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E s t a b l i s h e d 1 0 th J u l y 1 9 9 3

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Simplifying knowledge dissemination

Editor-in-Chief :

Marketing and Sales :

Sandeep Manudhane

Manish Saraf - 97555-99509

2008 All rights reserved.

Published by Manish Saraf on behalf ofPTETSL, Yeshwant Plaza,

Opp. Railway Station, Indore 452001.

Volume 8. Edition 11. May 2010

Editorial Office

E-mail : [email protected]

PT education Headquarters,

Yeshwant Plaza,

Opp. Railway Station Indore - 452001

Ph : 0731-307 00 00

Fax : 0731-3070099

Reproduction or translation in any language in whole orin parts without permission is prohibited.

Articles and contributions courier or emails shouldbe addressed to

PREP-TALK DEPT., c/o Mr. B. S. Supekar.Unaccepted articles may not be returned.

The information given in this magazine is true to the bestof our knowledge. However, PT or any of its associateswill not be responsible in any manner for inadvertenterrors that may have crept into this publication. PT doesnot take responsibility for returning unsolicitedpublicationmaterial.

Disclaimer :

To be a world class training and educationorganisation shaping careers through innovative

products and services & the use of human

technologies.

Major news stories

Cover story

Current events

PT Panorama

Profiles

News in brief

Regulars

Kasab gets death penalty ...................................................... 05

16th SAARC summit concludes .......................................... 07

Solar energy: The future fuel .............................................. 09

India ........................................................................................ 15

...................................................................................... 23

Business and economy .......................................................... 30

Harnessing the Talent ........................................................... 40

Medical Tourism.................................................................... 50

Venugopal Dhoot.................................................................... 39

Kapil Sibal .............................................................................. 43

India ........................................................................................ 66

...................................................................................... 68

Business and economy .......................................................... 69

Brand icon: Nestle India ....................................................... 37

Brand icon: Citigroup Inc. .................................................... 38

Business Trivia ...................................................................... 52

General knowledge ............................................................... 54

Book review: The Leader in You .......................................... 72

World

World

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Contents

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Dear friends,

In recent years, the energy crisis and associated problems like carbonemissions and global warming have grabbed all the attention and createdawareness of the imperative need to make changes in the way we live and useand abuse our natural resources, in particular the energy usage. Solar power,

which has been the next big thing on the energy horizons, may finally be reaching

a tipping point. A lot of lip service has been paid to Solar Energy recently andfinally weare wakingup tothe factthatoneday, very soon, wearegoing torun outof fossil fuels with energy demands growing daily, and the time to take action

would be now!

Our cover story explores this pertinent issue and explicitly explains why thisinexhaustiblesource of energy has beenhogging the limelight.

We know that relying on coal, oil and natural gas threatens our future withtoxic pollution, global climate change and social unrest caused by diminishingfuel supplies. Instead of relying on unsustainable fossil fuels, we must transformour economy and learn to thrive on the planet s abundant supply of renewableenergy- the solarenergy.

If we choose solar energy we don t have to wait for a new technology to saveus. We already have the technology and energy resources we need to build asustainable, solar-centric economy thatcan cureour addictionto oil, stabilizetheclimate and maintain our standard of living, all at the same time. It is well pasttimeto start harnessingsolarenergy asit ischeap, clean,hasan infinitesupply, is almost completely maintenance free, and does not rely on humans forsupply, sothere s nodangerof an accident ormistake.

Today, we have hybrid cars and solar dwellings are in the pipeline. Plug-inhybrids and all-electric options will be available soon. If we all work cohesivelyand demand that our government set a wise energy policy and use taxes tosupport, theright renewable energyoptions, I am sure that we can putthe brakes

on climate change and enjoya clean, true-green energy.

Yes, do plug into solar power and build that solar dwelling. But also do whatyou can today to change attitudes towards one another and towards theenvironment and youwillhavecreatedthe future already!

seriously

Manish Saraf

COO, PT education

Excellence is to do a commonthingin an uncommonway.

Book er T. Washington

If youcan do a half-assessed jobofanything, you're a one-eyed man inakingdomoftheblind.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Seek the lofty by reading, hearingand seeing great work at somemoment every day.

Thornton Wilder

The only way of finding the limitsof the possible is by going beyondtheminto the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke

Exp erience is t he child o f thought, andthought is thechild of

action.Benjamin Disraeli

Try not to become a man ofsuccess buta manof value.

Albert Einstein

Men 's best successes come aftertheir disappointments.

Henry Ward Beecher.

The ability to convert ideas tothings is the secret to outward

success. Henry Ward Beecher

Goals are the fuel in the furnaceof achievement.

Brian Tracy

A man who dares waste one hourof time has not discovered the

value of life.Charles Darwin

Take Quote

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Exploring the impactof

evolving socialmedia

Theworldsmost admired

companies

The cover story provided ampleinformation about online social mediaandwas a very illuminatingone. Yes,itcan be a great learning tool but on theflip side can prove detrimental to theusersif not usedjudiciously.

Internet being accessible to all,every thing done by us is alwaysvisibleto others. We need to be very carefulabout the images we create as animage once created online is difficultto alter. One also needs to beware of

the imposters who flood the cleanOSN sites and indulge in fraudulentsocializing. We also need to learn todevelop control of our postings. Afterall it is only we who can decide as to

who all should have access to what wewant the world to see. We also need tobe extra prudent while designing ourprofile as they would be scrutinizedt horoughly by t he p ro s pectiv eemployer and we may well be puttingour dream job at stake for theblunders we make. Allowinganyone to

post your personal photos and videoswithout your consent should bestrictly prohibited. Maintaining onecommon image across various OSNsitescouldbeaverywiseidea.

The nuggets of informationprovided in this article proved to be

Neha Singh, Indore

Letters to the editor

sales professional is to "Amaze,Amuse, Surprise and Delight" ourclients. We are engaged in the veryserious business of buying or selling

shelter, but along the way we can havea littlefun.

Peters gives over 200 tactics andstrategies to help businesses succeed.He stresses that individuals andorganizationsmust standout fromthecrowd of average look-alikes. Thebook is a handbook of articles, essaysand speeches he has given, along withchapters of panel discussions.An easyread, the book provides practical, bitesize pieces of advice that allow you to

improve your business performanceand also acts as a guide for futureentrepreneurs.

Abhijit Shar ma, Alwarvery interesting. In a nutshell, the entirecompany s profile was available to us. Ihave always lauded the efforts of PrepTalkeditorial team for coming up with diversetopics. The topics are very lucidlyexplained and one does not need to readh ea vy v ol um es o f b oo ks t o s ee ki n f o r m a t i o n . T h e s e q u e n t i a larrangement of the subheadings wasindeed praiseworthy. PT Panorama is a

window to the wealth of world news andhaseach time served something deliciousfor thereaders to savour.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading thisbook. One of the recurring themes in thebook is to be continually prepared tochange and evolve. Nothing stays thesame. In Peters' language, the goal of the

R ajiv Nigam, Pune

The Pursuit ofWOW!

FEEDBACK !Your comments and

views on PrepTalk

are needed to help

Us make it better.

Which articles did you like?

Which columns do you

like to read regularly?

Which are the best parts of

the magazine?

Which are not?

How to improve?

Send feedback to:

[email protected]

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Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab,the lone surviving 26/11 gunman, wasconvicted by a special court inMumbai for the audacious Mumbai attacksthathadleft166peopledead.

Over 17 months after he and nine otherp e r pe t r at o r s u n l e as h e d d e a th a n ddevastation on the financial nerve centre ofthe country, special anti-terror court judge ML Tahaliyaniconvicted Kasabfor the carnage.

Two alleged Indian conspirators Sabauddin Ahmed and Faheem Ansari who

were claimed to have prepared the maps ofthe terror targets and handed those over toPakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba forexecution of their plans, were acquitted of allcharges as the court said the evidence produced by theprosecution couldnot be relied upon.

The court also held that 20 of the wanted accused, includingLeT founder Hafiz Saeed, operations chief Zaki-ur-RehmanLakhvi and Abu Hamza, wereinvolved in 26/11 conspiracy.

Pronouncing the verdict, judge Tahaliyani told Kasab inHindi that the charge against him for waging war against India

was found to be true.

Kasab was held guilty under provisions of Arms Act,Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Explosives Act, Railway Actandotherlaws, butsmallercharges like forgery were dropped.

All the ten terrorists were found to be carrying fake identitycards, but the judge said it was not proved beyond reasonabledoubt that Kasab hadhimself forgedthe document.

Ten terrorists, trained and armed by the outlawed LeT inPakistan, had descended on Mumbai on a 'Fidayeen' (suicide)mission on 26th November 2008 and wreaked havoc during the60-hour siege, killing and woundingpeople at will.

Kasab, along with nine slain terrorists, wascharged with killing 166 people, including 25foreigners, andinjuring 304others at the instanceof Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The court heard arguments by the defenceand prosecution on the quantum of sentence for22-year-old Kasab and on April 6, sentenced himto death forthe Mumbaiterror attacks, which saidthat keeping such a terrorist alive will be a"lingering danger" to the society and the Indiangovernment.

The special anti-terror court of M LTahaliyani pronounced capital punishment forthe 22-year-old terrorist on five counts of murder,conspiracy to murder, waging war against the

country, abetting murder and committingterrorist activitiesunder theUnlawful Activities PreventionAct.

166 people were killed in the carnage. Kasab was alsoawarded life imprisonment on five other counts includingattempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and under the ExplosiveSubstances Act.

"In the court's opinion, Kasab has no chance to reform.Keeping such a terrorist alive will be a lingering danger to thesociety and the Indian government," Tahaliyani said whilepronouncing his verdict, three days after he convicted him forthe massacre.

The judge cited the example of the Kandahar hijack case inwhich arrested terrorists were swapped for the passengers heldhostage.

"If Kasab is kept alive, this situation may occur again," hesaid. The judge said Kasab had joined terror outfit LeT

voluntarily and offered himself to be a "mujahideen".

Kasab,who hailsfrom Fardikot in Pakistan, broke downafterhearingthesentence.

Kasab gets death penaltyin 26/11

M a j o r n e w s s t o r y

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As per the law, the death penalty will have to be confirmed bythe Bombay High Court. Kasab also has the right to move theHigh Courtagainstthe trial court verdict. Even if theHighCourtupholds the judgement, he can go in appeal to the SupremeCourt. If the apex court too upholds the sentence, he has theoptionof filinga mercy petitionbefore thePresident of India.

The trial, perhaps the fastest in a terror case in India, hadcommenced on 8th May 2009 in a special court set up at ArthurRoad Jail which recorded 3,192 pages of evidence after

examining658 witnesses on 271 working days.

The prosecution, led by Ujjwal Nikam, submitted 1,015articles seized during investigations and filed 1,691 documentstosupportitscase.

The prosecution also sought to prove that Pakistan's securityapparatuswas used byLeT in theattacks.

For the first time in the Indian legal history, FBI officialsdeposed to give technical evidence to prove the case of theprosecution that the killers came from Pakistan using GlobalPositioning System and that they made calls from their mobile

phones through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) to stay intouch withthe conspirators.

As the judge was reading out the sentence, Kasab was seensobbing. He asked for a glass of water during the

pronouncement.

After the sentence was read out, Tahaliyani explained to himin Hindi that he had been given death penalty on five counts and

whether he wanted to say anything.

Butthe Pakistani gunmansimply shook hishead after whichhe was taken away by thepolice back tothe Arthur Road jail.

The verdict came 17 months after Kasab and nine otherPakistani terrorists trained, armed and funded by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba let loose death and destruction onMumbai on November26, 2008.

Stating that Kasab was mentally prepared to attackIndia, thejudge rejected defence lawyer K P Pawar's argument that he hadacted onthe directions of LeTfounderHafiz Sayeed.

Branding the terrorist as a "killing machine manufacturedinPakistan", special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had soughtnothing less than death forKasab, sayingthe case fell within"therarest of rare" category.

The plea of Pawar, who while admitting that his client was"blinded by religion" sought leniency for the terrorist given his

young age, failed to convince the judge.

Describing Kasab as "killing machine" and a "heartlessmonster", Nikamhad argued, "suchmachines are manufacturedin Pakistan and if he is not sent to the gallows he would turn intoa blood thirsty wild animal.

"Kasab is a heartless monster who is a curse to thesociety...He not only enjoyed killing innocent people but alsoexpressed anger while confessing before a Magistrate that hecould not execute more," he had said in his arguments on thequantum of sentence for the convictedterrorist.

Pawar, however, pleaded that given his young age and no

previous criminal record, Kasab be given a chance to bereformedand rehabilitated.

T R I V I A : U S B P r a t i r o d h A N D N A Y A N

U S B P r a t i r o d h N A Y A N e - s e c u r i t y C - D A C .and are two products launched by USB Pratirodh and Malware Resist has beenlaunched for Home Users and Network Abhigam Niyantran(NAYAN) for enterprises.

Malware Resist is an anti-malware solution which protects an end system from damage caused by malware or any other roguesoftware by continuously scrutinizing the active programs or processes for malicious behavior. The solution helps usersto protectfrom the Malware by quarantine the processes. NAYAN, especially developed for enterprises, addresses the access control andauthentication requirements of a local area network. NAYAN controls the access to different network services at the end systemlevel, protecting internal networkfromrapidly propagating threats and networkmisuse.

06 PTs PrepTalk May 2010

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Th e 1 6 th S A AR C s u mm i tconcluded,issuing the Thimphustatement on Climate that

highlighted theissueof climate changeand

stressed the need for joint efforts to facethechallenge in theregion.

Climate change was the theme of theconference, held for the first time inBhutan with generous assistance fromIndia.

Bangladesh and Maldives were infavour of some sort of commitment on thepeaking of emissions, a stand that did notfind favourwith Chinaand India duringtheCopenhagen climate change summit.

It was, therefore, decided to establishan Inter-governmentalExpert Group on Climate Change to develop a clear policydirection and guidance for regional cooperation as envisaged intheSAARC Plan of Action on Climate Change.

The member-states also resolved to commission a study, forpresentation to the 17th summit, on Climate Risks in theRegion: ways to comprehensively address the related social,economicand environmental challenges'.

It wasdecided to plant onecrore treesover thenext five yearsto build a green and happy South Asia and enhance trade

cooperation.

The statement pledged to concentrate on the uplift ofpoverty-stricken people in the region that is home to 1.5 billionpeople one-fourth of theworldpopulation.

The two-day summit (28-29th April 2010) was notable forthe frank appraisal offered by several members of the blocscollective failings over the past 25 years. In a final declaration,the summitsaidit was timefor the organisationto liveup to thehopes and aspirations of one-fifth of humanity represented bythe eightleaders.

Theadopted statement on climate change stressed the needfor the region to join hands in combating a threat that all itsmembers face, from low-lying Maldives and Bangladesh toHimalayan nations like Bhutan and Nepal. The host nationsPrime Minister Jigme Thinley, who chaired the gathering, saidthere had been an overwhelming consensus to turn SAARC intomorethan a talk shop.

The stage is set for SAARC to enter a new era 25 years afterits founding, Thinley said. I hope the things that did nothappen in South Asia will now begin to happen, he said.SAARC, founded in 1985, groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, theMaldives,Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Critics have blamed its failure to exploit the regionscommon potential on the long and bitter rivalry between its twomost powerful members, India and Pakistan, which has oftenhijacked the blocs agenda. The two countries also stole themedia spotlight at the Thimphu summit, where the two PrimeMinisters, Indias Manmohan Singh and Yousaf Raza Gilani,helddirecttalksforthefirsttimeinninemonths.

Maldives President, Mohammed Nasheed, who will host thenext SAARC summit, said the coming year would show whetherthe bloc could move away from declarations of intent to concreteimplementation.

16th SAARC summit concludes

M a j o r n e w s s t o r y

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Breaking the ice, India and Pakistan decided to resumedialogue at the level of foreign ministers as Prime Ministers

Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani met in Thimphu intheirfirst substantive engagementin lessthan a year.

During their meeting, Singh andGilani decided that the channels ofdialogue between the two countries

should be kept open to restore "trustand confidence" in the bilateralrelationship.

This was their first meeting aftertheir dialogue in Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt on July 16, 2009following which a major controversy had broken out in India on

the contentsof thejointstatement.

Terrorism and the "slow progress" of Pakistan's probe intoMumbai attacks formed part of the agenda of the discussions

which were held at the 'Bhutan House' here on the margins of

the SAARC Summit. The two leaders first met accompanied bytheir delegations which was followed by a one-on-one meetingand thenagainby delegations.

My fear is that at the moment there is a disconnectionbetween ambition and achievement. The ultimate result is that

SAARCis notadequately delivering on theneedsof thepeople ofSouth Asia, Nasheed said.

Manmohan Singh had said that SAARC ran the risk ofmarginalisation and stagnation. The 21st century cannot bean Asian century unless South Asia marches together. Theagreement on trade, signed by the nations foreign ministers,covers services in health, hospitality, communications,computers and air transport services. The environmentconvention, signed by the leaders, is aimed at exchangingknowledge and eco-friendly technology to combat climatechange. The fund for fighting poverty, with contributions fromeach nation, will be used for projects that empower women and

promotehealthcare and forbuilding infrastructure.

Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh said SouthAsian countries have opened up new windows of cooperation,and added that the SAARC Development Fund, the Food Bank,the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the South AsianUniversity are examples of new institutions that will knit ourregion moreclosely together.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and political organization of eight countries

in Southern Asia. In terms of population, its sphere of influence is the largest of any regional organization almost 1.5 billionpeople, thecombined population of itsmember states. It wasestablished on December 8, 1985 by Bangladesh , Bhutan , Maldives,

Nepal, Pakistan, Indiaand Sri Lanka . In April 2007, at the Association's14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member.

Theobjectives ofthe Associationas defined in theCharterare:

topromotethewelfareofthepeopleofSouthAsiaandtoimprovetheirqualityoflife;

to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the

opportunityto live in dignity andto realize their full potential;

to promoteand strengthen collective self-reliance among thecountriesof South Asia;

to contributeto mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another'sproblems;

to promoteactive collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic,social, cultural, technical and scientificfields;

to strengthen cooperation withother developing countries;to strengthen cooperation among themselves in internationalforums on matters of common interest; and

to cooperatewith internationaland regionalorganisationswith similar aims and purposes.

To promote trade in the region, SAARChas implemented theSouth Asia FreeTrade Agreement(SAFTA),which went in to force

on 1st January,2006.

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January, 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir

BikramShahof Nepal.

O B J E C T I V E S

S A F T A

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S A A R C : A F a c t F i l e

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Solar energy, radiant light andheat from thesun, hasbeen harnessed by humans since ancient timesusing a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar

radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resourcessuch as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and

biomass, account for most of the available renewableenergy on earth. Only a minuscule fraction of theavailable solar energy is used. Solar energy is energy thatis present in sunlight. It has been used for thousands ofyears in many different ways by people all over the world.As well as its traditional human uses in heating, cooking,and drying, it is used today to make electricity whereother power supplies are absent, such as in remote placesand in space. It is becoming cheaper to make electricityfrom solar energy and in many situations it is nowcompetitive with energy from coal or oil. It can also beused forheating, drying andcooking.

Solarenergyisusedtodayinanumberofways:As heat for making hot water, heating buildings, andcookingTo generate electricity withsolar cellsor heatenginesTo takethe saltaway fromseawater

Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat enginesand photovoltaics. Solar energy's uses are limited only by humaningenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes spaceheating and cooling through solararchitecture, potable water viadistillation and disinfection, daylighting, solar hot water, solarcooking, and high temperature process heat for industrialpurposes. To harvest solar energy, the most common way is to

usesolarpanels.

India is a country of contradictions.It has thesecond-fastestgrowing economy in theworld , butat thesametime accounts fora third of the worlds population without access to electricity.Indias per capita energy consumption is among the lowest inthe world (35 times lower than in the US), yet the country rankssixth in total annual energy consumption.

Though rich in coal and abundantly endowed withrenewable energy (solar, wind, hydro andbio ), more than a thirdof Indias energy is imported, mainly from the Middle East. Oil

H

H

H

consumption, which accounts for roughly a third of Indiasenergy use, has increased six fold in the past 25 years. India nowimports about 65 percent of its petroleum. The countrys fast-growing oil demand, and the fact that Indias oil reserves arevirtually exhausted, has forced India to make deals withcountries such as Sudan, Syria and Iran, which raise supplyconcerns.

To meet its growth aspirations, India urgently needs toaccelerate its energy sector development, and investments in

renewable energy will have to play a crucial role. Today, windenergy is thecountrys leading renewable energysource.Indiaisthe fourth largest user of wind energy in the world. But solarenergy is gaining ground. Recent government announcementsto boost solar power generation by way of feed-in-tariffs (FiTs)are generating more interest in the solar sector. Given Indiasrich reservoir of sunlight (5,000 trillion kWh annually), thiscertainlymakes a lotof sense.

Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation forpractical ends. However, all renewable energies, other thangeothermal andtidal, derivetheirenergy from thesun.

C o v e r s t o r y

Solar energy: The future fuel

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A major problemwith previous efforts in using solar power inrural settings was the inability to maintain and repair thenecessary equipment. Training young men as solar engineersproved futile, as they would quickly leave to more lucrativeurbanmarkets.

But, Mr. Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot College of India,has found a solution to this problem: training illiterategrandmothers. From each African village, he brings an illiterategrandmother back to India for a month of intensive training onsolarphotovoltaicsystemmaintenance and repair.

Learning alongside other grandmothers from villagesthroughout Africa, the newly-trained solar engineers return totheir home village with a newfound sense of confidence andpurpose. And, most importantly, they remain in their village,providing a much needed service and passing on theirknowledge.

With the provision of clean, off-grid electricity from solarpanels, the air is cleaner, the village is more productive andwomen are becoming empowered. Whats more, it makes cleareconomic sense. The cost of a solar system large enough forseveral lanterns is roughly the cost of one years supply ofkerosene. But, solar energy can only solve some of a rural

communities energy needs. Other experiences showed thatthere are other alternatives which can meet the need forsustainable development in ruralcommunities.

InNepal and Cambodia, bio-gashas proven tobe a clean andreliable source of cooking fuel. Micro-windand Micro-hydro arebeingdeployedin Vanuatu and Mozambique, respectively.

Many countries are experimenting with mini-grids tosupply the generated electricity. The Zambia is exploringalternative distribution models, rolling out energy kiosks inseveral villages. India has a program to provide efficient cookingstovestoruralareasinanefforttoreduceairpollution.

Solar technologies are broadly characterized as eitherpassive or active depending on the waythey capture, convert and

distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques use photovoltaicpanels, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs.Passive solar techniques include selecting materials withfavorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturallycirculate air, and referencing the position of a building to theSun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy andare considered supply side technologies, while passive solartechnologies reduce the need for alternate resources and aregenerally considered demand sidetechnologies.

With the debate around patents and climate change-relatedtechnologies at Copenhagen last December, it became easy toforget that there are many low-cost and clean renewable energytechnologies available in the public domain. A recent UNmeeting highlighted how these technologies can revolutionizetheway oflife forruralcommunities.

Over 90%of rural Africaand 1.6billion peopleworldwide arewithout electricity. Kerosene, firewood, and dried dung arerelied upon by rural communities for lighting and cooking fuel.These traditional energy sources pose many health hazards,especially for women. Air quality is a major concern withkerosene and open fires, releasing carcinogens, airborne

particles, and greenhouse gases. Women are disproportionatelyexposed to openfires for cooking.

Midwives working at night have to rely on a dim, flickeringlight. In addition, women are also the ones who scavenge forfirewood or transport kerosene, often in inhospitable terrain.Thus, besides being a health risk, this is also a tremendous lossof productivity for the village; as women in these villages areforced to spend more and more time in search of diminishingfuel sources.

In the Expert Meeting on Green and Renewable EnergyTechnologies for Rural Development, organized by the UN

Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), severalpromisingsolutions weredescribed for providingelectricity andcooking gas for rural communities. These solutions solar,biomass-to-electricity, biomass digesters, geothermal, micro-hydro and micro-wind powerwere each shown to beparticularly affordable and technologically promising in a varietyof settings.

One of the most important messages to come out of themeeting wasthat the technologies deployed must be reliable. Toensure a reliable alternative energy supply and to help empowerrural women, one man has started a brilliant effort to ensuresolar powertakes hold in these villages.

RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES FOR RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

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Several countries are re-visiting previous efforts for large-scale alternative energy generation as well. The Zambia is

resurrecting a geothermal plant from the 1980s to help it copewith an increasing energy deficit, which they attribute to climatechange, due to lower levels of hydroelectric power production inrecent years. Mauritius is revisiting the feasibility of windturbines, especially recent advancements that allow for them tocollapse during cyclones.

But, there are challenges. First, financing is still a challenge,even with thetechnologies being offpatent protection andin thepublic domain. The Kyoto Protocols Clean DevelopmentMechanism (CDM) has provided some funding, e.g. for Biogasprojects in Nepal, but the CDMis geared towards large projectsand has a cumbersome administrative process. However,

promising financing solutions are gradually being offered.Finally, there is thechallenge of education. Accessingknowledgeon what has worked and failed in other villages is crucial. Anunnecessarily poor experience with a particular technology canretard the adoption of that or othertechnologies by a village for several decades.In addition,it is necessary to educate villagersabouthealth and environment concerns, suchas smoke inhalation and climate change, inorder to generate further demand for theserenewable energy technologies.

Despite these challenges, this meeting

showed that there is much promise inbringing clean electricity to rural villagesaround the world. With electricity, muchmorewill be possible, including the ability toprovide irrigation for farming, encourageeducation, and generally enable humandevelopmentin the broadestsense.

Very often there is confusion about the various methods usedto harness solar energy. Energy from the sun can be categorizedintwoways:

1.Intheformofheat(orthermalenergy),and

2. In the form of light energy. Solar thermal technologiesuses the solar heat energy to heat substances (such as water orair) for applications such as space heating, pool heating andwater heating for homes and businesses. There are a variety ofproductson themarket that uses solar thermal energy. Often theproducts used for this application are called solar thermalcollectors and can be mounted on the roof of a building or insome other sunny location. The solar heat can also be used toproduce electricity on a large utility-scale by converting thesolarenergy intomechanical energy.

HISTORY

So, fossil fuels are actually solar energy stored millions andmillions of years ago. Indirectly, the sunis responsible for all our

energy. Even nuclear energy comes from a star because theuranium atoms used in nuclear energy were created in the furyofanova-astarexploding.

The history of lighting is dominated by the use of naturallight. The Romans recognized a right to light as early as the 6thcentury and English law echoed these judgments with thePrescription Act of 1832. In the 20th century, artificial lightingbecame the main source of interior illumination but daylightingtechniques and hybrid solar lighting solutions are ways toreduce energy consumption.

Daylighting systems collect and distribute sunlight to

provide interior illumination. This passive technology directlyoffsets energy use by replacing artificial lighting, and indirectlyoffsets non-solar energy use by reducing the need for air-conditioning. Although difficult to quantify, the use of natural

lighting also offers physiological andpsychological benefits compared toartificial lighting. Daylighting designimplies careful selection of window types,sizes and orientation; exterior shadingdevices may be considered as well.Individual features include sawtooth roofs,clerestory windows, light shelves, skylightsand light tubes. They may be incorporated

into existing structures, but are mosteffective when integrated into a solardesign package that accounts for factorssuch as glare, heat flux and time-of-use.When daylighting features are properlyimplemented they can reduce lighting-related energy requirementsby 25%.

Hybrid solar lighting is an active solar method of providinginterior illumination. HSL systems collect sunlight usingfocusing mirrors that track the Sun and use optical fibers totransmit it inside the building to supplement conventionallighting. In single-story applications these systems are able to

transmit 50%of thedirect sunlight received.

Solar lights that charge during the day and light up at duskarea commonsight along walkways.

Although daylight saving time is promoted as a way to usesunlight to save energy, recent research has been limited andreports contradictory results: several studies report savings, butjust as many suggest no effect or even a net loss, particularlywhen gasoline consumption is taken into account. Electricityuse is greatly affected by geography, climate and economics,making it hardto generalizefrom single studies.


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4. Finally, its a step towards achievingthe Vision20-20 targetof becoming energy independent

Talking of solar energy usage in India, what have we beensuccessfulat?

Didwe know that there are 500,000plus solar cookers in usetoday?Did we know that we have the worlds largest solar cookingvenue in Tirupati ? This place provides food for more than15,000 peopleeach dayusing these solarpanelsDid we know that India is the only country which has aseparateministry foralternative energy?

L oo k a t t he s ol artechnology and it is mainlydivided into thermal andphotovoltaic.

Thermal solar powerusestheheatofthesun,andphotovoltaics, or PV, is thetechnology that converts itslightdirectlyinto electricity.

In India:

the second method has been very successful. Ex: Solarwater heaters. They are a hit in India, with mosthouseholdsadoptingthem. Number of players or suppliersin themarket isalso increasing.

thefirstmethod first option hasbeen partiallysuccessful inIndia. For getting good at this, we need to master theprocess of Silicon Wafer making which we have not yetachieved. For developing successful product and forsustenance, weneed make ourown silicon wafers.

Alternatives have been suggested; for ex: screen printing ofsemiconducting material or other photovoltaic material on

insulating base (ceramic or glass). This is being tried out. Alsoexperiments using organic compounds have also been reportedin literature. However, massproduction is far away.

The newest and developing fast technology in solar energygeneration is thin film technology, however the Indiansubsidiary manufacturing plant of Moser Baer is ready forproduction of thin film photovoltaic modules at Greater Noida,India. The 40MW capacity line is being described as the largestthin film solar line in India. Many Indian startups are alsoentering thisspace.

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Wheredowestand?

SOLARENERGYININDIATHEGREATINDIANPOTENTIAL

India has a great potential to generate electricity from solarenergy. Some main drivers forsolarpower plantsin India are:

1. To meet Indias growing energy demand the non-renewable sources of energy may not cope-up with that demandwith its robust economic & population growth. Renewablesources are oneof thesolutions to this constant issue,in thelongterm.

2. Increased focus on Green technology with increasedfocus in the recent years the idea of solar plants will beencouragedex: Solarwater heating.

3. Support from Government Government is helping in theform of various subsidies, rebate on interest to solar energybased industries, technology-transfer agreement withcountries, to name a few. This will attract more new players orestablish businesses to invest in solar plants. For ex: Windenergy power sectorsaw good growth in thepast, when subsidieswere introduced.

4. India is alsoin a good position because of the intense heat.Arid regions receive plentiful solar radiation, says Dr. M. N.Nahar, principal Scientist of the Division of Agriculture andEnergy at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI). Incomputed global solar radiation of arid stations in the Indian

states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana, it was found thatJaisalmer in Rajasthan, receives the maximum radiation at 6.27kWh/m2per day; theaverage daily duration of brightsunshineinJodhpur, Rajasthan is 8.9 hours.

1. Lesser pollution. How? According to a report, the averageintensity of solar radiation received on India is 200 MW/km2.Even if 10% of this area is used, the solar energy that can bemade available to us would be 8 million MW (equivalent to 5909mtoe: million tons of oil equivalent) per year this leads to less

pollutionby thatamount

2. It can help India to reduce its import bills significantly ifsolar energy can be used for domestic purposes as well (Ex:cooking, heating, drying etc)

3. Thermal solar energy can be used for water heating,cooking, drying, water distillation, refrigeration, and spaceheating and cooling. One of the most crucial of these uses iscooking, as half the total energy consumed in developingcountriesis used in thedomestic cooking sector

Some benefits India can reap from solar Energy

applications:

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RECENTDEVELOPMENTS

Solar energy offersenormous coal savings

India should hike its solar power and solar thermal (steam-based power production) generation targets in the short term toachieve grid parity in terms of MW and KWhr cost with coal-basedpowerplantsinthelongrun.

The cost of electricity generation from solar thermal andsolar PV (photovoltaic) systems is Rs 13.45 and Rs 18.44 a unit,while the unit cost from thermal projects, including coal andgas-basedstations is between Rs 3 andRs 7.

The solar thermal will offer enormous cost savings if

coupled with thermal plants. While standalone plants could alsobe set up,the geographic coverage of coal-based power plantsincentral and eastern India provides an excellent opportunity tocombine coal and solar thermal plants or add the solar thermalcomponentto existing coalfired units.

For a 500-MW coal plant, a 50 MW solarthermal would ensure 20 per cent savings interms of daily coal use (equivalent to thereplacement of feed water heating) andavoiding 31,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxidegeneration annually. Assuming that 10 percent of 77 GW of coal fired plants are coupled

to 522,750 MWhr/year of solar electricproduction would lead to 522, 750 tonnes ofcoal savings and avoiding 225,000 tonnes ofcarbon-dioxidegeneration as well,he said.

A 50 MW plant would work out to $150million. However, at least 35 per cent reduction in cost could beachieved through scaling up once volumes come in and supplychains are in place. Solar energytechnology was simple and all itrequiredwas quality adherenceby suppliers.

The solar power industry in India was at a nascent stage andwould require investments upwards of $75 billion to achieve the

targeted 20 GW by 2020. The government needs to spell out thetariff pattern after 2013 so as to attract funding required to reachthe targetedgeneration.

The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy alongwith the Union Ministry of Telecommunications is working onconverting almost all cellphone towers into green towers byusingsolar panels instead of diesel generators.

At the bottom of cell phone towers, there are generatorsrunning on diesel. This will reducethe useof diesel.

The Government of India (GoI) has taken a decision that noGoI building will be made which will not be green. Ministry is

going to meet architects in some of the top cities to talk to themaboutgreenerbuildings.

For thousandsof years,mankind hasbeen using thepower ofthe sun to meet energy needs. Ancient civilisations designedtheir buildings to benefit from the suns ability to heat and lightrooms,and the suns heatwas used tolight fires withglass in theseventhcenturyB.C.

Over two and a half millennia later, as the world turns itsattentionto renewableenergy sources as a wayto combatclimatechange, UNIDO is advancing the use of solar energy through itsnew, international researchcentrein western China.

More than ever, we need to harness the power of the sun,thesource of themostabundantrenewableenergy onearth,

One sun, one world, one dream, is the message of theUNIDO International Solar Energy Centre(ISEC), which is operated in cooperation withthe Chinese Government and promotes andfacilitates the use of solar energy in thedeveloping world.

China is leading the way in certainsegments of the solar energy market, forinstance in solar water heaters for domesticuse and its growing rapidly in others such asphotovoltaics.

But more importantly for UNIDO, Chinahas available solar energy technologies thatcan be easily transferred to other developing

countrieswiththe necessary skillsto usethem.

Chinas Government has realized the future lies withrenewable energy and recognizes that the adoption of renewableenergy givesit greater energy security.

China can assist other developing countries to find their

pathto economic developmentpowered by renewableenergy.

Activities at the centre include the development and upgradeof solarenergy technologies, the establishment of standards andlabels for solar technologies and products and the promotion ofinternationalcooperation.

Around 100 scientists, experts and researchers from aroundthe world work at the centre, which in itself is a shining exampleof the effectiveness of solar energy, since the lighting, heatingandhot water systems are alloperatedusingthe suns power.

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will be instilled in them till they grow old. At such a youngage, they must know about how they can contribute toconserve energy.

Take good care of nature. This is the most important thingthat we can do to help advance such cause. The sun cancause damage to people and nature if people wont take thenecessary steps to care for nature in the first place. Thereare a lot of things that we get from the environment. Itwouldnt hurt to look back every now and then and see whatwe can do to give back to what it has already given to you.

The idea here is that everything in this life must beconserved. We cannotabusethe powerthat we possess to gain somuch without even thinking how our actions affect the worldaround us. It is all right to go with the flow of the continuing

advancementof the technology.

Look at the options available to us nowadays with regards tosolar energy. This can be used to power homes and vehicles.This can give light, heat water and cook your food. This can giveus satellite television and phones for supreme entertainmentand communications enjoyment. This can give us luxuries likespasandwarmwateratpools.

We must learn everything on how to conserve solar energy sothat wecan do our partin making surethatsuch resource will beavailableas long as welive.

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Solar energy and other renewable energy industries have apromising and challenging future and ISEC will work closely

with the developing and the developed countries.

It will bring those people to the centre who are interested indeveloping solar energy in developingcountries and takeexpertsfrom the centre to developing countries, where they will helpmake assessments with regards to the potential for solar energyin these countries.

At the moment solar energy, like all renewables, stillrepresents a relatively small portion of the total energyproduction anywherein the world. Someplaces havepromoted itmore than others, butin thedeveloping world,therearent manycountries thathave a strong presencein solar.

He adds that costs of renewables tend to be more expensivethan the traditional sources of energy, but part of the reasonwhy theyre more expensive is that theyre not used on a largescale. However, as the markets grow the prices are comingdown.

As an ordinary person who lives according to what the daybrings, didwe ever think abouthow toconserve solar energy?

We must bear in mind that we are part of a whole spectrum ofnature. Whatever we do will affect all the things around us.Everything must be conserved, including solar energy. There

canbesomemethodstoconservetheenergy:

Plant trees. Nature works wonders. Every element aroundus affects everything else. By planting trees, we will be ableto maximize the energy coming from the sun. This will bedirected to help theplants grow andproduceharvests. Withhealthy plants and trees rooted to the soil, the soil will befirm. This will be able to hold its structure even in times ofnatural disasters.

Limit your use of the energy coming from the sun. Withtodays innovations, there are lots of things that are beingdeveloped to use solar energy as a power source. The

source may be free. But to be able to turn it to such powersource, there are things that are utilized for this reason. Ifwe will abuse the use of such technology, the crash of thematerials usedto put thisup will befast. Thiswill takea tollonusespeciallyifwerelyalotonthisadvancement.

Teach kids about the importance of solar energy. We cangain knowledge through research and through youreveryday interaction with other people about this thingcalled the solar energy. We must tell our kids about itsimportance, they must be educated about it at an early age.They are the future of the nation. What we teach them now

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The world's largest solar-powered building

The world's largest solar-powered building has been unveiled

in Dezhou, Shangdong Province in northwest China. The75,000 square meter structure is a multi-use building andfeatures exhibition centers, scientific research facilities,meeting and training facilities, and a hotel all of which run onsolar power. The design of the building is based on the sun dialand underlines the urgency of seeking renewable energysources to replace fossil fuels. The design also features theChinese characters for sun and moon, and the color whitepredominates,symbolizing clean energy.

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J E S S I C A L A L L M U R D E R : S C U P H O L D S M A N U S H A R M A ' S

L I F E S E N T E N C E

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction and life

imprisonment awarded to Manu Sharma, son of seniorCongress leader and former Union minister Vinod Sharma, inthe1999Jessica Lall murdercase.

The prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt thepresence of Manu Sharma at the site of the offence, a bench of

Justices P Sathasivam and Swatanter Kumar said, upholding theDelhiHigh Court verdict.

The apex court also upheld the conviction as well assentence of four years jail term of Vikas Yadav, son ofcontroversial Uttar Pradesh politician, D P Yadav and AmarjeetSingh Gill, an MNCexecutive,for thedestruction of evidence.

The Delhi High Court has given cogent and adequate

reasons for reversal of acquittal given by the trial court, thebenchsaid.

The presence of accused is proved by ocular evidence ofprosecution witnesses, the bench said while pronouncing the

verdict.

The bench said that the conduct of Manu Sharma after thecrimeprovedhis guiltbeyond reasonable doubt.

Theapex court said that the high court had rightly convictedand given four years jail sentences to Yadav and Gill fordestruction of evidence.

The court also expunged the adverse remarks of the trial

court against the prosecution and also the observations of the

high court against the trial court order acquitting all the

accused.

The non-recovery and non-explanation of the pistol

allegedly used in the crime point towards the guilt of the

accused,thebenchsaid.

Thoughthe apex court criticised themedia both electronic

andprint forits reports in connection with thecase while it was

pending before thehigh court, theSupremeCourtjudges said it

didnot cause anyprejudice to theaccused.

The high court had on December 18, 2006 set aside the

acquittal of Sharma and others by the trial court on February 21,

2006.

Lall was murdered 11 years ago at a Delhi restaurant by

Sharma, It has given us a lot of satisfaction, said Sabrina Lall,

Jessicas sister, who has been leading the campaign for justice

for her sisters death.

Sabrina Lall, who has been pursuing the case since the

murder on the intervening night of April 29-30, 1999, expressed

her happinessover the verdict.

The final door has been closed on this episode. It has given

a lot of relief and satisfaction. I am happy, she said outside the

court.

The apex court dismissed the plea of Manu that he was

innocentand implicated in thecase.

The arguments on behalf of Manu Sharma that the entire

story involving him in the crime is planted and concocted is

erroneous, the courtsaid.

According to the Delhi police, Lall was shot dead by Manu at

the Tamarind Court Cafe restaurant owned by socialite Bina

Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in south Delhi where she had

hosted a party for her Canadianhusband, George Mailhot.

India

C u r r e n t e v e n t s

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The 31-year-old Indian waspicked for the honour for a second

successive year after scoring morequickly than any specialist batsman

in Tests or one-day internationals, aleading cricket website reported.

S e h w a g a p a r t , E n g l i s h

wicketkeeper Matt Prior, spinnerGraeme Swann, batsman GrahamOnions, pacer Stuart Broad and

Australianvice-captain Michael Clarke were the 'Five Cricketersof theYear' chosenby themagazine.

Sehwag averaged 70, with a strike-rate of 108.9, in the Tests

he played last year. In one-day internationals, Sehwag had astrike-rate of 136.5 while averaging45.

Strauss and Dilshan were also nominated by severalcorrespondents who were consulted about this award but fellshortof Sehwag.

President Pratibha Patil acceptedthe resignation of Minister of State

for External Affairs Shashi Tharoorfrom the Council of Ministers on therecommendation of Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

According to Rashtrapati Bhavanspokesperson, The President onthe recommendation of the PrimeMinister has accepted the resignation of Shashi Tharoor, MoSin MEAfrom thecouncil of ministerswithimmediate effect.

Theresignation of Tharoor wassentto thePresident in Punewhere she is on an official visit.

Tharoor resigned as Minister of State for External Affairs inthe wake of a raging controversy over IPL Kochi team, ending a

week-long political drama.

Tharoor becomes the first minister in UPA-II to go outunder the cloud corruption in the wake of allegations that he

misused office to get Rs.70 crore worth sweat equity for hisfriend Sunanda Pushkar fromIPL Kochi teamowners.

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T h a r o o r , w h o s e r e m o v a l w a s d e m a n d e d b y t h e O p p o s i t i o n o n

g r o u n d s o f c o r r u p t i o n , h a d m e t S i n g h t o g i v e h i s s i d e o f t h e s t o r y .

P R E S I D E N T P A T I L A C C E P T S T H A R O O R ' S R E S I G N A T I O N

M U K U L S A N G M A S W O R N I N M E G H A L A Y A C M

S E H W A G I S W I S D E N C R I C K E T E R O F T H E Y E A R

Mukul M. Sangma took oath as the 21st Chief Minister ofMeghalaya, on which also happened to be his45thbirthday.

Sangma was administered the oathof office and secrecy by Governor R.S.Mooshahary at Raj Bhavan. Three otherministers-one Independent and twofrom the United Democratic Party -

were also sworn-in.

The three are A.T. Mondal, Independent, and J.A. Lyngdohand Bindom M. Lapang of the UDP. Lapang was sworn in asDeputy Chief Minister. The three had been part of the D.D.

Lapang ministry.

Earlier, at least 21 Congresslegislatorsmet on April 16 at theresidence of Sangma, and pledged unconditional support tohim. Thereafter, Sangma flew to New Delhi along withCongress legislators supporting him, and staked his claim to benew CLP leader. Afterthat,Veteran Congress leader D.D.Lapang tenderedhis resignation to the governor.

Sangma, a medical practitioner, gave up his governmentposting as medical and health officer at Tura health centre and

jumped into the electoral fray in 1993. He contested and won the58-Ampatigiri assembly constituency in West Garo Hills as an

Independent candidate. There was no looking back for himsincethen.

At the age of 33, Sangma first bagged a cabinet berth andheld various posts as minister of taxation, information andpublic relations and others.

In 2005, Sangma was appointed Deputy Chief Minister in-charge of home and education departments. But he was forcedto quit after the Garo Hills police firing, in which nine peoplelost their lives and several others were injured over theMeghalayaBoard of School Educationissue.

Explosive Indian opener, Virender Sehwag was named'Wisden Cricketer of the Year' for the second time in a row,beating off competition from England captain, Andrew Straussand Sri Lankan, TillakaratneDilshan.

The award, which was instituted in 2004, has Australiancaptain Ricky Ponting, spin wizard Shane Warne and talismanicEnglish all-rounder Andrew Flintoff among its pastwinners.

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C H I R A Y U A M I N A P P O I N T E D A S I P L ' S I N T E R I M C H I E F

S U K H O I J E T S T O B E A R M E D W I T H B R A H M O S M I S S I L E S

A little known businessman anda low profile cricket administrator,Chirayu Amin has been thrust intospotlight with his appointment asinterim IPLChief.

The recent developments hadmade clear Lalit Modi's ouster fromthe post of IPL Commissioner buthis replacement surprisedeveryone.

When the Indian Cricket Board went after Modi's head dueto his alleged financial bungling, the speculation was rife that

either Ravi Shastri or MAK Pataudi, both IPL governing councilmembers,may be elevated tothe post.

But Amin, who has been in good books of almost all the thepastBCCI Chiefs, was rewardedfor his loyalty.

Amin is not only a BCCI Vice-President and Baroda CricketAssociation President but also the Chairman and ManagingDirectorof Alembic Pharmaceuticals, one of the leading pharmacompaniesof the country.

BrahMos supersonic cruisemissiles, which is a joint

ventureof India and Russia, willbe fitted on the Indian AirForces 40 Su-30MKIs fighteraircraft.

CEO and MD of BrahMosAerospace, Dr AS Pillai said,

The inclusion of BrahMos cruise missile will make the aircraftunique in firepower.

Dr Pillai was speaking to a Russian news agency at theDefence ServicesAsia-2010 exhibitionin KualaLumpur.

He also added that the first trials of the air-launched versionwere set for 2011 and the first test-flight with the missile on-board is scheduledfor 2012.

The supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290-km andfliesataspeedof2.8Mach.

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The BrahMos missile is a successful joint venture of India'sDefence Research and Development Organisation and Russia's

NPO Mashinostroeyenia.

BrahMos missiles sea and ground-launch versions havealready been successfully tested and put into service by theIndian Armyand Navy.

Launching the country's first AntiSubmarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC)for the Indian Navy at the Garden ReachShipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE)Limited in Kolkata, M.M. Pallam Raju,Union Minister of State for Defence,said three more such P-28 Corvettes willbelaunchedbytheGRSEby2015.

Pointing to the completion of the Rs. 560 croremodernisation programme of the GRSEscheduledfor 2011, Mr.Raju said the dock's building capacity will be boosted manifoldas it couldthen manufacture frigates.

The current value of the book of orders for the GRSE is Rs.8,000 crore, but once the orders for the P-17 frigates startscoming in within two years, the book of orders will increase toRs. 24,000 crore. he said.

Named Kamorta, after an island in the Andaman Sea, theASWC is indigenously built and is designated as a frontlinewarship with anti-submarine warfare capabilities and a very lowsignature of radiated underwater noise. The ASWC Kamorta

will be docked at the Eastern Naval Command.

Hoping that large private houses will come forward to investin theshipbuilding sectoralong with the Ministry of Defence ona public-private partnership mode, Mr. Raju said around 6,000small and medium private companies have already participatedin giving verticalexpertiseto thedefence public sector.

West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said the Stategovernment hasplaced an order for13 high-speed boats that areused during natural calamities with the GRSE, and is alsomulling purchasing portable double-line steel bridges fromit.

Mr. Raju said these boats will be delivered withinthe comingthree to fourmonths.

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I N D I A ' S F I R S T A N T I - S U B M A R I N E W A R F A R E C O R V E T T E

L A U N C H E D


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Ghoshs work provides a transnational understanding ofthe self seen as the intersection of the many identities produced

by the collision of languages and cultures; displacement andexile - lives torn between India,Burma, England, andelsewhere;

families torn by the violence and psychological turmoil ofcolonial rule and post-colonial dispossession; a globe wrackedby two world wars and their ancillary bloodshed, the jury wrotein theiraward conferringremarks.

The above mentioned topics have been integral to his workright from his earliest novels, The Circle of Reason (1986) andThe Shadow Lines (1990).

The jury also recognised his contribution in fiction asdistinguished equally by its precise, beautifully rendered

depictions of characters and settings, and by its sweeping senseof historyunfolding over generations against thebackdrop of the

violent dislocations of peoples and regimes during the

nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Mr. Ghosh is also a recipientof otherawardslike thePrixMcisranger, theArthur C Clarke Award, Hutch Crossword Book Prize,

the Grand Prize for Fiction of the Frankfurt International e-BookAwards, the Sahitya Akademi Award (from Indias NationalAcademy ofLetters),and theGrinzaneCavourPrize.

R K Pachauri, Chairman of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) was conferred with a prestigious

Japanese award in recognition of his

o u t st a n d in g c o n tr i b u ti o n t o t h eenhancement of that country's policytowardsclimate change.

Japan's Ambassador, Hideaki Domichipresented the award "Order of the RisingSun, Gold and Silver Star" to Pachauri on behalf of His Majesty

Akihito, the Emperorof Japan, at a ceremony in New Delhi.

The award is conferred in recognition of distinguishedaccomplishments by individuals, bothJapaneseand foreign.

Last year on 3rd November , the Emperor of Japan hadannounced the awardfor the head of The Energy and ResourcesInstitute.

Pachauri has alsobeen conferredwith the PadmaBhushan in2001 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008, India's third and secondhighest civilianhonour.

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P A C H A U R I C O N F E R R E D W I T H J A P A N E S E A W A R D

S C I E N T I S T S A S S E S S G S L V F A I L U R E

A M I T A V G H O S H W I N S P R E S T I G I O U S D A N D A V I D P R I Z E

Space scientists met at the VikramSarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) inThiruvananthapuram to discuss thefailure of GSLV D3, India's first launch

vehicle to be powered by an indigenouscryogenic engine.

Scientists have begun assessing dataon 300 performance parameters of thecryogenic stage, including pressure andtemperature, and will come to preliminaryconclusions, P.S. Veeraraghavan, DirectorofVSSCtold.

On April 15, 2010 the rocket plungedinto the Bay of Bengal less than 10-minutes after take-off whenthe cryogenic engine failed to ignite. A second, morecomprehensive meeting will be conducted on a later date toscrutinize the reasons behind the mission's failure, Dr.

Veeraraghavan said.

Noted Indian author, AmitavGhosh has won the prestigiousD an D av id Pr iz e f or h isremarkable reworking of the greattradition of the Western novel intransnationalterms.

The one million dollar awardis a joint international enterpriseendow ed by t he D an D av idFoundation and headquartered atTel Aviv University.

It is annually awarded in three different fields - Archaeology,Performing Arts and Material Science - in the three dimensiontimeframework of past, presentand future.

Ghosh, 53 is the third Indian to win the award, joining anelite league comprising of chemist CNR Rao and musicianZubinMehta.

The Indian author will be sharing the prize in the presentdimension with Dr Gordon E Moore, whose Moore's Law hasbecomethe guiding principle for the semiconductor industry todeliver ever-more-powerful chips while decreasing the cost ofelectronics.

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P A T I L S W O R N I N A S R A J A S T H A N G O V E R N O R

K A P A D I A , N E X T C H I E F J U S T I C E O F I N D I A

Punjab Governor, Shivraj Patil, whohas been given additional charge ofRajasthan following the demise of PrabhaRau,wassworninJaipur.

Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice,Jagdish Bhalla administered the oath ofoffice to Patil at a simple function in RajBhawan.

Two minutes silence was obser ved as a mark of respect tolateGovernorRau.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Rajasthan ChiefMinister Ashok Gehlot, cabinet ministers and other senior statebureaucrats.

PrabhaRauhaddiedduetoaheartattackinNewDelhi.

President Pratibha Patil hasappointed senior-most judge of theSupreme Court Justice SaroshHomi Kapadia the 38 Chief Justiceof India (CJI). He took charge onMay 12, succeeding Justice K.G.Balakrishnan,

Justice Kapadia, who will be thefirst CJI born after Independence,

will have a tenure of 2 years and 4months.

He wasinitially appointed an additional judge of the BombayHigh Court in October 1991 and made a permanent judge inMarch 1993. For more than three years, he was the special judge

of the special court underthe SecuritiesTransaction Act.

On August 5, 2003, he was appointed the Chief Justice of theUttarakhand High Court. On December 18, 2003, he waselevated to the Supreme Court.

In the past six-and-half years, he has delivered severallandmark judgments under the constitutional law and thetaxation, regulatory and commercial laws. He has also dealt withpublic interest litigation petitions on important matters, casesunderthe CompanyLaw,and matters of valuations and accountsandrevivalof companiesunderthe SICA,1985.

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w h o r e t i r e d o n M a y 1 1 .

U I D R E N A M E D A A D H A A R ; G E T S N E W L O G O

The Unique Identification (UID)project, headed by Nandan Nilekani,has been renamed Aadhaar, whichmeansfoundation or support.

The UID Authority of India(UIDAI), which aims to give the 1.2billion residents of the country aunique 1 2 -digit ident ificatio nnumber, also unveiled a new logo thatdepicts a yellow-coloured sun with afingerprint in the centre. The logo was selected after anationwidecompetitionthat received2,000 entries.

The UID itself is very confusing. Some people call it DUI,somebody calls it IUD and so forth. So it was getting a littledifficult to explain all the various permutations andcombinations of this acronym. Also, we wanted a name and logothat would communicate a sense of confidence to the commonpeople a name with a national appeal and easy to remember,said Nilekani whileunveiling thenew name andlogo.

Emphasising that Aadhaar would communicate theessence of UIDto all,Nilekanisaid,We wanted a name that hada national appeal, could be recognised across the country andresonate in differentlanguages,besides beingeasy to remember

andspeak.Aadhaarisadoortoopenallotherdoors.

The authority has been allocated Rs 1,900 crore for thefinancial year ending March 31, 2011, of which Rs 1,300 crore

will be used to enable the registrars to enroll people in thesystem and the remaining Rs 600 crore will go towards thesetting up of the IT infrastructure. The 13th FinanceCommission hasgivenRs 3,000crore over thenextfive years.So,funds are not an issue, Nilekani added, without giving atimeframefor thefirst setof numbers tobe launched.

Earlier this year, the Commission, headed by Vijay L Kelkar,granted Rs 2,989.1 crore to the UID project through two grants

of Rs 616 crore each for District Innovation Funds andimproving statistical systems at district and state levels, besidesa grant of Rs 225 crore to set up database of employees andpensioners.

Nilekani added there would be one software developer whowould work with the registrars and the tender for it has beenfinalised. The UIDAI will notmakethe numbermandatory, butit is up to the registrars to make it mandatory or not. We are alsotaking iris as a biometric, besides the ten fingerprints, because,in children, the fingerprints do not take form till six years of age.

Also, labourers fingerprints get worn out, he explained.


J u s t i c e K a p a d i a

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M A N A S V I M A M G A I C R O W N E D M I S S I N D I A W O R L D ' 1 0

A F T E R R T E , N O Q U O T A F O R M P S I N K E N D R I Y A

V I D Y A L A Y A S : S I B A L

Delhi girl Manasvi Mamgai has beencrowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India

World for this year at a gala event on April30, in Mumbai. She will represent India atthe global pageant laterthis year.

The 22-year-old girl has also won alsothe WGC Femina Miss Golden Heart titleand Femina MissCatwalk, amongothers.

The other winners were Nicole Faria of Bangalore, who wonMiss India Earth 2010 title, while Neha Hinge took the title ofMiss India International 2010, according to the pageant's

website.

The 18 finalists were judged by personalities like Bollywoodactress Shilpa Shetty, writer Chetan Bhagat, tennis star SaniaMirza, boxer Vijender Singh, director Anurag Basu, designerRituBeri and actorKunal Kapoor.

This year, Sushmita Sen's production company TantraEntertainment has been awarded the India franchise to selectparticipant for the Miss Universe contest and the winner willrepresentIndia at the internationalpageant.

As a result, the Miss Universe title at the pageant was

replacedby MissInternational.

Government has abolished MPs' quota in admission to theKendriya Vidyalayas after enactment of the Right to Education

Act that reserves 25 percent seats in the school for localstudents.

Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, H RDevelopment Minister Kapil Sibal said the MPs could earliernominate twostudentsfrom certain sections of society to KVs.

Under the Right to Education Act, 25 percent seats inKendriya Vidyalaya have been reserved for civil category forpeoplein 3-km radiusof theschool,he said.

Explaining the reason behind abolishing the quota, Sibalsaid many people had approached him saying they did not knowany Member of Parliament but wanted students' admission. Ican'tanswer them.

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Currently, UIDAI is executing Proof of Concepts (PoCs) inthree states Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. These

PoCs will enable certain systems to be tested before the conceptis scaled up. The UIDAI plans to complete field testing onenrolmentand biometricprocesses by mid-July.

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In a landmark development on Apr.30, India and Japan haveagreed to put aside past differences onthe nuclear issue, and will now worktowards a civil-nuclear treaty with theestablishment of a Joint WorkingGroup ( JWG) o n civi l-nuclearcooperation.

This key decision is said to have been finalized during ameeting between the Deputy Chairman of the PlanningCommission of India, Montek Singh Alhuwalia, and JapansMinister of Economy, Trade and Industry. Masayuki Naoshimaduring the fourth ministerial-level meeting of the India-JapanEnergy Dialogue in New Delhi.

The Japanese industry is basically pushing its government toconsider engaging India in nuclear trade, as companies from theUnited States, France and Russia seem to have already acquireda head startin terms of corneringIndian nuclear business.

The Chairmen of leading Japanese companies like Toshiba,Mitsubishi and Hitachi, who are accompanying MinisterNaoshima on his current visit to India, form the core-lobbyinggroup, which is encouraging the Japanese Government to workouta civil nuclear deal with India.

During the dialogue, both Alhuwalia and Naoshimawelcomed the progress made so far in Working Groupdiscussions by Japanese and Indian officials on energyefficiency, renewable energy, coal and electricity, and powergeneration.

While welcoming Indias formal joining of the InternationalPartnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) last

year, both recognized that a viable and vibrant energy policy cancontribute to addressing both energy requirements andreducingthe negativeimpact of climate change.

It was agreed that the two countries would step upcooperation in the energy sector through concrete andpragmatic projects.

I N D I A , J A P A N T O E S T A B L I S H A W O R K I N G G R O U P O N

C I V I L N U C L E A R C O O P E R A T I O N

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Against 2,800 students that MPscould nominate in 977 Kendriya

Vidyalayas in the country, the Act nowprovides for reservation to 25,000students (considering 10 lakhstudentsstudyinKVs),Sibalsaid.

The move to abolish MPs quotawas strongly protested by memberscutting across party line. RulingCongress, SP and BJP members led

vociferous protests but the Ministerwas unrelenting.

It is evident that members want right above citizen,

Chairman Hamid Ansari observed asking members to resumetheirseats.

Earlier, Sibal said the Right of Education Act stipulates thatno entry test is conducted for admission to Class 1-8 andKendriya Vidyalaya admission process was being tuned to thenew regulation.

There are 977 functional Kendriya Vidyalayas and 576functionalJawaharNavodayaVidyalayas in thecountry.

The Supreme Court, placing thefundamental rights of citizens on ahigher pedestal, ruledthat any attemptby police agencies to forcibly carry outnarco, polygraph and brain-mappingtests of accused persons was illegaland unconstitutional.

In an order with far-reaching consequences for theseagencies, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice K.G.Balakrishnan held that the compulsory administrationof these

techniques violated the individual's right against self-incrimination. The underlying rationale of (this) right is toensure the reliability (and) voluntariness of statementsadmittedas evidence,the benchheld.

In a 250-page order allowing the appeals of nine accusedfacing criminal casesas theirnarco, polygraphor brain-mappingtests were ordered by trial courts or high courts, the bench said,We hold that no individual shouldbe forcibly subjectedto anyofthese techniques, whether in the context of investigation incriminal cases or otherwise. Doing so would amount to anunwarranted intrusioninto personal liberty.

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F O R C I B L E N A R C O , P O L Y G R A P H T E S T S I L L E G A L , S A Y S S C

The bench, which also comprised Justices R.V. Raveendranand J.M. Panchal, settled a raging debate by human rights

activists on whether investigating agencies should be allowed tointrude on an individual's liberty by adopting these techniquesto crackcomplex cases.

The Government said that theIndian C ouncil fo r C ult uralRelations (ICCR) is coordinatingtheFestivalof India in China as wellas the Festival of India in Francecalled'NamasteFrance' in 2010-11.

Union External Affairs MinisterS.M. Krishna, in a written reply to aquestion in the Lok Sabha, said, The Festival of India in China

would span the period from April toOctober, 2010, while the "NamasteFrance" Festival covers the periodbetweenApril2010and-May2011.

The estimated expenditure on the Festival of India in China

is Rs.4.5 crores, while approx. Rs.3.0 crores are likely to be spenton the'Namaste France' Festival.

The two festivals had been formally inaugurated in Beijingand Paris on April 7 and 14 respectively.

"It is ICCR's endeavor to showcase diverse forms of Indiandance, music and theatre in the course of these two majorFestivals and to organize talks and seminars on Indian themes,"Krishna further stated in his written reply.

He also informed that in the last three years, ICCR hasorganized various festivals including the India-Japan

Friendship Year from December, 2006- December, 2007,Festival of India in Israel in 2007, Festival of India in Syria inOctober, 2008, Days of Indian Culture in Egypt in November,2008, Festival of India in The Netherlands in 2008, Festival ofIndia in Hungary in November/ December, 2008, and the Yearof India in Russia from March, 2009 to December, 2009," theminister informed.

ICCR coordinates Indian Food and Film Festivals, FashionShows, Tourism Road Shows and exhibitions of paintings,photographs and Indian antiquities being organized by otherMinistries/ Departments.

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I C C R C O O R D I N A T I N G F E S T I V A L O F I N D I A I N C H I N A ,

F R A N C E


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J u r y A w a r d s :

C a t e g o r y N o m i n a t i o n s W i n n e r

Best Batsman Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina,Murali Vijay, Robin Uthappa Sachin Tendulkar (MI)

Best Bowler Ryan Harris, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha,Harbhajan Singh, R Vinay Kumar, Pragyan Ojha (DC)

Best Debutant Michael Lumb, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard,Faiz Fazal, Doug Bollinger Kieron Pollard (MI)

Most Dramatic Performance Yusuf Pathan, Juan Theron, Harbhajan Singh,David Warner, Murali Vijay, Shane Warne,Robin Uthappa Harbhajan Singh (MI)

Most Consistent Performance Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Pollard,

Andrew Symonds, David Warner, Jacques Kallis Jacques Kallis (RCB)Best Fielder Suresh Raina, Keiron Pollard, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala,

AB de Villiers, Yusuf Pathan and David Warner AB de Villiers (DD)Best Breakthrough Performance Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum,

Sohail Tanvir (for 2008-2009) Brendon McCullum (KKR)Best Breakthrough Performance Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Sohail Tanvir,

Anil Kumble Anil Kumble (RCB)Best Stadium Experience Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi DY Patil StadiumBest Ground Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata,

Mumbai - Brabourne Stadium,Mumbai - DY Patil Stadium, Mohali,

Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Nagpur M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Zaheer Khan

MD Mishra, Shaun Tait,

DY Patil Stadium,

I P L A W A R D S : S A C H I N B E S T B A T S M A N , O J H A B E S T B O W L E R


Under the MPLAD Fund, members of both Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha gettwo crores in each fiscal, which could be used for

bothplanned as wellas unplannedprojects.

The MPLAD Fund was the brainchild of the then PrimeMinister, P V Narasimha Rao. In 1993, Rao's Governmentallotted onecrore to each MPs fordevelopmentactivities in theirrespectiveconstituency.

In 1998, the NDA Government led by A B Vajpayee hiked theMPLAD fund to two crore. In April this year, the PlanningCommission had rejected the proposal of some MPs to enhanceMPLADfunds toRs five crore from Rs two crore.

The scheme had come under judicial scrutiny in the wake of

a sting operation Duryo-Dhan in 2005 that had shown someMPs demanding money from contractors to award work forprojectsunder MPLAD scheme.

The expose had led to the expulsion of the members fromboththe Houses of Parliament.

The MPLAD scheme was in the news also in 2006 followingallegations that trusts run by Election Commissioner NavinChawla's family, got fundsfrom the scheme.

M P L A D S C O N S T I T U T I O N A L L Y V A L I D , S A Y S S C

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on April 6upheld the constitutional validity of the MP's Local AreaDevelopment(MPLAD)Fund.

A Constitutional Bench of the apex court consisting ChiefJustice of India, K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran,D K Jain, P Sathasivam andJ M Panchaldelivered thejudgement

while setting aside a petition filed by Jammu and KashmirPanthers PartyPresident, ProfBhim Singh.

In his petition, Singh had questioned the constitutionalvalidity of the MPLAD fund and stated that the MPLAD fundhas lead to a lot of corruption. In 1999, the MPLADS was

challenged on theground that it intruded into theautonomyandfunctioning of local authorities - village panchayats andmunicipalities- createdundera constitutionalamendment.

In 2006, a three-Judge Bench had referred the matter to afive-Judge Constitution Bench saying important questions oflawneededtobesettled.

After pending adjudication for years, a constitution Bench oftheapexcourthad reservedits verdict in Nov. 2009 on theissue.

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P M S I N G H C O N C L U D E S U S A N D B R A Z I L V I S I T

Pr i m e M i n is t e r D r.Manmohan Singh arrived inNew Delhi on Apr 17, after histwo-nation tour of the US andBrazil.

During his visit Dr. Singhattended the Nuclear SecuritySummit and the India, Brazil,South Africa, (IBSA) and theBrazil, Russia, India and China(BRIC) meets.

He also held bilateral talks with US President, BarackObamaandotherworldleaders.

During his first leg of the eight-day tour, Prime Minister DrSingh was in the US where he attended the Nuclear SecuritySummit and met PresidentObama.

During his discussions with President Obama, PrimeMinister Dr. Singjh asked him to press Pakistan to rein inLashkar -e -Taiba (LeT) and otherterror outfits targeting India.He also secured an assurancefrom President Obama forIndia toget access to Pakistani-American terrorist David ColemanHeadley, who has confessed to plotting Mumbai attacks. At theSummit, Dr. Singh warned of dangers posed by nuclearexplosives falling intothe handsof non-stateactors.

After his four-day US visit, Dr. Singh visited Brasilia toattend the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) Summits. Besides attending IBSA andBRIC summits, he held bilateral meetings with ChinesePresident Hu Jintao and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev anddiscussedvarious issues withthem.

At the IBSA Summit, Dr. Singh pitched for greater focus oninvestments in infrastructureand inclusive growth. At the BRICmeet, Dr. Singh sought close cooperation among the fourcountries in the fields of ene

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