Daily News Notes: 26th April, 2012

· The Prime Minister today hailed the successful launch of PSLV carrying Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1). India's first indigenous all-weather RISAT-1, whose images will facilitate agriculture and disaster management, was launched successfully on board the PSLV-C19 from Sriharikota. This is the 20th successful flight of PSLV. It took ten years to build this remote sensing satellite which is fitted with radar imaging apertures, a very complex technology. RISAT-1, the heaviest remote sensing satellite weighing 1,858 kg, can take pictures of the earth at all times through rain, sun, clouds, fog and cyclones. The data generated by RISAT-1 will be used in agriculture and disaster management.
· A hassled government has just come under more pressure. Along with bad press, angry corporates and disillusioned foreign investors, it has to now deal with a ‘negative outlook’ tossed by the world’s largest credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's (S&P). The saving grace is that an hour before the S&P announcement, rival rating agency Moody’s said the Indian economy is “growing solidly, but below potential”. The divergence of views between the two agencies is a reminder of the US downgrade last August when Moody’s had countered Standard & Poor’s to say America was still a triple-A economy. On Tuesday morning, S&P, while retaining India’s ‘investment grade’ rating, revised its outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ due to worsening fiscal numbers. [Click here for Photic News]
· As announced by Minister of Railways in Budget Speech for 2012-13, the Ministry of Railways has decided to extend the travel distance from l00 kilometres to 150 kilometres under IZZAT scheme. IZZAT, a new scheme of uniformly priced Monthly Season Tickets (MST) was introduced with effect from 1.8.2009 at Rs. 25/- inclusive of all surcharges issued up to distance of 100 Kms to persons working in unorganised sector with monthly income not exceeding Rs. 1500/-.
· The Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation has said that Twenty Point Programme 2006 is a package of programme inter-alia aiming at poverty alleviation, employment generation, education and health. Twenty Point Programme consists of 65 items which are primarily the programmes/schemes of the Government of India, administered by the various Central Nodal Ministries and are normally implemented through State/UT Administration. Some major schemes under this are: [1.] employment generation, poverty alleviation (Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, Swaranjayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana), [2.] education (Mid Day Meal Scheme) and [3.] health (Total Sanitation Campaign, ICDS, Functional Anganwadi & Institutional Delivery).
· Under the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing a Scheme “ Building Awareness on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises”. In this scheme, setting up of Intellectual Property facilitation center (IPFC) are setup in different regions of the country. The objective of setting up of IPFC is to guide & assist MSMEs and other prospective entrepreneurs to have an access to best practices for identification, protection and management of IPR as a business tool and for better management of their intellectual property related needs. As on date, Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises has sanctioned 24 IP facilitation centres for MSMEs, out of which, 16 are operational.
· Minister of Law & Justice said that the representations have been received from various sources, for establishment of Benches of the Supreme Court in various parts of the country. The Law Commission in its Report has also recommended that: [1.] A Constitution Bench be set up at Delhi to deal with constitutional and other allied issues; and [2.] Four Cassation (Zonal) Benches be set up in the Northern region/ zone at Delhi; the Southern region/ zone at Chennai/ Hyderabad; the Eastern region/ zone at Kolkata and the Western region/ zone at Mumbai to deal with all appellate work arising out of the orders/ judgments of the High Courts of the particular region. However, the opinion of the Attorney General was obtained and the matter was referred to the Chief Justice of India, who informed that after consideration of the matter, the Full Court, in its meeting held on 18th February, 2010, unanimously resolved that the recommendations of the Law Commission cannot be accepted.
· A batch of IAS probationers called on the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions in New Delhi today. Addressing them, the Minister exhorted the young civil servants to firmly fix it in their mindset that they are for serving the people at the grassroots level. He also said that they are the agents of change and people look up to them for resolution of their problems, thus with the policy implementation (which is going to be their domain) they can raise the quality of people’s life. Noting that pressures would come for the civil servant from various quarters but they need to be upright and holders of law. He emphasized the need for updation of knowledge on a regular basis so as to improve the quality of delivery of services. The Minister said that the Government is liberal for any bona-fide mistakes but dishonesty can not be tolerated at all. During interaction, the trainee officers raised questions like the security of their tenure while working at the field level as also issues related to improvement in Governance at district level. The probationers are on a visit to the capital as part of training. The group consisted of 160 trainees, including 158 IAS officer trainees of 2011 batch and 2 trainees of Royal Bhutan Civil Services.
· A National Automotive Board, NAB, is proposed to be set up under the Department of Heavy Industry. It will be an autonomous society comprising technical and domain experts to speed up the ongoing and new initiatives of the Government for the growth of the automotive sector. The main functions of the proposed National Automotive Board will be to regulate the functioning of the testing centres as also to facilitate research and development in the automotive sector.
· Rajasthan Energy Minister today made an announcement in the state assembly that the Government will provide 24 hour electricity to all 39357 villages by the end of this financial year. He said that Rajasthan will become self reliant in the power sector next year by producing 5 thousand MW electricity. The Energy Minister said that transmission losses are above 20 percent in 8366 villages and power companies are trying to reduce it by adopting various methods.
· Minister of State for Water Resources has informed that the vision for Integrated Water Resources Development & Management, proposed by his Ministry in 2003, inter-alia stipulates to add an additional irrigation potential of 20 million ha. in the next 15 years to meet the food and fiber requirements for a projected population of 1200 million by 2015 and 1600 million by 2050,ensuring food security. The Ministry is providing Central Assistance to State Governments for Creation/ Utilisation of irrigation potential, through the schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM) and Repairs, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies. Further, he said that the per capita availability of water in the country is 1545 cubic meters as per the 2011 census (it was 1816 cubic meters as per the 2001 census). He explained that India is facing water stress and in addition due to contamination of water sources and poor water treatment facility it is often difficult to get safe drinking water. Water Quality data of various river stretches has revealed that organic pollution particularly Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) has exceeded the desired water quality criteria in 150 river stretches covering 121 rivers. Thus on this issue, Ministry of Environment is supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in pollution abatement in various rivers through the centrally sponsored National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), which presently covers 40 rivers in 190 towns spread over 20 States. Pollution abatement schemes implemented under the Plan include interception, diversion and treatment of sewage; low cost sanitation works on river banks; electric/improved wood crematoria, etc.
· Indian scientists have developed a technology for purifying and filtering contaminated water using nano-silver particles. Nano-silver coated ceramic candles are now available in the market to obtain pure water. These candles have been developed by the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Hyderabad. IIT-Madras has also developed a similar method using nano-silver particles with other compounds for purifying and filtering contaminated water.
· Indian scientists have accomplished noteworthy success in converting sea water into drinking water by Low Temperature Thermal Desalination technology (LTTD). So far, 4 plants have been commissioned in India, located at in Lakshadweep and Chennai. Six more plants are to be installed in Lakshadweep. LTTD is a desalination technique takes advantage of the fact that water boils at low pressures, even as low as ambient temperature gradient of 8 to 10 °C. The principle of LTTD is known for a long time, originally stemming from ocean thermal energy conversion research. LTTD was studied by India's National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) from 2004. Their first LTTD plant was opened in 2005 at Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep islands.
· Minister of State for Water Resources has informed that Government of India and Government of Myanmar signed an Agreement in 2008 for development of Chindwin River Valley. Based on this Agreement, NHPC has completed theDetailed Project Report (DPR) on the Thamanti Hydro-Electric Power Project (HEP) in October, 2011. According to DPR, Thamanti HEP is estimated to generate a total of 1200 Megawatts (MW) of electricity and total area under submergence is estimated to be about 1374 sq.km, which mostly forest area.
· Ministry of Minority Affairs has said that the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) under its grant-in-aid scheme has provided financial assistance amounting to Rs. 22.58 crore to 169 non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the country during 2010-11 & 2011-12. Also, around 50% of fund was provided to 83 NGOs in the State of Uttar Pradesh during the same period. However, MAEF does not provide any financial assistance to Madarasas as it is provided by the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the Scheme for Promotion of Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM) and Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions (IDMI).
· Minister of State for Minority Affairs has informed that major recommendations of the Report on ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India’, prepared under the Chairmanship of Justice Rajinder Sachar (Sachar Committee Report) includes: [1.] Access of Education – Providing free and high quality education to children up to the age of 14, opening government schools in Muslim concentration areas, awarding scholarships, modernising Madarasas; [2.] Access to Credit – Promoting and enhancing access to Muslims in Priority Sector lending, open more branches in Muslim concentration areas, promote micro finance among women; [3.] Skill Development – Opening ITIs and Polytechnics to focus on high growth potential in the Muslim concentration areas; [4.] Special Area Development Initiatives – Villages/ towns/ habitations to be provided with basic amenities, good quality government schools, health facilities, etc. for all poor including Muslims; [5.] Measures for Affirmative Action – Setting up of Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), National Data Bank (NDB) and Assessment and Monitory Authority (AMA). The Minister said that the recommendations are being implemented by concerned Ministries/ Departments of the Government.
· Prediction of monsoon rainfall variability in all spatial and time scales is very important for many sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation and natural ecosystems and thus economy of the country. The present statistical methods being used by the India Meteorological Department have some constraints to meet specific user requirements for forecasts on finer spatial and temporal scale. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the state of the art dynamic models to improve monsoon prediction skills. Thus, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the implementation of the programme of the National Monsoon Mission at the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for a period of five years. The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission are: (i) To build a working partnership between the academic and R&D organisations both national and international and the operational agencies to improve the operational monsoon forecast skill over the country; (ii) To set up a state of the art dynamic modelling framework for improving the prediction skill of Seasonal and extended range prediction system (16 days to one season) and Short to medium range prediction system (up to 15 days).
· Actor Madhuri Dixit awarded the prestigious “Master Dinanath Vishesh Award” for her contribution to cinema by the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar, in Mumbai. With the presence of Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray as the chief guest at the event, Madhuri addressed the audience in Marathi (:-D). The award comprises a memento and Rs.1 lakh cash.
· The government said that some business entities and associations from foreign countries (USA,UK,Canada, France, Mauritius and Japan) have raised issues regarding the proposed amendments to the Income tax Act in the Finance Bill 2012. These issues include the retrospective application of the amendments and concerns about the proposals to introduce General Anti Avoidance Rules.
· The Pakistan's Supreme Court has found Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani guilty in a contempt of court case. However, the court gave Mr. Gilani only a symbolic sentence and he will not have to serve any time in jail. Mr. Gilani has been in contempt for failing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. President Zardari is accused of using Swiss bank accounts to launder bribe money. Mr. Gilani has argued that the President has immunity as head of state.
· In Russia, the Shiveluch volcano on Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula today ejected an ash cloud to as high as nearly 11 km above the sea level. There was no immediate threat for the population, and no emissions of volcanic dust were monitored in neighboring villages. Two earthquakes were registered at the volcano over the past 24 hours, which was given the highest Red Aviation Code. This was the most powerful eruption of ash registered at Shiveluch this year. Shiveluch has been active for more than four weeks.