Armed Forces under ‘Op Lehar’

The relief operations by the Armed Forces under ‘Op Lehar’ is now getting focussed on Visakhapatnam, the worst affected district by cyclone storm ‘Hudhud’. The relief material especially food packets and readymade food is now being airlifted by IAF aircraft and helicopter from Vijayawada (41 tonnes) and Rajamundry (17 tonnes) for Visakhapatnam. In addition, 3 community kitchens are also being run by naval authorities at Visakhapatnam and two each at Bhimunipatnam, Arakapalli, Visakhapatnam Airport and Seetamdhra. Food prepared in these kitchens are being distributed to the affected people at various food supply distribution points in the affected area. In the far flung areas like Rambilli, food packets have been air dropped through helicopters.



The roads from Naval Base and Bhimunipatnam to Visakhapatnam city have now been cleared with the help of the Army and Naval teams. The clearance of the arterial roads from Visakhapatnam city to NH-5 is under progress. The Naval airfield at INS Dega and the Naval port are now fully functional. The heavy lift aircraft of IAF like C-17 Globemaster, alongwith C-130 Hercules and AN-32 are now bringing in the much needed food supplies directly to Visakhapatnam/Dega airfield, along with other heavy equipment, which are required for restoration of essential services.



So far the Indian Army has rescued a total of 272 people and the Indian Air Force has flown a total of 50 sorties to airlift 144.5 tonnes of relief material to Visakhapatnam and other affected areas.

PSLV-C26 Successfully Launches India's Third Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1C

ISRO`s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C26, successfully launched IRNSS-1C, the third satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), in the early morning hours of today (October 16, 2014) at 0132 hours IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. This is the twenty seventh consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The `XL`configuration of PSLV was used for this mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was successfully used six times. Minister of State (Space), Dr Jitendra Singh, witnessed the launch from the Mission Control Centre at SDSC, Sriharikota. After the lift-off of PSLV-C26 with the ignition of the first stage, the important flight events, namely, stage and strap-on ignitions, heat-shield separation, stage and strap-on separations and satellite injection, took place as planned. After a flight of about 20 minutes 18 seconds, IRNSS-1C Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to an elliptical orbit of 282.56 km X 20,670 km, which is very close to the intended orbit. After injection, the solar panels of IRNSS-1C were deployed automatically. ISRO`s Master Control Facility (at Hassan, Karnataka) assumed the control of the satellite. In the coming days, four orbit manoeuvres will be conducted from Master Control Facility to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at 83 deg East longitude. IRNSS-1C is the third of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A and IRNSS-1B, the first two satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013 and April 04, 2014 respectively. Both IRNSS-1A and 1B are functioning satisfactorily from their designated geosynchronous orbital positions. IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users – and Restricted Services (RS), provided to authorised users. A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in as many as 15 locations across the country. In the coming months, the next satellite of this constellation, namely, IRNSS-1D, is scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.

PM's remarks at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram

·        Compassionate approach will ensure that "Shram Yogi" becomes "Rashtra Yogi" and "Rashtra Nirmaata" ·        We must see labour issues through the perspective of labourers ·        Shramev Jayate initiatives will boost confidence and build skills of youth, while providing ease of doing business ·        Government must trust its citizens – allowing self-certification is a step in this direction. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today made a strong pitch for understanding and appreciating labour issues through the perspective of the labourers, so that they could be understood and resolved with compassion. In his remarks after launching five new initiatives at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram in New Delhi, the Prime Minister said that such a compassionate approach would result in the "Shram Yogi" (labourer) becoming a "Rashtra Yogi," and hence, a "Rashtra Nirmaata" (nation-builder). The Prime Minister said that in the nation's development, the phrase "Shramev Jayate" had as much significance as "Satyamev Jayate." Shri Narendra Modi said the Government must trust its citizens, and a big step had been taken in this direction by allowing self-certification of documents. He said the various initiatives being launched today as part of the Shramev Jayate Karyakram were also a step in this direction. The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in launching a series of schemes simultaneously, which took into account the interests of workers, as well as the employers. He said the Shram Suvidha Portal has simplified compliance of 16 labour laws, through a single online form. He said the transparent Labour Inspection Scheme for random selection of units for inspection, would end undue harassment of the "Inspector Raj," while ensuring better compliance. The Prime Minister expressed his concern that as much as Rs. 27,000 crore was lying unclaimed with the Employees Provident Fund Organization. He said this money belonged to poor workers of India, and the portability provided for Employees Provident Fund through the Universal Account Number would put an end to such money being locked up and not reaching the intended beneficiary. The Prime Minister said the initiative of appointing National Brand Ambassadors of Vocational Training would instill pride and confidence in ITI students. The Prime Minister also honoured selected brand ambassadors. The Apprentice Protsahan Yojana and the Effective Implementation of revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for labour in the unorganized sector were also launched today. The Prime Minister said the "Shramev Jayate" initiatives were an essential element of the "Make in India" vision, as they would pave the way for skill development of youth in a big way, and even create an opportunity for India to meet the global requirement of skilled labour workforce in the years ahead. The programme was attended by Union Ministers Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Shri Kalraj Mishra, Shri Anant Geete, and Dr. Harshvardhan, and the Union MoS Labour Shri Vishnudeo Sai.

UKPCS-12 TEST SERIES,SAMVEG IAS ,DEHRADUN

Australia’s Richard Flanagan wins Man Booker prize with war story

Novel set during WWII building of Thailand-Burma railway; award should end fear of American dominance, says jury chair Anthony Grayling

Australian author Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, set during the building of the Thailand-Burma “Death Railway” in World War Two, won Britain’s prestigious £50,000 ($79,530) Man Booker literature prize on Tuesday.Mr. Flanagan’s sixth novel beat out what jury chairman Anthony Grayling said was a strong shortlist of six books that for the first time, under a rule change, included works by two Americans, giving rise to fears beforehand that the British prize might come to be dominated by American writers.

Mr. Grayling said those fears should now be put to rest and went on to say, of the winner, that it was rare to run across a book that “hits you so hard in the stomach, like this, that you can’t pick up the next one in the pile for a couple of days”.

“It’s an absolutely superb novel, really outstanding, it’s a great work of literature,” Mr. Grayling said in a briefing before the award was made public.

Mr. Flanagan, 53, is ranked among Australia’s finest novelists and also worked as a writer with director Baz Luhrmann on the 2008 film Australia.

His father, who was a survivor of the Burma Death Railway, died at age 98, the day Mr. Flanagan finished The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Mr. Grayling, a philosopher, said Mr. Flanagan was chosen by consensus of the six-person judging panel, but a spokeswoman for the public relations firm representing the prize clarified that Mr. Grayling had at one point used his tie-breaker vote “to move the discussion forward,” indicating the choice was not unanimous.

The other books on the short list were We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Jay Fowler (American), To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (American), J by Howard Jacobson (British), The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (British} and How to be Both by Ali Smith (British).

In The Narrow Road to the Deep North Mr. Flanagan takes up the story of Allied prisoners of war used as forced labour by the Japanese to build the notorious railway line. His protagonist is Dorrigo Evans, a doctor and a soldier in the Australian army who is taken prisoner on Java, presumably in 1942.

In the despair of a Japanese POW camp, Evans is haunted by his love affair with his young uncle’s wife two years earlier. While struggling to save the men under his command from cholera and beatings, he receives a letter that changes his life forever.

Named after a famous Japanese book by the haiku poet Basho, Mr. Grayling said the novel succeeds in showing there are “extra dimensions” to the relationships between the POWs and their guards.

“It’s not really a war novel, it’s not about people shooting and bombs going off, and so on, it’s much more about the people and their relationships,” he said.

Fifth SAARC Energy Ministers Meeting

Fifth SAARC Energy Ministers Meeting Begins Tomorrow in New Delhi Meet to Consider Enhanced Cooperation in Energy Sector

The Fifth  Meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Energy Ministers  will be held on the 16th and 17th  October 2014 in New Delhi , with an aim to strengthen energy cooperation among the member countries of the organisation. Shri. Piyush Goyal , Minister of State (I/C) for Power , Coal and Renewable Energy is scheduled to inaugurate the meeting on the 17th morning.      The energy ministers' meeting will be preceded by a meeting of senior officials of the SAARC on  the 16th  October. A number of important issues, related to the Energy sector in the member countries would dominate the discussions.  Apart from the host country India, Energy Ministers and senior officials  from the SAARC member countries, viz, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to  participate in  the two-day meeting. The agenda of the meeting include review of status of implementation of decisions of the Fourth Meeting of SAARC Energy Ministers held in Dhaka, on 15 September 2011 and  consideration of the Report of the Senior Officials Meeting  held in New Delhi, on 16 October 2014. It also includes consideration of the issues related to enhanced cooperation in energy sector amongst the SAARC countries. Background: South Asian   Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created in 1985 with its Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the Members of this Association. The process of regional cooperation in energy sector began in January 2000 with the establishment of a Technical Committee on Energy.  Thereafter, recognizing that this vital area requires focused attention, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of a specialized Working Group on Energy in January 2004 to conduct a study on the concept of the South Asian Energy Ring and constituted Ministerial level Energy Forum through the Islamabad declaration of the 12th SAARC Summit. The First Meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held at Islamabad,  on 1 October 2005 which  decided the formation of an Expert Group to deliberate on the options and potential of energy conservation and energy efficiency measures and to formulate a road map for implementation in the SAARC region.  The Expert Group formulated a Road Map for implementation by the Member States. The second meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held on 7th March 2007 in New Delhi. The third meeting of the SAARC Energy Ministers was held in Colombo on 29th January 2009.  The fourth meeting of the SAARC energy Ministers was held in Dhaka on 14-15 September 2011, Bangladesh. Under SAARC energy cooperation, following Expert Groups have been constituted: Expert Group Lead Country Oil and Gas Bangladesh Electricity India Renewable Energy   Pakistan Technology/knowledge sharing (including energy efficiency, coal etc.) India

Sunshine over Madhya Pradesh Well-crafted policies and smart implementation have led to a solar power surge in the state

India is fast becoming a global hotspot for solar energy development. Even more heartening for the sector is the fact that the new government is enthusiastically pushing UPA’sJawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). This encompasses: the largest-ever tender for solar power — 3,000 megawatt or Mw (in packets of 1,000 Mw); moves towards bundling solar power with thermal power for “pooled pricing viability”; attempts to achieve grid parity by 2017; a second batch of bidding under JNNSM to achieve 10,000 Mw of grid-connected solar power by 2017 and mission target to have 20,000 Mw of grid-connected solar power by 2022.

And this rush of solar-powered adrenalin is happening on an installed base of only 2,700 Mw, propelled with a downward spiral in prices, which have plummeted from a start-up high of Rs 17-18 per unit to today’s levels of Rs 6.5-7 a unit. Considering the current huge complications in conventional energy investments, it is not inappropriate to say solar power is at the centre stage of India’s power sector investment options.

The solar story began with the Gujarat State Solar Policy of 2009, which led to installations close to 1,000 Mw, most of it in Charanka Solar Park. With the introduction of JNNSM in 2010, investments started flowing into Rajasthan that, at 727 Mw, boasts the second-largest operating solar capacity.

But interestingly, it is Madhya Pradesh (MP) that been a dark horse in this industry with the third-largest installed capacity currently, at 355 Mw. MP, has moved from a virtual non-entity in earlier JNNSM bids and ended up garnering about a third of the winning capacity in the last round concluded in February 2014.

However, many other states have failed to attract sizeable investments. While most state policies offer decent tax exemptions, my colleagues in our energy division, Vikas Garg and Sandeep Kota – who track renewables avidly – are not upbeat about the solar initiatives of most of them. While Maharashtra’s (281-Mw installed capacity) policy appears to be targeted at meeting its regulator-determined obligations, Andhra Pradesh (164 Mw) and Tamil Nadu (100 Mw) are, apparently, case studies on how not to run a competitive bid process.

Clearly, issues such as ease of land acquisition, associated clearances, transmission pathways and certainty of power purchase are crucial factors for investment decisions. Simply put, it is the “ease of doing business” that emerges as the key differentiator. And it is here that MP appears to have stolen some of the thunder from India’s perennial favourite – Gujarat.

The implementation of MPs solar policy offers some insights into how policy innovation, a committed political leadership and an engaged bureaucracy can make a difference. By introducing a “Right to Use” concept for government land for setting up solar projects, MP has been able to drastically reduce the time and cost for land allocation. Under the state’s solar policy, the revenue department transfers identified land to the New and Renewable Energy Department (NRED), which then awards “Right of Use” to developers while retaining ownership, reducing the time of allotment to around two months. A digital land data-bank of several thousand hectares, accessible to developers, makes site identification easy. NRED has also simplified the process of clearances, approvals and inspections. MP, which was the last of the top five solar destinations to notify a solar policy, seems to have learnt well from other states. It offers a relatively superior tax incentive package, making projects in the state more competitive in national-level bids. It also offers better terms for evacuation since use of the transmission network is charged on an “energy basis”, while use of the distribution network is free.

With all this, MP’s pipeline of solar projects has acquired proportions similar to Rajasthan. MP now expects to add close to 500 Mw in this financial year with another 250 Mw under execution. From its current No 3 position (after Gujarat and Rajasthan), MP appears well set to leapfrog ahead in the solar power sweepstakes and become No 2 pretty soon.

Further investment promotion in solar power requires long-pending reforms in power distribution. The key one is the purposeful enforcement of the Renewable Power Obligation (RPO) and associatedSolar Power Obligation (SPO). Enforcement of RPO/SPO will not only create a larger market for solar, it will also rejuvenate the renewable energy certificates market, which is the most efficient way to meet these obligations, provided the price bands reflect market realities. First, the central government can attempt to “pre-allocate” the capacity of solar ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) just like thermal UMPPs, with the amount of allocation based on SPO requirements. This will help achieve faster financial closure after developers are selected. “Open-access” is also critical as the industry moves towards “grid parity”. Standardisation of bid documents across states is a crying need and JNNSM documents could be a good starting point.

The other segment of the solar market with potential is distributed projects, often referred to as “off-grid”, which can power households, small commercial establishments and remote areas. They can have a far-reaching social impact, whereas large grid-connected projects are more economical in terms of cost of generation. States need to look for the right balance of large centralised solar plants and distributed solutions. With the prime minister pledging to light up 80 million households by 2019, solar power is a critical input to achieve the promise.

The sun appears to be shining on India now, and for solar power, it seems to be shining brighter over Madhya Pradesh.