Israeli PM Netanyahu to meet with Obama

Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in the White House on September 30. The Israeli leader has said that the main topic on the agenda will be not Syria, but Iran’s nuclear program. “I intend to focus on the question of stopping Iran’s nuclear program, an actual halt to the nuclear program. And until this is achieved, the pressure on Iran should be intensified and not eased,” PM told media

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Dilma Rousseff has postponed a state visit to Washington

18092013

 

Dilma Rousseff has postponed a state visit to Washington in response to the US spying on her communications with top aides. Rousseff is demanding a full public apology from President Obama. Barack Obama spoke with Rousseff on Monday in an attempt to persuade her into following through with the trip, the Brazilian president’s office said, according to AP.

Brazil’s TV Globo reported that the call between the two presidents lasted for about 20 minutes. Obama and Rousseff discussed revelations that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on the Brazilian leader’s phone calls and emails. The two presidents then “jointly” agreed to cancel the meeting, Globo reported, citing the presidential office.

The Brazilian government said in a statement that “the conditions are not suitable to undertake this visit on the agreed date.” It expressed hope that the conflict will be resolved “properly” and the trip will happen “as soon as possible.”

The state visit was initially scheduled for October 23. The Obama administration has confirmed that the visit was canceled.

“The president has said that he understands and regrets the concerns disclosures of alleged US intelligence activities have generated in Brazil and made clear that he is committed to working together with President Rousseff and her government in diplomatic channels to move beyond this issue as a source of tension in our bilateral relationship,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.  media agencies

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Jaya orders probe into illegal beach mining in TN

18092013

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has ordered a probe into illegal beach mining at 71 more places in the State. The illegal functioning of garnet, ilmenite and rutile mines in these areas will be probed by a team headed by Revenue Secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who is also in charge of probe into the illegal mining at Tuticorin. The Chief Minister issued a statement that till the fresh enquiry was completed, the working of the mines would be suspended and transport permits would not be given. The Government is set to formulate a policy on quarries of these minerals. The team formed by the Government is expected to submit a report within a month.

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Tony Abbott is new PM of Australia

18092013

Tony Abbott has been sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Australia. 55 year-old Abbott took oath at the Government House in Canberra, in front of Governor-General Quentin Bryce. His conservative coalition had won a comfortable lower house majority in the 7 September polls. Abbott had unveiled his new 19-member Cabinet on Monday, with only one woman, foreign minister Julie Bishop in the line-up. The new ministers will be sworn in later in the day. Abbott said, as well as carbon tax repeal, his government will put the budget back into surplus, and turn back boats bringing asylum seekers from across Asia via Indonesia.

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18092013

Food Bill attracting int’l interest :Min Thomas

By sagarmedia on September 18, 2013 | Edit

Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution, Prof. KV Thomas has said that the Food Security law is attracting international attention and many countries are interested in following it. The Oman Government has expressed interest in considering the legislation as a model for them. The international summit scheduled from 5th to 10th October in Rome is also proposed to discuss the Food Security law enacted in India.  Prof. KV Thomas added that a paper on the same will be presented during the summit. He was attending a meeting organized by the Kerala Latin Catholic Association, KLCA at Kochi.

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July 2013 FDI grows by 12.4%

18092013

July 2013 FDI grows by 12.4%

The FDI equity inflows for the month of July 2013 are estimated at around US$1.66 bn as against about US$1.47 bn in July 2012, posting positive growth (Y-o-Y) of around 12.4%. The growth in FDI equity inflows stands at around 16% in June 2013, 23% in May 2013, 25% in April 2013 and (-) 81% during March 2013.

Trend in FDI equity inflows over the months                                                                                                 (in %)      

 Source: PHD Research Bureau compiled from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

The total FDI equity inflows, in the period April-July 2013-14 are estimated at around US$7.05 bn; representing an increase of around 20% over the FDI equity inflows of about US$5.90 bn for the corresponding period last year. 

Recent trend in FDI equity inflows (FY 2014 & FY 2013)

Financial Year 2013- 2014		Amount of FDI inflows
		(In Rs. Crore)	(In US$ mn)
1	Apr-13	12623	2,321
2	May-13	8,974	1,631
3	Jun-13	8,432	1,444
4	Jul-13	9,903	1,657
2013-14 (from April-July 2013)		39,932	7,054
2012-13 (from April-July 2012)		32,002	5,902
%age growth over last year		25%	20%
Financial Year 2012- 2013 (April-March)
1	Apr-12	9620	1857
2	May-12	7229	1327
3	Jun-12	6971	1244
4	Jul-12	8182	1475
5	Aug-12	12578	2264
6	Sep-12	25552	4679
7	Oct-12	10295	1942
8	Nov-12	5798	1058
9	Dec-12	6012	1100
10	Jan-13	11719	2157
11	Feb-13	9654	1795
12	Mar-13	8297	1525
2012-13 (up to March 2013)		121907	22423
2011-12 (up to March 2012)		165146	35121
%age growth over last year		(-) 28%	(-) 38%

Source: PHD Research Bureau compiled from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

Mauritius tops the chart as an investing country, with the top investing sectors being the services sector (includes financial, banking, insurance, non-financial / business, outsourcing, R&D, courier, tech. testing and analysis). Also, Mumbai and New Delhi are observed to be the cities attracting the highest FDI equity inflows.

Service sector and construction development constitute the highest share in attracting FDI equity inflows during April 2000-July 2013 of around 19% and 11% respectively. Telecommunications, Computer software and hardware as well as drugs and pharmaceuticals posted share of 6% and Chemicals (other than fertilizers) constitute about 5%. Automobile Industry, Power and Metallurgical Industries constitute share of about 4% in FDI equity inflows and Hotel and tourism constitute share of about 3% during the same period.

Sector wise contribution in FDI equity inflows                                                                                                                              (%)

Source: PHD Research Bureau, compiled from Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

The data represents share of sector in total FDI equity inflows for the cumulative period of April’00- July 2013

Note: ** Services sector includes financial, banking, insurance, non-financial / business, outsourcing, R&D, courier, tech. testing and analysis

Warm regards,

Dr. S P Sharma

Chief Economist

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Government of India ignoring the demands of All India Train Controllers

18092013

 

The government is ignoring the demands of train controllers.
All India Train Controller Association held a 2 days seminar at Hindi
Bhavan in the capital.
Two-day seminar was organized. where in train controllers narrated
difficulty of having them on the job-and wage discrepancies. They also
raised issues relating to management training from reputed
institutions. Seminars had persons related to the 68 Chambers and-16 zonal
headquarters nearly 300 Controller Head. *

President of the Association of Program Rajesh Singh, General Secretary
Anil Bharda, Adjoined Secretary K. Ramesh, Associate Secretary Sushil Kumar
Shally were also present.

PM Officials said the prime minister has assured their interest -as their
 Memorandum of demands are related. But to date no action on
that Occurred. Association contemplate now is the time for us to meet for our demands periodically for strict  measures otherwise we will suffer.

General Secretary Anil Bharda has demanded that increasing day of work
loads is a heavy burden, and according to Mianbhau Tribunal Report 1969,
the limit for the maximum duty shift is 6 hours, if increased not more
than 4 hours which includes super intensive roster, in the range of 100 to
150 km, plus better salary along with allowances like Air Traffic
Controls.
Association  Sec Sushil Kumar Shally said “The railway  the 2672 controller, commuting daily on average 23 million passengers bound to and including 2.80 million tonnes
of freight transport operations. Rail traffic Controllers  hold lots of responsibility, In the
event of any accident happens, careful management takes full responsibility. In
addition to their considerable energy, many are victims of various diseases.

Associate Secretary Ramesh demanded that the  Controllers should
be in minimum of Grade 9300 – 3480 on 4800 with the Payband. Deputy Chief of
Controllers 15600 Grade. Chief Controller in charge of 30 percent on the
upper grades Gazetted. At the same time with the same 15600-3910 Gazetted of 6600 to 60 percent in the Payband. *

*This should have been increased several times since 1950-51, as workload
on  Train Controller’s are far more causing concern.

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Dr. MM PallamRaju Releases “What is Mathematics”?

18092013

 

“Mathematics is a very intimidating subject that finds applications universally. The application is more important than the subject because it is the application that fascinates people to apply science of mathematics into art, space, architecture, construction, design, pure science etc. Today mathematics is finding application everywhere including our lives” said Dr PallamRajuHon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development. He was releasing the book, “What is Mathematics”? authored by Dr BalakrishnaShetty. The book has been published by the National Book Trust, India The function was organised at Multipurpose Hall, India International Centre, New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion Prof Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor of Delhi University said that Education is to be able to delve within and finding out what resonates inside us and then explicit it outside. He also added that everything in this world is related to mathematics including the genetic code, physical law and even the planet which revolves around sun to a precise mathematical law and Indian Tradition is extraordinarily strong.

Ambassador KB Fabian said in his address that mathematics is recognizing science of similarities and studying relationships among them.

Prof Praveen Sinclair talked about  variable reactions to the appendices of education tools. This book helps as an alternative source to teach mathematics

Addressing the audience ShriBalkrishnaShetty is logical study of patterns and also thanked the Minister for laying emphasis on the importance of education in the country.

Earlier, Shri M A Sikandar, Director, NBT welcomed the guests present on the occasion. He hoped that the volume will be well received by the readers.

The book introduces mathematics, as the study of logical structure of patterns and focuses on its distinct aspects like deduction, representation and transformation. It is written in a lucid style and attempts to explain to lay people about the intricacies of mathematics. Mathematics, unlike other disciplines has defied definitions and by using quotidian approaches and stories as metaphors, the book not only explains various mathematical concepts but also its history and contribution of India in field of mathematics.

Dr BalkirshanaShetty  is a keen scholar of mathematics who studied mathematics at  PresidencyCollege, Kolkata and IIT. He worked in Indian missions in Geneva, Dhaka, Moscow, Singapore and Paris and also served as aAmbassaor of India nine countries, including Senegal, Bahrain and Sweden. 

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Observe World Bamboo Day

18092013

Observe World Bamboo Day by giving Indian bamboo freedom from all unnecessary laws: CCS
Press Release – For Immediate Release - 17 September 2013, New Delhi
What does freedom mean to the forest dweller in Manipur looking for money to bribe his way to a Transit Pass that will help him sell his home-grown bamboo?  What does freedom mean to the small entrepreneur in Madhya Pradesh who faces more struggles in buying bamboo from Nagaland than from China?  What does freedom mean to the Gram Sabha Pradhan in Orissa who still has to wade through a forest of procedures and regulations to exercise the rights guaranteed to his community by the Forest Rights Act? These are the questions that we would like to highlight as we observe World Bamboo Day this year. Though India celebrated Independence 66 years ago and though most Indian industry got freedom in 1991 from the License-Permit-Quota-Raj, the small and marginalized individuals who rely on Bamboo for their livelihood, continue to bear the burden imposed on them by the Transit-Permit-Raj. We recommend that the government revisit and revise some of the laws and regulations currently restricting the Bamboo sector. Bamboo—also known as Green Goldhas has 1,500 documented uses and occupies 12.8 percent of the total area under forests in India. It has enormous potential for employment generation, industrial use and environmental benefits as documented by the Planning Commission.  For the 12th Plan, the sub-group working on NTFP (Non Timber Forest Produce, which includes Bamboo) and their sustainable management, estimated that 275 million poor rural people in India— about 23 percent of the total population—depend on NTFPs for at least part of their subsistence and cash livelihoods. However, because it is governed by a complex web of forestry laws and policies, there are serious restrictions by most Indian states on the cultivation, harvesting and transportation of Bamboo in particular and NTFP in general. Consequently, the numerous industrial uses and environmental benefits of Bamboo lie unexplored apart from the huge employment potential that remains untapped. A celebration of World Bamboo Day can be possible only when these laws are simplified, reformed significantly, and implemented fairly. CCS and the South Asia Bamboo Foundation ask that: Property rights of forest dwellers be recognized through the effective implementation the Forest Rights Act. China’s experience has shown the benefits of private ownership in ensuring the sustainable development of bamboo Transit pass requirements for Bamboo be removed in line with the circular from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to State Governments, issued in May 2013 (see http://jeevika.org/ministry-of-environment-and-forests-wants-states-to-free-bamboo-grown-on-private-land/ for details) The many conflicting forestry laws governing bamboo be consolidated in order to make them simple and consistent. This includes the Indian Forest Act, Forest Conservation Act, Forest Rights Act, and the Panchayats (Extension to Rural Areas) Act. The consolidation of laws needs to go hand in hand with the consolidation of Ministries that manage these laws into one authority that will be empowered to study and reform the regulations as required and to support regulations with the right incentive and institutional structure to develop this sector. Only then can World Bamboo Day have any productive meaning for tens of millions of Indians.
This release has been issued by the Centre for Civil Society (New Delhi), a public policy research and advocacy think tank working in the areas of livelihoods and education and the South Asia Bamboo Foundation, which works on Bamboo development.