Daily News Notes: 1st March, 2012

· The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the result of Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2011. Personality Tests of these candidates will commence from 19^th March, 2012. Personality Tests will be held at UPSC. The date and time of Personality Test is being intimated to the qualified candidates individually. The candidates who do not receive any communication regarding their Personality Test, should immediately contact the office of the Commission through letter or on Phone, Nos. 011-23385271, 011-23381125, 011-23098543 or Fax Nos. 011-23387310, 011-23384472. No request for change in the date and time of the Personality Test intimated to the candidates will be entertained. The candidates are advised to notify change(s) in their address, if any, to the Commission immediately through letter or Fax at Telephone numbers indicated above. The candidates will be required to produce the original certificates in support of their claims pertaining to age, educational qualifications, community, physical handicap and other documents such as Questionnaire, Attestation Form, TA form, etc. at the time of their Personality Test. The mark-sheets of candidates who have not qualified, will be put on the Commission’s Website within 15 days from the date of publication of the final result (after conducting Personality Test) and will remain available on the Website for a period of 60 days. Click here to see Result
· The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) today approved the upgradation of Railway infrastructure for introduction of multi-modal transport system in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad which will be able to serve the habited areas of the rapidly expanding twin cities. It also approved the project of deepening and widening of Mumbai Harbor channel and Jawaharlal Nehru port channel.
· Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs has notified the establishment of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) w.e.f. March 1, 2012 under the Land Ports Authority of India Act, 2010. The Office of the Land Ports Authority of India shall temporarily, be located in New Delhi. The LPAI has been tasked with the responsibility of putting in place systems which address security imperatives relating to the cross border movement of passengers, vehicles and goods as also developing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at designated points along the international borders of India. In the first phase seven ICPs are proposed to be set up, of which five are under construction. The ICP at Attari is expected to be operationalised shortly. The LPAI would function as a body corporate under the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs.
· The Cabinet has approved the proposals of fertilizers Department for fixation of rates of Nutrient Based Subsidy rates of fertilizer nutrients - Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potash and Sulphur for the next financial year 2012-13. At the announced rate, total subsidy outgo for Potash and Phosphate fertilizers for the financial year 2012-13 will be reduced by more than 20 percent. It is expected that farmers will make optimum use of fertilizers in order to increase the productivity of soil. The Cabinet also approved the proposal of Ministry of Agriculture for extension of closing date of National Agricultural Innovation Project, NAIP up to the 30th of June, 2014.
· 5 MWp Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant has been installed in the state of Rajasthan under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. The location is ideally suited for taking all the advantages of Photovoltaic systems as in Western Rajasthan the solar insulation is very good and number of sunny days is also very high. Salient features of the project: (1.) Record shortest duration for installation- commissioning of system; (2.) Innovation in cable routing by effective utilization of PV module mounting structures; (3.) In house R & D for development of Array Junction Boxes which was a critical item for timely execution of the project; (4.) Harmony with the surrounding community; (5.) Optimal and effective utilization of local resources; (6.) Skill development of local vendors.
· The Governor of Assam announced that the State Government has decided to create the Assam Rural Service to gear up administrative machinery particularly in rural areas for providing a transparent, responsive and corruption-free administration to the people. The Governor said a Legislative Council would be set up in Assam soon.
· The Prime Minister has condoled the passing away of P K Narayana Panicker, a leader of the Nair community and president of the Nair Service Society. He said, in the passing away of Panicker the country has lost a social crusader and the state of Kerala one of its loved sons.
· Marking a major milestone in the development of indigenous technology in the defence sector the Defence Minister will hand over the first batch of the indigenously designed and developed Surface-to-Air Missile, Akash, to the Indian Air Force and the advanced light-weight torpedo, TAL to the Indian Navy at a function Mar 03, 2012. ‘AKASH’ MISSILE: The Akash Weapon System (AWS) was indigenously developed by DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Developement Programme (IGMDP) and is an all-weather, medium-range (25 km), Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system. The system can handle multiple targets and destroy manoeuvring targets such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), fighter aircraft etc. The Weapon System is considered as the Indian "Patriot". It has certain unique characteristics like high mobility, all-the-way powered flight till target interception, multiple target handling, digitally-coded command guidance and fully automatic operation. ‘TAL’ TORPEDO: It has been indigenously developed by the National Science and Technology Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam. The Light Weight Torpedo (TAL) is an electrically propelled, self- homing Torpedo which can be launched both from ships and helicopters. It can hunt submarines.
· An area of about 21.03 lakh hectare of new gardens has been brought under various horticulture crops with various initiatives under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) so far. NHM interventions have generated a momentum in the overall growth in horticulture sector with increase in area and production to 21 million hectare and 240 million tonne in 2010-11 respectively. 18 States and 3 Union Territories are covered under NHM while 8 North Eastern States including Sikkim and J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand are covered under the Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEHS).
· Shri Satyanand Misra, the Chief Information Commissioner, administered the Oath of office to three new Information Commissioners in New Delhi today. With the induction of 3 new Information Commissioners, the strength of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission will be 8, apart from Chief Information Commissioner.
· While addressing the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women currently underway in New York, India has expressed its readiness to work with the international community to promote gender equality and empowerment of women in rural areas for achieving inclusive and sustainable growth. It is also meticulously pursuing the Millennium Development Goals to ensure holistic empowerment of rural women.
· Chairman of the Press Council of India Justice (retired) Markandey Katju conveyed to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa his desire that Tamils should learn the language of Hindi as Tamils faced a lot of difficulty in communicating with people in the the north, west and eastern regions of the country, whereas people of other southern States, who knew a bit of Hindi, did not have such problems. Ms Jayalalithaa told him that Tamils were indeed learning Hindi till the 1960s. She also pointed out to him that when the study of Hindi was sought to be imposed on the Tamils, there was a strong reaction.
· Notwithstanding the U.S. pressure to scale down its engagement with Iran, India said the country not only remains an important source of oil for India, but is crucial to opening up routes to Central Asian and Caucasian countries, where New Delhi's quest for hydrocarbons and minerals is gathering critical mass. It was said while referring to a major meeting last month on a proposed Russia-Iran-India promoted North-South corridor that would originate from Bandar Abbas leading to Russia and other countries via the Caspian Sea. India has “taken the lead” and is “pushing hard” to put the missing rail links in place so that a seamless route from Bandar Abbas port to Russia and Central Asia opens up by next year by when the customs union of Russia-Kazakhstan-Byelorussia would have expanded to include other Eurasian countries. Besides the three original signatories, over 15 countries have joined the north-south project. India is also closely following the development of another route into Central Asia via Iran and Afghanistan into Uzbekistan. However, India admitted that the intense U.S. pressure has put the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline on the back burner for the moment.
· The Armies of India and Indonesia concluded a week-long joint military exercise ‘Garuda Shakti’.
· United States confirmed that North Korea has agreed to halt nuclear tests and activities and implement a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile development in exchange for a U.S. package of food aid. North Korean agreement would include suspension of uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and also permission for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return “to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities. The enrichment programme, first disclosed in November 2010, could give the Communist state a second way to make atomic weapons in addition to its longstanding plutonium programme. Pyongyang said Washington had promised 240,000 tonnes of “nutritional assistance”, with the prospect of additional food aid for the North, which has suffered severe food shortages since a famine in the 1990s. The North said the U.S. side offered to discuss the lifting of sanctions and provision of light-water reactors to generate electricity as a priority, once long-stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks resume. The Beijing discussions were aimed at persuading the North to return to the six-nation talks which it abandoned in April 2009.