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[ ] 1st issue of April 2013 2 ‘Focus on excellence in education’ ‘Central and state governments, academic and autonomous institutes should join hands for the greater cause of education in the country’, says Union HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju Union HRD minister M.M. Pallam Raju stressed on the need for focusing on expansion, equity and excellence in education at the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in New Delhi on April 2. Minister Raju emphasised on a participatory approach in which the central and state governments, academics and autonomous institutes should join hands for a greater cause of education in India. “Focus should be laid on the need for focusing on expansion, equity and excellence in all levels of education,” he said at the meeting attended by state education ministers, university vicechancellors, heads of different education boards and academicians. Education Emphasis: HRD Minister M.M. Pallam Raju at the 61st Meeting of Central Advisory Board for Education in New Delhi. CABE is expected to deliberate on the need for a national testing agency, which will conduct a host of national level examination such as UGC NET, GATE, AIEEE and IIT Main. According to officials, the centralised body could be created through a special purpose vehicle and it would not be binding for the different examination bodies to join in it. The agency could be “on a voluntary basis”, officials said. Apart from reviewing the implementation of the Right to Education and ICT in higher education, the meeting also discussed the proposed education commission, the setting up of which was announced by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during his speech on Independence Day in 2011. A silver trumpet for ‘India’s growth to pick up in 2013-14’ the President’s men ‘The current fiscal year will witness a growth in the pace of India's economy, which is capable of absorbing $50 billion in FDI per year,’ says the Finance Minister President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Silver Trumpet and Banner to the President’s Bodyguard at Rashtrapati Bhavan. PRESIDENT PRANAB Mukherjee presented a silver trumpet and banner to the President’s Bodyguard, the oldest regiment of the Indian Army, on March 30. The ceremony, in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, has been in existence since 1923, when the then viceroy, Lord Reading awarded two trumpets to the elite force on completing of 150 years. The ceremony began with the national salute, after which the President reviewed the parade. Astride their caparisoned steeds, the PBG, commanded by Colonel T.S. Mundi, formed a hollow square from which a non-commissioned officer, Satnam Singh, headed towards Mukherjee to receive the trumpet and banner. This was followed by the horses and their mounts walking, trotting and finally cantering past the President. The silver trumpet, with a mounted banner with the Ashoka Lions symbols and the initials of the President in the centre, was blown. Speaking on the occasion, the President said, “I am confident that the President's Bodyguard would continue to uphold the lofty values of professionalism, dedication and commitment.” India’s economy is capable of absorbing $50 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) per year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on April 1, adding that the government is committed to reforms. Addressing a news conference during a visit to Tokyo promoting India as investment destination, Minister Chidambaram also reiterated that growth in India’s economy was expected to accelerate in the current fiscal year to March 2014. “FDI flows into India are quite positive... think we can absorb, easily absorb $50 billion of FDI every year into India,” Minister Chidambaram said. “A new trade policy will be announced and that will show that we are committed to reform,” he added. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. India’s financial account, which includes FDI, portfolio investment and overseas borrowing by Indian companies, showed a surplus of $31.1 billion in the December quarter for the fiscal year ended March 31. Minister Chidambaram repeated his recent pledge that the government would simplify foreign investment caps in a bid to attract more investors. The government has previously said it plans to open up the pensions sector to foreign investors, and raise the investment limit in the insurance sector to 49 percent from 26 percent. He added that the Indian economy was expected to grow 6.1-6.7 percent in the current fiscal year, an improvement on the estimated 5.0-5.5 percent growth recorded last fiscal year. Chidambaram, who returned as the Finance Minister in July last year, has taken several steps to boost investor confidence, from opening up sectors to foreign investment, to cutting subsidies. From grandmoms to solar engineers Barefoot college has trained nearly 300 grandmothers in the whole of Africa. The India has grown to be an inspiring example of developing personal empowerment along with environmental sustainability, courtesy the unique partnership between the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC), Ministry of External Affairs and the Barefoot college in Tilonia, Rajasthan. At the centre of this partnership are rural women from Least Developed Countries, who are trained to become solar engineers at the Barefoot college. The college has been pioneering solar electrification of rural villages and has found the best candidates to be middleaged women, who learn to install and maintain solar powered home lighting systems in their villages and teach others to do the same. It’s all about demystifying and decentralising the process, so that a non-literate grandmother in a small village can provide her family with power. The purpose of the ITEC solar training programme is to empower women, many of whom have laboured in agricultural work for most of their lives, to gain a skill more age appropriate, while affording them a new position of respect in their communities. The latest batch of skilled “solar engineers” can be seen in the picture. Aided by grants from Government of India under ITEC programme, Barefoot college has trained nearly 300 grandmothers in the whole of Africa, who are the sole solar engineers in the entire continent. This way, around 20,000 houses in 160 villages across the continent have been equipped with solar lightening by these newly empowered grandmothers. A total of 40 “barefoot grandmothers” were honoured in a symbolic graduation ceremony on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on March 8.
India test fires nuclearcapable Agni-II missile The missile is part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-II strategic ballistic missile from a military base in Odisha, a defence official said on April 7. The test was conducted from Wheeler’s Island in Bhadrak district at about 10.20 a.m. by army personnel as part of routine user-trials, M.V.K.V. Prasad, director of the Integrated Test Range, said. “The missile successfully hit the target. It was a perfect launch” he said. The medium-range missile with a range of over 2,000 km has already been inducted into the Army, and is part of the Strategic Forces arsenal for nuclear deterrence. The Agni-II is part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. The two-stage surface-to-surface missile, equipped with an advanced ‘Foreign tourist flow in India rising’ INDIA HAS recorded positive figures when it comes to the arrival of foreign tourists in the country, said Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi on April 3. “The growth of foreign tourists in January and February (2013) has been positive,” Minister Chiranjeevi said while addressing an audience at a tourism-related public function in New Delhi. “Foreign tourist arrivals grew by 2.3 percent from January to March and the foreign exchange earnings from tourism rose by 20.5 percent in rupee terms and 11.6 percent in dollar terms,” said Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan. “The figure for March alone is 2.8 percent,” he added. Agni-II was successfully test-fired from Wheeler Island off the Odisha Coast. high-accuracy navigation system and guided by a novel state-of-the-art command and control system, is powered by a solid rocket propellant system. The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its range can be increased to 3,000 km by reducing the payload. It can be fired from both rail and road mobile launchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile to be readied for firing. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) first tested Agni-II in 1999. However, the Indian Army’s Strategic Forces Command, which operates the missile, could test it only May 17, 2010, after two successive failures in 2009. Since then, it has been successfully tested several times. The latest successful test once again proved the reliability of the missile, the official said. Indian Navy’s new anti-sub warship launched In a major step towards indigenisation and making the Navy selfreliant, the third anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, designed under the ambitious Project-28 (P-28) by the Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, was launched in Kolkata on March 26. Aimed at enhancing the Navy’s underwater warfare capabilities, the warship, in a first-of-its-kind, will be fitted with indigenous state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including a medium range gun, torpedo tube launchers, rocket launchers and close-in weapon system. Being built by one of India’s leading shipbuilders, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), it has been named after an island — Kiltan — in the Lakshadweep archipelago of India. It was launched by Chitra Joshi, wife of the Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi. With nearly 90 percent indigenisation Launch of the Third Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC) in Kolkata. content, the building of the corvette was a major initiative, Navy officials said. While lauding the efforts of GRSE in detail designing of the ship, Admiral Joshi singled out its technological landmark, as being the first ship in the country built with a composite superstructure of carbon fibre composite material, which will be successfully integrated with the main hull. Affirming the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation, he said the country needed a “vibrant and capable” warship construction industry. “Indigenisation has been the cornerstone of the navy's warship building and development programme. The ship that was launched today with nearly 90 percent indigenous content is a fine example of the commitment of the Navy and industry towards indigenisation,” Admiral Joshi added. First Wi-Fi on wheels starts with Rajdhani Express The Indian Railways has launched a pilot project to install a free wifi service in passenger trains in the country to help travellers use their travel time more effectively. “Internet access in moving trains has been a technological challenge, considering that the train passes through all types of terrains,” Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said while launching the Wi-Fi- facility as a pilot project on Howrah Rajdhani Express, which runs from New Delhi to West Bengal, on April 2. “After due deliberations on various options for providing Internet access, Indian Railways decided for satellite communication link to the train and Wi- Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal launching the Wi-Fi- facility on Howrah Rajdhani Express in New Delhi. Fi connectivity to different coaches,” Minister Bansal said. The Indian Railways has finally launched the pilot project on Howrah Rajdhani express in both the directions [ ] 1st issue of April 2013 3 The warship has been named after an island, Kiltan, in the Lakshadweep archipelago of India simultaneously at Howrah and New Delhi respectively. The facility is being given to the passengers free of cost. “The facility is being introduced for the first time on Indian Railways through state-of-the-art Technology at a total cost of `6.30 crore covering all the three rakes of Howrah Rajdhani Express,” according to an official release. As per the release issued by the Ministry of Railways, “The satellite communication link is arranged through satellite hub facility, set up by Indian Railways. Initially, 4 Mbps download bandwidth and 512 Kbps upload bandwidth is earmarked for Internet facility in moving train.” India, Britain organise workshop on cyber security RESEARCH COUNCILS UK (RCUK) and India’s Department of Science and Technology brought together top researchers from India and the UK for a workshop in New Delhi to discuss cyber security, a pressing transnational issue demanding global cooperation. The four-day workshop, which began on March 24, was jointly organised by RCUK India, the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology-Delhi (IIIT-D), and the UK’s Science and Innovation Network (SIN). The main topics of discussion at the workshop included: cyber crime; privacy and security in online social media; human factors and usable security; and risk identification and monitoring systems and networks. British scholars associated with IBM, McAfee, BT, City University, The Royal Society, and Imperial College were among those participating in the event. Passengers can access Indian Railway Wi-Fi network to avail Internet facility in moving trains. The passengers will be able to register by providing the PNR and other details like mobile number, etc. On validation of the data entered by the passengers, as per extant DOT guidelines, the Login ID and Password will be sent through SMS to the registered mobile number. The Login ID and Password will remain valid for entire journey. Very soon, the Indian Railways will extend this service on other Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto express trains progressively based on customer feedback and acceptance, the official release added.
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