Daily News Notes: 29th March, 2012

· Addressing the fourth BRICS Summit, Prime Minister of India said that India has been strongly advocating for reforms in the world body with due place to emerging economies like India. He also said that the grouping has agreed to examine in greater detail a proposal to set up a South-South Development Bank, funded and managed by BRICS and other developing countries. The Prime Minister cited ten specific issues which he believed concerned all the member countries including creating jobs, energy and food security, revival of global growth, breathing life into Doha round of trade negotiations and facilitation of funds for infrastructure development. He also sought international cooperation on issues like energy, food and water security. BRICS Decleration issued at the end of the summit recognises Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and supports resolution of issues through dialogue.
· In Uttarakhand, Vijay Bahuguna government has won trust vote, amid walk out by the opposition. Opposition members were on their feet demanding that secret ballots should be used for voting on the motion, But Speaker of the house used voice vote system for division of votes.
· Minster of state in the PMO informed that over 1 lakh 75 thousand tones of Uranium resources are available currently in the country. Andhra Pradesh topped the list of the ten Uranium-rich states with over 86 thousand tones followed by Jharkhand with over 50 thousand tonnes. Uranium Corporation of India (PSE) is engaged in commercial scale operation of Uranium mines and processing plants in the country.
· The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had set up a committee (earlier this month headed by Mr. Adi Godrej, a noted industrialist) for framinig of the National Corporate Governance Policy. The Committee will suggest a comprehensive policy framework to enable corporate governance of the highest quality in all classes of companies. The committee is expected to present its recommendations to the government within six months after wide consultations with all stakeholders in the corporate sector.
· Union Power Minister has informed that the government has surpassed electricity generation target of 11th five year plan and the rural electrification target under Bharat Nirman. As against target of 855 billion units, the country has achieved generation of 875 billion units. Also, as against the target of electrification of 1 lakh villages, 1 lakh 3 thousand villages have already been electrified. However, in the field of capacity addition, it felt a little short the 11th Five year plan target of 62,000 megawatt. Thus, the country's installed capacity is now 1,93,592 megawatts.
· Minister of State for Earth Sciences has informed that the government has started a district-level Agro-meteorological Advisory Service, providing a five-day weather forecast for farmers in 550 districts of the country, and about 25 lakh farmers have subscribed for the information through mobile for planning their agricultural activities. The minister informed that as a part of modernisation of meteorological services, Atmospheric Observing System has also been strengthened through installation of one thousand state-of the-art systems in various parts of the country. These systems will provide real time monitoring of meteorological parameters.
· Minister of State for HRD informed that as per an independent sample survey conducted by Social & Rural Research Institute, the estimated number of children in the age group of 6-13 years is 19.5 crore. Out of this, the number of out of school children in the country was 18.5 lakhs. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides that every child in the 6-14 age group has a right to admission, attendance and completion of elementary education. The norms under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) have been revised to correspond with the provisions of the RTE Act. SSA provides inter alia for opening new schools, additional class rooms, teachers, free text books and uniforms, special training centres for out of school children, etc. to implement the provisions of the RTE Act. Futher he informed that Centrally funded Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are functioning in the country. A scheme for setting up 20 new IIITs on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model has been approved by Government at a capital cost of Rs. 128.00 crore for each IIIT to be contributed in the ratio of 50:30:15 by the Central Government, the State Government and the Industry respectively (57.5:35:7.5 in the case of North Eastern region). Initially the new IIITs would be registered as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
· As part of ongoing upgradation/modernization of Air Traffic Management System, Airports Authority of India (AAI) has implemented Auto Track III system at Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai airports.It will benefits in the areas of safety, efficiency and availability of services. The Auto Track III system is having the following important functional capabilities: [1.] Arival Manager (AMAN), [2.] Flight Profile/Trajectory Calculation, [3.] Inter-facility/Inter- Sector coordination, Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) Code Management, [4.] Radar and Surveillance Data Input, [5.] Single/Multi Sensor Tracking, [6.] Weather Processing, [7.] Safety nets (STCA, MSWA and APW), [8.] Electronic Flight Strips, Replay, [9.] analysis of recorded data, Conflict prediction (aircraft and airspace) and Radar Networking.
· Internet facility using Wi-Fi has been presently planned in three rakes of Howrah Rajdhani Express only, as a pilot project. It is a satellite based system using Wi-Fi for distribution of internet bandwidth in coaches and likely date for implementation of this system is September 25, 2012. The estimated implementation cost of the project is Rs. 6.30 crore.
· As per available information, presently there are 67 Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). Of these 67 Miniratna CPSEs, 8 CPSEs have not made net profits continuously for last three years (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11) including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited, Hindustan Newsprint Limited, Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited and India Tourism Development Corporation Limited. The Government has delegated enhanced financial and operational powers to the Boards of Miniratna CPSEs to facilitate improvement in their performance.
· The Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation has said that the Per Capita Income at current prices at the national level, stands at Rs. 60,972 in the year 2011-12, vis-à-vis Rs. 53,331 in the year 2010-11, showing an increase of 14.3% during last year. He said, this per capita income is an average of incomes of residents of all villages, towns and cities, and all persons in different occupation groups. Per capita income of several States is more than the national average. Per capita income is only an indicator of disparity and not the cause.
· The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas informed that different agencies have reported upon the Shale Gas resources in India. Energy Information Administration (EIA), United States of America (April, 2011) has reported a risked gas-in-place of the order of 293 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) with 69 TCF as recoverable in 4 Indian basins. He added that total of 6 basins namely Cambay, Krishna Godavari, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan, Indo- Gangetic & Gondwana have been identified under Phase-I for Shale Gas resource assessment based on Geological, Geophysical and Geochemical data gathered during exploration of conventional oil/gas over the years. He said Shale Gas Policy is proposed to be announced tentatively by 31.3.2013. After announcement of Shale Gas Policy, action will be initiated to launch bidding round for exploration of Shale Gas.
· Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has informed that the Prime Minister’s Task Force on MSMEs submitted its report to Prime Minister on 30th January, 2010. Majority of the recommendations of the Task Force have been accepted and implemented by the Government. The major amongst these are: • Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have launched SME exchange/platform. • The Factoring Regulation Bill, 2011 has been passed and the Act published in the Gazette. • Instructions have been issued to banks regarding targeted growth of credit to the MSE sector. Implementation of these instructions is monitored regularly. • Under Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme, the Subsidy provided for MSMEs in Jammu & Kashmir has been brought at par with North-Eastern Region. • MSME Helpline has been launched with a toll free number 1800-180-6763. • To strengthen National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), infusion of equity of Rs.300 crore in three tranches has been approved by the Govt. In 2011-12 Rs.155 crore has been released to NSIC as first tranche.
· Central Ground Water Board and State Ground Water Organizations jointly carry out periodic assessment of replenishable ground water resources and their withdrawal in the country covering rural areas including remote and far flung areas. As per latest assessment of ground water resources (as on 2009), stage of ground water development in the country has been estimated as 61%. Previous assessment of ground water resources was carried out as on 2004, when stage of ground water development in the country was estimated as 58%. During XII Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Water Resources has formulated Aquifer Management Plan to facilitate sustainable management of ground water resources and participatory ground water management. This will help in generation of integrated database on aquifer geometry, hydraulic and geochemical characteristics recharge and discharge potential of aquifer systems, etc. in GIS environment, better understanding of ground water flow system under different conditions, identification of areas feasible for ground water development, rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge etc.
· As per available information, water storage capacity of about 253 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) has been created in the country so far. It is 13.54% of the average annual availability of water, assessed to be 1869 BCM. The Government undertakes measures for increasing storages through construction of dams, restoration of water bodies, rainwater harvesting, artificial recharge to groundwater, etc.
· As part of the Passport Seva Project, 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) are being established across the country on public-private-partnership basis as approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2007. Tata Consultancy Services have been entrusted inter alia with setting up the PSKs. Under the Project, only non-sensitive functions like checking the entries in the application form, scanning and uploading of supporting documents, taking the applicant’s photograph and biometrics and accepting the application fees, are performed by the Service Provider. The sovereign and fiduciary functions of verification, granting, printing and dispatch of passports are performed by Government officials. In order to ensure security of the system, the Government has appointed the Standards, Testing & Quality Certification, Department of Information Technology to act as the Third Party Audit Agency. Strategic assets like Data Centre, Application Software, System Software, Disaster Recovery Centre and Central Passport Printing Facility are owned by the Government to have the strategic control over the Passport Seva System.
· The signing ceremony for exchange of notes for the first batch of FY 2011 JICA ODA loan package between India and Japan took place. In the Exchange of Notes, Japan committed an amount of Yen 134.288 billion (for the first batch of FY 2011 JICA ODA loan package) to fund the following 2 projects: [1.] Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project Phase III (Rs. 7909 cr); [2.] West Bengal Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Project (Rs. 393 cr). With this Exchange of Notes the cumulative commitment of ODA from Japan has reached JPY 3454.657 billion. In the last few years, relations between India and Japan have steadily progressed based on India – Japan Global Partnership. The visits of the Indian Prime Minister to Japan in 2006, 2008 and 2010 and the visit of Japanese Prime Minister to India in 2007, 2009 and 2011 have further strengthened the India-Japan Global Partnership. [Exchange Rate: JPY 100 = Rs.61.83]
· The Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam has expressed keenness to source teachers from India to teach English as well a to train Vietnam teachers in English and the number indicated was around 20,000 English teachers over the next few years. In this regard, Secretary (School Education) suggested that CBSE has a strong academic and training wing with a strong Sahodaya School Complexes Network. CBSE can train English teachers for Vietnam using this network, the details of which will be worked out after more discussions, at the officer level, with the Vietnam side. University of Delhi and JNU have agreed to cooperate with Vietnam Academies and two National universities. This cooperation would include the offering of Indian studies in Vietnam and Vietnam studies in India.
· Following the first India-Africa Forum Summit in 2008, India has announced establishment of various capacity building institutions in various countries in Africa. These commitments include the establishment of 4 Pan-African Institutions viz. (i) India Africa Institute of Foreign Trade, (ii) India Africa Diamond Institute, (iii) India Africa Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and (iv) India Africa Institute of Information Technology. Other institutions to be established are 10 Vocational Training Centres and 5 human settlement institutes to support low-cost housing technologies and 2 coal institutions. Out of the above 21 Institutions, few are higher education institutions like India-Africa Institute of Information Technology and India Africa Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. These institutions are meant to enhance the capacity of African countries and to benefit African students.
· Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appointed General Faroq Barekzai as the chief commander of Afghan Military Police and in-charge of Bagram and other detention centers. President Karzai has instructed the newly appointed Chief Commander to review the cases of the prisoners in collaboration with concerned institutions and to release those found innocent. With this appointment one of the conditions for the transfer of the US-controlled Bagram prison to the Afghan authorities have been fulfilled.
· The National Consumer Helpline, NCH, has received more than ten thousand calls about complaints during January this year. Beside this, 606 complaints were also received through online complaint system on the NCH website. The maximum calls were received from Delhi followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana. Consumers from across the country can access the toll free National Consumer Help Line No. 1800-11-400 and seek telephonic counseling for consumer related problems faced by them. Complaints can also be registered on the website: www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in. [It’s not News, but an informatory note, use it]