Cooperation with Germany on Energy Sector

India and Germany have discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency, solar energy, clean coal technology and carbon capture and sequestration. Some countries are reviewing their nuclear power programmes. Reports indicate that the Governments of Germany and Switzerland plan to phase out nuclear power by 2022 and 2034 respectively. Italy has decided not to reintroduce nuclear power. The demand for growth in power generation in these countries can be met by renewable energy sources. This appears to be the reason to be the reason for their distancing from harnessing nuclear energy.

In view of India’s vast and growing energy needs, nuclear energy is an important clean energy option and will be pursued with full regard to safety, environment and livelihood of the people in the neighbouring areas along with other energy sources, including solar energy, as no single energy source would be adequate to meet India’s energy requirements.

The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office Sh V Narayanasamy gave this information in a written reply to a question by Shri Shreegopal Vyas in Lok Sabha today.  

Setting up of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council

The Union Cabinet today approved the setting up of “Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) “ as ‘not-for-profit’ section 25 company with a vision to stimulate, foster and enhance the strategic research and innovation capabilities of the Indian biotech industry particularly SME’s, to make India globally competitive in biotech innovation and entrepreneurship and to create affordable products and services.

BIRAC will operate with a core budget for its regular activities and recurring expenses for human resources and operational cost with an initial outlay of Rs.70 crore for two years.

BIRAC is being set up as a separate body for supporting product innovation and providing required infrastructure and services at different stages of the value chain for promoting innovation and product development.

BIRAC will provide funding/investment for

• Early and late stage, including Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI), Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) and Ignition grant.

• Technology transfer and acquisition in national priority areas

• Technology development – incubators, parks

It will also provide support services such as IP facilitation, legal and contracts, regulatory and clinical trail facilitation; mentoring and capacity building.

The company would function as the Government’s, inter-phase agency for supporting industry –academia interaction, which will service as a single window for the emerging biotech industry through which they can acquire knowledge, access world class R&D infrastructure, access rate limiting serious technologies and seek technical problem solving help regulatory advice.

Background:

The proposal for setting up of an innovation support organisation – Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) will address the felt need in the government system for providing a comprehensive enabling environment and technology related service package to promote, nurture and support medium and high level innovation in biotech research. This would be particularly useful for small and medium size companies, and also support and facilitate creation of new start-ups. 

Joint Venture Agreement for Setting up Nuclear Power Plants Across The Country

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) and National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has entered into a Joint Venture Agreement for setting up nuclear power plants across the country.

The agreement was signed by Dr. S. K. Jain, Chairman & Managing Director, NPCIL and Shri B. L. Bagra, Chairman cum Managing Director, NALCO, at Mumbai today.

NALCO is a Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Administrative control of Ministry of Mines, Government of India which has experience of more than 25 years in Mining, Alumina Refining, Power Generation and Aluminum Smelting. NALCO has a vision to become an integrated energy and metal company.

NPCIL is a wholly-owned enterprise of the Government of India under the Department of Atomic Energy for setting up nuclear power plants in India. Presently, NPCIL operates 20 nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 4780 MW and six reactors with 4800 MW capacity are under construction.

Bharti

India is all set to commission third permanent station, named as 'Bharti', in Antarctica by March next year. The first permanent research station in the South Polar region was set up by India twenty years ago.

Miss World 2011

Miss Venezuela, Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colimenares, was crowned the 2011 winner of the Miss World beauty pageant at a glittering final ceremony in London yesterday.

3 New Elements Added To The Periodic Table

The General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), taking place at the Institute of Physics in London, has approved the names of three new elements.

Elements 110, 111 and 112 have been named darmstadtium (Ds), roentgenium (Rg) and copernicium (Cn).

The elements are so large and unstable they can only be made in the lab and quickly break down into other elements.

They are known as Super-heavy elements.

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) by USA to tackle Rogue foreign websites

Three leading technology industry groups urged
members of the US Congress on Monday to oppose a copyright protection
bill being proposed in the House of Representatives.

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would give
US authorities more tools to crack down on websites accused of piracy of
movies, television shows and music and the sale of counterfeit goods.

The legislation has received the backing of
Hollywood and the music industry but has come under fire from digital
rights and free speech groups.

It also came in for criticism on Monday from
the powerful Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the Computer and
Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetCoalition, whose
members include Google and Yahoo!.

In a letter to members of Congress, they said
the legislation “has been framed by its sponsors as a vehicle to
protect US trademarks and copyrights from foreign ‘rogue’ websites.

The bill prevents online thieves from selling
counterfeit goods in the US, expands international protections for
intellectual property, and protects American consumers from dangerous
counterfeit products,” Smith said.

The Obama administration has come in for some
criticism for shutting down dozens of “rogue websites” over the past
year as part of a crackdown known as “Operation in Our Sites.”

US authorities in November, for example, shut
down 82 websites selling mostly Chinese-made counterfeit goods,
including golf clubs, Walt Disney movies, handbags and other items.

NMEICT and NKN merger approves by Govt

The Union Government has decided to merge National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) and National Knowledge Network (NKN) to give a wider platform to implement ICT in learning processes.“The move is aimed at enhancing the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning processes in universities and research institutions,” an official statement .The former is run by the Human Resource Development Ministry while NKN is part of the Ministry Of Communications And Information Technology.

A spacecraft launched by China

China‘s space programme on November 3 hailed its first ever docking exercise in outer space, conducted by an unmanned spacecraft, launched this week, with a space laboratory module — a step seen as a crucial landmark along China‘s road to launch its own space station in the next decade.Early on November 3 , the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 docked with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module which was launched on September 29, a development described by theChinaspace programme as a “major technological breakthrough”.Chinais now only the third country to accomplish a docking exercise in space, after theUnited StatesandRussia. Both those countries carried out similar exercises more than three decades ago.

Indira Gandhi National Integration award

Former Union Minister Mohan Dharia, who was a strong critic of Indira Gandhi in her lifetime,got the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2010 for his yeoman's service in promoting and preserving spirit of national integration.

86-year-old Dharia, who currently stays in Pune and is a Padma Vibhushan awardee and is an environmentalist and runs a non-government organisation, Vanrai. He was elected to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and had been Union minister and deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission from December 1990 to June 1991.

Pakistan grants India Most Favoured Nation trade status

Pakistan's cabinet unanimously decided on Wednesday to grant India Most Favoured Nation status to liberalise trade between the two South Asian countries. This move could improve ties between the rivals.Granting the most-favoured status means the two countries can now trade on equal terms, typically giving each other low tariffs and high import quotas.

7-point peace deal

Nepal's political parties The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress (NC), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), and the Madhesi parties,they together represent more than 85% strength of the constituent assembly,signed a historic agreement on the peace process, Constitution writing and power-sharing .

Parties agreed to integrate a maximum of 6,500 fighters of total 19,602 into the Nepal Army (NA) and provide rehabilitation and cash packages to the rest.Those combatants who opt for voluntary retirement will get between $6,300 and $10,000 approximately, depending on their rank. There will be packages between $7,600 and $11,400 for those who prefer rehabilitation. Maoist weapons will come under the government.

The former combatants would be integrated in a newly-created special directorate under the Nepal Army, which will also include NA soldiers and personnel from other security forces. The directorate will be responsible for development works, industrial security, forest security, and disaster relief. Combatants will be integrated on an individual basis, and will have to meet the norms of the security force. But there will be flexibility on age, marital status, and educational qualification. To determine ranks, the norms of the security organs will be taken into account. There will be bridging and educational courses for the combatants.

The regrouping of the Maoist combatants will be completed in seven days and the integration process will complete by November 23, as per the deal

Implementation of the past agreements and creation of environment of trust will be done .The Maoists have committed to return property confiscated during the insurgency.The local administration will monitor and enforce the implementation of the agreement on returning the seized properties to the rightful owners.The rights of the peasants shall be protected as per the letter and spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Accord, the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 and scientific land reforms.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Disappearances Commission, a high-level political mechanism to oversee the peace and Constitution process, and an experts' team to address state restructuring issues would also be constituted. The parties have also agreed to and prepare the first draft of the Constitution by November 30.

As part of the deal, relief package will also be given to the kin of those killed, injured, disappeared or displaced during the decade-long armed conflict.The victims of both Maoist violence as well as of the actions of the security forces will be provided equal compensation without any discrimination.

A faction of the Maoists, led by vice-chairman Mohan Vaidya ‘Kiran', however opposed the deal terming it “anti-people”.

Group of Ministers (GoM) agreed in principle on setting up a sovereign wealth fund

A Group of Ministers (GoM) on external security interface chaired by Pranab Mukherjee has agreed in principle on setting up a sovereign wealth fund to help companies acquire mineral and energy assets abroad. The money from the fund would be available only to state-owned undertakings, and not those in the private sector.

he government is studying two options — dipping into the country’s $350 billion foreign exchange reserves, and setting aside monies from the budget. While Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has recommended using a part of forex reserves, the Reserve Bank of India is opposed to such a move.

It has become important to set up a sovereign wealth fund in the backdrop of rising coal and oil prices.

Mars 500 mission

It is a year-and-a-half isolation experiment that had been conducted to simulate a return flight to Mars , organised by the Moscow-based Institute for Medical and Biological Problems in cooperation with the European Space Agency and China’s space training centre.


The idea behind the project was to study the psychological and physical effects of long-haul space flight on human beings in anticipation of a real mission to Mars.

The all-male crew, which comprised of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian, and a Chinese man, agreed to be locked inside a giant wood-panelled tin can in order to simulate a return flight to the Red Planet.

The tin can was complete with fake emergencies, space walks, scientific experiments, and only sporadic electronic communication with their loved ones.

The participants were free to leave the “spaceship” at any time for good but none of them did and there were said to have only been minor disagreements among them.

India signs convention on global tax cooperation

India on Friday signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, developed jointly by the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and opened for signature by the member-states of both organisations on January 25, 1988. All members of the G20 have now become signatories to the Convention. The Convention will have to be ratified by the Indian Parliament to become law.

The Convention facilitates international co-operation for a better operation of national tax laws, while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers. The Convention provides for all possible forms of administrative co-operation between states in the assessment and collection of taxes, in particular with a view to combating tax avoidance and evasion. This co-operation ranges from exchange of information, including automatic exchanges, to the recovery of foreign tax claims.

The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters offers a wide range of tools for cross-border tax co-operation. It includes automatic exchange of information, multilateral simultaneous tax examinations and international assistance in the collection of tax due. At the same time, the Convention imposes safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information exchanged.

ADIVASI SHIKSHA RRINN YOJANA of NSTFDC

The Minister for Tribal Affairs & Panchayati Raj Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo today formally launched Education Loan Scheme titled“ADIVASI SHIKSHA RRINN YOJANA”(ASRY) of National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation(NSTFDC). Under the Scheme, NSTFDC would provide loan at concessional rate of interest to the eligible Scheduled Tribes for pursuing higher professional and technical education including PhD. in India. conducted by colleges/universities approved by UGC/Govt./AICTE/ICMR etc. A Scheduled Tribe havingannual family income upto Double the Poverty Line would be eligible. The present limit is Rs. 39,500/- p.a. for rural areas and Rs. 54,500/- p.a. for the urban areas. The eligible candidates should apply to the respective State ChannelisingAgencies of NSTFDC located in his/her domiciled State/UT in the prescribed format along with copies of the requisite documents. Following are the features of ASRY: · Loan would cover expenses towards Admission/Examination/Library/ Laboratory/Tuition fee, Boarding and Lodging, Caution Money, Building fund/Refundable Deposit, Books, Stationery items, Computer, Equipments/Instruments, Study Tours, Project Work/Thesis, Insurance Premium for student and any other expense towards completion of course. · Quantum of assistance: 90% of expenditure/deposits for entire duration of the course subject to a maximum loan amount of Rs. 5.00 lakh (Five lakhrupees) per eligible family. · Rate of Interest: 6% p.a. chargeable from the beneficiary. · Repayment: After the moratorium period (Course Period plus one year or six months after getting job, whoever is earlier) within next 5 years subject to maximum period of 10 years. · Financial Assistance for Income Generating Activities: In order to encourage self employment, provision has been made in ASRY for extending concessional financial assistance after completion of studies for undertaking income generating activities. · Linkage with Interest Subsidy Scheme of Ministry of Human Resource Development(MoHRD) for educational loans: A scheme of MoHRD provides for full interest subsidy during the moratorium period for economically weaker sections of Society for the approved courses of study. Action has been initiated by NSTFDC for formally linking ASRY with the scheme of MoHRD. · National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation has been set up in April, 2001 as a Government of India Company under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. NSTFDC has been granted licence under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (a company not for profit). NSTFDC provides financial assistance at concessional rates of interest to STs for undertaking income generating activities and for procurement and marketing of minor forest produce and other tribal products. The financial assistance of NSTFDC is provided through its State level Channelising Agencies (SCAs), certain Public Sector Banks, certain Regional Rural Banks, National Cooperative Development Corporation(NCDC), etc. · Other schemes of NSTFDC: (A) Income Generating Schemes- (i) Term loan scheme: 90% loan for units costing upto Rs. 10.00 lakhs. Remaining 10% is contributed as Subsidy / Margin Money and / or Promoter’s Contribution. Interest chargeable from the beneficiaries on loan uptoRs. 5.00 lakhs is @6% p.a. and above Rs. 5.00 lakhs @8% p.a. (ii) AdivasiMahila Sashaktikaran Yojana: An exclusive concessional scheme for women. 90% loan for units costing upto Rs. 0.50 lakhs. Remaining 10% is contributed as Subsidy / Margin Money and / or Promoter’s Contribution. Interest @ 4% p.a. is chargeable from the beneficiaries. (iii) Micro Credit Scheme: Maximum loan per SHG is Rs. 5.00lakhs subject to loan per member not exceeding Rs. 35,000/-. Interest @ 6% p.a. is chargeable from SHGs. Repeat loans permissible. (iv) Self Help Groups(SHGs): 90% loan for units costing upto Rs. 25.00 lakhs subject to investment not exceeding Rs. 50,000/- per member. Minimum contribution of 10% by SHGs. Rate of interest is 8% p.a. chargeable from the SHGs. (v) Scheme for Artisans trained by TRIFED: 90% loan for units costing upto Rs. 50,000/- for individuals and upto Rs. 5.00 lakhs for SHGs. Interest chargeable @ 4% p.a. for ST women and 6% p.a. for ST men. TRIFED assists in recovery of loan from the loanees to the extent of purchases made by TRIFED from such loanees. (B) Marketing Support Assistance: For procurement and marketing of minor forest produce/ agricultural produce collected/grown and for related products / services by the Central/State Government owned agencies. Interest is charged @ 7%p.a. for undertaking such activities.