The Civil Service Times: April 2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Both Sudans assure India on energy front

The governments of both Sudans assured India that its investments in the oil sector would remain safe despite the formal bifurcation of the country on July 9 into Sudan and South Sudan. Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti called upon India to step up investments in the northern part during his meeting with the Ministry of External Affairs officials. A day later, the message was reiterated by Priscilla Joseph Kuch, special envoy of the government of South Sudan.

Asian countries, including India, need to address the growing gender inequality in the labour market by increasing quality employment options for women. The ILO report released today ahead of World Labour Day said 45 percent of the vast productive potential of Asian women remains untapped, compared to just 19 percent of men. The largest gender gaps were in Central Asia and South Asia. Pointing out the women representation of only 31 per cent of the total workforce in India, the report says 96 per cent women are informally employed.

Balachander gets Dadasaheb Phalke award

K. Balachander, who brought a whiff of fresh air with a daring new style in direction and filmmaking in Tamil cinema in the 1970s, was on Friday chosen for the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010.The award, which is given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema, was announced by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry based on the recommendation of a committee of eminent persons.

The conference of parties at the Stockholm Convention on Friday approved the draft proposal for elimination of production and use of endosulfan and its isomers worldwide, subject to certain exemptions. The decision will not be binding on India unless specifically ratified by the country.However, the Indian delegation to the Convention has concurred with the proposal after its concerns regarding exemptions and financial assistance were addressed.

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Minister for Labour & Employment has conveyed his best wishes on the auspicious occasion of May Day to all workers, employers, civil society Organisations and the Government. In his message he reiterated the Government would continue efforts to promote the welfare of workers and provide all social security measures to the working class of organized as well as unorganized sectors.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) braces itself for three more PSLV launches this year, M. Chandradathan, Director, Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, said.“PSLV C-17 will be launched in July and it will carry GSAT-12, a communication satellite. PSLV-C18 will be launched in September and it will carry a weather forecast satellite. PSLV-C19 with a payload of Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) will be launched by this year end,” Mr. Chandradathan said.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, led the discussions in the plenary session on the theme of “Achieving Inclusive Economic Growth” at World Economic Forum(WEF), Latin America in the Rio-Di-Janerio on April 28th, 2011. Strongly pitching for percolation of fruits of growth to the common man Shri Scindia said that, “There is an urgent need to give a boost to manufacturing sector so as to increase employment opportunities for the large young population in the developing countries.” He further said, inclusion of new markets particularly from Latin American countries is integral to India’s strategy for inclusive growth. He said that the regions of Asia, Latin America and of Africa are fast emerging as growth engines of world economy.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to go into a batch of PILs challenging constitutional validity of the notification on composition of a committee to draft the Jan Lokpal bill, saying the petitions were “premature”.A bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia posted the matter for hearing in July. The bench said, “The petitions are premature and can’t be taken as the Lokpal Bill was yet to be passed.”

Air India operations have been severely affected with around 80 flights being cancelled due to strike by pilots. The Delhi High Court castigated striking Air India pilots for defying its order to immediately call-off the agitation and issued notices to their union's office bearers seeking replies as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them.

The Enforcement Directorate will soon attach properties of two telecom companies involved in the 2G spectrum scam. This was disclosed by the ED in a report submitted before the Supreme court yesterday. Appearing for the ED, senior advocate K K Venugopal told the apex court that property worth 2,000 crore rupees each has to be attached. He, however, did not mention the names of the companies but assured that attachment proceedings will be initiated soon and will be completed within two months. Mr Venugopal hinted that attachment orders will be issued shortly under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act, against the two companies against whom the ED has so far registered the complaints. Meanwhile, CBI also filed fresh status report about its probe and sought more time to complete the investigation relating to the allocation of spectrum during 2001-07. The court appreciated the probe done by the CBI and ED and said they have done a commendable job.

Couresy : AIR

Four people were killed during the anti-encroachment drive in Jharkhand

In Jharkhand, four people were killed and 23 others were injured in a clash between protestors and police during the anti-encroachment drive at Matkoria area of Dhanbad yesterday. Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal told a news conference that indefinite curfew has been clamped in the town. Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The inquiry will be conducted by Divisional Commissioner of North Chota Nagpur. AIR correspondent reports that among those injured include Superintendent of Police P.R.K. Dhan.

Uniform price for gas for all three importing countries including India will be the centre of discussions in the Steering Committee Meeting on TAPI Gas pipeline project today. Oil Ministers of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India are meeting in New Delhi to discuss the gas sales and other details of the 7.6 billion dollar TAPI Gas pipeline project.

The President Pratibha Devisingh Patil leaves back home after five days of her state visit to Mauritius today. Before leaving she will attend a India-Mauritius business meet and will be conferred honorary degree of law by the Mauritius university. AIR correspondent covering the President's visit has filed this report.

Indian photographer Amit Madheshiya has been named 'Arts and Culture Photographer of the Year' at the prestigious Sony World Photography Awards 2011.Mumbai-based Madheshiya was one of 13 professional category winners presented with an award held at the ceremony at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London, on Wednesday night.

Food inflation went up to 8.76 per cent for the week ended 16th April, raising fears of another hike in the key policy rates by the Reserve Bank in its annual policy to be announced next week.Amid concerns of rising inflation, RBI Governor D Subbarao is expected to hold consultations with Finance Ministry officials before firming up proposals for the annual credit policy to be announced on 3^rd May.

Over 800 more FM radio stations would be made available when the FM phase-III is rolled out shortly, while 31 new satellite TV channels are awaiting the government's approval, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said.

The govt increased the benchmark prices of imported di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MoP) fertiliser for the fiscal to ensure uninterrupted availability in the country during the coming kharif sowing season.The decision was approved in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in New Delhi on Thursday.

Air India has managed to remain in the news for the wrong reasons. After years of being in the red and repeatedly asking the Government of India to bale the airline out of its financial mess, it has been unable to sort out its labour issues and long-standing problems with its pilots. Normally, the passengers, who are at the receiving end of such strikes, have no sympathy for the pilots because they may be the highest paid class of employees in an airline. But the present case is somewhat different — at the very least, it has to be understood from a different perspective. Although the passengers are put to hardship, and hundreds of families are losing out on their summer holidays for no fault of theirs, the striking pilots, affiliated to the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA), have some legitimate demands that need to be addressed. From 2007, the process of merging the two national carriers — Indian Airlines and Air India — has been going on endlessly at the management and the government levels. Even the muddling-through has not been completed and glaring inequalities between the staff of the two merged entities remain.

India's sex ratio, among children aged 0-6 years, is alarming. The ratio has declined from 976 females (for every 1000 males) in 1961 to 914 in 2011. Every national census has documented a decline in the ratio, signalling a ubiquitous trend. Preliminary data from the 2011 census have recorded many districts with sex ratios of less than 850. The ratio in urban areas is significantly lower than those in rural parts of the country. Reports suggest evidence of violence and trafficking of poor women and forced polyandry in some regions with markedly skewed ratios. The overall steep and consistent decline in the ratio mandates serious review.

Myanmar and China plan to build a railroad together that will link China’s landlocked Yunnan province to a deep—sea port being built in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.The state—run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Thursday the project will start with a 79—mile (126 kilometer) rail link between the border town of Muse and Lashio in Myanmar’s northeastern Shan State. That first phase is expected to be built in three years.

After accusations and counter-accusations through unprecedented chaotic scenes at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) here on Thursday, 11 of its 21 members recorded their “vote” to “reject” the draft report on 2G scam circulated to the members by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Wednesday.The majority that voted to reject the report said they intended to send recorded rejection slips to the Speaker as well as PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday made a pitch for deregulation of savings bank deposit rates, saying that deregulation of interest rates on savings bank (SB) accounts would benefit savers, as it would enable lenders to come out with innovative products to attract more funds from low-income households.

An insightful evaluation of the work of the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector-focused lender within the World Bank Group, has noted that while 86 per cent of IFC investment projects “contributed positively to overall economic growth,” approximately “about 60 per cent [of the IFC’s investment projects] do not provide identifiable opportunities for the poor.”

Civil society groups have expressed shock over the government’s “sheer insensitivity’’ in announcing on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe that it is going ahead with the Jaitapur nuclear power project.This means disregarding the overwhelming opposition to the project by 40,000 local people and the larger public, the caution counselled by numerous experts, and the grave safety concerns raised by the still-unfolding Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, a statement issued by the civil society groups said here on Thursday. These concerns are eminently reasonable. Many governments, including those in Germany, China and Switzerland, have taken them on board by adopting a “pause-and-review” approach towards reactor construction. The European Union has ordered “stress tests” on all its 143 reactors lasting many months.

A new report by the UN World Health Organisation says non-communicable diseases are the “leading killer” and are on the increase across the world.“The rise of chronic non-communicable diseases presents an enormous challenge,” said Margaret Chan, head of WHO, after releasing the report in Moscow on Wednesday.

“For some countries, it is no exaggeration to describe the situation as an impending disaster; a disaster for health, for society, and most of all for national economies,” she added.

In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes, the WHO said. Nearly 80 per cent of these deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries.

“Chronic non-communicable diseases deliver a two-punch blow to development. They cause billions of dollars in losses of national income, and they push millions of people below the poverty line, each and every year,” she said.

The report said that cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17 million people annually, followed by cancer (7.6 million), respiratory disease (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million).

Tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol and poor diets were four recurring factors in these diseases.

WHO said that millions of deaths can be prevented by stronger implementation of measures that exist today, which include stronger anti-tobacco controls and promoting healthier diets, physical activity, and reducing harmful use of alcohol.

“About 30 per cent of people dying from NCDs in low- and middle-income countries are aged under 60 years and are in their most productive period of life,” said Ala Alwan, a top WHO official.

“These premature deaths are all the more tragic because they are largely preventable,” Alwan said.

Courtesy : The Hindu

India not against Endosulfan ban if interests protected

India on Thursday told the sixth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) of the Stockholm Convention going on at Geneva it would not prevent an international consensus on banning of Endosulfan pesticide as long as the its interests were protected and concerns reflected in the final declaration.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Project for cleaning of River Ganga to be implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) at an estimated cost of Rs. 7000 crore. The share of Government of India will be Rs 5100 crore and that of the State Governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal will be Rs 1900 crore. The World Bank has agreed in-principle to provide a loan assistance of US $ 1 billion (approx. Rs 4600 crore) to the Government of India for the NGRBA project, which will form part of the central share of the project. The duration of the project will be eight years.

New Delhi, 28 April: Carrying forward the momentum to make the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline project a reality, the Ministerial-level Steering Committee of TAPI met in New Delhi on 28^th April, 2011. It was attended by Mr.S Jaipal Reddy, Minister, MoP&NG, Government of India, Mr. W Shahrani, Minister of Mines, Afghanistan, Dr. Asim Husasain, Advisor to PM on P&NR, Pakistan and Mr B Nedirov, Minister of Oil & Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, Turkmenistan. It has been decided that the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement(GSPA) between the four countries should be finalized, so that it can be signed by 31st July, 2011.

Revised Cost Estimate and implementation schedule for National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the revised cost estimate of Rs.2288.06 crore for the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP) in place of the original approved cost estimate of Rs.1718 crore. The budget escalation of Rs.570.96 crore, includes Rs.427.29 crore by way of grant and Rs.142.77 crore as loan as a part of the revised cost estimate of Rs.2288.06 crore. The revised cost estimate of Rs.2288 crore includes the additional loan component of Rs.95.51 crore to be provided to offset the lower recovery of the user charges from Rs.118 crore (originally envisaged) to Rs.22.49 crore during the project period.

Recognising that economic engagement will help build mutual trust, India and Pakistan on Thursday agreed to initiate steps for trade of electricity and petroleum products between them.Besides, Commerce Secretaries of the two countries agreed on a slew of measures to realise the full potential of bilateral trade which at present is less than $2 billion.

The government on Thursday hiked subsidy on two important fertilisers Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Muriate of Potash (MoP) to prevent a rise in their domestic prices following a surge in global rates.The additional burden of subsidy is estimated to be about Rs 10,000 crore for the current financial year after the government raised the benchmark price level for fixing subsidy for these nutrients.

The Contact Group on endosulfan and new persistent organic pollutants to the Stockholm Convention, meeting in Geneva, finalised a draft decision proposing global ban on endosulfan with many exemptions on Thursday.

Programs have a direct bearing on the well being of the rural community. A host of programs sponsored by Central Government and State Governments are being implemented in the field or rural development, agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, watershed, forests and environment, health, education, nutrition, public distribution system, industries, development of women, children, ST/ST and physically challenged persons, rural electrification, management of land records and so on.Most of these programs are being implemented under the supervision of District Collector and BDOs. In the implementation of these programs large number of stakeholders comprising Line Departments, NGOs and PRIs are involved. The achievement of the objectives of the program depends on the commitment and cooperation among the stakeholders and proper knowledge and understanding of the programs.

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to prohibit any environmental release, including field trials, of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).In a letter to Union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, Agriculture Minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria has strongly stated that due to insufficient research on their safety and impact on human beings and the environment, the State government has decided to ban field trials and release of GM crops in the State unless there “is clear evidence of [their] safety, proven beyond doubt.” With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the second State, after Bihar, to officially oppose GM crops.

No decision was taken at the first meeting of experts that deliberated on issues relating to the moratorium on the commercial release of Genetically Modified Bt Brinjal.The experts were invited by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for their views on the controversial issue.Noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, however, recused himself from the meeting.He told that being a member of a Parliamentary Committee that was looking into the issue of Genetically Engineered Crops and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), he would not participate in any such deliberations.

To the surprise of the UPA government, inflation just refuses to go away. Almost a year ago, when addressing a Chief Minister’s conference on food prices early in February 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared: “The worst is over as far as food inflation is concerned. I am confident that we will soon be able to stabilise food prices.” Three months later, on more than one occasion, government spokespersons, like Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu, declared that inflation had “peaked out” and was on a downward trend. Such statements are not surprising since in the current dispensation government representatives at the highest level are expected to talk down prices and talk up markets. It is not what you say but the confidence with which you say it that matters.

Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan wrote to Chief Ministers of other States on Wednesday urging them to support a national ban on endosulfan.The Chief Minister also urged his counterparts to demand that India should adopt a stand in favour of global ban on endosulfan at the conference of parties to the Stockholm Convention which is to end on Friday.

The Election Commission of India (EC) has offered, if necessary, its technological support to the Egyptian election authorities for developing their own Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, who led a team of EC officials and a technical expert from the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), manufacturers of EVMs in India, to Cairo recently, briefed the Egyptian authorities about the functioning of EVMs. Demonstrations were also held.

Slamming PAC chairman MM Joshi over the draft report on 2G scam, Congress and DMK members of the panel on Wednesday accused him of having "malafide intention" of destabilising the government and demanded his resignation.Soon after the draft report leaked, members of Congress and DMK went into a huddle and made it clear that they would not allow the adoption of the report in tomorrow's meeting.

A total 78.3 percent turnout has been recorded on Wednesday in the third phase of the West Bengal assembly elections in 75 constituencies in three districts.The polling percentage might rise as reports from remote areas of South and North 24 Parganas districts were still awaited, the state's chief electoral officer Sunil Gupta told reporters in Kolkata.He said polling was 82.6 per cent in South 24 Parganas district, 80 per cent in North 24 Parganas districts, while Kolkata (south) registered 63.5 per cent and Kolkata (north) 61.6 per cent.

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that property worth Rs 2,000 crore each will be attached against two companies which are involved in the 2G spectrum scam during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja."Property worth Rs 2,000 crore has to be attached relating to these companies," senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the ED, submitted before a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.

The railways have initiated computerisation of parcel management system covering areas like booking, loading and delivery to improve its efficiency in Thiruvananthapurm railway division.The computer-aided modern facility proposed is to be introduced at seven stations in the division initially, railway sources told. An IT initiative of Indian railways, the pilot project was implemented at seven stations in Delhi-Howrah Corridor.Reduction in time for weighment and booking, advance loading guidance according to availability of space thereby optimum use of available space and control on overloading, prior information about the inward traffic, loading according to priority, web-enabled to know about latest position of the parcel, dynamic management tool and reduction in claims are the highlights of the facility.

After several extensions, and a controversy over the exit of members of its drafting and advisory committees, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC)'s draft Communal & Sectarian Violence Bill is finally ready: it will be presented on Thursday to NAC members for discussion by the Working Group headed by Farah Naqvi, and which includes Harsh Mander and Aruna Roy.

After a three-hour-long discussion here on Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee remained a divided house on the question whether it should finalise its findings in a report on the 2G spectrum allocation or leave the entire issue to the Joint Parliamentary Committee set up specifically to probe this very subject.Rules of procedure were cited, parliamentary procedures mentioned and instances of past precedents brought up to buttress claims on both the sides.

From next year the ‘World Water Day’ will be extended to a full week and celebrated as ‘World Water Week’ to reach out to all the states, schools, colleges and media to highlight various issues relating to water. Announcing this here today, while inaugurating the Annual Conference of Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of various States and Union territories dealing with Water Resources Management aspects, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister for Water Resources, also emphasized the necessity of taking up the issues of interlinking of rivers/inter-basin linking, flood management, etc. for better water management. The one- day Conference was convened by the Ministry of Water Resources to discuss important issues related to the development and management of water sector. It was attended by the representatives of 27 States & UTs as well as by the representatives of related Central Ministries/Departments.

The draft report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum allocation scandal comes down heavily on the former Communications Minister, A. Raja, for not heeding the Prime Minister's advice, for ignoring the Law and Justice Ministry's suggestion that a group of Ministers be set up to examine issues related to grant of telecom licences and related matters, for not properly consulting the Telecom Commission and, above all, for arbitrarily changing cut-off dates for the first come, first served policy adopted for grant of licences and spectrum.

Management Committee to meet on declining gas output from KG basin

Worried by the continued decline in the output of gas from the KG-D6 fields of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has convened an urgent meeting next week to review the situation in light of the failure of RIL to meet its production targets.The decision to convene the meeting comes close on the heels of the decision of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons to despatch a team to assess and probe the decline of gas production from the Kg basin fields and give a ``correct’’ feedback on the issue. The Petroleum Ministry has already asked RIL to stop supply of gas to non-core sectors.

Union minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Ajay Makan has said that the National Sports Development Bill will be tabled in the Monsoon session of Parliament. The objective of this bill is to bring transparency in sports related matters in the country.

India is developing a 5,000 km-range Agni ballistic missile, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said on Friday. “India has reached an appreciable level of competence in missile technologies, with a reach capability of 3,500 kilometres. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing Agni missile with a capacity to reach 5000 kilometres,” he said here. The Defence Minister was addressing a conference of heads of DRDO laboratories.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) today said it will assist India in its study to check the presence of multi-drug resistant superbug and whether it is a health hazard. “We will be assisting Indian government in the research on whether the superbug is a health threat or not,” Nata Menabde, WHO Country Representative, said. Menabe said one has to confront science through science. “Whether or not it’s a public heath threat needs to be established through research,” she said.

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