Chandigarh. Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in collaboration with the Centre for Environment Education organized an open interaction on National Consultations on Bt Brinjal at Chandigarh today. Union Minister of State for Environment & Forests (Independent Charge), Shri Jairam Ramesh interacted with the farmers, scientists, doctors, environmentalists, NGOs and representatives of other section of society to take public perception on the introduction of the Bt Brinjal in India. As many as 500 participants took part in the open session and expressed their views on pros and cons of the Bt. Brinjal.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Ramesh informed that his Ministry, before taking a final decision on bringing the Bt Brinjal, has planned to make a common consensus on the basis of public consultations across the country. He informed that such consultations are being conducted at seven locations in the country and this is the fifth one, which is being conducted in the Chandigarh. He said that these consultations will help the government to implement the decision in a transparent and democratic way, in which all aspects including the reactions of the people in favour or against the Bt Brinjal will be taken into consideration. The viewpoints of the stakeholder groups including agriculturists, scientists, health experts, consumer groups, citizen forums, NGOs, media and legal experts will also be considered.

The Minister said that the statutory body of the Ministry known as Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), has recommended the environmental release of Bt Brinjal in India on the basis of recommendations of the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation constituted earlier. He said that these consultations will provide appropriate inputs to the Ministry regarding deciding about the Bt Brinjal.

Later interacting with the media, Shri Ramesh said that Ministry of Environment & Forests is committed to maintain the environmental balance by controlling the pollution in the country. He said that in Punjab a project worth Rs. 190 crore for river cleaning will be started soon, in which the work will be started from Sutlej river falling in Jalandhar and Phillaur cities in Punjab. He further said that state government has been directed to prepare a detailed action plan to deal with the pollution in Ludhiana as it has become 8th critically polluted city in the country. The Minister said that a notification to overcome the problem of pollution has been released to all those cities, which are emitting heavy amount of industrial pollution. He said that the notification of pollution control has also affected the investment plan of Rs. 25000 crore, which is in the pipeline for the industrial development in Ludhiana and Gobindgarh and waiting for appropriate action of the state government to curb pollution. He also said that the state governments must own the responsibility to maintain the environmental standards by checking the increasing rate of municipal and industrial pollution through the Pollution Control Boards.

New Delhi. The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has greeted fellow citizens on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti, which shall be celebrated tomorrow. In her message, the President has said, “On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Ravi Das, I extend my greetings and good wishes to all.

Guru Ravi Das was a great saint who preached that everyone should be treated equally. He considered service to humanity as service to God and his teachings of universal brotherhood are of utmost significance today. May the teachings of Guru Ravi Das inspire us all to strive to remove social inequities in our society.”

New Delhi. The Model Rules for the Right to Education (RTE) Act have been approved by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal. They have been circulated to the State Governments in the meeting of the State Education Secretaries for SSA and School Education, here today. They will shortly be put up on the HRD Ministry Website.

The Model Rules consist of eight PARTS and an appendix. The first part is an introduction and contains relevant definitions. The second part is on Special Training for the purposes of the first proviso to section 4 of the RTE. Part III is on Duties of State government, local authority including Areas or limits for the purposes of section 6 of the RTE. Part IV is on responsibilities of schools and teachers. Part V contains Composition and functions of the School Management Committee for the purposes of section 21 of RTE. Part VI is on teachers, their duties, minimum qualifications, pay allowances, a grievance mechanism for them, maintaining pupil-teacher ratio etc. Part VII is on curriculum and completion of Elementary Education including the setting up of an Academic Authority for the purposes of section 29 and Award of certificate for the purposes of section 30 of the RTE. Part VIII deals with protection of right of children: Performance of functions by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, for the purposes of section 31, Manner of furnishing complaints before the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Constitution and Functions of the State Advisory Council for the purpose of section 34 of the RTE.

New Delhi. Union Power Minister, Shri Sushilkumar Shinde today urged the Power Sector Utilities to keep up the good work and continue their contribution in the task of building a strong infrastructure needed to achieve energy security. Speaking after giving away the National Awards for Meritorious Performance in Power Sector at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi today he called upon all concerned to establish new benchmarks for achieving the target of “electricity to all” as expeditiously as possible. He said that the awards have helped in significant improvement in operating performance, however their impact in expeditious completion of ongoing projects needs to be more pronounced in the years to come.

Expressing satisfaction over the fact that Plant Load Factor (PLF) of a number of thermal power stations is reported to be over 90%, the Minister praised the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd for bagging all the six awards in thermal performance category for Simahdri, Korba, Ramagundam, Vindhyachal, Rihand and Dadri Thermal Power Stations. He also urged new generating stations to leave no stone unturned for emulating the performance of these stations in the years to come.

The Minister also expressed satisfaction that all the 17 transmission systems which participated in the Award Scheme, have reported availability above 99.14% and the Western Region Transmission System – I of PowerGrid Corporation of India Limited has received Gold Shield with availability of 99.91%. He said that PowerGrid also needs special commendation for completing a transmission line of about 400 circuit kilometer and a sub-station in Afghanistan under difficult working conditions, hilly terrain and snow bound area as well as difficult law and order conditions and completing the same ahead of contractual schedule. Shri Shinde said that awards to Rural Distribution Franchisees, started by the Ministry from the year 2007-08, have catalyzed the franchisees and better results would be witnessed from more franchisees in the years to come.

In his Address, Minister of State for Power, Shri Bharatsinh Solanki highlighted the performance of Rural Distribution Franchisees which is being measured in terms of revenue collection, metered services, type of franchise, etc. He observed that India is the first country where women have come in the business of rural franchisees where they are not only engaged in revenue collection but also in maintaining of the networking equipment. Congratulating the Mahila Mandal Samakhya, Seethampeta, a franchisee of Eastern Andhra Pradesh Discom who won the award this time, he wished all such organisations for continued success in the years to come.

Earlier, Shri Anil Kumar, Special Secretary, Ministry of Power addressed the gathering. He called for inclusive growth where electricity would reach out to every nook and corner of the country. Pointing out that India has only 700 units per capita while the world average is about 2700 units, he reminded the players in the power sector of the great expectations in terms of demand which called for capacity addition up to 8,00,000 MW by 2027.

Shri Rakesh Nath, Chairperson,CEA who was also present on the occasion, welcomed the gathering . Shri. Sudhir Kumar, Joint Sectretary in the Ministry of Power, proposed the vote of thanks.

The Comprehensive Awards Scheme was introduced by the Ministry of Power w.e.f the year 2004-05. The objective of this scheme is to develop a spirit of competitiveness among the various power stations / projects / companies in thermal, hydro and nuclear generation, transmission, distribution and rural distribution franchisees for achieving improved performance and early completion of thermal, hydro projects and transmission projects, distribution companies in the power sector. It also aims at encouraging personnel engaged in the power utilities to improve their efficiency & productivity and show better results.

New Delhi. Shri Dinsha Patel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is invited to visit Bangladesh for gracing the occasion of signing of Agreement of mutual cooperation in the MSME sector between National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.(NSIC), {a Public Sector Enterprise of Govt. of India} and Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd. (IIDFC), Bangladesh. Shri Tariq Ahmed Karim, High Commissioner of Bangladesh handed over the invitation of Mr. Dilip Barua, Minister for Industries, Government of Bangladesh, inviting the Minister of MSME to Bangladesh for the signing ceremony as well as to discuss the various issues relating to MSME development in the two countries. Shri Patel is likely to visit Bangladesh sometime during the month of March, 2010.

New Delhi. Government agencies have procured 193.43 lakh tonne of rice in the current marketing season. As on 28th January 2010, the paddy procurement in terms of rice stood at 193.43 lakh tonne which is 5.4 lakh tonne less than last year.

Punjab has contributed 92.6 lakh tonne followed by Chhattisgarh 22.9 lakh tonne, Uttar Pradesh 19.94 lakh tonne, Andhra Pradesh 19.16 lakh tonne and Haryana 18.07 lakh tonne. The other major contributing states are Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Maharashtra.

New Delhi. The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smt Ambika Soni inaugurated the 16th International BES EXPO 2010 in New Delhi today. Acknowledging that technology is clearly a growth driver for many an innovations in Broadcast sector, the Minister urged the Broadcasters to ensure that fruits of new technology actually reach the consumer. Smt Soni said that it is the endeavour of her Ministry to ensure that policy framework and business models are in sync to cater to the consumer interest. “We are guided by the thought that technology neutral approach to policies is the appropriate way. Convergence in technology has to fast become a reality” the Minister said. Broadcast engineers must play a crucial role in guiding the best possible options in the carriage of the content to the public, she added.

The Minister emphasized that the Government is committed to technological improvement/digitalization of the DD network to improve the viewing experience. As the official Broadcaster for telecast of the Commonwealth Games 2010, the High Definition Television is in place, the Minister said. She added that Digitalization of the Broadcasting Services of Doordarshan/All India Radio and Cable Services, is one of the key thrust areas identified by the Ministry because of the “advantages digital mode offers in terms of efficient utilization of available spectrum, better quality of picture and services, various interactive and niche services and transparency above all.” Smt Soni noted that the trend worldwide has been to fix sunset dates for complete switch off of analog services. “While India as yet has not declared any sunset date for complete migration, it is now being increasingly felt that by 2017 we should also aim for complete switchover”, the Minister stated.

The Minister also announced that serious thought is being given to devise suitable policies for Mobile television. “With a view to incentivize the introduction of FM radio services in the North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir and island territories and to further liberalize the regulatory framework to provide for greater diversity of content and bring down operational costs, the Government is in the process of finalizing the FM Phase-III policy soon”, the Minister said. The Ministry also hopes to set up around 4000 Community Radio Stations in next three years the Minister announced.

Distributing the annual BES Awards for Best Technological innovations, Smt Soni called upon the broadcasting industry to contribute not just in statistical figures for the economy but also contribute to a healthy socio-cultural growth of the society as a whole.

The 3 day international Expo and Conference proposes to discuss topical issues such as ‘innovative technologies for coverage of Commonwealth Games, HDTV and beyond; New technologies for Digital TV and Radio; Frequency Spectrum related issues under the theme of ‘Broadcast regulatory Issues’.

New Delhi. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a proposal of the Ministry of Textiles to raise the cap on the subsidy prescribed in the scheme component Acquisition of Plant & Machinery (Capital Subsidy) under Jute Technology Mission. The cap on subsidy under the scheme has now been enhanced to Rs.3.5 crore per mill in respect of existing mills in general states and to Rs.4 crore per mill in respect of new mills and existing mills in the North East. This is expected to provide the much needed thrust and incentive to the jute industry to invest in modernisation on a significant scale.

The Jute Technology Mission was launched by the Government for the holistic development of the jute sector and is being implemented during the XI Five Year Plan. Under this scheme there is an outlay of Rs.80 crore which is to be provided as capital subsidy @20% of the cost of identified machinery and plant. This component aims at enhancement of productivity in the jute industry by technological upgradation of existing machinery to suit modern production practices. Under this scheme the ceiling on subsidy was Rs. 75 lakh per unit for existing units which could be enhanced to Rs. one crore for new mills and for units in North East. This cap on the subsidy resulted in poor off-take under the scheme thereby defeating the very purpose of the scheme which was modernization and technological upgradation of jute industry. The jute industry also had been claiming that the cap on subsidy of Rs. 75 lakh/ one crore per unit is not sufficient to bridge the viability gap for making the investment. Based on a techno-financial viability study it was worked out that subsidy cap of Rs.3.5 crore would mean 100% viability gap funding for mills having capacity of 70 TPD or lower. The mills with larger capacity would be able to carry out partial modernization or alternatively avail benefits under TUFS, the flagship scheme of Ministry of Textiles, under which there is no cap on subsidy that can be availed.

New Delhi. The Ministry of Panchayati raj has introduced an innovative scheme to give the rural women more strength. Known as Panchayat Mahila Shakti Abhiyan (PMSA) the scheme is meant for the Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) to build their confidence and capacity so that they get over the institutional, societal and political constraints that prevent them from active participation in rural local self government.

22 States have formed the Core Committee and organized the State Level Sammelans. 9 State Support Centres have been established under the scheme. (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Kerala, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Island). 11 States have been conducted training sensitization programme under the scheme. (Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Kerala, Assam, Andaman & Nicobar Island and Sikkim)

47 Divisional Level Sammelans have been organized in 11 States. (Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Island). State Level Association of EWRs/EYRs has been formed in the States of Goa and Sikkim.

New Delhi. Mechanization of agricultural and horticultural crops, green houses, covered cultivation, animal and fish production are the new emerging areas, which need greater attention for ensuring food security. This was stated by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Prof. K.V. Thomas while inaugurating the 3-day Convention of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers here today.

Prof. Thomas said that the mechanization in sugarcane cultivation with use of specific machinery, particularly sugarcane harvesters needs to be given emphasis. The Minister asked the agricultural engineers to accord priority to mechanization of hill agriculture and small farms by introducing light and low- cost power tools and machinery, to improve field operations. He said, some promising technologies have been successfully testing and they need to be demonstrated extensively for the adoption by the farming community. As energy and water are becoming scares technologies using less energy, less water and conserving soil moisture will become popular in the years to come, the Minister added.

Referring to future challenges to irrigated agriculture, the Minister called for research, development and capacity building in the area of irrigation and water management. He said, there will have to be significant investment in the training of engineers, scientists, extension agents and irrigators. Underlining the need for proper management of agricultural wastes and their subsequent disposal, Prof. Thomas said that a large amount of biomass is produced every year but the consumable portion constitutes only a fraction of the whole, be it plant or animal produce. The agricultural by-products could be converted in useful products, adding to the income and reducing the negative impact on environment, Prof. Thomas asserted.

New Delhi. Quality should be at the forefront of the education system, and access to quality education must be available for all. The nation cannot move forward with good education being limited to an elite class of people. This was stated by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal, while inaugurating a conference of State Education Secretaries, to discuss Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and school education here today. The Minister, while complimenting the efforts of the SSA in reaching out to 99 per cent habitations in the country, cautioned that as certain recently published reports on the state of education in the country had indicated, the quality of education and high drop out rates continue to be a cause of concern.

The HRD Minister suggested that at the level of the nation, we need a core curriculum in Science, Commerce and Maths. In the future, he added, for Humanities also a core curriculum could be mulled and regional/state specific diversities can be part of the syllabus as core plus. He underlined that the quality of teachers will need to be improved and the RTE also has specific clauses in this regard. He also called upon the officers presents to ensure girl child has equal access to education.

Shri Sibal inaugurated the ‘NCTE Portal’ during the Conference and released the ‘User-Manual’ of the NCTE Portal to be used by the officers of NCTE and other stake holders. The Portal would provide various services, including on-line application for recognition of teacher education institutions, on-line submission of appeals, on-line registration of teacher education institutions, teacher educators and teacher trainees, and electronic processing of applications submitted on-line through MIS-integration. He welcomed this endeavour of the National Council for Teacher Educational (NCTE) as a major step forward in e-Governance and transparency in the education sector.

New Delhi. India Post through its association with Hindi feature film “Road to Sangam” pays tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The film “Road to Sangam” is inspired by the event of discovery of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes in a bank locker some years ago. The protagonist of the film, Mr. Husmatullah, a mechanic living in Allahabad, portrayed by Paresh Rawal, uses Post Card to reach out to all the members of his community in his city asking them to join the last journey of Gandhi’s ashes to Sangam.

Ms. Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary, Department of Posts placing its association with the film said that, “Department of Posts has been serving the people of India, the Aam Aadmi, for more than 150 years. The ubiquitous Post Card of the Department has always been the cheapest and probably the most loved tool of communication of the ordinary Indian who shares an emotional bond with the Department of Posts through Post Card.

Mahatma Gandhi found in Post Card the most economical way of communicating with people that was in sync with his frugal life style which identified with the Aam Aadmi of India. The Department of Posts’ through association with this film is paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.”

This film has won a number of prestigious awards in International Film Festivals e.g. Best First Film Director award at International Film Festival of South Africa, Best Feature Film Award at Hamburg International Film Festival Germany and Awards for Best Original Score as well as Best Production Design at Los Angeles Reel Film Festival.

Mr. Amit Chheda, producer of this film stated that : “Department of Posts reaches out to each and every citizen of the country irrespective of his or her caste, religion or economic status. This unique organization through a network of more than 1, 50,000 Post Offices across the country is a symbol of National integration, which, even today, carries forward the values of Mahatma Gandhi. The Department of Posts, therefore, is a natural ally of this film “Road to Sangam” which brings the message of Mahatma Gandhi once again to the citizens of India as well of the world.” He expressed his gratitude to the Department of Posts for associating itself to this film.

New Delhi. The current justice delivery system is perceived as expensive, time-consuming, procedure-ridden, technical and difficult to comprehend, which prevents the poor from approaching the legal system with their grievances. To mitigate such hardships, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has proposed a Nyaya Panchayats Bill 2009.

The Nyaya Panchayats will ensure participatory and people-oriented system of justice with greater scope for mediation, conciliation and compromise. Being closer to the people geographically and psychologically, the Nyaya Panchayats would be the ideal forum to save time, trouble and expenses of parties and witnesses. It would also reduce the workload of judiciary.

New Delhi. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Export Insurance Corporation (KEIC). The MoU seeks to establish the framework of co-operation in supporting and encouraging trade and/or investment in the field of industries where SAIL is involved and related business for the development of such industries. The MoU was signed by Mr. Soiles Bhattacharya, Director (Finance)/SAIL and Mr. Ryu Chang-Moo Chairman & President/ KEIC).

KEIC, a Government agency of the Republic of Korea promotes Korean business entities’ exports, overseas investments and other overseas businesses through its diverse programmes including its insurance and guarantee products. Under the MoU, both the companies will seek to promote co-operation in trade and /or investment credits provided by KEIC related to imports from Korean suppliers including imports for the IISCO Steel Plant project of a blast furnace and/or investments with Korean companies.

The MOU also seeks to establish a strategic alliance in exchange of information and experience with respect to related industries and collaboration between the two parties.

New Delhi. Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, has emphasized the need to enhance the usage of renewable and nuclear energy in the fuel mix. Speaking at the World Economic Forum at Davos last evening, in a session “Rethinking Energy Security”, he said that India had developed a National Action Plan on climate change, which laid a special thrust on solar technologies. He further stated that food security, climate change and energy security cannot be treated in isolation and are integrally linked. He also outlined India's civil nuclear energy initiative citing it as a major milestone for ensuring sustainable and clean development path for an emerging economy such as India.

During his address, Shri Sharma also highlighted that the world needs to work in a collaborative manner in developing and disseminating technologies which not only assure that the concerns of climate change are addressed but also respond to the aspiration of billions in the developing world. He mentioned that the energy security had a completely different connotation for the poor and deprived in the developing world that still are denied access to grid based electricity.

New Delhi. The 19th Edition of the biennial New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), organized by National Book Trust, India, is to be inaugurated by Union HRD Minister Shri Kapil Sibal on 30th January 2010. Prof. Irfan Habib, eminent historian, will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest, while Prof.(Mrs.) Temsula Ao, Dean, School of Humanities and Education, North –Eastern Hill University; Shillong will preside over the inaugural function. The Fair is from 30 January to 7 February 2010 daily from 11 am to 8pm. Entry is free for school children in uniform accompanied by teachers on weekdays.

The Fair has many interesting features to offer. First, a serious attempt has been made to find a connection between the worlds of books with that of sports as the Theme of this year’s world book fair is Reading Our Common Wealth: An International Rights Exhibition of Books on Sports on the occasion of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi. Nearly 700 titles published by around 75 publishers across the country on different genres of sports are being exhibited at the Theme Pavilion. A special International Rights Catalogue, with bibliographic and copyright details of more than 550 titles, based on this exhibition has also been brought out, which will be released by the HRD Minister during the inauguration of the NDWBF.

In the Theme Pavilion, which also houses children and youth pavilions, many interactive session with some of the eminent sports personalities have been scheduled to inspire the youth and children. A Special Exhibit of the Books on and by Jawaharlal Nehru to showcase his contribution to the world of books has also been organized at the Foyer area of 7E, which will also be decorates with some beautiful panels.

New Delhi. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Hint Institute of Mass Communication. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC). The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 64 in the country.

Hint Institute of Mass Communication is a project of the “Hint Group of Publication and Electronic Media”, located in Ghaziabad, U.P. The main objectives of the CRS is to focus on health, education, agriculture & agriculture related education & information, sports & entertainment and debates on related issues.

The Ministry encourages setting up of the Community Radio Stations so as to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly help empower women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self governance and overall socio, economic and cultural development in the area.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Minority Affairs, launched the ‘Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women’ here today. The objective of the scheme is to empower and instill confidence in women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government, banks and Government functionaries at all levels. Ms. Syeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission and Shri Vivek Mehrotra, Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs’ were also present on the occasion.

 

The ‘Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women’ proposes to reach out to women through Non-Governmental Organizations / institutions who will be provided with financial support for conducting leadership development training in a village / locality and in residential government training institutes so that women are empowered and emboldened to move out of the confines of home and assume leadership roles in their neighbourhoods. This would enable them to assert their rights, collectively or individually, in accessing services, facilities, skills, and opportunities besides claiming their due share of development benefits for improving their lives and living conditions.

 

 Ministry of Minority Affairs will now be inviting applications for Expression of Interest from interested organizations fulfilling the pre-qualification criteria.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), is all set to start its activities during the academic session 2010-2011. This apex world class institute by the Ministry of Food Processing Industry in “Kundli”, Sonepat, Harayana to provide core courses in the area of Food Science and Food technology which will cater to the needs of various stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, industry, exporters, policy makers, the government and existing institutions.

The Institute will be fully supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt. of India while enjoying reasonable autonomy in its functioning. A state-of-the-art campus is being created with most modern infrastructure, finest library and resources and comprehensive residential facilities.

The objective of the Institute is to promote cooperation and networking amongst existing institutions both within the country and international bodies, create a complete data base on domestic resources and bring in international best practices for improving the food processing sector.

NIFTEM will also provide industry friendly short-term courses, including regular degree and management courses leading up to Ph.D programmes, for developing HRD resources for the sector.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. The total import of sensitive items for the period April-October 2009 has been Rs.35487 crore as compared to Rs.26378 crore during the corresponding period of last year thereby showing an increase of 34.5%. The gross import of all commodities during same period of current year was Rs.716535 crore as compared to Rs 916483 crore during the same period of last year. Thus import of sensitive items constitutes 2.9% and 5.0% of the gross imports during last year and current year respectively.

Imports of automobiles, cotton & silk, products of SSI and alcoholic beverages have shown a decline at broad group level during the period. Imports of all other items viz. edible oil, Pulses, fruits & vegetables (including nuts), rubber, spices, marble & granite, tea & coffee, milk & milk products and food grains have shown increase during the period under reference.

In the edible oil segment, the import has increased from Rs 8195.45 crore last year to Rs 14204.70 crore for the corresponding period of this year. The imports of both crude edible oil as well as refined oil have gone up by 83% and 36% respectively. The increase in edible oil import is mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions.

Imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, China P RP, Myanmar, Brazil, Malaysia, United States of America, Japan, Canada, Ukraine, Argentina, Australia, Benin, Guinea Bissau etc. have gone up while those from Korea RP, Germany, Thailand, Cote D’ Ivoire, Czech Republic etc. have shown a decrease.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. In pursuance to the National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms to the Undertrial Prisoners initiated by the Ministry of Law & Justice, Shri Ajay Pandey, Ld. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi has presided over the special sitting of the Patiala House Court today.

The Court took up 46 undertrial prisoners cases and has ordered release of 42 undertrial prisoners. Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Justice Madan Lokur, Hon’ble Executive Chairman of the Delhi Legal Services Authority, Shri Justice Manmohan and Ms. Justice Indermeet Kaur were also present in the Court and watched the proceedings for about one hour. 42 prisoners have been benefited from this exercise.

In future also, the same type of special sittings will be done in all the District Courts of Delhi by the Delhi Legal Services Authority. Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law & Justice has expressed his happiness for the prompt action being initiated by the Delhi High Court and Delhi Legal Services Authority.

Sant Bahadur

With a large number of people living on subsistence level of income, the government has to safeguard their interest by ensuring availability of food grains at an affordable price. Success of any policy or programme to this effect depends on growth in agriculture production and procurement of wheat and rice, the main staple foodgrains.

Though the performance of agriculture has not been uniform throughout and its growth rate has varied from 6 per cent to 1 percent due to a host of factors, proper food management has ensured food security for the country despite shortages and steep price rise at global level.

Delayed and deficient rainfall caused drought or drought like condition in 334 districts across fourteen states affecting production of kharif crops. However, an all-time record procurement of 253.8 lakh tonnes of wheat during 2009-10 and an estimated procurement of 260 lakh tonnes in 2009-10 have helped in maintaining very comfortable foodgrain stocks with government agencies. In addition, the Government has decided to create a Strategic Reserve of 50 lakh tonnes of food grains out of the domestic procurement over and above the buffer stock already held by FCI.

The stock of wheat in the Central Pool as on 1.12.2009 was 252 lakh tonnes. The stock of rice as on 1.12.2009 was 229 lakh tonnes. With an estimated procurement of 260 lakh tonnes of rice in KMS 2009-10 and the present level of stocks, the requirement of Targeted Public Distribution and other welfare schemes at current level of allocations will be comfortably met.

A number of steps have been taken to check the rise in prices of rice and wheat and to ensure their availability to the common man. The import duty on rice and wheat has been reduced to zero. Export of non-basmati rice and wheat has been banned and stock limits have been imposed on rice to prevent hoarding and black marketeering.

In order to cool inflationary trends in food economy, the Government has undertaken sale of wheat under Open Market Sale Scheme. The rate of wheat and rice under this scheme is subsidized, so that the consumers can be benefited. Allocations have been made through a number of channels so as to increase the spread as well as coverage and thereby augment market availability.

A total of 20 lakh tonnes of wheat and 10 lakh tonnes of rice has been allocated to States/UT Governments for sale to retail consumers and small processors. 10 lakh tonnes of wheat and 5 lakh tonnes of rice was issued in October 2009 under the first tranche of allocations which was valid up to December 2009. The State Governments were given a further extension of time up to 31st January 2010 to lift these quantities. The second tranche of allocations was released on 16th December 2009 for the quarter January-March 2010. These allocations were at Minimum Support Price (MSP) plus freight from Ludhiana to State capital concerned in the case of wheat and MSP derived price plus average freight in the case of rice. In this manner, Centre subsidized the cost on account of taxes and other procurement incidentals as well as storage and insurance etc. charges. State Governments are expected to sell to retail consumers after factoring in transport cost which will not exceed Rs.200 per quintal. State Governments are reported to have lifted so far 1.81 lakh tonnes of wheat and 3.09 lakh tonnes of rice.

Apart from the retail sale by the State Governments, Central agencies, namely, NCCF and NAFED have also been given directions to sell to retail consumers through their own outlets and those of affiliated cooperative societies. Sale through NAFED and NCCF will also be at the same rates as given to the State Governments.

In order to reduce the prices of atta and other wheat products in the open market, Centre has also allocated 15.18 lakh tonnes of wheat for bulk consumers which is sold through tenders on a weekly basis in a decentralized manner through General Managers, FCI in-charge of regions. The entire process of tendering has been made transparent with very clear timelines for decisions. So far, tenders have been approved for a total quantity of 6.02 lakh tonnes. Further quantities are expected to be approved soon with more and more participants in the tender process.

Tendering is being done on the basis of reserve price which is calculated at the acquisition cost for the year 2008-09 as well as freight to the State capital. In this manner, the Government is subsidizing the differential between the acquisition cost for the year 2009-10 and that of 2008-09.

With a view to further reducing the sale price to the ration card holders, the Government has made an ad-hoc additional allocation of wheat and rice at the rate of 10 kg. per family per month. This will be at MSP/MSP derived price which will be Rs.1080 in the case of wheat and Rs.1492.54 to Rs.1537.3 in the case of rice. Thus, the Government would be subsidizing all other costs beyond MSP, namely, taxes and other procurement incidentals, freight, storage and interest charges.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is already there to protect the poorest sections of society. About 6.52 crore BPL and AAY card holder families are covered under it. Each family gets 35 kg ration every month. The central issue price for wheat is Rs. 4.15 per kg for BPL and Rs. 2, for AAY. For rice, it is Rs. 5.65 a kg for BPL and Rs.3, for AAY. These prices have not been revised since 2002.

To mitigate the effect of increasing prices of foodgrains in the open market, APL allocations were increased for 17 States/UTs to ensure a minimum allocation of 10 kg per APL family per month. Further, additional allocations of 7.63 lakh tonnes comprising 6.18 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.45 lakh tonnes of rice were made to 12 drought affected States from October to December 2009. Total allocations of foodgrains under APL during the year 2009-10 have thus been significantly higher (70%) at 190 lakh tonnes as compared to 112 lakh tonnes during 2008-09.

Pulses are also distributed to State governments under PDS with a subsidy of Rs.10 per kg. Arrangements are also in place to promote consumption of yellow peas by mounting a campaign and asking NAFED, Kendriya Bhandar and Mother Dairy to distribute it through their selected outlets. The prices of yellow peas are much lower than other lower pulses. Export of pulses (except kabuli chana) has been banned to meet the domestic demand.

Star News Agency

Rural electrification has been regarded as a vital programme for the development of rural areas. It is now well accepted that electricity has become one of the basic human needs and every household must have access to electricity. In rural India, supply of electricity is needed for broad based economic and human development. In accordance with the Census 2001, about 1.2 lakh villages were un-electrified in the country and about 7.8 Crore rural households had no electricity.

The National Electricity Policy envisages access to electricity to all and supply of quality power to rural areas for 24 hours. The definition of village electrification has been made stricter to ensure availability of sufficient electricity infrastructure in each village before declaring it as electrified. In accordance with the new definition, a village will be declared as electrified if basic infrastructure such as distribution transformer & distribution lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the dalit basti (wherever exists), electricity is provided to public places (schools, Panchayat offices, health centres, dispensaries, community centres etc.) and when at least 10% of the total households in the village have been electrified.

Keeping in view the slow pace of rural electrification by the States, the Government launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) as one of its flagship programme in March 2005 with an objective to electrify over one lakh un-electrified villages and to provide free electricity connections to estimated 2.34 crore rural BPL households. The Government is providing 90% of the project cost as subsidy has so far sanctioned a subsidy of Rs. 33,000 crore, of which Rs. 17,900 crore has already been released.

The scheme covers following activities: Rural Electricity Distribution Backbone (REDB); Creation of Village Electrification Infrastructure (VEI): Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) and Supply and Rural Household Electrification of Below Poverty Line Households.

Though, the focus is to electrify the villages through grid connectivity, Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) projects based on new & renewable sources can also be taken up by States, wherever such solution is found more cost effective.

The States having large number of un-electrified villages and households (Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) have been given more emphasis under the scheme. Other areas of focus are special category states of north-east, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand, districts having international boundaries and districts affected by naxal activities. Habitations above 100 population are being covered under the scheme.

So far, the Ministry of Power has sanctioned 567 projects for 540 districts to electrify 118,499 villages and to provide free electricity connections to 2.46 crore BPL rural households. Additionally, 3.54 lakh already electrified villages are being intensively electrified.

As on January 1, 2010, 67,607 villages have been electrified, 97,599 villages have been intensively electrified and 83.88 lakh free electricity connections have been released to BPL households. It is targeted to electrify 1 lakh villages and to provide electricity connections to 175 lakh BPL households by March 2012.

Rural Electrification Corporation is the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme. Services of power sector CPSUs namely Powergrid, NTPC, NHPC and DVC have been made available to the State Power Utilities for fast implementation of the projects.

For effective and quality implementation of the projects, the Ministry has adopted turnkey mode of implementation, three-tier quality monitoring mechanism and mile stone based project monitoring. The states have been asked to provide minimum 6 to 8 hours of electricity to the villages electrified under the scheme. It has also been made mandatory to establish franchisees in the RGGVY electrified villages for effective distribution management. The franchising of distribution management is creating good employment opportunity for the rural youth. So far, franchisees have been established in 1.02 lakh villages.

Under the scheme, the Ministry has also undertaken training of C & D employees of the State Power Utilities and franchisees. It is targeted to impart training to 75,000 employees and 40,000 franchisees during the XI Plan.

A website http://rggvy.gov.in has been launched by the Ministry, wherein all the details of RGGVY projects, villages covered & electrified under the scheme are available. A separate window “Public Forum” has been created for comments & complaints. The comments on this website are promptly replied by agency responsible for implementing the project in the concerned district.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. India and Angola will enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide an overarching framework for cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector between the two countries. A draft in this regard would be provided by the Angolan side within a month. This was decided at a meeting between the visiting Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Murli Deora and Mr.Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconeles, Minister of Petroleum of Angola at Luanda (Angola) today. The two Ministers leading high level delegations had wide ranging talks in the areas of exploration and production, natural gas operations, refinery construction and upgradation, training and consultancy, etc.

During the meeting an MoU was signed between ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) and the National Oil Company of Angola namely, Sonangol for cooperation in the exploration sector. OVL which is partnering Sonangol in their South Pars acreage in Iran, offered to enter joint venture operations in the existing deep water blocks of Sonangol. The Indian company further offered to participate in the next round of bidding for exploration blocks in Angola with Sonangol.

GAIL expressed its desire to also enter into an MoU with their counterparts to take forward cooperations in the areas of natural gas operations. The company further evinced its interest in participating in the next LNG train project of Angola besides procuring LNG from the African nation. The Indian gas company offered to train the Angolan personnel in the gas technology fields like transmission, distribution, city gas projects etc. The Indian Oil Corporation offered its assistance in operations and upgrdation of existing refineries besides providing operation and maintenance support to the petroleum pipelines in Angola. Angolan side conveyed their interest in the possibility of IOC’s assistance in construction of new refineries in Angola. Both sides assured to respond to the proposals for cooperation expeditiously.

Shri Deora handed over to the Angolan Minister a letter of the Prime Minister of India to the President of Angola on this occasion. The Indian delegation include CEOs of ONGC, IOC, GAIL, OIL and OVL. The delegation leaves for Uganda tonight.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. Attention has been drawn to some reports appearing in the print and electronic media about the conferment of the Padma Bhushan award on Shri Sant Singh Chatwal.

Shri Sant Singh Chatwal is a tireless advocate of India’s interests in USA and has been working relentlessly for strengthening bilateral relationships between India and the United States. He is Trustee of William J. Clinton Foundation which focuses on critical global issues such as health care, climate change and economic empowerment of the underprivileged in the world community. He is also founder trustee of the American India Foundation and has made frequent trips to India to provide relief to victims of Tsunami and AIDS. He is also a prominent leader of the Indian-American community. Shri Chatwal has distinguished himself in the hospitality sector and been an active member of the NRI community in the USA in securing support for the nuclear deal among the members of the Congress of the United States. Shri Chatwal is a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Award 2005. He was honoured by the National Jewish Outreach Programme in New York in 2001 and with the ‘Order of the Khalsa’ by the Government of Punjab in 1999.

As regards the allegations against Shri Chatwal, it is clarified that between 1992 and 1994, CBI had registered five cases against Shri Chatwal and some bank officials for conniving with the intention to defraud the Bank of Baroda and Bank of India. Three of these cases were closed by CBI itself while charge sheets were filed by the CBI in two cases before the Court of Special Judge, CBI, Mumbai. In these two cases also, the Court discharged Shri Chatwal. As per available reports, there is nothing adverse on record against Shri Chatwal.

Padma Awards are conferred only after consideration in terms of the guidelines regulating the award and after observance of established and elaborate procedures. A ‘due diligence’ exercise is undertaken in respect of each awardee in consultation with appropriate agencies before announcement of the award. No Padma award is conferred except on the recommendation of the Awards Committee constituted for the purpose and after the due diligence has been done.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. BJP condemns Govt. decision of not hoisting the National Flag at Lal Chowk in Shrinagar on Republic Day.

BJP National Spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that This is a meek surrender by the Govt. before the separatist elements in the valley. More serious is the reason given for such a shameful decision, that unfurling of National Flag would provoke separatists and extremists and is a “Needless Provocation”.

He said that for last 19 years the Tricolour is being hoisted by BSF and CRPF on Independence Day and Republic Day every year. This tradition started after BJP launched nationwide Ekta Yatra under the leadership of the then President of the party Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, amidst the challenge from separatist and Pak sponsored militants. Security forces used to have their own Republic Day celebration at Lal Chowk and distribute sweets after hoisting tricolour on the clock tower in Lal Chowk.

He sais that it is pertinent to note that last year, Kashmiri people participated in large number in flag hoisting ceremony at Lal Chowk. Govt. should have encouraged such participation but instead it chose to cancel the flag hoisting itself.

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, addressed the nation on the eve of the 61st Republic Day. Following is the text of the President’s address to the nation:

“My fellow citizens,

On the eve of our 61st Republic Day, I extend my warmest greetings to all of you across the country and also to those living abroad. To the members of our Armed Forces and Para-military forces who guard our frontiers and to our internal security forces, I extend my special greetings.

26th January, this year marks the completion of six decades of working, striving and, all along, being guided by the principles and objectives of the Constitution that was framed after careful deliberations and adopted in 1950. I often recall the speech of Mahatma Gandhi at the launch of the Quit India Movement on 8th August, 1942, where he said that power, when it comes, will belong to the people of India. The wish of the Father of the Nation found expression in the very opening words of the Constitution – We, the people of India. This was a strong affirmation that the impulses of the nation and its future would be guided by its people. They would reflect their aspirations and choices, through democratic means. They would also enjoy the fundamental rights that guarantee their freedoms and dignity. Today is a reminder that upholding the values, determining the direction and propelling the growth of our nation is a task that must be fulfilled by every citizen of the country.

In the first decade of the 21st century, India witnessed transformational changes. It also emerged as a force driving change in the world. Our achievements and experiences have, indeed, brought the nation to a definitional stage, where the promise of a bright future as a developed and progressive nation is for us to claim, as we all work together with conviction and commitment. However, as we overcome deficiencies and convert our strengths into an energetic force, we must remain deeply conscious of what we must preserve and what we must change.

Foremost amongst what we must continue with, is our democratic principles and way of life. We have ably demonstrated that we are a functioning democracy, by time and again, choosing our governments through the ballot and by taking democracy to the grassroots. Also, as we are aware, democracy is very much more demanding. It is the rule of law. It is the rule of reason. And, as India has shown to the world, it is the rule of non-violence. Democracy involves a pattern of behavior, in which every individual must act responsibly, show respect towards dissimilar opinions and address differences in a constructive and accommodative manner. This will build harmony and tolerance - values which are intrinsic to our philosophy; these form the bedrock of a society that embraces the diversity of language, religion and culture to create a composite whole. These values must be followed uninterruptedly in a nation that is, as vast and as varied as ours.

Secularism, our constitutionally chosen path, entails respect for all religions. Its place in our national life is unalterable. India is a land where followers of different religions have lived together for centuries. We must maintain social cohesion. Our tradition of living in accord with each other must continue to form an integral part of the rhythm of life of our future generations.

Belonging to a civilization that has deep reverence towards nature, we must also be sensitive inhabitants of the Planet, in which climate change has become a major challenge. We must judiciously use its resources, work to conserve its rich flora and fauna as well as adopt environment friendly approaches. Use of energy efficient technologies and renewable sources of energy, are some steps that can reduce the carbon footprint.

Dear Citizens,

Our nation has made significant strides. We are the fourth largest economy of the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Our target of achieving a double digit growth rate is plausible and realistic, given our impressive performance during the last decade and our resilience during the global economic downturn. We should continue with policies that promote growth, and also take growth patterns to the bottom of the pyramid and, to those currently outside its purview. Empowering the poor and the disadvantaged, enabling them to move up the economic ladder, to join the ranks of the prosperous, is a task that must be accomplished by all of us. Women need to be made full and equal partners. The inclusive growth strategy, which we have chosen, can make our growth process equitable and sustainable.

The roadmap to inclusive growth requires social justice that can be delivered through an effective social sector infrastructure. It should make quality education and good health facilities available to all citizens, along with social services and job opportunities. This, in turn, will create a human resource base which has the skills, knowledge and capacity to work productively. Hence, our attention must remain focused on this, especially as we have a young population. They must be nurtured and prepared for taking up their responsibilities. Future growth in all sectors will depend on knowledge workers and skilled workforces. They can make our economy dynamic, our service sector efficient and competitive, our manufacturing industries broad based and our agriculture and allied sectors strong. Furthermore, integrating and developing linkages between sectors, say agriculture and industry, will further reinforce growth. These linkages can be fortified by having connectivity at various levels. For a nation which is the seventh largest in geographical terms and the second largest in terms of population, our existing physical infrastructure is inadequate. This constrains and limits connectivity. We have to change this situation. The number of bridges, roads, harbours as well as our power generation capacity and transport facilities, among others, require extensive additions. But, do not forget that along with these structures of cement, steel and mortar, it is also important to bridge our differences, build roads to connect hearts and minds, harbour compassion, generate goodwill towards all and transport these feelings to strengthen the unity of the nation. We will also have to create an atmosphere for our citizens to exercise their rights and tell them to perform their duties as well. This is important to make the development of a democratic nation of over one billion people, participatory and sustainable. In the next decade, not only must we witness the speedy building up of infrastructure, but also a greater cohesiveness among citizens.

A bottleneck and an impediment in bringing about the desired results, for which policies and schemes have been formulated and huge allocation of funds made, is weak implementation and corruption in the system. The causes of the chronic ailment of tardy implementation have to be treated. There should be accountability for lack of implementation of projects, programmes and schemes. This is critical for bringing about positive change.

Public-Private Partnerships and SHGs, that is Self-Help Groups, are important mechanisms for outcome-oriented action and for creating a wide network of stakeholders for growth. There have been numerous examples of how women in urban and rural areas have been able to become financially self-reliant through the SHG route. A movement towards universalisation of SHGs, that brings within its ambit all eligible women, can be a powerful instrument for the economic empowerment of women and for inclusive growth. Facilitation of their formation and functioning will, thus, create a wave of progress and change.

Dear Citizens,

The world over, as also in our country, there is a rising demand for food-grains. This foretells the need for an intense focus on increasing agriculture productivity to ensure food availability, particularly of agricultural produces which are in short supply, to avoid spiraling food prices. To achieve this very important objective, I call for urgent steps towards a Second Green Revolution. There should be use of new technologies, better seeds, improved farming practices, effective water management techniques, as well as more intense frameworks for connecting the farmer with the scientific community, with lending institutions and with markets. Our farmers are ready and willing to work, earn and learn. We have to respond positively and do some “out of the box thinking”. Higher agriculture incomes will improve the living standards of the over 145 million rural households, in the over six lakh villages of the country. With higher income levels, the rural economy will generate demand and provide impetus for growth in other sectors. Recognizing this reality, we have to involve the agriculture economy more pro-actively into the growth process, both as a centre of production and as a generator of demand for various products and services. There are many complementarities that exist between farming communities and the corporate world because both are private enterprises. The possibilities of win-win partnerships between industry and agriculture should be explored. For example, the food processing industry when located close to agricultural areas can transform India's rural landscape. Currently, food processing in India is as low as 10 percent of production, as compared to 65 percent to 80 percent, generally seen in the developed countries. Other agro-based industries would be equally important as propellers of growth. The question is how to attract farmers into such partnerships, which do not adversely affect, but rather keep the interests of farmers in the forefront and take into account their various sensitivities, particularly about their land-holdings. This needs to be done in a farmer-friendly manner and by creating awareness in the farming community. Some Indian companies have understood that linking farmers to industrial units would be beneficial to both. They have developed interesting models of engagement with the farming community. We should study these experiences, as we look at viable options that suit Indian conditions for harnessing the potential of village economies.

Dear Citizens,

Today, the optimum use of capital or labour or resources across the entire spectrum of our national activity is dependent on cutting-edge technologies and technological breakthroughs. We need technologies for more efficient and cleaner energy, for our industry and agriculture. India has to chalk out strategies that will promote research and development resulting in innovative methods and techniques. The quality of research in our country must be upgraded to build knowledge structures. I think the nation should take this up as an urgent calling. A knowledge economy requires an education system that encourages creativity and a capacity to think in a novel fashion. Also, our research institutions should join global knowledge networks to keep themselves abreast of worldwide advancements in research. Technology should reach a broader section of our society, and also the movement of grassroots innovations should receive encouragement.

A change which is required, and of which I have spoken often is the eradication of social malpractices in particular those related to discrimination against women. These pose a hindrance on our path to building a more progressive and equitable nation. We should follow a positive agenda for the empowerment of women. A change in our mindsets will be important to remove prejudices and create equal opportunities for all citizens. This is essential for our inclusive growth agenda and for tapping the full potential of our population.

In any mission, particularly one as complex and challenging as nation building, as has been said by our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, “We have to labour, and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams.” For this, motivational levels have to be kept high.

Media can have an important influence on how people see the country. With relentless advances in technology, media is now an integral part of our daily lives. It can create awareness by bringing information to the people, getting them to reflect, and making them realize their responsibilities towards the nation. With a media that plays a constructive role, people would be inspired to take actions that would contribute to building the nation and also to learn about the benefits of positive actions.

For growth, an environment of security is essential. Government is committed to maintain high vigil and take appropriate measures to address internal security challenges. Our country has been a target of terrorism for more than two decades. Government has taken and will continue to take necessary steps to tackle threats emanating from terrorism. It will also continue to work with the international community to combat this menace.

As in the past, in the future also, the voice of India in the world would be a voice for peace, a voice for development, and a voice of hope. In the global arena, we will seek a change in the structure of multilateral institutions, so that they reflect contemporary realities. We will continue to cooperate with the international community to deal with global issues. We will seek to build friendly relations with countries in our region and those across the world.

As 2009 came to a close, there have been many analyses about what are the possible prospects of the next decade for India. Some refer to it as the deciding decade, the decade of reckoning. On reflection, I fully agree that it will be so. It must, therefore, mean a decade in which all Indians must do their work with a sense of responsibility, discipline, integrity of mind and purpose as well as with a spirit of cooperation. We will have to inspire our young generation so that they are virtuous, with good character and a sense of fellow feeling towards others. We must channelise all our efforts towards the goal of taking the country to a higher level of all round national development and not rest till we achieve our goal. We can then be proud that we have performed our duty and borne our responsibility well. It is said that, fortune is an outcome of good work and can slip away, if we are lax in our work. I am reminded of a few inspirational lines:-

Tay ki hain hamne
Aisi kuchh manzilen
Ki naheen rukenge hum
Aage badhte rahenge hum
Har qadam dar qadam
Jab tak Dam men hai dam

With these words, I once again wish all fellow citizens peace, prosperity and progress on the occasion of our Republic Day.

JAI HIND”.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. Dr. Mohd. Hanif Khan Shastri and the Center for Human Rights & Social Welfare, Rajasthan have been selected for the National Communal Harmony Awards For the year 2009. The Jury headed by the Hon’ble Vice-President of India selected the awardees in recognition of their contribution for the promotion of Communal Harmony.

Dr. Mohd. Hanif Khan Shastri, aged 58 is a learned Sanskrit scholar and has been awarded Ph.D. on Mahamantra Gayatri Aur Surah Fatiha Ka Arth Prayog Evam Mahatmya Ki Drishtri Se Tulnatmak Addhayan in 1991. Dr Shastri has at least eight books to his credit as an author. The most popular amongst these publications are Mohangita, Geeta Aur Quran men Samanjasya, Ved aur Quran se Mahamantra Gayatri aur Surah Fatiha, Vedon men Manav Adhikar and Meljol. The publications are considered as masterpiece by cross section of academicians and scholars. Dr. Shastri has endeavored to promote communal harmony by highlighting similarities between Hindu and Muslim religions through his unique literary contributions in Hindi and Sanskrit. His other activities include delivering lectures, talks and TV shows on theme of communal harmony. He has also received appreciation letters for his contribution in literature with particular reference to communal harmony.

The Center for Human Rights & Social Welfare, registered in 1976, is a social organisation working for communal harmony, human rights, welfare of the homeless persons, women, footpath dwellers, rehabilitation of needy and deprived persons. Its specific activities include organising interfaith dialogue, programmes of Milan on the occasions of Eid, Holi, Diwali and Christmas, communal harmony rally, kavi sammelan, mushaira etc. to promote communal harmony and national integration. The Center has campaigned against terrorism and has been organising programmes like ‘Dil se suno’ and ‘Garima samvad’ to sensitize the people on the rights of the homeless persons. The organisation has actively participated in the rehabilitation work of the victims of bomb blasts that occurred in Jaipur city in May 2008. It also organised a number of programmes to strengthen fraternity at sensitive places.

The National Communal Harmony Awards were instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, an autonomous organisation set up by Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, for promoting communal harmony and national integration. The award has been instituted with a view to demonstrating due appreciation and recognition of the efforts of individuals and organisations / institutions for promotion of communal harmony and national integration in a sustained manner over a sufficiently long period of time. In addition to a citation in each category, the award carries a cash award of five lakh rupees for the Organisation and two lakh rupees for the Individual categories respectively.

Star News Agency

New Delhi. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Murli Deora discussed enhancing cooperation in Oil & Gas Sector between Indian and Sudan at a meeting today with his Sudanese counterpart, Shri Awad Ahmed Al Jazz at Khartoum.

The Minister’s visit to Sudan comes in the wake of growing cooperation between the two countries in the hydro-carbon sector. The discussions also focused on areas identified in an MoU signed by the Ministers of State for Oil and Gas of the two countries during India-Africa hydro-carbon conference held in Delhi recently.

Shri Deora, who arrived in Khartoum yesterday on the first leg of his four-nation tour, stressed that Indian companies are keen to participate in more explorations and productions accreages in Sudan. He also raised the issue of payments of the pipeline ONGC Videsh built in the African nation with the Sudanese Minister for Energy and Mining.

The two Ministers agreed to form a joint working group for resolving the issues within a month in respect of 741-km pipeline from Khatroum to Port au Sudan. OVL, which has interest in four blocks in Sudan that give it 2.4 million tons of crude oil annually, wants to consolidate its operations and acquire more accreage in the African country.

Sudan invited the Indian Oil Companies to view data for exploration accreage it will be offering in licensing round this year. Shri Deora agreed to extend Indian assistance to Sudan for developing Natural Gas industry, gas operations, biofuels technology, well stimulation and reservoir management and enhance oil recovery (EOR) schemes.

Sudan would send teams to India this year for training in these disciplines. Shri Deora also offered Indian expertise in refinery upgradation and management besides training its technicians. He also directed the Indian Officials to explore possibility of extending reservation for Sudanese students in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology. Later, Shri Deora met the Sudanese Vice President and handed over a letter from Prime Minister ShriManmohan Singh for President of Sudan reiterating India's commitment to increasing cooperation with the African nation. Shri Deora will today fly to Nigeria. The other nation's on his itinerary are Angola and Uganda.

Star News Agency

The power sector has long been seen as an integral part of country’s economic growth and a major component of sustainable development. The effect of sectoral reforms enabling provision of power to all, and at prices that make economic sense can be a significant determinant of human development.

One of the major concerns of the power sector is the reduction of losses in the distribution. It was felt that for improvement in the power sector, it was necessary to reform the distribution link in the whole chain of the sector, which was mainly responsible to bring the revenue into the sector. The various issues involved in the management of distribution losses can be classified under the categories of governance, commercial and technical issues. For effective control of AT&C losses, the States and state power utilities are required to initiate action on all the three fronts simultaneously.

Accelerated Power Development Programme

To bring about improvement in the distribution sector ‘Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP)’ was introduced in 2000-01. The primary aim of the scheme was reduction in aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses through strengthening and renovation of the ailing sub-transmission and distribution network.

The scheme was renamed as the ‘Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (APDRP)’ in 2003 to usher reforms in the sector. An incentive scheme for cash loss reduction and reform conditions were introduced for becoming eligible under the scheme. The focus was to look at the distribution sector in a holistic manner and then improve performance in all segments. The main objectives of the APDRP were improving financial viability of the State Electricity Boards, reduction of AT&C losses, improving customer satisfaction, increasing reliability of power supply, improving quality of supply, adopting systems approach with MIS, and bringing transparency through computerization.

571 projects worth Rs. 14,583.07 crore were taken up by the State Power Utilities under APDRP. The Government also provided assistance of Rs 7,777.19 crore to the states for completing the above projects. Ten states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tripura) showed reduction of cash loss amounting to Rs. 5809.89 crore. Rs. 2904.95 crore was released to these states as incentive under the programme for achieving the cash loss reduction.

The implementation of the APDRP combined with the other initiatives of the States showed the improvement in AT&C loss at National level which reduced from 38.86% in 2001-02 to 29.24% during 2007-08. AT&C Losses have been reported below 20 percent in 215 APDRP towns in the country of which 163 towns have brought AT&C losses below 15 percent. Feeder metering improved from 81% during ‘00-01 to 98%. Consumer metering improved from 78% during ‘00-01 to 88%. 15 States have unbundled and corporatised. 25 States constituted SERCs and 23 SERCs issued Tariff Orders.

It has been experienced during the implementation of the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) that wherever policy makers and top management were aligned to sound commercial practices they could reduce AT&C losses and move towards commercial viability with the help of technical interventions. Many of the utilities did not take up the projects, required to bring about accountability in the system. The off-take on IT enablement of distribution sector to enable energy audit & accounting was rather poor in X Plan APDRP, wherein 25% grant was provided by the Government against project cost and 50% for cash loss reduction.

Following a review, the scheme was re-launched as ‘Restructured Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (RAPDRP)’ on 31.07.2008 with the focus on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of loss reduction. Establishment of reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate base line data, and the adoption of Information Technology in the areas of energy accounting have been made necessary pre-conditions before sanctioning any projects for strengthening & up-gradation of sub-transmission and distribution networks in urban areas. The primary difference between the two schemes was that now the disbursement of Central Government funds to the states was linked to the demonstration of reduction in losses meaning that the funding was basically linked to outcomes.

Projects under the scheme will be taken up in two parts. Part-A is the projects for establishment of baseline data and IT applications for energy accounting / auditing & IT based consumer service centers and Part-B is regular distribution strengthening projects.

For Part A, the Centre is doing complete hand-holding of the State utilities, giving them a list of IT consultants and even the agencies that can do the execution. The IT enablement of a SEB will be entirely funded by the Central government.

1344 projects at the cost of Rs 4859.61 crore have been approved for twenty two states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) under Part-A of the scheme.

Under Part-B of the R-APDRP, funds are available for system up-gradation also. The extent of grants under Part-B would depend upon the extent of reduction of losses, which will be verified by an independent agency. Part B will be funded to the extend of 25% loan by the Government and on successful completion of project and reduction of losses below 15%, 50% of total loan will be converted into grant from the Government.

The successful IT enablement of a state power utility will make it an integral part of the energy audit and accounting systems. This will enable utilities to clearly account for all energy flows, enabling them to learn where losses are taking place. Also, it will help in quantifying the type of losses that are taking place. Currently, it has become a practice to put losses due to theft or otherwise into the un-metered segment, which is almost like a residual account and for which nobody is accountable. With information technology, every feeder and every transformer can be metered, enabling one to compile exact figures for every unit transmitted and distributed through a particular point.

Consumer Benefits

From a consumer’s point of view, such IT enablement may lead to tariff reduction as it would bring into the ambit those consumers who are currently not paying for the electricity or are paying less than what is actually due from them. Politically also, it will enable the administration to ensure that its interventions accrue to the people who need them.

Yet another advantage of making IT a part of the system in all power utilities is that as technology evolves, the utilities can easily leapfrog to them. For example, a power utility can then introduce smart grids, which is the next big thing in the distribution segment and which can enable two-way communication with the consumers, remote load control, load profiling, and even integrate generation at the consumer’s end into the grid. Once the basic system is in place, a utility can do any number of add-ons. In fact, the R-APDRP specifications make it mandatory that the system should be such that it can be further scaled up and upgraded.