderabad and also served as Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1929 to 1934. He had written many books and was the President of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) for 12 years.  Today The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari  released a book entitled “Ross Masaud” written by Prof. Hakim Syed Zillur Rehman at a function here today.

An eminent educationist of the first half of 20th century and the grand-son of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He was one of the founders of Osmania University, Hyderabad and also served as Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from 1929 to 1934. He had written many books and was the President of Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (Hind) for 12 years.  Today The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansari  released a book entitled “Ross Masaud” written by Prof. Hakim Syed Zillur Rehman at a function here today.

The government today declared “ammonium nitrate or any combination containing more than 45 per cent of ammonium nitrate” as an explosive substance under the Explosive Act 1884 , thereby curtailing its sale. The gazette notification clarified that fertilisers from which either ammonium nitrate or any of its combination cannot be extracted would not be classified as explosives. In 2007, the then home secretary, Madhukar Gupta, had alerted all state governments about the “free diversion” of the substance. At that time it was found that 20,000 kgs of slurry explosives had been stolen with little or no police action. What followed was a clear shift of terror groups from RDX to ammonium nitrate, as evident in the blasts in Varanasi, Malegaon, Hyderabad, Pune and the recent attacks in Mumbai.

The Government of India today signed an Agreement and Protocol for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (DTAA) with Government of Lithuania. Lithuania is the first Baltic country with which DTAA has been signed by India. The DTAA provides that business profits will be taxable in the source state if the activities of an enterprise constitute a permanent establishment (PE) in the source state. The Agreement provides for fixed place PE, building site, construction & installation PE, service PE, Off-shore exploration / exploitation PE and agency PE. The Agreement incorporate para 2 in Article concerning Associated Enterprises. This would enhance recourse to Mutual Agreement Procedure to relieve double taxation in cases involving transfer pricing adjustments. Dividends, interest and royalties & fees for technical services income will be taxed both in the country of residence and in the country of sourc...

In view of the limited fossil fuel availability with the country, the relevance of Nuclear Power in meeting the short and long term needs of our energy was recognised right at the initial stage. From the very beginning, as a long term strategy, the Nuclear Power Programme formulated by Dr. Homi Bhabha embarked on the three stage nuclear power programme, linking the fuel cycle of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) and Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) for Judicious utilisation  of our limited reserves of Uranium and vast Thorium reserves. The emphasis of the programme was self-reliance and thorium utilisation as a long term objective. The PHWR was chosen due to extensive research and development facilities covering diverse areas for supporting technology absorption. The 3-stage of our Nuclear Power Programme are : Stage-I  :  envisages, construction of Natural Uranium, Heavy Water Moderated and Cooled Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). Spent fuel from these r...

India and the Republic of Korea signed an agreement for cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy. The deal will help Seoul in getting access to India’s civil nuclear infrastructure, according to local media reports.Local media reports said the agreement will directly help South Korea’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corp that has been seeking a toehold in the Indian nuclear infrastructure market and a better cooperation with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

Project ‘SANGAM’ is a software which will facilitate issuance of corrigendum pension payment orders. This will address the demand from the ex-servicemen for issue of individual corrigendum pension payment order consequent to implementation of recommendations of Sixth Central Pay Commission (6th CPC). This software project is one step forward from the project ‘SUVIGYA’ which was launched in October last year on the occasion of Defence Account Department Day and is very popular among defence pensioners. The pension payment orders to be issued using ‘SANGAM’ software will be a special corrigendum pension payment system which will contain all the basic details of original pension payment order. It will also have details of family pension, disability pension and any other type of pension available to a pensioner. The new corrigendum pension payment order is unique in the sense that it gives new ID to each pensioner which will be helpful in readily accessing all data relating to a pensio...

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) undertakes preventive conservation and restoration of the ancient monuments, sites and archaeological remains on regular basis to keep them in good state of preservation, depending upon their need and availability of resources.    All such works are carried out by the ASI under annual conservation programme.    The protection, conservation and maintenance of the monuments, archaeological sites and remains declared as of national importance by the Central Government are attended to by the ASI in accordance with the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958,Conservation Manual, UNESCO Convention of 1972 and various International Charters.

In a major initiative to boost cooperation in critical sectors of Information & Broadcasting, India and Afghanistan  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for capacity building on 24th May, 2011. The MoU was signed between Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni and Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, Minister of Information & Culture, Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. This initiative would provide a platform for development of media policies and strategies between the two countries. It would also enable the Government of Afghanistan to incorporate learnings of key policy initiatives taken by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry related to digitalization, self regulation,  content management, innovative programming with regard to outreach programmes at the grass roots. The MoU signed between the two countries covers a wide range of issues. Prominent being policy and strategy de...

SALIENT FEATURES The following are the salient features of the 16-page tripartite Memorandum of Agreement on the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration:        (a)    The Government of India, the Government of West Bengal and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, keeping on record the GJM demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, agree to form an autonomous body -- the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration -- through direct elections.        (b)    Although the GJM was keen that the elected House of the Territorial Administration be called 'Assembly,' the Centre and the State Government persuaded the outfit to settle for 'Sabha.' (Both the governments wanted to avoid creating an impression that the new autonomous body was being granted symbol of statehood such as an Assembly.)        (c)    The Morcha had demanded that the House be headed by a Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Instead...

The ancient site at village Eran in Madhya Pradesh, that has various archaeological monuments and remains, has been declared as protected monument of national importance by the ASI.

The bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) between India and the U.S.A. has been signed by Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Secretary, Civil Aviation and Mr. J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) here today. The signing coincides with the visit of US Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton to India. The signing took place in the presence of Senior Officers from the Ministry, DGCA, AAI from the Indian side and FAA and USTDA from the US side.   BASA will facilitate reciprocal airworthiness certification of civil aeronautical products imported/exported between the two signatory authorities. Indian standards would be comparable to global standards and its aeronautical products would be accepted by the U.S.   The nascent aircraft manufacturing industry in India would be hugely benefitted and it would spur trade between the two sides. It would demonstrate that India has the capability to develop FAA certifiable aircraft articles/appliances. It would encou...

While the new Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines have effectively banned transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology to NPT non-signatories raising doubts over the 2008 exemption to India, New Delhi has managed to garner assurances from its three main civil nuclear partners over their commitment to bilateral agreements with India. US  Russia and France had in different statements said that the NSG guidelines will not undermine the waiver which allowed India entry into the field of civil nuclear commerce. The assurance from these nations is likely to  cool down nerves in India which has been grappling with the 46-nation NSG's agreement on the amendments to NSG guidelines applicable to transfers of sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Financial Stability Report (FSR) recently. The third in a series, the recent FSR follows the tradition of the two preceding reports (March and December 2010) and represents the central bank's “continuing endeavour to communicate its assessment of the incipient risks to financial stability”. The FSR's approach is holistic and focusses on risks to the system arising out of an interplay of the disparate elements of the financial sector infrastructure — the macroeconomic setting, policies markets and institutions. Like its counterparts in the developed world, the RBI says it relies on the latest techniques of risk assessments involving stress tests and so on. Though technical in nature, the FSR has plenty of messages even for the common man. An important conclusion is that the Indian financial system remains stable in the face of “some fragilities being observed in the global macro-financial environment”. Major economies around the wor...

The Centre has released 50 per cent of the fund to 19 states totalling over Rs 98 crore to set in motion the process of setting up vegetable cluster near urban areas which was conceived in the wake of recent onion crisis. The decision to set up veggie clusters was taken in the wake of onion crisis last December and early this year when the price of the kitchen staple had soared to Rs 80-85 a kg in retail across the country. The cluster would be set up in one city in each state during the year 2011-12. It would either be a state capital or any other city with a population of over one million. The main objective of the programme is to enhance production and productivity of vegetables duly addressing all concerns on both its demand and supply in the selected cities. The 19 states to which funds have been provided included Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Agriculture ministry sources said.

The government has decided to control free movement of ammonium nitrate in order to restrict its use as explosives by terrorists. Efforts are being made to bring the substance under the purview of Explosive Substances Act to regulate its use and a bill in this regard is likely to be tabled in Parliament during the monsoon session, home ministry officials said. The decision to introduce the bill assumes significance after central security agencies found that ammonium nitrate was being used by terror groups in carrying out blasts, including the triple explosions which rocked Mumbai on Wednesday. Traces of ammonium nitrate were found from the blast sites at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar in the country's financial capital. Security agencies and several state police forces have also been calling for measures to check misuse of the chemical. At present, ammonium nitrate does not come under the purview of Explosive Substances Act as it is widely used in fertilisers...

Like the US Dollar and British Pound Sterling, the new symbol of the Indian Rupee will also be available in computers by merely downloading a software provided free by the Government. The Rupee symbol can be downloaded from    http://tdil.mit.gov.in/     and typed by pressing  Alt Gr  together with  4. The software, released by TDIL Data Centre, has been developed by Unicode Consortium and ISO within three months of selection of the symbol. “In order to promote the new symbol of Rupee, the same has been encoded in Unicode Standard and National Standard ISCII,” the Union Finance Ministry said on Friday. The symbol has been incorporated as Unicode Standard, which specifies the representation of text in all modern software products and standards. Regarding the placement of the sign on the keyboard, a consensus was arrived at among the stakeholders to use the combination of  ‘Alt Gr'  and numeral  ‘4'  for typing the symbol, it sai...

Terming it as judicial over-reach into Executive functions and economic policy, the government today filed an application to recall the order passed by the Supreme Court forming a Special Investigation Team to investigate black money believed to be stashed abroad. “Contrary to the settled legal principle that the function of the court is to see that the lawful authority is duly exercised by the Executive but not to take over itself the task entrusted to the Executive. It is respectfully submitted that courts do not supplant the views of experts by its own views,” the application said. The government has taken strong exception to the Supreme Court appointing the SIT of which the Director, Research and Analysis Wing, has been made a part. The order effectively asks the R&AW chief to report to the SIT, which has two retired judges at the helm, which will in turn report to the Supreme Court. “The said order has the effect of completely eliminating the role and denuding the constitutio...

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment implementing a Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse for the ‘Whole Person Recovery’ of the addicts as part of community based intervention and treatment strategy. The is the flagship scheme of Ministry in the field of drug demand deduction. The scope of the scheme includes awareness, early intervention, treatment and rehabilitation to ensure reintegration of the addicts into the social mainstream. Under the Scheme  Ministry is  supporting more than 400 Integrated Rehabilitation Centres for Addicts (IRCA) run by Non-Government Organizations. Under this scheme financial assistance can also be provided to Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies for running projects. In order to involve the rural and urban local bodies in an effective manner,  Ministry is  going to take up this matter with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Urban Development.   Imparting qu...

It is the 3rd international Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation . The event will be held at Begumpet Airport from 14-18th March, 2012. It will witness participation of over 250 exhibitors comprising of Aircraft Manufacturers, Aircraft Machinery & Equipment Companies, Aircraft Interiors, Airlines, Airlines Services & Air Cargo, Skill Development, Airport and Infrastructure, MROs. The exhibition will be spread over as area of 20,000 square meters. UK is the partner country for the 2012 event with France as Focus country and USA as the Guest Country. The Host State is  Andhra Pradesh and the Overseas Associate for the show is Famborough International Ltd.  Apart from the Exhibition, India Aviation-2012 will have a conference on policy issues and business aspects of the civil aviation sector, a CEOs Forum representing chief executives of leading aviation companies, Chalets, Static Display, Demonstration Flights and Media Conferences.

The PSLV-C17 will put in orbit communication satellite GSAT-12, which weighs 1,410 kg. It is a more powerful version of the standard PSLV, called PSLV-XL that will put the satellite into geosynchronous orbit orbit after a 20-minute flight. The four-stage PSLV was built by the VSSC. This is the second time that a powerful PSLV-XL version will lift off from the second launch pad at Sriharikota. It was earlier used to put Chandrayaan-1 into orbit on October 22, 2008. While the six strap-on booster motors of the standard version of the PSLV carry a total of nine tonnes of solid propellants, the strap-on motors in the XL version are powered by a total of 12 tonnes of fuel. The GSAT-12, with 12 extended C-band transponders, will be used for tele-medicine, tele-education, telephone and various other communication purposes. This is the 19th PSLV mission, out of which 17 have been successful in a row. 

The landward displacement of the shoreline caused by the forces of waves and current is termed as sea erosion. The main causes of the sea erosion include both natural causes like action of winds waves, tides, storms etc. and anthropogenic activities including construction of artificial structures, mining of beach sand, offshore dredging, or building of dams or rivers. In addition to that, various catastrophic events also trigger coastal erosion which include tsunamis, tectonic movement etc. The coastlines are threatened by a combination of human pressures and climate change and variability arising especially from sea-level rise, increases in sea surface temperature, and possible increases in extreme weather events. Key impacts include accelerated coastal erosion, saline intrusion into freshwater lenses, and increased accelerated coastal erosion, and increased flooding from the sea. Sea-level rise will exacerbate inundation, erosion and other coastal hazards; threaten vital infrastruc...