Deployment of Wave Rider Buoy off Seychelles by India for Improved Ocean State Forecasts for the Indian Ocean Islands

As a part of the 'Integrated Ocean Information System' for the Indian Ocean Countries, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, successfully deployed a Wave Rider Buoy off the Frigate Island, Seychelles. Ocean state forecasts are imperative for safe navigation and operations at sea.

                                   

The 'Integrated Ocean Information System' is being established by INCOIS under the technical cooperation umbrella of the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES). India is serving as the Chair of the RIMES Executive Council represented by the Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.

This event is a follow up to the inauguration of the Earth System Sciences Organisation (ESSO) -INCOIS Ocean State Forecasting System for Seychelles and Sri Lanka by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, in July 2015 at the 2^nd RIMES Ministerial Conference in Delhi.

The ocean data collected will be useful not only to validate the Wave and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) forecasts from INCOIS for the oceanic region surrounding Seychelles in real time but will also help in analysing and tracking high swell events originating from the Southern Ocean and arriving at the southwest coast of India. These observations will help in further strengthening and enhancing our capability to predict the occasional High Wave events (Kallakadal) that often attack the Kerala coast causing damages to coastal villages and fishing boats.

                            

To ensure the buoy safety and easy retrieval, a 'Buoy drift alert system' has also been developed and implemented. All concerned officials will receive the alert, in case the buoy drifts more than 200 metres from its position.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi along with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Charles Michel meeting the CEOs of Belgium companies, in Brussels, Belgium on March 30, 2016

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour, during the ceremonial welcome at the Egmont Palace, in Brussels, Belgium on March 30, 2016. The Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Charles Michel is also seen.

Israel's Rafael, India's Reliance in JV for air defense systems

JERUSALEM: State-owned Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and India's Reliance Defense said on Tuesday they are setting up a joint venture in India to produce air to air missiles, air defense systems and observation balloons.

The companies will address programs valued at $10 billion over the next decade.

Reliance Defense, a unit of Reliance Infrastructure (RLIN.NS), will hold 51 percent of the joint venture and Rafael, one of Israel's largest defense firms, will hols the other 49 percent.

Rafael is a market leader in the air to air missile segment with products such as Python and Derby. Its air defense systems portfolio includes a number of short and medium range missiles.

Rafael has already provided large aerostat systems to the Indian Air Force for its surveillance, reconnaissance, communication and intelligence needs, the companies noted.

The joint venture will offer the entire range of products in these fields to the Indian armed forces, they added.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)

India has signed 59 bilateral and/or unilateral APAs

Government signs 11 unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) 

The Central Board of Direct Taxes signed 11 unilateral APAs on 28th March, 2016. With this signing, India has entered into 59 bilateral and/or unilateral APAs. The Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) programme was introduced by the Finance Act, 2012 to provide a predictable and non-adversarial tax regime and to reduce litigation in the Indian transfer pricing regime. 50 of these agreements have been signed in the current financial year. The agreements cover a range of international transactions, including corporate guarantees, royalty, software development services, IT enabled services and trading. The agreements pertain to different industrial sectors like telecom, media, automobiles, IT services, etc. Some of the agreements have rollback provisions and provide certainty to the taxpayers for 9 years with regard to the covered international transactions. 

Rollback provisions in APAs were introduced in the July 2014 Budget to provide certainty on the pricing of international transactions for 4 years (rollback years) preceding the first year from which APA becomes applicable. With the notification of Rollback rules in March 2015, the taxpayer has been provided the option to choose certainty in transfer pricing matters with the Government for a total of nine years (5 future years and 4 prior years). 

Since the notification of the APA scheme on 30.08.2012, approximately 580 applications for APAs have been received and about half of these contain a request for the Rollback provisions. The number of applications is indicative of the wide international and national appreciation of the India’s APA programme’s ability to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.  

School students can play a major role in spreading the message of Water conservation and Pollution control of rivers says Uma Bharti

Sixth National Painting Competition on Water conservation and Pollution concludes 

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti has said that school students can play a major role in spreading the message of water conservation and pollution control of rivers. Speaking at the sixth National Painting Competition on Water Conservation and Pollution held in New Delhi today the Minister said painting competitions on water conservation bring out innovative ideas for depicting the water stressed situation of our country and various possible solutions for judicious water management including its conservation and prevention of contamination. The Minister expressed her happiness at the wide range of innovative ideas expressed through the paintings by the young children, which, she said would guide the Ministry in taking appropriate action for ensuring safe and sustainable water for the future. She said the beautiful ideas presented by the children in their painting will motivate others in conservation and judicious utilisation of water. The Minister said “Conservation of water, which is important to all of us, needs to become a way of life for children so that they grow up as water literate and water conscious citizens”. Sushri Bharti expressed the hope that the students taking part in the competition will be instrumental in spreading the message of conservation and judicious management of water in their schools, communities and society at large.  She called upon the students, their parents as well as teachers to join hands in creating public awareness on water conservation and protection of water resources.

The Minister presented first prize of Rs. 50,000 to Kumari Ayesha Patanaik (Odisha), Two second prizes of Rs. 25, 000 each to Master Suraj Chaudhari (Goa) and Master V Hemchandran (Puducherry) and three third prizes of Rs. 10,000 each to Kumari Bidipta Deb (Tripura), Kumari G Emora Mercy (Tamil Nadu) and Kumari Neha Sharma (Haryana). The Minister also presented consolation prizes of Rs. 5,000 each to another 24 participants. 

The National Painting Competition is organised annually by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for the students of class VI, VII and VIII as part of the information, education and communication schemes of the Ministry. The competition which is being held annually since 2010, is held in three stages i.e. School, State and National level. This year, more than 14 lakh students from about 17,000 schools in the country participated in the school level painting competitions with the theme “Care for Water –Secure the Future”. Out of these, 50 students shortlisted by experts from each State/UT were invited to participate in the State level painting competitions organised during January 2016, mostly along banks of rivers on the theme “Protect Ground Water and Rivers form Pollution”. First prize winner from every state participated in today’s National Level Competition.

Special Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Dr Amarjit Singh and Chairman, CGWB, Shri KB Biswas also spoke on the occasion.

Second batch of 50 declassified files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose released Online by Dr. Mahesh Sharma

Second Set of 50 declassified files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was released Online on Web Portalwww.netajipapers.gov.in by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism here today. The present batch of 50 files consists of 10 files from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), 10 files from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and 30 files from Ministry of External Affairs  (MEA) pertaining to the period 1956 to 2009.

It may be recalled that First lot of 100 files relating to Netaji, after their preliminary conservation treatment and digitization, was put in the public domain by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 23 January 2016, on the occasion of the 119^th birth anniversary of Netaji.

The present release of 50 files will further meet the continued public demand to access these files and this will also facilitate scholars to carry out further research on the doyen of the freedom movement.These many files having passed the scrutiny of the specially constituted Committee having experts from the field of Archives which looks into the aspects such as :

-          To ascertain the physical conditions of the files and carry out necessary repair and conservation wherever needed, through Conservation Unit.

-          To verify the quality of digitization for enabling the digitized records to upload in the web portal ‘www.netajipapers.gov.in.

-          To check if there are any duplication in the files.

are being released on the Internet for use by the researchers and general public.

It may further be added that in 1997 the National Archives of India had received 990 declassified files pertaining to the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from the Ministry of Defence, and in 2012, 1030 files/ items pertaining the Khosla Commission (271 files/ items) and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (759 files/ items) from the Ministry of Home Affairs. All these files/ items are already open to the public under the Public Records Rules, 1997.

63rd National Film Awards, 2015 announced

Bahubali awarded Best Feature Film and Bajrangi Bhaijaan declared Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment

Amitabh Bachchan to be given Best Actor award for the film Piku; Kangana Ranaut Best Actress for Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Sanjay Leela Bhansali given Best Direction Award for his Film Bajirao Mastani

The 63^rd National Film Awards 2015 were announced today by the Chairpersons of the three juries on Feature Films, Non Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema. The Feature Film Central panel was headed by Shri Ramesh Sippy, a popular director & producer in Hindi cinema. The Central panel comprised of 11 members including Chairman. The Non Feature jury was headed by Shri Vinod Ganatra and comprised of 7 members including the Chairman. The jury on Best Writing on Cinema was headed by Ms. Advaita Kala and comprised of 3 members including the Chairperson.

Prior to the announcement of the awards, the Chairpersons of the three juries and members of the jury presented their reports to Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley. Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and Secretary (I&B), Shri Sunil Arora were also present on the occasion. Shri Jaitley appreciated the efforts put in by the jury members in deciding the awards in various categories which reflected the diversity of India’s cinematic brilliance and diversity.

Some of the prominent winners in various categories for this year National Film Awards included Bahubali in the best Feature Film category and Amdavad Ma Famous in the best Non-Feature Film Category. Amitabh Bachchan was given the best actor award for the film Piku and Kangana Ranaut was given the best actress award for her movie Tanu Weds Manu Returns. Samuthirakan was given the Best Supporting Actor award for the film Visaranaai. The award for best supporting actress was given to Tanvi Azmi for her role in Bajirao Mastani. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was given the Best Direction Award for his Film Bajirao Mastani.

 Dr. Rajakumar Samagra Charithre was given the Best Book on cinema award. The best film critic award was given to Meghachandra Kongbam who interprets the world of Indian cinema for his readers in Manipuri. This year National Film Awards included a special award given to the state of Gujarat for being the most film friendly state in the Country.

 Click here to see List of National Film Award Winners in Various Categories.

50 Declassified Files Relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to be Released ‘Online’ Tomorrow

The Second batch of fifty declassified files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be released online on web portal www.netajipapers.gov.in by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, the Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C) and Civil Aviation on 29 March, 2016 at 3:30 PM. The present batch of 50 files consists of 10 files from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), 10 files from Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and 30 files from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) pertaining to the period 1956 to 2009.

It may be recalled that first lot of 100 files relating to Netaji, after their preliminary conservation treatment and digitization, was put in the public domain by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi on 23 January 2016, on the occasion of the 119th birth anniversary of Netaji.

The present release of 50 files will further meet the continued public demand to access these files and this will also facilitate scholars to carry out further research on the doyen of the freedom movement. These many files having passed the scrutiny of the specially constituted Committee having experts from the field of Archives which looks into the aspects such as :

1. To ascertain the physical conditions of the files and carry out necessary repair and conservation wherever needed, through Conservation Unit.

2. To verify the quality of digitization for enabling the digitized records to upload in te web portal ‘www.netajipapers.gov.in’.

3. To check if there are any duplication in the files.

are being released on the internet for use by the researchers and general public.

It may further be added that in 1997 the National Archives of India had received 990 declassified files pertaining to the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from the Ministry of Defence, and in 2012, 1030 files/ items pertaining the Khosla Commission (271 files/ items) and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry (759 files/ items) from the Ministry of Home Affairs. All these files/ items are already open to the public under the Public Records Rules, 1997.

New Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules Notified

"The new bio-medical waste management rules will change the way country used to manage this waste earlier. Under the new regime, the coverage has increased and also provides for pre-treatment of lab waste, blood samples, etc. It mandates bar code system for proper control. It has simplified categorisation and authorisation.Thus, it will make a big difference to clean India Mission",Union Minister of State (IC) Environment, Forest & Climate Change, ShriPrakashJavadekar, said here today, while releasing the new Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

ShriPrakashJavadekar releasing the new Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules

The major salient features of BMW Management Rules, 2016 include the following:-

(a)                The ambit of the rules has been expanded to include vaccination camps, blood donation camps, surgical camps or any other healthcare activity;

(b)               Phase-out the use of chlorinated plastic bags, gloves and blood bags within two years;

(c)                Pre-treatment of the laboratory waste, microbiological waste, blood samples and blood bagsthrough disinfection orsterilisation on-site in the manner as prescribed by WHOor NACO;

(d)               Provide training to all its health care workers and immunise all health workers regularly;

(e)                Establish a Bar-Code System for bags or containers containing bio-medical waste for disposal;

(f)                Report  major accidents;

(g)               Existing incinerators to achieve the standards for retention time in secondary chamber and Dioxin and Furans within two years;

(h)               Bio-medical waste has been classified in to 4 categories instead 10 to improve the segregation of waste at source;

(i)                 Procedure to get authorisation simplified. Automatic authorisation for bedded hospitals.  The validity of authorization synchronised with validity of consent orders for Bedded HCFs. One time Authorisation for Non-bedded HCFs;

(j)                 The new rules prescribe more stringent standards for incinerator to reduce the emission of pollutants in environment;

(k)               Inclusion of emissions limits for Dioxin and furans;

(l)                 State Government to provide land for setting up common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility;

(m)             No occupier shall establish on-site treatment and disposal facility, if a service of `common bio-medical waste treatment facility is available at a distance of seventy-five kilometer.

(n)               Operator of a common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility to ensure the  timely collection of bio-medical waste from the HCFs and assist the HCFs in conduct of training

Bio-medical waste

        i.            Biomedical waste comprises human & animal anatomical waste, treatment apparatus likeneedles, syringes and other materials used in health care facilities in the process of treatment and research.  This waste is generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunisation in hospitals, nursing homes, pathological laboratories, blood bank, etc. Total bio-medical waste generation in the country is 484 TPD from 1,68,869 healthcare facilities (HCF), out of which 447 TPD is treated.

Proper Bio-medical waste management

      ii.            Scientific disposal of Biomedical Waste through segregation, collection and treatment in an environmentally sound manner minimises the adverse impact on health workers and on the environment. The hospitals are required to put in place the mechanisms for effective disposal either directly or through common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facilities.  The hospitals servicing 1000 patients or more per month are required to obtain authorisation and segregate biomedical waste in to 10 categories, pack five colour backs for disposal.  There are 198 common bio-medical waste treatment facilities (CBMWF) are in operation and 28 are under construction. 21,870 HCFs have their own treatment facilities and 1,31,837 HCFs are using the CBMWFs.

Problems of unscientific Bio-medical waste disposal

    iii.            The quantum of waste generated in India is estimated to be 1-2 kg per bed per day in a hospital and 600 gm per day per bed in a clinic. 85% of the hospital waste is non-hazardous, 15% is infectious/hazardous.  Mixing of hazardous results in to contamination and makes the entire waste hazardous. Hence there is necessity to segregate and treat.  Improper disposal increases risk of infection; encourages recycling of prohibited disposables and disposed drugs; and develops resistant microorganisms

Consultation process for new Bio-medical Waste ManagementRules, 2016

    iv.            The draft Bio-medical Waste Rules were published in June, 2015 inviting public objections and suggestions. Stakeholders consultation meets were organized in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.Consultative meetings with relevant Central Ministries, State Governments, State Pollution Control Boards and major Hospitals were also held. The suggestions / objections (about 50) received were examined by the Working Group in Ministry. Based on the recommendations of the Working Group, the Ministry has published the Bio- medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.

Common Yoga Protocol for 2nd International Day of Yoga released

The Common Yoga Protocol for the 2nd International Day of Yoga falling on 21st June, 2016, has been released. Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH launched the Common Yoga Protocol booklet during the inaugural function of National Arogya Fair held at Panaji, Goa on 26th March, 2016. The Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Laxmikant Parsekar, Deputy CM and Health Minister Shri Francis D’Souza and other dignitaries were also present during the launch. 

The booklet gives a brief overview about Yoga and Yogic practices to orient one towards comprehensive health for an individual and the community. The present edition of Common Yoga Protocol is an improvised version of last year’s Yoga Protocol. Some Yoga practices e.g. Yogic Sukshma Vyayama , Yogasanas, and Pranayama have been added in the 2nd revised edition. Apart from 45 minutes Common Yoga Protocol, a provision has been made for leading Yoga instutuions to incorporate 15 minutes Institutional Yogic practises e.g. Pranayama, Yoga Nidra, Dhayana, Satsang, etc. before Sankalpa as deemed fit. This makes the total duration of one hour of Yoga practice on International Day of Yoga.