India, China sign three important pacts

India and China on Monday signed three key MoUs, including one on industrial parks and flood data of Brahmaputra river, coinciding with the visit of Vice-President Hamid Ansari here.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Ansari and his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao after their talks.

The MoU on industrial parks is aimed at attracting Chinese investments in India and provides an enabling framework for Chinese companies to invest in industrial parks and zones.

Under the MoU, the two countries have agreed to cooperate to increase mutual investment in each other's economies and this cooperation will be in accordance with the relevant domestic laws and regulations of each party and on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

An Industrial Park Cooperation Working Group made up of equal number of representatives from both the countries will be set up to identify and agree upon the detailed modalities for implementing cooperation under this agreement and will periodically review the progress, an official statement said.

The MoU on flood data sharing will provide India with 15 days more of hydrological data of river Brahmaputra. The data helps India in flood forecasting.

India provides money for maintenance of three hydrological centres on the Chinese side. The data will be provided from May 15 to October 15 each year.

The third MoU will help the two countries establish a framework for regular interactions between administrative officials to share experiences and learn from each other's best practices. Specific programmes of cooperation will be worked out subsequently.

The MoU will ensure cooperation between Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and China Executive Leadership Academy, Pudong, Shanghai.

The MOU envisages exchange of officials, cooperation in developing training programmes, field visits to each other's countries.

PSLV-C23 puts SPOT-7, other satellites in precise orbits

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C23) successfully put on Monday five satellites from abroad into their perfect orbits. This was the 27th PSLV launch and of these 27 lift-offs, 26 have been successful in a row, demonstrating what a reliable and robust launch vehicle the PSLV is.

It was a dedicated commercial launch in which the PSLV put into orbit SPOT satellite from France, AISAT from Germany, NLS7.1 and NLS7.2, both from Canada, and VELOX-1 from Singapore. Antrix, the commercial wing of the Department of Space, will be charging a fee for putting each of these satellites into orbit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who watched the launch from the Mission Control Centre (MCC) at the spaceport at Sriharikota, said the successful mission filled every Indian with pride. “I can see it reflected in the joy and satisfaction on your faces,” he said.

Mr. Modi, who addressed the ISRO scientists, engineers and technicians from the MCC, said space was “one domain where India was at the international cutting edge, a domain in which we have pushed beyond mediocrity to achieve excellence”.

The PSLV had so far put 67 satellites into orbit, of which 40 were from 19 countries, “Truly, this is a global endorsement of India’s space capabilities,” Mr. Modi said.

He wanted the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop a satellite for the exclusive use of SAARC countries, a satellite which could provide a full range of applications and services to SAARC members and India’s neighbourhood.

Space technology could play a critical role in realizing a Digital India — the power of 125 crore connected Indians, he said. Space technology was an invaluable tool in communication, disaster management, giving advanced warning of cyclones, telemedicine, tele-education and so on. “We must harness this technology for social change, economic development and resources conservation,” the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Mr. Modi arrived at the MCC at 9.25 a.m., accompanied by ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan, B.N. Suresh, former Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, was seated next to the Prime Minister. Dr. Suresh kept answering various questions from the Prime Minister.

It was a perfect mission on Monday, with the PSLV-C23 rising majestically from the first launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota at 9.52 a.m. After the PSLV’s four stages ignited on time and separated with clock-work precision, the five satellites from abroad were put into orbit with precision. The entire mission lasted about 20 minutes

Obninsk plant: World’s 1st nuke power plant turns sixty

Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant- world’s first nuclear power plant which epitomized the peaceful use of nuclear technology, particularly during the Cold War era, turned 60 on June 26. The plant is located in a village called Pyatkino in Obninsk city, some 150 kms from Moscow, Russia.
It was unveiled on June 26, 1954. India’s then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who strongly voiced for India’s peaceful use of nuke energy, had visited the Obninsk plant.
Igor Kurchatov who is known as “the father of the Soviet Atomic Weapons Programme” played a key role in the establishment of this plant.

Google to globalize “Project Loon” to provide internet to even the rural and remote areas of the world

In year 2013, Google launched Project Loon, a program that intends to provide Internet access to the rural and remote areas that constitute around 66% of the world’s population.
The project uses balloons floating at high altitudes that move up and down as per the signals from building antennas. Each balloon in the network moves in the stratosphere high above commercial air space for several months at a time.

RIMPAC 2014: World’s largest international maritime drill kicks off

World’s largest international maritime exercise named RIMPAC 2014 began on June 26. The mega drill will see participation of navies from 23 countries. The United States has sent the biggest fleet, followed by China. 
This is China’s first active participation at RIMPAC. China is also likely to join drills against non-traditional security threats.
RIMPAC 2014 is the 24^th naval exercise in the series and will commence from June 26 to August 1. RIMPAC
RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii. It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet, headquartered at Pearl Harbor, in conjunction with the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the control of the Governor of Hawaii. The US invites military forces from the Pacific Rim and beyond to participate. The theme for RIMPAC 2014 exercise is “Capable, Adaptive Partners.”

Over 2/3rd Indian population still rely on dung-based fuel: UN

More than two-third of India's one billion strong population continue to rely on carbon-emitting biomass and dung-based fuel to meet energy needs for cooking, according to a UN report.

"More than half of the global population lacking clean cooking facilities lives in India, China and Bangladesh. Here, India sits at the top of the list as the country with the largest population lacking access to clean fuel for cooking," says the United Nation Industrial Development Organisation report titled "Sustainable Energy For All".

It says that India faces a significant challenge in providing access to adequate, affordable and clean sources of energy.

"Roughly 85 per cent of the rural households are dependent on traditional biomass fuels for their cooking energy requirements and about 45 per cent do not have access to electricity," says the report.

The 2011 population census of India estimates the number of rural households at 167.8 million.

In many poor rural communities, where biomass remains the most practical fuel, improved cook-stove can cut back indoor smoke levels considerably, says the UN.

"Burning solid fuels produces extremely high levels of indoor air pollution. Typically, 24 hour levels of PM 10 in a biomass-using home range from 300 to 3000 micrograms per cubic meter," says the report.

As cooking takes place every day of the year, most people using solid fuels are exposed to small smoke particles at a level many times higher than the accepted annual limits for outdoor air pollution.

"Thus, the health impact of burning biomass fuel is considerable, apart from being an obstacle to achieving a minimum standard of living," it says.

The report suggests that improved cook-stoves can cut back indoor smoke levels.

"These stoves reduce a family's exposure to harmful pollutants by optimising combustion, venting smoke through a flue and chimney and in some cases, reducing cooking time," it says.

The UN also says that often, across the country a large number of families who breathe polluted air inside their homes do not have access to clean drinking water and poor sanitation facilities.

NAPS units to go under IAEA safeguards by end of 2014

Putting its 14 civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards is part of a commitment made under India-U.S. nuclear deal.

India will complete the process of putting its 14 civilian nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards by the end of 2014 as part of a commitment made under the India-U.S. nuclear deal.

The Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS) Unit I and II are thus set to go under IAEA safeguards.

The 220MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) are in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. NAPS I was commissioned in January 1991, while NAPS II became operational in July 1992.

“NAPS I and II will be brought under IAEA safeguards by the end of the year. This is India’s commitment to becoming a responsible nuclear-weapon state.

“More importantly, by complying with all the norms under the India-U.S. nuclear deal, we will also push our case for becoming a member of the coveted 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group,” said a government source.

In its July 2008 communication to IAEA entitled, “Implementation of the India-United States Joint Statement of July 18, 2005: India’s Separation Plan”, it had listed the 14 reactors which would be brought under IAEA safeguards from 2006 to 2014. The separation plan clearly demarcated facilities for civilian and military purpose.

The Additional Protocol, signed between India and IAEA on March 15, 2009, involves a high degree of scrutiny of nuclear facilities, including its reactors and fuel cycle sites, by the inspectors of the atomic energy body.

India has already listed its sites as agreed between the two countries. These includes six facilities — two Uranium Oxide Plants, Ceramic Fuel Fabrication Plant, Enriched Uranium Oxide Plant, enriched fuel fabrication plant and Gadolinia facility — in the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, which were put under safeguards in October, 2009.

Units I and II and two more facilities — the Away-From-Reactor fuel storage (December, 2012) and Nuclear Material Store (March, 2014) — in Tarapur in Maharashtra, units I-VI of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS), units I and II of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu and Kakrapar Atomic Power Station in Gujarat are also under IAEA safeguards. All these reactors were placed under safeguards in October 2009.

Interestingly, India conveyed to the international atomic watchdog last week that it had ratified the Additional Protocol, mandatory under the India-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation deal. With this, India has become more open to international checks.

The move will help facilitate multiple entries for IAEA inspectors for conducting the necessary inspections.

Information about nuclear exports would also be given to IAEA so that cross verification becomes easier.