- Arab Airlines Pledge More Cooperation
- Abu Dhabi Marina Mall October Fun Festival Concludes
- Indian government Claim Terrorist Attacks Foiled
- Catch the Sharjah Cricket Championship live One-Vision
- Terrorrist Attacks filed in India
- New Satellites Launched from PSLV
- National Strategy for Injection Safety Meeting on Vaccine Preventable Diseases
- Greater Role of Women Media Persons stressed
Civil Services Examination Review Committee Report submittedPresent IAS, IPS Selection system suffers from inherent weaknesses and deficiencies
keralamonitor.com
New Delhi: The high level experts Committee appointed by the Union Public Service Commission on July 19, 2000 to review the present scheme of selection to the higher civil services such as IAS, IPS and the Central Services through the Civil Services Examination submitted its report to the Chairman of the Commission Lt. Gen. Surinder Nath (Retd) here today. The Chairman of the Committee Prof. Y.K. Alagh, handed over the report in the Commission office in the presence of the Committee Members.
The Committee found that while the system of recruitment to the higher civil services continues to be seen as fair and unbiased and successful in identifying the bright young minds across a widening social base, the present system does suffer from certain inherent weaknesses and deficiencies which are susceptible to exploitation by a determined candidate who has mastered the system through repeated attempts. The social cost of the examination under the present regime was also found to be highly excessive.
Taking a view of the emerging role of the civil services in perspective, the Committee has attempted to redesign the scheme in all its aspects including eligibility parameters, desired characteristics in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes/values and the testing instruments and modalities necessary for identifying the most suitable candidates for the higher civil services. The Committee has also recommended a far more elaborate and objective methodology for personality assessment as against the present interview based personality test. The triad of reforms is sought to be completed through detailed recommendations on post induction training and issues relating to management of services since it was felt that recruitment, training and management are components of the same system and reforms in one cannot succeed without the other.
In general the Committee have designed a scheme aimed at identifying younger candidates with the desired qualities of heart and mind for taking the civil services away from the perceived negative influences and shaping them into instruments of reform while ensuring continuity, stability and security.
The seven-member Committee comprised besides Dr. Alagh, Shri Tejinder Khanna, former Lt. Governor, Delhi, Dr. B.P. Mathur, former Director, National Institute of Financial Management , Faridabad, Dr. Uddesh Kohli, former Chairman & Managing Director, Power Finance Corporation Ltd., Prof (Ms) Armaity S. Desai, former Chairperson, University Grants Commission, Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Shri D.C. Gupta, Special Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India and Shri I.M.G. KHAN, Additional Secretary, Union Public Service Commission, who functioned as Member-Secretary of the Committee.
The Committee held extensive consultations through interaction with eminent persons in public life, senior civil servants, academicians, economists, social scientists, trainers and young officers and carried out special studies and workshops before formulating its views and recommendations. Feedback was obtained in an organized manner through questionnaires, consultation meetings and interviews with eminent Indians and a wide spectrum of views was taken into consideration.
The Union Public Service Commission will make its recommendations on the new scheme suggested by the Committee to the Government after due consideration. It is not likely that the changes recommended will have any significant implications for the Civil Services Examination 2001 due to be notified in December this year.
Bahrain to replace 15,000 expatriate workers with nationals
Oman'intensify labour checkings
keralamonitor.com
Manama: Large number of Malayali workers in supermarkets, restaurants and small enterprises are worried about the new mood in the region. Giving more employment to the youth is important to resolve growing unemployment in the Gulf and the support that a section of the youth extends to the militant Islamic movements like the one headed by Osama bin Laden. Two countries which are supporting the western countries in the current military offensive against Afghanisthan are intensifying their efforts to find job for national youth.
About 15,000 new jobs in Bahrain will be created for the nationals through a new set of measures restricting expatriate workers from some jobs. Such jobs which will be reserved exclusively for Bahraini citizens were announced by the Bahrain Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. These jobs include driving heavy vehicles, operating certain types of machinery and clearing goods and documents from government offices. Similarly, all jobs requiring minimal qualifications like gardening, cleaning and office messenger work in government departments will be reserved only for Bahrainis. About 50 per cent of workers at retail outlets and beauty salons will have to be Bahrainis. A national strategic plan presented by Labour and Social Affairs Minister Abdulnabi Al Sho'ala about the labour market has recommended measures to absorb more Bahraini workers. These measures will leave many Indian workers, especially Keralites jobless.
In an interview with Gulf Daily News, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Abdulnabi Al Sho'ala said that companies carrying out sub-contract work for the Government would have to employ only Bahrainis and half of all jobs in the country's shops will be handed over to Bahrainis, within two years. Mr Al Sho'ala said it in an interview with Soman Baby, a Malayali journalist that the new move would create at least 25,000 more jobs for Bahrainis over the coming two years. "Sub-contractors who carry out cleaning and maintenance jobs in schools and other government establishments will be required to employ 100 per cent Bahraini workers," the minister said in the interview. The retail industry is identified as one of the largest segments that can employ large number of Bahrainis. "Any new retail shop opening in Bahrain will also be obliged to employ 50pc nationals, right from the first day," the Gulf Daily News report said. Similarly norms will be applied in beauty and hairdressing salons where 50pc of the workforce should be Bahrainis.
Oman's Ministry of Social Affairs intensify labour checkings
keralamonitor.com
Muscat --The ongoing amnesty scheme announced in April 2001 will come to an end by 30 October. The Oman Government has intensified checking in various companies to crack down on illegal expatriate workers. During special inspections conducted at the work places of even big companies like the Bahwan Engineering Company and other big firms in Barka and Muscat since the last week of September, a number of illegal workers were caught and deported. About 49 workers were caught on September 29 and another group of about 30 workers was caught last week. In order to find employment for local youth, Sultan Qaboos has given special instruction to strengthen omanisation.
During six months amnesty period, about 10000 illegal workers have already left oman through amnesty scheme -6,000 of them indians. Majority of them are Malayalis.The ministry of social affairs is also checking offices, hotels, shops and other work places to trace illegal workers -people who work in Oman without proper job visa. People who are working without sponsorship, different employees other than the original sponsors etc are also caught.
Some people who are coming to Oman with visit visas are caught working in companies. In one inspection, Hotels, supermarkets and other small enterprises are asked to employ Omani workers as per the rules. Recruiting agents who bring workers on visit visas and employing them with big companies illegally are also being closely monitored. The Royal Oman police is also monitoring illegal entry to oman through various routes and arrested hundreds of infiltrators through the land route from Dubai.It is expected that some major announcement about expatriate labour replacement is expected.
Catch the Sharjah Cricket Championship live One-Vision
keralamonitor.com
Dubai: 21 October 2001. The chance to watch some of the world's greatest cricketers free of charge is offered to E-Vision subscribers, on the UAE's only digital cable TV service provider. The tri-nation Sharjah Cricket Championship, will be exclusively broadcast live on E-Vision channel 2 from 26 October to 4 November 2001. The tournament, sponsored on E-Vision by Siemens Mobile, will give viewers the chance to watch 2000-2001 player of the year Andy Flower, who will be taking to the pitch for Zimbabwe, test his skills against Shoaib Akhtar, the world's fastest bowler from Pakistan, and Sri Lanka's star player Muttiah Muralitharan.
"The live broadcast of the Sharjah Cricket Championship marks the first of many special sports events for E-Vision viewers," said Humaid Rashid Sahoo, E-Vision Chief Executive Officer. "Dedicated sports fans who can't make it to the stadium can enjoy the next best thing, and watch the action live with enhanced digital picture and sound from the comfort of their homes."
Heath Streak heads the Zimbabwe side, Sanath Jayasuriya captains Sri Lanka and Wakqar Younis leads Pakistan in this testing competition. The popular championship, which first took place in 1981, has seen successful completion of over 174 matches, which is the highest number of matches in the world in one tournament. "We know that many of our subscribers are avid cricket fans so we are pleased to offer them the chance to view this world-class event at no extra cost," added M. Rashid Ali, E-Vision's Marketing Manager.
The Sharjah Cricket Championship will be broadcast live, free of charge with the basic E-Vision package, throughout the 10 day tournament. "Cricket fans still have time to subscribe to E-Vision to get live coverage on the action on the cricket field, which begins next week, but call us, or visit our showrooms, now to avoid the rush," concluded Ali.
The E-Vision basic package of 65 high quality channels, including movies, sports, news and entertainment, has been developed to cater for the needs of the diverse population of the UAE, and is available for as little as Dhs 50 per month with an annual subscription. The Showtime Cable packages and A La Carte options offer E-Vision customers even greater choice and flexibility of viewing.
-E-Vision is currently available in many parts of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Expansion into other emirates, such as Sharjah, is also planned for the near future. For more details on the channels available, promotional offers, subscriptions and areas already covered by E-Vision's services, contact the company's customer service centre by calling the toll free number 800-5500 or through the company's website - www.evision.co.ae
Dubai, October 22, 2001: Internationally renowned Indian designer Pallavi Jaikishen lent her support to the BurJuman Safe & Sound programme, by auctioning two of her ensembles in aid of breast cancer awareness at a fashion show yesterday. The amounts raised will go the Al Mosanada Cancer Foundation. The show, held at the Taj Palace Dubai Hotel, also featured the latest designs of fellow Indian fashion experts Bhairavi Jaikishen and Anamika Khanna.
Abu Dhabi Marina Mall October Fun Festival Concludes
Abu Dhabi, October 22, 2001: Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi's premier shopping destination, played host to nine days of family entertainment, as retailers around the mall joined forces to provide shoppers with a host of activities to appeal to all ages.The focus of the October Fun Festival was on "infotainment", and activities were designed to combine cultural understanding and fun. "We wanted to put on a programme that would appeal to adults and children alike," said Mr. Wayne Scherger, General Manager, Marina Mall.
"Arab Airlines Pledge More Cooperation
keralamonitor.com
Cairo: The Arab airlines, members in the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) will be convening a number of technical meetings to ensure primarily a higher degree of commercial cooperation through code shares and Special Prorate Agreements in an attempt to weather the steep decline in traffic that befell the air transport industry after the events of the 11th of September.
The call for higher degrees of cooperation came as a result of an emergency meeting of AACO Executive Committee held in Cairo last Saturday 13 October. Dr. Khaled Ben Bakr, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines, emphasized at a press conference following the meeting: "AACO member airlines value the support that was given to the airline industry by the governments around the world through direct financial outlays, like in the US, or other measures that ensured the continuation of operations of such a strategic and important industry like what took place in the Arab World, when the insurance companies decided to decrease dramatically the third party war coverage of the airline and Goverments stepped in to complement the coverage".
He added that "the Arab Airlines enjoy a high degree of safety and security, and Civil Aviation in the Arab region has always been placed at the top of the list of priorities of governments". He further said "that the Arab airlines will comply with any new security measures that will be adopted internationally." He also declared that "the Committee decided to put in motion various commercial measures to optimize capacity to meet the level of demand through various cooperation agreements amongst the Arab Airlines".
AACO Secretary General, Abdul Wahab Teffaha estimated that the capacity decline between Europe and the Middle East will be in the range of 4 to 7% uptill the end of November, while the number of bookings has witnessed a decline of 15% on average between Europe and the Middle East. However he cautioned that these averages vary from airline to airline depending on the type of traffic and origin/destination nature. As for the traffic within the Arab region Teffaha pointed out that he does not expect a similar decline in the traffic to/from the US and Europe because the nature of the traffic in the Arab world is mostly VFR, religious and intra-arab tourism which have different dynamics than the other regions.
The Executive Committee will meet again on 13-14 November in Beirut to review the action plans that will be prepared by the technical committees which will convene during the few coming weeks.
National Strategy for Injection Safety Meeting on Vaccine Preventable Diseases
keralamonitor.com
New Delhi: The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P. Thakur, has said that the Government is committed to strengthen the immunization services and develop a national strategy for injection safety. He said that his Ministry would undertake a study to document scientifically the existing injection practices in the country. The study would be the foundation for a meaningful Safe Injection Policy, he added. The Minister was inaugurating the meeting of the South East Asia Region Technical Consultative Group on Vaccine Preventable Diseases organized by WHO here today.
Dr. Thakur said that during the current year, 129 wild polio cases were reported as against 265 cases in 2000. Polio virus is limited to only 39 districts in the country and intensified efforts are being made in these districts. He said that a few large States in the country with relatively weak public health systems paid less attention to routine immunization, resulting in perceptible decline in the routine immunization coverage. He listed poor physical access to routine immunization, weak IEC and social mobilization, inefficient maintenance of cold chain in remote areas, delays in provision of injection equipment, lack of awareness, and complacency coupled with poor knowledge and motivation of the health personnel as the reasons for the decline. Experience gained in polio eradication would help the Government in developing strategies for reaching the hard - to - reach areas and mobilize communities for immunization services.
The Minister recalled that millions of children in the world were deprived of new vaccines against major diseases like Hepatitis B. He said that introduction of new vaccines in India with an annual birth rate of about 25 million would be a huge financial and programmatic challenge for the country. India was not in favour of introducing user fees for routine immunization programme, intended mainly for poor and under-served families, he added. He urged WHO to ensure generous support for introducing new vaccines in the country.
The Regional Director of WHO for the South East Asia Region, Dr. Uton Muchtar Rafel said that India was the only country in the region which reported wild polio cases during the year. India too was expected to eradicate the disease by the end of the year. However, he added, pockets in large, crowded, urban slums; hard-to-reach villages; as also areas near international borders, in particular, the border areas between India and Nepal, and between Bangladesh and Myanmar continued to be endemic.
Dr. Maria Calvis, UNICEF Representative, said that India would become Polio free by the end of the year. She said that another goal for the countries in the region, including India, was the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus by the year 2005. Yet another programme would be to cut measles mortality in half in all the countries of the region by half by 2005. She also suggested linkages between Vitamin A with immunization activities. About 120 delegates from Bangladesh, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are participating in the meeting.
October 22, 2001
October 22, 2001 PSLV-C3 Puts Three Satellites on Orbit
In its sixth flight conducted today (October22, 2001) from SHAR Centre, Sriharikota, ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C3, successfully launched three satellites -- Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of Belgium – into their intended orbits. This is the second time that PSLV launched three satellites simultaneously; in the previous launch in May 1999 PSLV had launched India’s IRS-P4 along with German DLR and Korean KITSAT-3.
While TES and BIRD (Bispectral and Infrared Remote Detection) satellites were placed in the 568 km sun-synchronous orbit, PROBA (Project for On Board Autonomy) was placed in an elliptical orbit with a perigee (nearest to earth) of 568 km and an apogee (farthest to the earth) of 638 km. The higher orbit for PROBA was achieved by firing the reaction control thrusters of PSLV-C3 fourth stage.
PSLV-C3 lifted off from Sriharikota at 10.23 am IST with the ignition of the core first stage and four strap-on motors, the remaining two strap-on motors of the first stage were ignited at 25 sec after lift-off. After going through the planned flight events including the separation of the ground-lit strap-on motors, the air lit strap-on motors and first stage separation, the ignition of the second stage, separation of the heat shield after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, third stage ignition, third stage separation, third stage ignition, third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cut-off, the satellites were systematically injected into the orbit as per plan.
The first satellite to be ejected into the orbit was ISRO’s TES at a height of 572 km after 970 seconds from lift-off. About 40 seconds later, the second satellite, BIRD, was separated from the fourth stage and equipment bay. Subsequently, the fourth stage reaction control thrusters of PSLV was fired to raise the orbit of the equipment bay along with the third satellite, PROBA, to a height of 590 km before the satellite was ejected, 1658 second from lift-off. The satellites were ejected after suitable reorientation of the equipment bay to avoid any collision between the satellites and the fourth stage-equipment bay combination. All the three satellites have been placed in their intended polar sun-synchronous orbits.
PSLV was developed by ISRO to place 1000 kg class Indian remote sensing satellites into Polar Sun-synchronous Orbit (SSO). Since the first successful flight conducted in October 1994, the capability of PSLV has been enhanced from 805 kg to 1200 kg into 820 km SSO. PSLV also has the capability to launch 3,500-kg satellites into 400 km low earth orbit and 1000 kg satellites into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit.
In its present configuration, the 44.4 metre tall, 294 tonne PSLV has four stages using solid and liquid propulsion systems alternately. The first stage is one of the largest solid propellant boosters in the world and carries 138 tonne of Hydroxyl Terminated Poly Butadiene (HTPB) propellant. It has a diameter of 2.8 m. The motor case is made of maraging steel. The booster develops a maximum thrust of about 4,430 kN. Six strap-on motors, four of which are ignited on the ground, augment the first stage thrust. Each of these solid propellant strap-on motors, carries nine tonne of HTPB propellant and produces 667 kN thrust.
The second stage employs indigenously manufactured Vikas engine and carries 40 tonne of liquid propellant -- Unsymmetrical Di-Methyl Hydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and Nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidiser. It generates a maximum thrust of about 724 kN.
The third stage uses 7 tonne of HTPB-based solid propellant and produces a maximum thrust of 324 kN. Its motor case is made of polyaramide (Kevlar) fibre. The fourth and the terminal stage of PSLV has a twin engine configuration using liquid propellant. With a propellant loading of 2 tonne (Mono-methyl hydrazine and Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen), each of these engines generates a maximum thrust of 7.4 kN.
The 3.2 m diameter metallic bulbous heat-shield of PSLV, is of isogrid construction and protects the spacecraft during the atmospheric regime of the flight. PSLV control system includes: a) First stage; Secondary Injection Thrust Vector Control (SITVC) for pitch and yaw, reaction control thrusters for roll and SITVC in two strap-on motors for roll control augmentation, b) Second stage; Engine gimbal for pitch and yaw and, hot gas reaction control for roll, c) Third stage; flex nozzle for pitch and yaw and PS-4 RCS for roll and d) Fourth stage; Engine gimbal for pitch, yaw and roll and, on-off RCS for control during the coast phase.
The inertial navigation system in the equipment bay, which is located on top of the fourth stage, guides the vehicle from lift-off to spacecraft injection into orbit. The vehicle is provided with instrumentation to monitor the vehicle performance during the flight. S-band PCM telemetry and C-band transponders cater to this requirement. The tracking system provides real-time information for flight safety and for preliminary orbit determination once the satellite is injected into orbit. PSLV employs a large number of stage auxiliary systems for stage separation, heat-shield separation and jettisoning, etc.
Indian government Claim Terrorist Attacks Foiled:
New Delhi: An attempted attack by the terrorists on the Air Force Base at Awantipur was foiled today by alert security personnel. At least Four terrorists, armed with AK-47 rifles and hand grenades, tried to force their way into the Air Base at Awantipur at 13:30 hours today, in a Silver Gray Santro Car (Registration No. JK-1E-1109). On being challenged by the guards at the entry gate, the terrorists opened fire killing one NC (E). The security personnel reacted with alertness and returned the fire killing Four terrorists. One more person was killed in exchange of fire, whose identity is yet to be ascertained. The Bomb Disposal Squad has reached the site and taken possession of the vehicle. One BSF personnel and one NC (E) posted at the Base were injured in the incident.
