India and Iran sign work plan to promote agricultural cooperation

NEW DELHI - Dec 15: India and Iran have signed a work-plan for 2003-04 to promote bi-lateral cooperation in the field of agriculture. The work-plan was signed here today in the presence of the Agriculture Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh and the visiting Iranian Agriculture Minister, Mr. Mahmoud Hojjati Najafadi. The Work Plan seeks to develop and promote closer ties in the field of agricultural research and education.

Earlier, during the talks, the two sides expressed willingness to cooperate in the fields of dairy, fisheries and agricultural research, etc. The Iranian Agriculture Minister expressed keen interest in benefiting from the Indian experience of increasing food-grains and milk production. He said that one of the major impediments Iran is facing in the field of agriculture is post-harvest wastage of produce and both countries could co-operate in this area. The Iranian Minister also said that the southern part of his country has been facing the problem of pests. Because of climatic similarities between southern Iran and India, there is scope for bilateral co-operation in the area.

Shri Rajnath Singh suggested that joint programmes may be prepared on disease management of crops. He invited Iranian students to visit India and study in various institutes of agriculture. He expressed interest in obtaining from Iran germplasm of pistachio nut and saffron. The Minister also requested Iran to lift ban on import of Indian wheat due to so called Karnal Bunt infection. Both sides expressed willingness to begin talks on quarantine and plant protection issues so that a boost could be given to bi-lateral trade. The two Ministers also agreed on exchange of experts in the field of agriculture.

India is the seventh largest export destination for Iran. The Indo-Iranian trade was of the order of 2.016 billion US dollars in 2001-02. The items imported by India from Iran included pulses and dry fruits. India's export to Iran amounted to 470 million US dollars. The areas of mutual interest include exchange of germplasm, enhancement of germplasm and seed production, biotechnology; natural resource management, education and exchange of visits of scientists. -Keralamonitor.com

Blackmail and extortion of money; malayali lady arrested

New Delhi Dec 15: Delhi police arrested a former gulf Keralite lady, in a case of attempted extortion of money through blackmail. The malayali lady Shalini Jyothi (29) was arrested following a complaint received by the Delhi police from a businessman against Fazal-ur-Rahman who has allegedly demanded 50 lakhs from him.

A mobile number, which Fazal gave him had earlier been utilized in other cases for extortion of money through blackmail. Police found out that Shalini was contacting a mobile number which Fazal gave the businessman. Investigation revealed that Shalini was helping Fazal in the blackmail mission.

The police arrested Shalini and conducted a search at her house, which provided some evidence for her connection with Fazal. Some pornographic pictures were also caught in the raid. In 1996, Shalini was working in Dubai for work where Biju Koshi introduced her to Fazal who used her to collect details of rich people from India. He promised good amount as remuneration for collecting the details. Before shifting to Delhi, Shalini was earlier working in Bangalore from where she was proving details of the employers of the companies she worked in, she confessed to the police during interrogation.

Ram Naik launches the first Natural Gas Conservation Programme

Dec 15: Shri Ram Naik, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, launched here today the nation-wide first Natural Gas Conservation Programme of Gail (India) Limited. The programme, meant to spread the word of conservation of this precious natural resource, is a beginning of a pioneering movement. All the natural gas using industries like power, fertilizer, steel, sponge iron, transport, glass, ceramic and petrochemicals, would be provided with assistance on the ways and means of conservation of natural gas.

Giving away the Awards to Industries for Gas Conservation, Shri Ram Naik said that the role of oil is being increasingly taken over by gas which has become the fuel of the 21st Century. He complimented GAIL for having begun this journey towards saving this precious natural resource, which is scarce and has to be used with care. The "Save Oil" campaign can be recast as "Save Oil & Gas", he said. He applauded GAIL for initiating the "Award for Excellence" for efficient use of natural gas by major gas using industries. Shri Naik underlined the importance of gas conservation by saying that the country currently has around 75 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) of gas availability against a demand of around 155 MMSCMD. For meeting the domestic requirement, initiatives have been taken to import liquefied natural gas at Dahej in early 2004 and at Hazira in late 2004 besides awarding 91 blocks for exploration and production under NELP. He also advised GAIL to provide training to the users in domestic and automobile sector for efficient use of gas.

Delivering the keynote address on the occasion, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas said that with the fast pace of development in the country, energy demands of industries is also rapidly increasing. While measures are being adopted by the Government to ensure availability of fuel, it also becomes necessary for industries to take initiatives towards conservation. The Minister praised GAIL for having taken the stride towards gas conservation by launching such a programme. Petroleum Secretary Shri B.K. Chaturvedi and Shri Proshanto Banerjee, Chairman GAIL, also spoke on the occasion.

The launch of natural gas conservation programme by GAIL is a pioneering effort at a time when gas market is set to emerge in a big way. Gas being one of the environment-friendly resource its optimum utilisation becomes all the more necessary. It is estimated that a saving of 1 per cent of the current consumption of gas will result in additional supply to run 10000 CNG buses or to supply 10 lakh homes with piped gas or to generate 1 billion unit of extra power or to produce 4 lakh tonnes of fertilizer per year. GAIL has set up a dedicated team of 10 Engineers as technical services group who would visit user-industries to provide necessary guidance, help identify possible ways of inefficient use and suggest measures that could bring down losses to zero level. -Keralamonitor.com


Human Rights Commission laws should be modified says Human Rights Commission member Balaraman

Thiruvananthapuram Dec 15: Human Rights law should be modified said the retiring Human Rights Commission member S. Balaraman. This would help in removing the lagging that is taking place in dealing with cases of human rights violation, he said. He also said that of the cases numbering to around 18,000 which the Human Rights Commission had received, solution could be found only for around half of such cases, while there are many more cases left pending. In such a situation modification in law would help in solving many problems in this regard, he said.

Shivasena announced hartal in Kerala

Kannur Dec 15: In protest to the blocking of Sabarimala march, Shivasena has proclaimed a day-long hartal tomorrow. Along with the hartal in southern states, there would be hartal in Malabar areas too, said Shivasena Kannur District convenor, Kottayodi Viswanathan. Other hindu associations haven't announced support to the hartal, so the police special branch wing assumes that the hartal wouldn't block the normal life in Kerala.

President Kalam to dedicate to the nation the Brain Research Centre

Dec 15:The President, Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam will dedicate to the nation tomorrow the state-of-the-art National Brain Research Centre (deemed university) at Manesar, Haryana. This is probably, one of the best brain research centres in the whole of Asia. Its mandate is to make it a centre of excellence in brain research, with most modern facilities and a globally networked institution, for generating highly trained human resource. The centre was established by the Department of Biotechnology to bring together neuroscientists to unravel the complexity of the brain.

The human brain is a marvellously complex and sophisticated organ. The effort to understand its structure, function and development in health and disease, represents one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century. Brain related disorders represent one of the major disease groups that affect the population irrespective of age and cause a huge burden on the society. With the increasing life expectancy the world over, the prevalence of neuro-degenerative disorders, are also expected to enhance disability among the population.

India is a pioneer in brain research and neuro-sciences. It has fruitfully ongoing co-operative programmes in brain research with the United States and Japan. -Keralamonitor.com

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