Former Deputy Speaker of Gujarat Assembly

Nirmala Gajwani died

 

23-JAN-2016

Former Deputy Speaker of Gujarat Assembly and Social Activist Nirmala Gajwani passed away on 21 January 2016 in Rajkot, Gujarat. She was 87.

Gajwani was a reputed social worker and one of the leading lights of the Sindhi community in the state.

 

About Nirmala Gajwani

• Gajwani was the first lady Deputy Speaker of Gujarat legislative Assembly.
• She was first woman MLA from Kutch district in Gujarat Assembly and also served as deputy speaker of the house. 
• She was Chairperson of Sindhu Resettlement Corporation (SRC) which is responsible for all the land development in the Gandhidham-Adipur metropolitan area. 
• She also had worked in education field and was responsible for starting many educational institutions in the state.

 

MSDE, DoT signed MoU to develop National

Action Plan for Skill Development in Telecom

Sector

 

23-JAN-2016

The Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Department of Telecommunication (DoT) on 22 January 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and implement National Action Plan for Skill Development in Telecom Sector.

The MoU was signed by Secretaries of the Union Ministry of Communications and Information and Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

 

Highlights of the MoU

• MSDE and DoT together have agreed to make concerted joint efforts towards skill development by facilitating mobilization of financial support under the National Ecosystem for Development of Telecom Skills.
• They will suggest PSUs under DOT to utilize at least 20 percent of their CSR funds for skilling purposes.
• The two ministries will also to make coordinated efforts to utilize old telephone exchanges which are no longer in use for skill development initiatives and upgrade the same on need basis.
• National Institute for Policy Research Innovation and Training (NTIPRT) will be developed for training and skill up gradation in Telecom Sector by leveraging the infrastructure and facilities.

Telecommunications Sector in India

Indian Telecommunications Sector is a fast growing technological sector having manpower needs right from high school to graduates and post graduates and people with different areas of Telecommunications and Information Technology Skills. 

The Indian Telecommunications alone contributed 3 percent to national GDP in financial year 2013.

 

Japan lifted nuclear sanctions on Iran

 

23-JAN-2016

Japan on 22 January 2016 lifted sanctions on Iran, falling in line with major world powers. The announcement was made by Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The sanctions were lifted after the United Nations atomic energy agency confirmed on 16 January 2016 that Tehran has fully taken steps to curb its disputed nuclear programme.

The move will allow Japanese companies to pursue investment in Iran's oil and gas industry.

Tokyo imported around 10 percent of Iran’s oil before introducing sanctions against Tehran. After the sanctions, this share fell to 5 percent and then reduced even further.

An investment agreement between Tehran and Tokyo is expected to be signed soon.

 

How the lifting up of sanctions will help Iran?

 

• Iran emerged from years of economic isolation when the U.S. and other countries lifted crippling sanctions against the Islamic republic.

• Tens of billions of dollars worth of Iranian assets are now unfrozen and global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a market for everything.

• With the lifting of the sanctions, Japanese insurance companies will be able to issue policies covering trade deals involving Iran.

• Japanese business will also be able make new investments in Iran's oil and gas sector.

 

Comment

 

• Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the United States imposed sanctions against Iran and expanded them in 1995 to include firms dealing with the Iranian government.

• In 2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1696 and imposed sanctions after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

• Over the years, sanctions have taken a serious toll on Iran's economy and people.

• Since 1979, the United States has led international efforts to use sanctions to influence Iran's policies, including Iran's uranium enrichment program.

• When nuclear talks between Iran and Western governments were stalled and seen as a failure, they were cited as a reason to enforce stronger economic sanctions on Iran.

• On 2 April 2015, the P5+1 and Iran, meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, reached a provisional agreement on a framework that, once finalized and implemented, would lift most of the sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programs extending for at least ten years.

• As a result, UN sanctions were lifted on 16 January 2016.

 

Union Government notified stricter standards

for Sugar Industry to minimise water pollution

 

23-JAN-2016

Union Ministry Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 14 January 2016 notified stricter environment standards for sugar industries operating in various states in the country. The revised standards are to be implemented with immediate effect as they were aimed to minimise water pollution.

The revised standards will lead to improved operational performance of sugar industries through implementation of wastewater discharge standards and waste water conservation and pollution control management protocol.

The standards were recommended by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after consultations with industries and other stakeholders, as well as seeking comments from general public.

 

Highlights of the Revised Standards

 

• Specific wastewater discharge standards were made stricter by limiting them to 200 litre per tonne of cane crushed against the earlier limit of 400 litre per tonne cane crushed which would result less consumption of raw water at operational level.

• The final treated effluent discharge has been restricted to 100 litre per tonne of cane crushed and waste water from spray pond overflow, or cooling tower blow down to be restricted to 100 litre per tonne of cane crushed.

• Only single outlet point from unit has been allowed to encourage operational efficiency and treated effluent recycling practices.

• Further, only one outlet/ discharge point will be allowed which will be covered as per the 24x7 online monitoring protocols.

• The number of effluent quality parameters to be monitored for ascertaining compliance was increased to six. They are pH, Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Oil & Grease (O&G). Earlier, they were only BOD and TSS.

• The emission limits for particulate matter from stack has been limited to 150milligramme per normal cubic metre.

• The notified standards also contain a protocol for Treated Effluent Irrigation and Wastewater conservation and pollution control management, wherein treated effluent loading rates (in cubic meter per hectare per day) have been mentioned for different soil textures.

• The waste water conservation and pollution control management mandates that individual units will establish cooling arrangement and polishing tank for recycling excess condensate water to process sections, or utilities, or allied units.

• The Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) will also be stabilised one month prior to the start of crushing season and will continue to operate up to one month after the end of crushing season.

• The protocol has also made it obligatory for the industry to install flow-meters at all water abstraction points so that fresh water usage can be minimised.

• Further, the industrial units have been permitted to store treated effluent in a seepage proof lined pond having 15 days holding capacity.

• It will also help the CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) / Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) in implementing specific measures to be adopted in sugar industries, with the aim of reducing consumption of fresh water usage, checking operational efficiency and enhancing compliance.

 

 

AP Government launched Giriputrika Kalyana

Pathakam Scheme for tribal people

 

 

24-JAN-2016

The Andhra Pradesh Government on 22 January 2016 launched Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme to support the tribal women in their quest for livelihood.

The scheme was launched by Andhra Pradesh Minister for Social Welfare Ravela Kishore Babu.

 

Highlights of the scheme

 

• The scheme seeks to reduce rampant infant mortality and child marriages among tribal people. 
• It is designed to provide a onetime financial assistance of 50000 rupees to each tribal woman who gets married. 
• The amount will be directly disbursed to the bank accounts of the beneficiary through District Tribal Welfare Office. 
• To avail the benefits of this scheme, each beneficiary would have to fulfil some mandatory conditions like submission of marriage certificate, income certificate, etc.
• The scheme is envisaged to provide nutritional food to infants till the age of seven years.

 

India Submitted first Biennial Update Report to

UNFCCC

 

24-JAN-2016

The report was submitted towards fulfilment of the reporting obligation under the Convention. As per the provisions of the Convention, countries need to periodically provide information in the form of their National Communication.

Highlights of the Biennial Update Report (BUR)

• BUR contains national GHG inventory of India for the year 2010, prepared in accordance with the guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 
• The inventory covers six greenhouse gases- Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6).
• The inventory contains five categories namely- energy, industrial processes and product use (IPPU), agriculture, waste and Land-use, Land-use, Change and Forestry (LULUCF). 
• As per BUR, India emitted 2136.84 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases in 2010. 
• Energy sector was the prime contributor to emissions and with 71 percent of total emissions in 2010.
• Industrial processes and product use contributed 8 percent; agriculture and waste sectors contributed 18 percent and 3 percent respectively to the national GHG inventory. 
• About 12 percent of emissions were offset by carbon sink action of forests and croplands, considering which the national GHG emissions are arrived at a total of 1884.31 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. 
• India’s per capita GHG emission in 2010 was 1.56 tCO2 equivalent, which is less than one- third of the world’s per capita emissions and far below than many developed and developing countries. 
• A reduction of emission intensity of GDP by about 12 percent between 2005 and 2010 has been achieved against our voluntary pledge to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20–25 percent by 2020. 
• At the national level, 137 and at state level 286 policies and measures relevant to climate change have been mapped in the report on non-exhaustive basis.

The Biennial Update Report (BUR) has been prepared by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under its NATCOM project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) through United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Background

The UNFCCC in its sixteenth session of conference of Parties (COP) had decided that the developing countries will submit updates to their national communication on biennial basis in the form of Biennial Update Report. 

The scope of a BUR is to provide an update to the latest National Communication submitted by the country to the UNFCCC. As per the rules of UNFCCC, BURs are subjected to an international process known as International Consultation and Analysis (ICA).

 

UNESCAP released World Economic Situation

and Prospects 2016 report

 

24-JAN-2016

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) on 19 January 2016 released World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2015 report. The report highlights that the world economy stumbled in 2015 and only a modest improvement is projected for 2016/17.

 

Highlights of the Report

 

• Global growth is estimated at a mere 2.4 percent in 2015, marking a downward revision by 0.4 percentage points from the UN forecasts presented in 2015.
• The world economy is projected to grow by 2.9 percent in 2016 and 3.2 per cent in 2017, supported by generally less restrictive fiscal and still accommodative monetary policy stances worldwide.
• The large capital outflows and increased financial market volatility, growth in developing and transition economies has slowed to its weakest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis.
• Given the much anticipated slowdown in China and in other large emerging economies notably the Russian Federation and Brazil, the pivot of global growth is partially shifting again towards developed economies in 2016.
• In 2016 and 2017, South Asia region is expected to be the world’s fastest-growing region despite challenging global conditions.
• GDP growth in the least developed countries is expected to rebound from 4.5 percent in 2015 to 5.6 percent growth in 2016, but will fall short of the Sustainable Development Goal target of at least 7 percent GDP growth per annum in the near term.
• It indicates that the challenges for policymakers around the globe are likely to intensify in the short run in view of the weaknesses in the world economy.
• It also shares some positive recent trends in environmental sustainability. Global energy related carbon emissions experienced no growth in 2014 for the first time in 20 years.
• The broad slowdown in economic growth in many developing economies and generally weak wage growth will restrain progress in poverty reduction in the near term.
• The terms-of-trade of commodity exporters have deteriorated significantly, limiting their ability to demand goods and services from the rest of the world.

 

Five major headwinds for global economy

The WESP 2016 report identifies five major headwinds for the global economy. These are:

1. Persistent macroeconomic uncertainties
2. Low commodity prices and diminished trade flows
3. Rising volatility in exchange rates and capital flows
4. Stagnant investment and productivity growth
5. Continued disconnect between finance and real sector activities

 

India in WESP 2016

India will be the fastest growing big economy in the world in 2016. The report has projected India’s growth rate at 7.3 percent in the year 2016 and 7.5 percent in 2017, which is slightly up from an earlier estimated 7.2 percent rate in 2015.

About United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report

WESP report is published annually at the beginning of the year jointly by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the five UN regional commissions and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

 

Eminent Tabla player Shankar Ghosh passed away

 

24-JAN-2016

Eminent Tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghosh passed away on 22 January 2016 in Kolkata following a prolonged illness. He was 80.

He is survived by his wife Sanjukta Ghosh, a classical vocalist of Patiala gharana, a son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons.

About Pandit Shankar Ghosh

• Ghosh was trained by legendary Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh, Ustad Feroz Khan, Pandit Anath Nath Bose and Pandit Sudarshan Adhikari.
• He followed the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. 
• He also performed with vocalists such as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan, Girija Devi and Akhtari Bai. 
• He also collaborated with foreign artists like Greg Ellis, Pete Lockett and John Bergamo. 
• He had also done jugalbandi with celebrated classical musician sitarists Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan.
• He was awarded the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the year 2000. 
• He also received the ITC Sangeet Research Academy award and the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan award.