India-South Africa cooperationin IT, Community Affairs.

INDO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT ON NUCLEAR SAFETY -RETAIL TRADING OF GOVERNMENT SECURITIES LAUNCHED -ISRO COMMERCIALISES TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING ADVANCED HEAT PIPES -SUBSIDY FOR BATTERY OPERATED VEHICLES -PROF. PREM NARAIN TO GET NATIONAL AWARD IN STATISTICS -- keralamonitor.com

The Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee holds a meeting of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi on January 16, 2003 (Thursday). Photo shows the Chief Minister of Bihar Smt. Rabri Devi , the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Digvijay Singh , the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Sushree Mayawati and the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri Shatrughan Sinha. (KM Photo)

 

RESULTS OF THE NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY & NAVAL ACADEMY WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS (II) 2002 ANNOUNCED

The Union Public Service Commission has announced the results of the National Defence Academy (NDA) & Naval Academy Examination (II) 2002 held by the Commission in September, 2002. The Candidates whose roll numbers appear in the list have qualified for interview by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to Army, Navy and Air Force Wings of the National Defence Academy for the 110th Course and Naval Academy for the 30th 10+2 (Executive Branch) course commencing from July, 2003.

The candidature of all candidates whose roll numbers appear in the list is provisional. They are required to submit original certificates direct to the Army Headquarters. They should not send the certificates to the UPSC. For any further information, the candidates may contact Facilitation Counter of the Commission, either in person or on Telephone numbers 23385271 or 3381125. The result is also available at Union Public Service Commission website at http://www.upsc.gov.in.

 

INDO-RUSSIAN AGREEMENT ON NUCLEAR SAFETY

India and Russia have signed an agreement for cooperation in safety regulation concerning nuclear power plant. The agreement was signed in Bombay yesterday between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India and the Federal Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority of Russia. The two Regulatory Agencies have agreed to share information and experiences in ensuring the safety of nuclear power plant personnel and the public, as well as protection of the environment against any possible, harmful effects of radiation.

The accord follows the understanding reached between erstwhile USSR and India in 1988 and supplement to the inter-governmental agreement signed in 1998 for the setting up of two nuclear power reactors of 1000 MW each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu with Russian collaboration.

The mutual exchange of information and experience will cover regulatory documents used in the design and subsequent phases of nuclear power projects, methodology adopted to validate computer codes and comparison of results against international verification programmes and requirements for qualifications as well as training and licensing of power plant personnel. Method of acceptance of design and its analysis with regard to seismic stability and environmental qualification, methodology of selection of materials of critical components and regulatory positions on other matters relating to nuclear power plant safety, are some of the other issues on which the two Regulatory Authorities will deal with. This agreement comes into force with immediate effect and is valid till the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant becomes fully operational. -keralamonitor.com

RETAIL TRADING OF GOVERNMENT SECURITIES LAUNCHED

The Union Minister of Finance and Company Affairs, Jaswant Singh today launched the retail trading of Government securities on stock exchanges. With this facility, retail and other investors will be able to trade in Government securities in an anonymous, order driven, screen based trading system of the stock exchanges. Since terminals of the designated stock exchanges are available in over 350 cities, this move will bring government securities to the doorsteps of small investors. This would also allow investors to enjoy the freedom of holding a security for a very short term and thus would provide an alternative to the existing saving instruments, such as, bank deposits of corresponding tenure. Keeping in view the retail investors, the minimum order size shall be 10 units of face value Rs.100 each and in multiples thereof. Further, this would enable different entities, such as, rural and cooperative banks, provident and pension funds across the country,! to participate in the transactions in Government securities with ease, transparency and safety.

To begin with, all outstanding and newly issued central government securities would be eligible for trading under the system. The treasury bills, state government and other securities, which are eligible are government securities, would be included in phases by the RBI in consultation with SEBI. RBI will provide the exchanges and the depositories, a list of outstanding government securities, which could be traded on the permitted exchanges.

This facility will be in addition to the present system of dealing in government securities through the Negotiated Dealing System of the RBI. Besides expanding the investor base and providing countrywide access to the government securities market, this measure will also help in reducing time and cost in trade execution by matching orders on a strict price time priority. It is also expected to enhance the operational and informational efficiency of the market as well as its transparency, depth and liquidity and is expected to reduce the cost of borrowings.

The equity trading model would be adopted for trading of Government securities on the permitted exchanges, so that there would be no requirement for a fresh membership on the exchanges or on the clearing corporation/clearing houses to trade on government securities. Like equities, the government securities would be traded on the permitted exchanges by T + 3 rolling settlement. The settlement cycle would be further shortened along with the shortening of the settlement cycle for equity trading. The clearing corporation and clearing house would provide the financial guarantee for settlement of obligations to its clearing members, as they do for equity market.

ISRO COMMERCIALISES TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING ADVANCED HEAT PIPES

In its continuing bid to transfer technologies to industry, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully commercialised the technology for producing sophisticated heat pipes. Besides technical support, it also provided financial assistance to the private Indian firm M/s. Avasarala Group, Bangalore for the manufacture of these pipes, used in satellites.

The axially grooved aluminium ammonia heat pipes quickly transfer heat from one zone of the satellite to another. This helps in evenly distributing temperature on all zones of the satellite equipment panels, despite the heat generated by some of the instruments on the equipment bay. Specifically these heat pipes are useful in high-power communication satellites in controlling the temperature exuded by the on-board transponders and related electronic systems.

The ISRO has been encouraging private entrepreneurs to take up production and testing of space hardwares for its own use. Earlier, ISRO transferred to the public sector Bharat Electronics Ltd. technologies for producing a number of high precision space qualified components. These include Invar Filters for use in communication transponders and c-band and ku-band receivers using microwave integrated circuits. It had also transferred the technology to produce light weight polyurethane artificial limb popularly known as the Jaipur leg to the industry .

India-South Africa cooperationin IT, Community Affairs.

India and South Africa have agreed to further extend by five more years the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of Communications and Information Technology. The MoU in the field was signed between the two countries in the year 1998. The Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Communications and Information Technology, Pramod Mahajan who is currently leading a delegation to Egypt and South Africa comprising of Chief Whips of various political parties in Parliament, met the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ms. Ivy Matsepe Cassaburi at Johannesburg in South Africa yesterday with a view to strategise IT&Telecom relations between the two countries. During the meeting, both the countries also decided to devise an Action Plan for cooperation in the field of Telecommunications and put it in place before the visit of the South African President who is expected to visit India during the calendar year.

During his meeting with the South African counterpart, Pramod Mahajan also discussed prospects of further expanding business partnerships between the Indian and South African entrepreneurs. The South African Minister for Communications and Information Technology, in particular, drew attention towards the paucity of manpower in their country and said that their country did not have the advanced institute of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) for training of personnel in their country. Another sector where their country felt ‘poor’ was the Broadcasting Sector and stated that they were looking forward for extended cooperation in the sectors. The South African Minister also mentioned that their country was eagerly looking forward for cooperation in the field of Space Technology in which India has made remarkable advances. Pramod Mahajan assured that India would look into all aspects of the proposals that were putforth by South Africa.

Presently, South Africa is the 20th largest market for IT products and services worldwide and there are roughly 3,000 IT companies in South Africa. Much of the growth in the South African ICT sector is related to demand from the IT and Telecommunications sub-sector. In this context, Pramod Mahajan said that Indian companies which already have significant presence in South Africa in the field of IT&Telecom, should come forward to explore new and alternative markets. Some of the Indian companies include: TCS, Infosys Technologies Ltd., IFLEX Solutions Ltd., TCIL, Modicom Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Information Systems Ltd and BPL Display Devices Ltd. Mahajan’s visit and his meeting with South African Minister assumes special significance in the context of providing an ideal platform to harness opportunities in the domestic IT&Telecom markets.

Pramod Mahajan also met Mr. Essopahad, Minister in the President’s Office of South Africa at Johannesburg yesterday. Both the Ministers had discussions in the field of Information & Communications Technology in general and said that they were looking forward for enhanced cooperation in the field of Telecommunications. It was felt that despite strong Indian presence, newer initiatives were required to diversify their market potential.

South Africa is the telecommunications leader on the African continent and it is the fastest growing sector of the economy. The cellular industry in South Africa is one of the fastest developing in the world. Since it started in mid-1994, it has grown to approximately 5 million subscribers in 2000. Growth has been mainly boosted by the introduction of pre-paid cellular services. Forecasts by the EMC World Cellular Database predict 14 million users in South Africa by 2003.

Both the countries have already identified areas for cooperation which include:- Outsourcing opportunities, networking products, IT solutions, highly specialised software for communications, value added services for communication platforms, e-commerce and internet, training in telecommunications, participation in joint projects, the joint development of new telecom technologies, software for Shipping and Power industry, geographical information systems, software for financial services and retailing sectors, IT enabled learning and systems integration. TCIL and ITI have been actively associated in areas of network expansion, turnkey projects and in providing new telecom products and solutions.

Currently, cooperation between India and South Africa are governed as per the Memorandum of Understanding which the two countries had entered in 1998. As per the MoU, both the countries had agreed to cooperate and develop training facilities to strengthen skilled manpower in the field of telecommunications including establishment of training institutions, exploration of opportunities for joint manufacturing and marketing and development of R&D capabilities. For the purpose, both the countries also agreed to establish a Joint Working Committee for achieving the objectives of the MoU.

PROF. PREM NARAIN TO GET NATIONAL AWARD IN STATISTICS

Prof. Prem Narain has been selected for the second National Award in Statistics for the year 2001-2002 for his outstanding contribution in the field of statistics. Instituted by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in memory of Prof. P.V. Sukhatme, the award is given to senior statisticians in alternate years.

Former Director of Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, Prof. Narain’s original research in statistical genetics and application of statistics in crop and animal sciences was highly praised by the scientific community. He developed a new concept of average time taken for the fixation of a gene in finite populations, which found useful application in animal breeding and evolution. He also introduced the method of conditioned diffusion equations, parallel to famous Fokker-Planck equations used in physics, in relation to population genetic problems.

The book written by Prof. Narain on Statistical Genetics is one of its kinds and is used as a text-book as well as extensively referred to by advanced research workers in both Indian as well as foreign universities. It explains the principles of population and quantitative genetics He has made significant contribution in mathematics of genetic diversity and statistical genomics also.

Prof. Narain made efforts to find application of computers in the field of agriculture. He was the first to develop a blueprint of KRISHINET – a nation-wide agricultural research and education information system, which found a place in Limca Book Of Records. He was also instrumental in developing efficient statistical techniques for the analysis of sample survey data and early warning system based on crop forecasting and remote sensing technology. He developed a manual on ‘Training Programs in Food and Agricultural Statistics’ and reviewed the program on the ‘Organisation of Agricultural Pilot Census in China’.

He was a member of the National Statistical Commission, an apex body constituted in January 2000 to revamp the Indian Statistical System. He has over 250 research papers/reports - some of them being repeatedly referred to in journals and text books, seven books, and ten book chapters to his credit and received several awards, prizes and medals including Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Prize in 1977 by the India Council of Agricultural Research.

SUBSIDY FOR BATTERY OPERATED VEHICLES

In order to promote use of renewable energy the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources is implementing a demonstration programme on Battery Operated Vehicles throughout the country. This programme provides subsidy for the following types of Battery Operated Vehicles :

o Central Subsidy is being provided for ten and more seaters Battery Operated Buses/Mini buses @ 33 per cent of the cost of vehicle (exclusive of excise duty, sales tax and all other levies) or Rs.3.50 lakh per vehicle;

o Eight and more seater Battery Operated Passenger Three Wheelers @ 33 per cent of the cost of the vehicle (exclusive of excise duty, sales tax and all other levies), or Rs.80,000 per vehicle; and

o Four seater Battery Operated Passenger Cars @ 33 per cent of the cost of vehicle (exclusive of excise duty, sales tax and all other levies), or Rs.75,000 per vehicle.