Rs. 18.09 crore spent on hockey for London Olympics

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has spent  a total expenditure of Rs. 18.09 crore on hockey 
The total expenditure incurred  on men’s (32 player+7 Coaches +9 supporting staff) is Rs.9.86 crores and for  women’s hockey team(29 players+6 Coaches+8 supporting staff) is Rs.8.23 Crores since March 2011 for preparation of London Olympics, 2012. 

Separate Investigation & Prosecution Cadre Proposed for Speedy Justice

Expeditious trial of cases has to be ensured by making necessary changes in procedure. States must create a separate investigation cadre. Separate prosecution cadre is also required. This was stated by the Union Home Minister Sh. P. Chidambaram at the Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Home Affairs which discussed the topic: Investigation, Prosecution & Trial – the need for revamping.

He informed members that Law Commission of India has been requested to give a report on the amendments required immediately. He said the Department- related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs while examining the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2010 in its 146th Report has recommended that there should be comprehensive review of the Criminal Justice System and introduction of composite draft legislation for revamping of the Criminal Justice System in the country. Accordingly, Ministry of Law & Justice have been requested to request the Law Commission of India to examine and give a comprehensive report covering all aspects of criminal law, so that comprehensive amendments could be made in the various laws viz. IPC, Cr.P.C., Evidence Act, etc. It was also suggested that the Law Commission of India may also, inter-alia, take into account the recommendations made by Malimath Committee & other Committee/Commission in this regard. The recommendations of the Law Commission of India in this regard are awaited.

While initiating the discussion, the Union Home Minister said, the investigation has moved to technology based evidence, new forensic tools are used by other countries. We also need to move towards it.

He said the Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System, constituted on 24.11.2000 under the Chairmanship of Justice V. Malimath, former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts, considered measures for revamping the criminal justice system and gave recommendations on various aspects of the criminal justice system including investigation, prosecution and the trial procedure in its Report submitted in March, 2003. Since the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure are on the Concurrent List of Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India and the same are administered by the State Governments, any amendment to them requires consultation with the State Governments. In view of this, the report was forwarded to the State Governments and Union Territories Administrations to obtain their views/comments.

The Law Commission of India also reviewed the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in its 154th Report. The 197th Report of the Law Commission of India examined the issues relating to appointment of Public Prosecutor. The view of the State Governments/Union Territory administration on recommendation of Law Commission have been sought. Some of the issues relating to investigation, prosecution and trial procedure highlighted in these reports are:

The Investigation Wing should be separated from the Law and Order Wing. A separate wing of the investigation with clear mandate and it is accountable only to Rule of Law is the needed. The Law Commission of India specifically discussed this issue threadbare in its 154th Report and categorically recommended for separating the investigating agency from the law and order police. Placement policy of investigating staff, inadequate training, Comprehensive use of Forensic Science from the inception and problems related to Medico Legal Services were highlighted.

Several measures have been suggested to improve the quality of investigation. Interrogation centres should be set up at district headquarters in each district where they do not exist and strengthened where they exist. A mechanism for coordination amongst investigators, forensic experts and prosecutors at the State at district level for effective investigations and prosecutions should be devised. A suitable provision be made to exclude the period during which the accused is not available for investigation on grounds of health etc. for computing the permissible period of police custody. Refusal to entertain complaints regarding commission of any offence should be made punishable. Stringent punishment for false registration of cases & false complaints.

Members highlighted that the common man suffers as the manner in which police investigation is conducted is of critical importance to the functioning of the criminal justice system. A prompt and quality investigation is the foundation of an effective criminal justice system. They also raised the issue of non-registration of cases by police in some cases. On this, Sh. P. Chidambaram informed Members that in Delhi all but sensitive FIRs are on website. The members also called for separate cadres for investigation work and prosecution.

India Acquiring Weather Re-Connaissance Aircraft to Ensure better Cyclone Forecasting - NDMA Vice Chairman

One of the major recommendations made by NDMA in the National Guidelines of Management of Cyclones was the establishment of the Aircraft Probing of Cyclones facility to significantly reduce errors to the extent of 30% in terms of landfall, intensity and storm surge. Govt. of India is taking steps to acquire a Hercules C-130J for this purpose alongwith an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). With this capability all, all countries of the Indian Ocean Region would also be able to benefit greatly. This was stated by Shri Shashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman, NDMA during his meeting with Delegation from Madagascar headed by Mr Razakanaivo Mamy Nirina, Head of the Disaster Prevention and Emergency Management Unit, Prime Minister’s Office (CPGU), Madagascar in New Delhi today.

Shri Reddy also informed that traditionally there is a very good response mechanism in place. There was a evacuation of more than 6.5 lakhs people when a cyclone hit in Andhra Pradesh in 1990 which was till date the highest ever human evacuation in the context of the natural disaster.

Shri Reddy explained to them some of the salient features of the National Guidelines for the Management of Floods, Cyclones and Urban Flooding. He also informed, it is for the first time NDMA has decided to address Urban Flooding as a separate disaster de-linking it from floods which affect a large tracks of rural area besides “scientific and technological innovations will greatly improve disaster management capabilities of any country”, said Shri Reddy.

He further informed that the NDMA is implementing the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project in 13 cyclone prone coastal States/UTs in India with a view to address the Cyclone risks in the country. For this Government of India has drawn up the Project with the assistance of World Bank with a view to address the Cyclone risks in the country. The main objective of the Project is to strengthen the structural and non-structural cyclone mitigation efforts to reduce the cyclone risk and vulnerability in the coastal districts prone to cyclones and in building capacities for cyclone risk mitigation there. The project also aims to promote a culture of sustainability through efforts towards conservation of coastal eco systems. The Phase I of the Project is being implemented in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa at a cost of Rs. 1496.71 crores. This Project will look at last mile connectivity which is extremely important.

On the response side, India will have 12 Bns of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and trained manpower to deal with not only with all kinds of natural disasters but also with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies. This is a unique force totally dedicated to disaster management which also take up community sensitization during non disaster time.

India has vastly improved its preparedness over the years to deal with disasters like Cyclone, Floods and Tsunami. Shri Reddy cited the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System at INCOIS, Hyderabad which is a state- of-the-art facility set up in 2007. There has been worldwide acknowledgement for the accuracy of the forecast coming out from it.

The Delegation from Madagascar is on a Study tour to learn from Indian experience to deal with Cyclones and other natural disasters. The visit was held within the South-South Cooperation Framework and was part of the GFDRR through the World Bank, a funded program in Madagascar for mainstreaming climate risk and disaster into economic development.

Salary of Mr. Nobbs Men’s Hockey Coach Hiked

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has raised the salary of India Men’s Hockey coach Mr. Michael Jack Nobbs from 10000/- Australian Dollars per month to 11000/- Australian Dollars per month with immediate effect in recognition of notable achievement of male Hockey players by qualifying for the Olympics, 2012. The orders to this effect have been issued by the Sports Authority of India today.

Centre launches two new schemes for rural poor from Kerala

The centre has launched two new rural development schemes from the Thrissur district of Kerala aimed at helping the women working in farm sector through the intervention and integration of other such schemes. The second scheme launched from Thrissur and Malapuram districts is rechristened as new PURA( Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas), which is aimed at creating physical infrastructure in rural areas of the country in the Public-Private Partnership mode. Launching both the schemes, the Union Minister of Rural Development Sh Jairam Ramesh said here that the government is embarking on a very important journey by launching the two national projects, whose results will be visible to the common man in the coming three to four years. The first project called Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Yojana has two components with a budgetary provision of Rs 80 crore each and is designed for improving the economic status of about three lakh women workers in the state of Kerala. The scheme will be launched in the entire country based on the feedbacks as is being done in the case of Kutumbshri scheme, which is highly successful in Kerala and other states are demanding for replicating the same self-help group model. Responding to the queries of the Kerala Chief Minister that timing for MGNREGA scheme for women workers should be fixed from 9.AM to 4. PM, Shri Ramesh assured that the Centre will seriously look into the matter as the women have other family responsibilities also. He also informed the Chief Minister, present on the occasion that dairy related works will be included in the MGNREGA from 1st of April this year as an expert committee has recommended the same in this regard. It is pertinent to mention here that women constitute more than 90 percent of the all MGNREGA workers in the state.

Launching the PURA project from the Thrissur and Malapuram districts of Kerala, the Rural Development Minister said this is different from the PURA conceived by the former President Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, as the new project deals with water supply, sanitation and improvement of roads as key focus areas and is not related to the Knowledge connectivity idea of Dr Kalam. Moreover, under this all central government schemes will be integrated under the Gram Panchayat as nodal agency and there will be Public-private partnership between the Central Government, State Government and the private players to build and improve upon the physical infrastructure. Shri Ramesh said, initially there will be eight PURA projects in the country which can be extended to 500 centres known as census towns (semi-urban & semi-rural) as the latest census talks about over 3500 such areas in the country.

BGREI turns Eastern region into food surplus region

The Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India programme launched in 2010-11 as a Prime Minster's initiative based on the Inter Ministerial Task Force has resulted in impressive increase in production of food grains with the eastern region now turning a food surplus region. The BGREI is a subscheme of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVYJ ) with an outlay of Rs. 400 crores in the eastern region including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Eastern Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal.

The programme gained momentum in 2011-12 with the focus on rice and wheat only and strategic interventions relating to crop production, water harvesting and recycling, asset building and site specific activities needed for improving the agronomy-adopting cluster approach aimed at enhancing the productivity per unit area and the income of the farmers.

Eastern region hitherto known as food deficit region, has with the help of the programme, turned food surplus region. The rice production from the region is estimated at 562.6 lakh tons an increase of 19.8% over last year against an all India increase of 7%. And the foodgrain production from the region is estimated at 1032 tons an increase of 11.9% against an all India increase of 2.2%.

The increased productivity/ production was optimized due to resource allocation and utilization. The significant increase in production of food grains in the region not only offset the decline in production in central and peninsular India but also contributed significantly to the highest ever production of food grains. The growth in food grains i.e. rice and wheat provides an opportunity to procure and create food grain reserves locally reducing the pressure on Punjab and Haryana, and cutting costs on transport and other logistics.

The focus will now be to consolidate the gains with continued emphasis during the 12th Plan. Further steps will be taken to improve the infrastructure for procurement and storage of the produce and to ensure a reasonable price for the farmers.

Virtual Labs Project Launched

The  Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Government of India today launched Virtual Labs — a collection of ninety-one virtual laboratories containing hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of science and engineering. As part of Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD)’s National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), Virtual Labs is part of a comprehensive undertaking to provide easily accessible and high quality education throughout India.

Virtual Labs’ primary focus is to provide graduate and undergraduate college and university students with the ability to perform their required laboratory experiments using only the World Wide Web, a standard computer, and an Internet connection. Virtual Labs allow students to practice and better learn the science and engineering behind the experiments that they are required to perform. Virtual Labs also allows the sharing of costly equipment across the country, and in very rural areas, students will be able to perform experiments that they would not otherwise be able to access.

Nearly 300 department heads, faculty, and staff representing 152 institutions have been trained across India. Over 20 Nodal Centres have been created, institutions who have expressed their interest to champion Virtual Labs in their organisations and geographical areas.

The Pilot Phase of the Virtual Labs project started in April 2009.  During this phase, approximately twenty labs were developed as proof of concept.  The Main Phase began in April 2010.  So far, over 80 Virtual Labs have been developed, and are undergoing field trials in various parts of the country.

Two types of virtual labs have been developed under this project. In the Simulation Based Virtual Labs the experiments are modeled using mathematical equations.  The simulations are carried out remotely at a high-end server, and the results are communicated to the student over the internet.  Simulation based Virtual Labs are scalable and can cater to a large number of simultaneous users.

Using the Remote Triggered Virtual Labs the actual experiments are triggered remotely.  The output of the experiment (being conducted remotely) is communicated back to the student over the internet.  This class of Virtual Labs gives the student the output of real-time experiments.  Typically, time-slots are booked before conducting such experiments.

All Virtual Labs can be accessed through a common website: www.vlab.co.in. At the user end, a PC and broadband connectivity enables the user to access Virtual Labs.

These Virtual Labs will be very useful for Engineering College Students who do not have access to good lab-facilities, High-school students, whose inquisitiveness will be triggered, possibly motivating them to take up higher-studies, Researchers in different institutes who can collaborate / share equipment and engineering colleges, who can benefit from the content and related teaching resources.

Currently 85 Virtual Labs have been developed comprising of 769 experiments. Trainings and workshops have been held all over India to disseminate knowledge of these Virtual Labs. Future efforts will involve development of virtual labs in different subjects and wide dissemination of this knowledge.

A Collaborative Platform for Development of Virtual Labs has been created that assists the faculty with authoring and maintaining Virtual Labs. The platform hosts over 825 experiments developed by many of the partner institutions. The Collaborative Platform provides the server side architecture for ensuring that virtual labs run securely, can effectively serve thousands of students simultaneously, and reserve time slots for experiments that require scheduling. The Collaborative Platform also provides tools to help teachers monitor their students’ progress and make changes to the instructional material.

Student interest in Virtual Labs has also been enthusiastic. The Virtual Labs site (vlab.co.in) has had 233,570 site visits and 1,034,443 page visits in just the last 6 months. There are over 4500 registered users from 134 countries and handles around 100GB of traffic per month with visitors from India, United States, Malaysia, Philippines, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Pakistan and so on.

With the launch of Virtual Labs Indian students will have easy access to an encyclopedia of science and engineering knowledge presented in a way that is engaging, immersive, and enjoyable. Virtual Labs will allow students to explore, discover, and learn wherever they are and at their convenience.

PM assures West Bengal Chief Minister

Chief Minister of West Bengal Kum. Mamata Banerjee called on the Prime Minister this evening. During the meeting she raised three issues, namely, the leakage in Farakka Barrage, the concern regarding National Counter Terrorism Centre, and the grant of Presidential assent to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill.

Prime Minister said that he shared the Chief Minister’s concern and assured her that the Ministry of Water Resources is working on plugging the leakages in Gate No. 16 and Gate No. 13 and the leakages will be plugged during March 2012.

Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister that he has requested the Home Minister to find ways to take the concerns of the state governments on board on the issue of the National Counter Terrorism Centre.

On the issue of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill Prime Minister informed the Chief Minister that the Ministry of Home Affairs is expeditiously processing the Bill in the light of the issues raised by various Ministries and the comments of the State Governments. Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister that the Ministry of Home Affairs will complete the processing of the Bill soon.

State Education Ministers’ Conference

A Conference of State & UT Education Ministers’ was held here today. It was chaired by Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister for Human Resource Development, Communications and IT, Government of India. Dr. D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for HRD, 23 Ministers of Education representing State Governments and Union Territories, Smt. Anshu Vaish, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Smt. Vibha Puri Das, Secretary, Higher Education, Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Prof. Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT-Kanpur and senior officials of the Central and State Governments were present.

A presentation on the reforms proposed in the entrance examinations for admission to engineering institutions was made by Dr Ramasami and Prof Dhande. States felt that there is a need to limit the multiplicity of entrance examinations thereby reducing stress on students and parents. It was clarified to States that the reform would not, in any way, affect reservations followed by States and the Centre. It was also clarified to North-Eastern States that the special pool made available by the Ministry of Human Resource Development would not be affected. It was clarified to that the States could adopt their own weightages for State Board marks and the National examinations for admission to State-level institutions. Accordingly, States could adopt 100% weightage for State Board results as in the State of Tamil Nadu which would not be disturbed by the proposed arrangement. It was informed that the academic component of the Main and Advanced examinations would be handled by IITs whereas the management and conduct of the examination would be done by CBSE in collaboration with State Boards. It was informed that the IITs and other Central Educational Institutions were proposing to adopt a weightage of 40% for State Board marks. Certain States raised the issue of conduct of examination in regional languages. It was clarified that the examinations would be conducted in English and Hindi and where States intend to use the same examination for admission to State engineering institutions, the examination could be conducted in the regional language of the State too. Issues on validity of scores for two years, involvement of the private engineering institutions and revenue sharing with States were also raised.

After detailed deliberations, the proposal for a common national examination with effect from 2013 with weightage to State Board results, normalized on the basis of percentiles formula, was endorsed “in principle” by States. The States of Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and West Bengal sought more time to study the proposal in detail. The States may decide on adopting the same pattern for admission to State-level engineering institutions with appropriate weightages as States may think fit. It was decided that the details for the common examination process would be finalized in the next two months in consultation with States.

Presentations were made by the Ministry of HRD and AICTE on the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) and concept on Community Colleges. While welcoming the development of NVEQF, the State Education Ministers felt that NVEQF will be an important landmark in improving the skills and employability of the youth of this country. The report of State Education Ministers headed by the Hon’ble Education Minister of Bihar on NVEQF was unanimously accepted. After deliberations, NVEQF and the concept on community colleges was unanimously endorsed by States. The need to have a dialogue at the State level with School Boards, Boards of Technical Education and universities to provide a seamless pathway for vocational students was stressed. It was decided to start 100 Community Colleges on a pilot basis in 2012-13 and then scale up gradually. The States were requested to identify local skill requirements linked to local needs which could form the basis of opening community colleges and forward proposals to the Central Government. It was decided to constitute a Committee of State Education Ministers headed by Smt Archana Chitnis, Hon’ble Minister of School Education of Madhya Pradesh, to finalise the scheme of community colleges.

Presentations were made on the quality of Elementary Education as also on Grievance Redressal under the RTE Act. The State Education Ministers agreed that the issue of quality of Elementary Education is a matter of deep concern. While many States have developed state vision of quality and also initiated some curricular reform, but a lot of age-inappropriate material continues to form part of the textbooks and teaching learning material used in classrooms. States were requested to initiate steps to formulate age-appropriate curricula and syllabi in keeping with the principles of section 29 of the RTE Act and NCF-2005. States were also requested to institute CCE from the child’s perspective to show progress that the child has made with respect to his or her performance. State Governments were also requested to put in place the Grievance Redressal and appellate mechanism taking into account the guidelines prescribed under the RTE Act.

Indian Community Welfare Fund

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs provides an amount upto a maximum of Rs.15 lakh to a country in proportion to the size of the Indian work force working in that country. The Ministry’s contribution is initially for a period of 3 years or till the fund becomes self sustaining, whichever is earlier. The amount is released annually and is limited to meet the deficit in the financial resources of the missions with due regard to the utilization of the amount released during previous years. The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) Indian Missions is placed at the disposal of the Heads of Missions and the Mission keeps the record of utilization of fund and beneficiaries. The Ministry has extended the ICWF in Indian Missions across the world.

The Indian Community Welfare Fund is aimed at providing ‘on site' welfare services on a means tested basis in the most deserving cases including: (i) Boarding and lodging for distressed overseas Indian workers in household / domestic sectors and unskilled labourers; (ii) Extending emergency medical care to the overseas Indians in need; (iii) Providing air passage to stranded overseas Indians in need; (iv) Providing initial legal assistance to the overseas Indians in deserving cases, (v) Expenditure on incidentals and for airlifting the mortal remains to India or local cremation/burial of the deceased overseas Indian in such cases where a sponsor is unable or unwilling to do so as per the contract and the family is unable to meet the cost. The procedure for disbursement of the fund is as under:

i. The Head of Mission will consider requests, written or verbal, depending upon the seriousness or sensitivity of the circumstances on a case to case basis.

ii. The Officer in charge of the Labour Wing or the Officer designated for the purpose by the HOM will examine the case and forward his recommendation for HOM’s approval. iii Assistance towards boarding expenses per head will be fixed to a limit as approved by the HOM subject to a maximum of 15 days.

The expenditure on incidentals and for airlifting mortal remains to India or local cremation/burial of deceased Overseas Indians in cases where the sponsor is unable or unwilling to do so as per the contract and the family is unable to meet the cost, is covered under ICWF.

Providing initial legal assistance to Overseas Indians in deserving cases on a means tested basis is one of the objectives of the scheme. The Heads of Missions/Posts are empowered to disburse from the ICWF for providing services on a means tested basis in the most deserving cases.

New MGNREGA will boost farm productivity,

Union Minister of Rural Development Shri Jairam Ramesh said that new version of MGNREGA will lead to better farm output as more than 25 agriculture and allied activities have been included in it. Talking to media here after receiving a Report on revised Operational Guidelines for MNREGA 2.0, the Minister said that the quantum of works provided in whole year indicates seasonal fluctuation with a huge share of works being done during the off season in agriculture. The Report was prepared by a committee headed by Planning Commission Member Mihir Shah. Rebutting the claims that MGNREGA is leading to fall in agricultural productivity, Shri Ramesh said, on the contrary the studies done by independent bodies suggest the rural job scheme has led to better farm output. He said, the new guidelines will also respond to demands of the states for location specific flexibility in permissible works as valuable suggestions from the states were incorporated in the guidelines. The recommendation will be implemented from the 1st of April this year and the Minister added that institutional mechanisms are being strengthened to check the leakages. He said, the rural job scheme should be utilised to improve the ecological balance in rural India and for rural regeneration.

New invention in computer usage

Dr.Birendre Raj has developed new chip called " Proton Chips",this  proton chip  do not generate heat,environment friendly,  facilitate to consume less electricity and avoid putting  your system in cool atmosphere

PM writes to Chief Ministers on NCTC

The Prime Minister has written to the seven Chief Ministers addressing their concerns about the NCTC. Dr. Manmohan Singh in his communication said the NCTC has been located within the IB and is not a separate organization. The communication has been sent to the Chief Ministers of Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The text of the Prime Minister's letter is as follows:

"As you may be aware, the idea of such a centre has been under consideration by Government since the Group of Ministers report of 2001 suggested a Joint Task Force on Intelligence and the report was accepted by the Government of the day. It was also suggested by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission that a National Centre for Counter Terrorism be established.

In forming the NCTC, it is not the Government's intent in any way to affect the basic features of the Constitutional provisions and allocation of powers between the States and the Union. The primary purpose of the NCTC is to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts throughout the country, as the IB has been doing so far. It is for this reason that the NCTC has been located within the IB and not as a separate organization.

I have, however, noted your concerns about the manner in which the NCTC will function and am asking the Home Minister to address them suitably, in consultation with you and other Chief Ministers."

US Business Delegation meets Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan

India has invited investors from the US to participate in the country’s port development plans and earn rich rewards. This invitation was extended by the Union Shipping Minister Shri G.K. Vasan when a business delegation from USA led by Undersecretary to the Government of the United States of America, Mr. Sanchez met him in Chennai today. Foreign Direct Investments in ports are permitted in India under the automatic route. USA is the second largest source of FDI inflows into India.

Recalling the maritime cooperation between India and the USA Sh. Vasan said, a Memorandum of Cooperation on Maritime Transport, Science and Technology between the two countries was signed during 2005. It covers a wide area of mutual interest including maritime safety and security, port management and technological developments related to the maritime sector. It also envisages cooperative arrangements between the US Merchant Marine Academy and the Indian Institute of Maritime Studies, which is now a constituent of the Indian Maritime University in the field of maritime training and education.

Stating that India train and educate more than 3,000 marine engineers every year on an average the Minister said, there was adequate scope for the Indian and American maritime training institutions to work in close collaboration to produce quality maritime human resource.

coast of Somalia ...source of concern

Update on Somali Pirates

The instances of piracy off the coast of Somalia have been a constant source of concern for the Government. The Ministry of Shipping, in close co-ordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Navy and other agencies has been making discreet efforts to secure the release of Indian maritime personnel.

So far, 242 Indian crew members on board merchant vessels of various flags have been hijacked by the Somali pirates. As a result of concerted efforts of the Government, in co-ordination with ship owners, managers, etc., 220 of them have been released and all efforts are being made to secure the release of the remaining 22 personnel. This was stated by the Union Shipping Minister Shri G.K. Vasan when a business delegation from USA led by Undersecretary to the Government of the United States of America, Mr. Sanchez met him in Chennai today. He further stated that India can explore the possibility of working together to counter the menace of piracy on the basis of the 2006 Indo-U.S. Framework for Maritime Security Cooperation which provides for expanding cooperation in areas such as counter-piracy and littoral security.

India Earned Foreign Exchange of Rs.14,000 Crore From Export of Horticulture Produce: Shri Pawar
Record Horticulture Production, at 240 Million Tonne
2012 to be Celebrated as Year of Horticulture to Bring Horticulture Development to Centre Stage

Shri Sharad Pawar, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries today complimented farmers and all those associated with the development of horticulture in the country for achieving an all time record production of over 240 million tonne of horticulture produce.

Addressing the National Conference on Horticulture Production and Productivity here today Shri Pawar said that increase in production has resulted in higher per capita availability of fruits and vegetables, besides substantial increase in its exports, which has helped the country to earn foreign exchange to the tune of Rs. 14,000 crore.

Shri Pawar announced the formal launch of 2012 as the “Year of Horticulture” to bring horticulture development in the country to centre stage.

The Minister said, “ While we have achieved considerable success on the production front, the supply chain issues still need to be addressed. The Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters is an important step in this direction. This was launched during the current year with an outlay of Rs. 300 crore under the aegis of RKVY. To start with, the Scheme is being implemented with focus on sustained supply of good quality vegetables to urban centres having a population of one million and above. The scheme lays special emphasis on promoting protected cultivation of vegetables in green houses and shade-net houses for enhancing its productivity. Besides, formation of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO) and linkage with financial institutions through Aggregators is an innovative feature of the Scheme, Over 62,000 farmers have already been mobilized into over 3000 Farmer Interest Groups (FIG) and 50 Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) under this scheme.”

On Central Government’s decision to set up National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) Shri Pawar said, “This will go a long way in addressing the issues relating to the gaps in cold chain infrastructure in the country. While the Government of India would be infusing funds to the tune of Rs. 25 crore, much of the investments will have to come from the Industry. The NCCD will strive to develop standards and protocols related to cold chain besides organizing training programmes for the stake holders of the cold chain Industry. It would be relevant to add that we have set ourselves an ambitious target of 15 million MT of additional cold storage capacity during the 12th Five Year Plan as against 8.75 million MT targeted during the 11th Plan.”

On Floriculture, the Minister said, “ It is yet another area which helps in generating quick returns per unit of area for the farmer. With production level at nearly 7000 million cut flowers, there has been significant improvement in their production. These enjoy good demand in the domestic and international markets. However, there remains good scope to further tap the international market through quality and price competitiveness. Hi-tech interventions being promoted under the NHM, HMNEH and NHB schemes need to be availed to the fullest extent.”

Referring to global standards in productivity, Shri Pawar emphasized on the need to match the world in productivity standards. He said, “The ICAR, SAUs and KVKs are close partners in implementation of various horticulture development schemes and their role will be critical in the coming years, particularly in development and dissemination of technology, development of new varieties, production of healthy planting material and human resource development. Besides, we also have to strengthen our extension machinery to ensure that best horticulture practices reach the farmers. Canopy management, which is one of the most crucial element for health and productivity of horticulture crops is conspicuous by its absence. Our extension machinery must deliver on this.”

About National Mission on Micro Irrigation which promotes efficient methods of irrigation for both agriculture and horticulture crops, Shri Pawar said that while India has achieved good progress in this sector, there is need to refine the technology to optimize the capital and recurring costs of micro irrigation systems. There is also a need to pay special attention to increase the spread and coverage of MI in the North East, and to ensure linkages with financial institutions to provide medium term credit for MI so that dependence on government support can be rationalized, he added.

On this Occasion, the Minister announced instituting awards for the Best Performing States in Horticulture during the current year.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr. Charan Das Mahant was also present in the conference.

Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Shri P.K. Basu, said that the initiatives taken by the Department have made a significant impact in terms of increased production of horticultural crops making India as not only the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, but also the largest producer of a large number of crops.

States were given awards for successful interventions in Cluster formation, High Density planting, Protected cultivation, Creation of Centres of Excellence for Fruits and Vegetables, Post Harvest Management, precision farming and micro irrigation.

Govt announces six forest-based projects in Naxal affected areas

Government has announced creation of six projects in Non-Timber Forest Produce, NTFP covering around 60 naxal-affected districts in the country. The projects to be executed within six months will be in the Public Private Partnership mode and will cover the States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Addressing a National Conference on the NTFP here, Union Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said, the projects in Lac, Gum, Medicinal Plants, Tasar, Bamboo and Non-edible oil seeds like Neem and Mahua will maximise the return for the tribal engaged in collection of these forest products. He said that expansion of market and regeneration of NTFP in a sustainable manner are the other two challenges facing this sector. He added that the projects will be part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission and will focus primarily on livelihood generation and value additional in the non-timber forest products in naxal affected areas and called for cooperative arrangement between forest departments and the local self help groups and other such organizations. He underlined the need for involvement of Panchayats in the execution of projects and stressed for large scale intervention to improve the livelihood security of the people depending on the collection of NTFP. Shri Ramesh informed that his Ministry will also explore whether MGNREGA can be used as a convergence in the implementation of the projects. The National Rural Livelihoods Mission, Ministry of Rural Development is planning a special intervention to promote NTFP collectives to increase the income of tribal NTFP collectors through sustainable harvest and scientific post-harvest practices for higher returns, negotiate better with market forces while also take up various value addition activities at appropriate levels. The intervention envisages strengthening the NTFP value chain on end-to-end basis and creating strategic public-private partnerships for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Initiatives on Safeguards of Deserted NRI Women

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has brought out a guidance booklet on “Marriages to Overseas Indians” which contains information on safeguards available to women deserted by their NRI spouses, legal remedies available, authorities that can be approached for redressal of grievances. A pamphlet entitled “Thinking of the marriage of your daughter with an NRI?” has also been brought out by the Ministry highlighting the precautions to be taken before entering into marriage alliance. Apart from this, National Commission for Women (NCW), the coordinating agency at the National level for dealing with the issues pertaining to NRI marriages has brought out a pamphlet entitled “Problems Relating to NRI Marriages-Dos and Don’ts”. It describes the problems related to NRI marriages and suggests precautionary dos and don’ts for Indian women considering marriage to a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) or a Person of Indian Origin (PIO). NCW has also brought out a report on problems relating to NRI marriages, titled “The ‘No where’ Brides”.

Beside this, a scheme was launched in 2007 to provide legal /financial assistance to the deserted or divorced overseas Indian women through the Indian Missions/Posts. It was revised and the revised scheme came into effect from November, 2011. The scheme would be available to Indian women who have been deserted by their overseas Indian / foreign husbands or are facing divorce proceedings in a foreign country, subject to the following conditions:-

• The marriage of the woman has been solemnized in India or overseas with an overseas Indian or a foreigner

• The woman is deserted in India or overseas within fifteen years of the marriage; or

• Divorce proceedings are initiated within fifteen years of the marriage by her overseas Indian / foreign husband; or

• An ex-parte divorce has been obtained by the overseas Indian / foreign husband within twenty years of marriage and a case for maintenance and alimony is to be filed by her.

The scheme would not be available to a woman having a criminal case decided against her, provided that a criminal charge of Parental Child Abduction shall not be a bar if the custody of the child has not yet been adjudicated upon. The assistance will be limited to US$ 3000 per case in developed countries and US$ 2000 per case in developing countries and will be released to the empanelled legal counsel of the applicant or Indian Community Association / Women’s organization / NGO concerned to enable it to take steps to assist the woman in documentation and preparatory work for filing the case.

National Workshop Cum Seminar on ‘Nowcasting’ Concluded

Weather forecasts are issued for various spatial and temporal domains to meet demands of different users. Location specific forecasting of high impact weather events e.g. severe rainstorms, sudden dense fog, severe heat/cold spells, severe thunder storms etc for a very short time range still remains a challenge for the meteorological community worldwide. When any high impact weather event strikes any metro city or any other urban and rural pockets affecting lives of common people severely, we try to find out whether it could have been forecasted, atleast a few hours, if not days, in advance. It is common knowledge that manifestations of internal dynamics within a given boundary condition are extremely complex and vitiate the outcomes on the small spatial and temporal scale of extreme weather. Operational forecast procedures mostly fail to forecast exact timing and location of any high end weather event. Further research on various tools used for issuing such forecasts e.g. empirical and NWP Models and their ensembles, also have high limitation in predicting high variability at 12-24-hours time scales.

Modern observing and analytical systems now in place for use in real time operations are expected to improve the accuracies of monitoring and forecasting of high impact weather events. A technology driven system of 24X7 Monitoring and Nowcasting is the need of hour. It should be able to predict the time of start, minute by minute progression and final cessation of the event. Such a Monitoring and Nowcast System will minimize the loss of invaluable lives and also property

A number of Forecast Demonstration Projects (FDP) conducted in different parts around the world have demonstrated that the only way to improve the forecasting accuracies of “high impact very short period (0-6hours) events” are by introducing a range of monitoring strategies viz. developing a MESONET over the area, including a dense network of DWR coverage and high resolution satellite pictures/products etc. In addition, very high resolution NWP and autonowcast systems would also be required as was done during Oklohoma Mesonet and Nowcast system, Beijing Olympic 2008 Forecast Demonstration Project and Delhi Nowcast for 2010 Commonwealth Games.

India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India has organized a Training Workshop cum National Seminar on Challenges, Developments and Opportunities in Nowcasting (CDO-NOW-2012) during 27-31 January 2012 at New Delhi.. The main aim of organising this important event was to give a thrust for development and implementation of a 24x7 Monitoring and Nowcasting system in India especially with respect to high impact weather events.

The training workshop was inaugurated by AVM (Dr.) Ajit Tyagi, DGM at ARNAV Conference Hall, Prithvi Bhawan, New Delhi. The training programme was designed to impart theoretical as well as practical aspects of Nowcasting to the trainees. The focussed discussion were held on monitoring of high impact weather events with the help of conventional and automatic observations, satellite information, Numerical Weather Prediction Models and Doppler Weather Radar products and synergising all the available input and techniques for issuing operational Nowcast. The aim was to develop a sort of Standard Operating Procedure for issuing Nowcast of extreme weather events in mega Cities in the first phase. About 20 Resource Persons were drawn from IMD, ISRO (SHAR), IAF, NAVY, SASE, NCMRWF. About 50 Trainees were selected who are mainly involved in forecasting in various above organisations and also research scholars, There were about 12 hours of lectures time and about equal hours for hands on training/ practical exercises and case studies for demonstration of use of a particular technique in operational Nowcast.

The training workshop concluded on 29th January. The feed back recieved from trainees as well as resource persons was very encouraging. The training was very fruitful.

The National Seminar was inaugurated at the auditorium of India Islamic Cultural Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110 003 from 1000-1100 hrs. IST on 30th January 2012. AVM (Dr.) Ajit Tyagi, DGM delivered Welcome address and also presented the Training Workshop summary. Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Chairman, Earth System Organisation & Secretary MoES in his address highlighted the importance of Nowcasting, capacity building and various modernization programmes of Ministry for further improving the accuracy of forecasts. The Keynote address ”Role of Nowcast in Disaster Management” was delivered by Hon’ble Shri T. Nanda Kumar, Member NDMA. Hon’ble Shri P.P. Shrivastav, IAS (Retd.) Member North Eastern Council who was the guest of Honour of the function gave the inaugural address. In this function Three publications namely (1)Extended Abstract of the Seminar, (2) Standard Operating Procedure Manual and (3) Monsoon Monograph Vol. II were also released. Shri B. P. Yadav who was the programme co-ordinator proposed the Vote of Thanks. About 200 participants, delegates, eminent scientists from various scientific organisations such as IMD, ISRO (SHAR), IAF, NAVY, SASE, NCMRWF, IIT etc., attended the inaugural function.

The technical sessions were held at Arnav Conference Hall, 3rd Floor, Prithvi Bhawan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. There were in total 7 thematic sessions where various research papers on Nowcasting were presented.

A special session was arranged in the afternoon of 31st Jan. 2012 for interaction with various users, stakeholders and media to understand mutual requirements and develop delivery mechanism. It was attended by PIB, DD, AIR, FM, Central Water Commission, Traffic Police, NIDM and print media personnel.

The seminar concluded in the evening of 31st January 2012 and was chaired by Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Chairman, Earth System Organisation & Secretary MoES.

Rs. 14.40 Crore Spent So Far on Olympic Preparation
11 Quotas Won by Indian Shooters

An amount of Rs. 14.40 crore has been spent so far under ‘Operation Excellence for London Olympics 2012’ (OPEX 2012) scheme on the training/ foreign exposure to shooters. Out of this, a sum of Rs. 2.90 crore was spent on National Coaching Camps organized for training of 91 shooters (59 men and 32 women) who are being guided by 19 coaches (including 3 foreign coaches) and 5 supporting personnel (including 1 foreign gunsmith), while the remaining amount of Rs. 11.50 crore was utilized for foreign exposure of players. Till now eight coaching camps of a total duration of 124 days have been organized. This was stated by Shri Jagjit Singh, Secretary General, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) in review meeting of the preparation for Olympics, 2012, called by Shri Ajay Maken, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports.

The Sports Minister also asked Sh. Singh to submit all the requests for gadgets and equipments as well as for foreign training of players, if any, within 2-3 days so that the Steering Committee clears all such proposals received from various Sports Federations in its meeting scheduled for 6th February , 2012.

In London Olympics highest number of shooters, that is, eleven, will be participating since the start of “Quota Place” system in 1988. They are: Shri Gagan Narang, Shri Hari Om Singh, Shri Sanjeev Rajput, Shri Ranjan Sodhi, Ms. Annuraj Singh, Ms. Rahi Sarnobat, Shri Vijay Kumar, Shri Abhinav Bindra, Ms. Shagun Chowdhary, Shri Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Shri Imran Hasan Khan. Under the “Double Starter” rule, Shri Narang and Ms. Annuraj Singh will be participating in more than one event.

In the run-up to the Olympics, Indian team participated in 13 International Competitions up until January, 2012. For the first time shooters were sent to Eley Ltd., UK, an ammunition manufacturing factory, for testing of ammunition to help them select ammunitions according to their rifle barrel size and achieve the best results in competitions. Apart from participation in the various international competitions, shooters will be attending various coaching camps abroad under the conditions which are similar to London. Besides, the services of four foreign experts, three coaches and one support staff, have been employed. They are: Mr. Stass Lapidus (Rifle coach), Mr. Anatolli Piddubnyi (Pistol coach), Mr. Marcello Dradi (Shotgun coach) and Mr. Anatoliy Fedorchenko (Support staff- Gunsmith). The financial assistance to Abhinav Bindra, Ronjan Sodhi and Manavjit Singh Sandhu has been approved under National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) scheme.

In the Beijing Olympics, 2008, nine shooters from India participated, with the highlight being the gold medal won by Shri Abhinav Bindra in men’s air rifle event.

PM approves Constitution of National Council for Senior Citizens

Prime Minister has approved the constitution of a National Council for Senior Citizens. The Council would advise the Central and State Governments on issues related to welfare of senior citizens and enhancement of their quality of life with special reference to (a) policies, programmes and legislative measures; (b) promotion of physical and financial security, health and independent and productive living, and (c) awareness generation and community mobilization.

The Council would be chaired by the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment. Other members of the Council include the Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment, the oldest Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, representatives of 5 State Governments (one each from the North, South, East, West & North Eastern Regions) and 1 Union Territory by rotation, 5 representatives each from Senior Citizens’ Associations, Pensioners’ Association, NGOs working for Senior Citizens and Experts, and five senior citizens who have distinguished themselves in various fields.

The Council would be anchored in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

IRCTC Extends “Companion Travels Free” offer for Buddhist Circuit Special Train

To provide an opportunity for domestic tourist to experience the rich culture and spiritual heritage of India and travel in the footsteps of Lord Buddha –Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, has extended the “Companion Travels Free” offer for the Indian nationals travelling on the National Tourism Award winning – Mahaparinirvan Express – Buddhist Circuit Special Train for its trips commencing on 4^th February & 13^th February 2012 also.  The all inclusive price for two people would now be Rs. 45,500/- for AC 2 Tier.

          This comprehensive tour package of 7nights/ 8Days includes journey by an exclusive tourist train, hotel accommodation, road transportation in AC Deluxe buses, all meals, sightseeing, entrance fee, tour guide service, travel insurance, onboard security etc. This journey of discovery and spiritual fulfillment covers world famous Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir, Sarnath, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Lumbini (Nepal) Sravasti and Agra. Tourist and pilgrims from over 30 countries have so far travelled on this special train in the last 4 years and have enjoyed the unmatched hospitality offered by IRCTC.

          Tourist can avail this special offer by booking immediately on the website www.railtourismindia.com/buddha or call on 011-23701100, 23701145, 09717644798 and Email: Buddhisttrain@irctc.com,