ISRO working on 4-D, 5-D imaging technology: scientist

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on 4-D and 5-D imaging technology.

Disclosing this after inaugurating the 6{+t}{+h}International Conference on Health GIS here on Friday, distinguished scientist and professor at ISRO, A. Sivathanu Pillai said work on 4-D and 5-D imaging technology was part of the space agency’s engagement with “hyperspectral imaging,” which is a new and emerging area in Geographic Information System (GIS).

“Using the satellite, we are trying to process and view the five-dimensional images,” said Dr. Pillai, who is also the former Managing Director of BrahMoS Aerospace, Ministry of Defence.

Pointing out that 4-D and 5-D imaging technology would be coming out in a big way, Dr. Pillai said researchers, doctors and students would soon be able to use the most advanced GIS tool for welfare activities.

He appealed to institutions and others to make use of the valuable spatial data available at ISRO facilities for preventing epidemics and improving healthcare.

Dr. Pillai, who recalled how the images of coconut trees in Kerala, obtained from remote sensing satellites, helped tackle the spread of a viral disease a few decades ago, pointed out that spatial data patterns can be used for public health interventions in a cost-effective manner.

Healthcare and prevention of diseases can be better addressed if all relevant data and analyses are provided in GIS maps through an institutionalised arrangement involving the government agencies.

Vice-Chancellor of JSS University B. Suresh referred to the recent rains in Chennai and said GIS could be used to address a possible outbreak of post-flood epidemic. The breeding space for diseases can be identified through GIS and necessary healthcare measures can be taken.

The theme of the international conference on GIS organised by JSS University in association with Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok and Khon Kean University, Bangkok, is “Geo ICT for Epidemic Control and Healthcare.”

It is part of the space agency’s engagement with ‘ hyperspectral imaging’

The sun shines on India's Aditya

India's solar mission will study the Sun's outermost layers — the corona and the chromosphere — and collect data about coronal mass ejection

After a seven year long wait, Aditya, India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the sun is likely to get a go-ahead from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) this week. The ambitious solar mission will study the sun’s outer most layers, the corona and the chromosphere, collect data about coronal mass ejection and more, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

The project costs approximately Rs 400 crores and is a joint venture between ISRO and physicists from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru; Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and other institutes.

Though the project was conceptualised in 2008 itself, it has since morphed and grown and is now awaiting clearance with the government. It now aims to put a heavy satellite into what is called a halo orbit around the L1 point between the Sun and the Earth. This point is at a distance of about 1.5 million km from the earth. With the excitement about the Mars Orbiter Mission yet to settle down, this could be the next most complicated feat that ISRO has carried out till date.

In a three-body problem such as this – with the earth and sun engaged in an elliptical orbit and a relatively very light, call it massless in comparison, satellite being placed in between – there are five so-called lagrangian points in space where the light, third body — in our case, the satellite — may be placed so that it can maintain its position with respect to the two others. One of these is the L1 point, which is about 1.5 million km from the earth.

A halo orbit would be a circular orbit around the L1 point. The satellite will have to use its own power (spend energy) to remain in position within in this orbit without losing its way. Such orbits have not been attempted too often.

Studying the corona

Among the suite of instruments in the payload would be a solar coronagraph. “A combination of imaging and spectroscopy in multi-wavelength will enhance our understanding of the solar atmosphere. It will provide high time cadence sharp images of the solar chromosphere and the corona in the emission lines. These images will be used to study the highly dynamic nature of the solar corona including the small-scale coronal loops and large-scale Coronal Mass Ejections,” said Dipankar Banerjee, physicist from IIA, who is part of this project. The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun and the chromosphere is the second inner layer. Data such as this can help us understand the corona and solar wind, which is a spewing of charged particles into space, at speeds as high as 900 km/s and at about 1 million degrees Celsius temperature, affecting the environment there.

Just like on earth, environment in space changes due to happenings in the sun, such as solar storms (flares). This is known as space weather. Dibyendu Nandi, Head of Center of Excellence in Space Sciences, IISER, Kolkata, describes it so: “Solar storms and space weather affect satellite operations. They may interfere with electronic circuitry of satellites and also, through enhanced drag (friction effects), impact satellite mission lifetimes. They also impact the positional accuracy of satellites and thus impact GPS navigational networks. Space weather also impacts telecommunications, satellite TV broadcasts which are dependent on satellite-based transmission.”

Dr Nandi works in building models that can predict space weather. Hopeful about Aditya’s contribution to this, he remarks “The data from Aditya mission will be immensely helpful in discriminating between different models for the origin of solar storms and also for constraining how the storms evolve and what path they take through the interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth. The forecasting models we are building will therefore be complemented by the Aditya observations.”

At the moment, there are models and calculations made by NASA which Indian scientists use to maintain their satellites. Now, there is a possibility of Indians developing their own space weather prediction models. 

 

Govt looks to promote sustainable fishery on Ganges basin According to the National Fisheries Development Board, inland fishery is growing in a big way in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and Meghalaya

Promoting sustainable fishery on the Ganges basin, one of the largest in the world, is the need of the hour, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today on the occasion of the World Fisheries Day.

He also emphasised on shifting focus from fishery in coastal states to inland resources in order to increase India's overall fish production from the current level of over 10 million tonnes and export earnings of Rs 33,441 crore.

"India is second after China in fish production in the world. However, there are potential areas where production can be strengthened further. There are opportunities to promote fishery beyond coastal states. There is scope to promote sustainable fishery on the Ganges basis," Singh said at an event organised to commemorate the World Fisheries Day.

Inland fishery can be developed on the river basin of the Ganga, which flows from the Himalayas through different cities and towns, he suggested.

Although India has inland fishery resources for a fish production of 15 million tonnes, the actual production was 6.58 million tonnes in 2014-15, he added.

Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Department Secretary Ashok Kumar Angurana and ICAR Director General S Ayyappan spoke about promoting inland fishery and adoption of good management practices for higher production.

According to the National Fisheries Development Board, inland fishery is growing in a big way in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and Meghalaya.

On growth potential of the fishery sector, Singh further said India's fish production, currently growing at 5 per cent, can increase to 8 per cent by harnessing opportunities in the inland fishery sector.

"It is expected that a growth rate of about 8 per cent can be achieved in the land sector. Future demand for fish and fishery products has to be mostly sourced from acquaculture and culture-based capture fisheries at reservoirs," he said.

Keeping in view the growth potential of the sector, Singh said the Centre has merged all the existing schemes and has proposed to formulate an umbrella one called 'Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries' with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore.

This umbrella scheme will cover inland fisheries, acquaculture, marine fisheries, including deep sea fishing and other activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board, towards realising the Blue Revolution, he said.

Stating that the government aims to harness all possibilities for intensive and integrated development of the fishery sector, Singh said, "Providing nutritious food and gainful employment are the foremost challenges in the country today. Through fisheries, these requirements can be fulfilled."

He said the government is providing required financial support to farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs connected with fisheries through various ongoing schemes.

RIL tanks up on biofuels to cut emissions

In this last of a 5-part series, we look at Reliance Industries and the steps it is taking to reduce its carbon footprint

 

On October 16, Mukesh Ambani and chief executives officers of nine other oil and gas companies declared to be part of a joint commitment to reduce global warming by two degrees. Under Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, 10 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies — which provide a fifth of all oil and gas production and supply, 10 per cent of the world’s energy — said they would make significant investments in natural gas, carbon capture and storage, renewable energy, and low greenhouse gas (GHG) research and development.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has projects ranging from roof-top solar photovoltaic projects and biogas generation projects to carrying out wind resource assessment for exploring possibility of installation of wind turbines. In its own business of fuel, it is experimenting with bio products. RIL's Reliance Life Sciences division has grown jatropha by itself and with inter-crops with horticulture and medicinal crops, developed high-yielding composite varieties of jatropha. RIL has commissioned a 6,500-tonnes-a-year pilot plant for biodiesel production and developed second-generation processes for production of bioethanol and biobutanol. “Research and development of biofuels are carried out at the Dhirubhai Ambani Life Sciences Center in Navi Mumbai. Agronomy activities are carried out at research farms in Kakinada, Raviguntapalli, Gandhar, and Nagothane,” says the company.

RIL did not reply to an e-mail. Reliance Life Sciences works with farmers, directly and through non-government organisations, to promote cultivation of jatropha and other crops for biodiesel. Based on lessons from a pilot project in the Nizamabad district in Andhra Pradesh, Reliance Life Sciences is working with farmers in 14 districts across Khammam and Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh; Nanded, Parbhani and Hingoli in Maharashtra; Bilaspur and Bastar in Chhattisgarh; Junagarh and Vyara in Gujarat; and Dewas, Shajapur, Chhindwara, Seoni, and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh.

The company is using agri-residue to produce hydrocarbons. “Agri-residue is often burnt to quickly clear fields. Our technology provides a better alternative by enabling efficient conversion of this waste agri-residue into products such as kerosene,” the company said.

Research and development efforts in the areas of improvement of productivity of biofuels per unit area and production of clean energy and chemicals using renewable raw materials are closer to commercialisation. These efforts have a potential to produce significantly large quantities of clean fuels and chemicals. Through its ‘algae to biocrude’, it is aiming to establish a green platform.

TAPPING INTO MOTHER NATURE Following clean development mechanism projects at RIL are registered at UNFCCC

Jamnagar Reduction in steam consumption in stripper re-boiler through process optimisation Hazira Energy efficiency through steam optimisation Vadodara Energy efficiency through heat recovery Barabanki Biomass-based process steam generation Dahej Demand-side energy conservation and reduction Patalganga Demand-side energy-efficiency projects Allahabad Improvement in energy-efficiency of steam generation and power consumption

RIL says the firm has built capacity to develop clean development mechanism projects, and obtain registration and issuance of the same in the form of certified emission reductions from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

NTPC takes big strides in renewable energy

For NTPC, that has often faced barbs for having a fourth of India's coal power generation capacity of 169,118 Mw, venturing into green space is a calculated move

 

 

NTPC Ltd figures among the world's top 10 coal-based power generators but in less than two years it will have an impressive portfolio of 1,000 Mw of green energy, too. It is already one of the top green power generators among the conventional power companies in the country, and soon enough will turn out to be a classic case of a "polluting" company becoming "cleaner".

Some 110 Mw of solar power generation places it next to Reliance Power that has around 185 Mw renewable energy capacity with Tata Power (read Part IV of the series) topping the list in this category. Being a government-controlled entity, most of this change is driven by directives from the Centre. It is obligated to facilitate addition of another 10,000 Mw of clean power in the next five years. For NTPC, that has often faced barbs for having a fourth of India's coal power generation capacity of 169,118 Mw, venturing into green space is a calculated move.

Though a request for an official interaction with NTPC's officiating chairman on the company's green business did not get any response, its former chairman Arup Roy Choudhary says it helps "the political dispensation of the country to tell the global audience that our biggest power producer is also into solar energy". Roy Choudhary headed the company for five years starting August 2010, a period which coincided with the Union government's focus on solar power programmes.

The diplomatic gain in climate negotiations is, however, not the only trigger. Choudhary says branching into renewable is also part of the company's social commitment. Besides, it synergises the company's target with the global requirements on diversifying into greener energy sources.

As a country, India could have done more of hydro but "we started late and now you cannot add hydropower because of rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) issues," he says. With a growing population and pressure on land and river resources increasing, land acquisition is a major issue for hydro projects.

In NTPC's case, the company has only 800-Mw of Kol Dam project in Himachal Pradesh. Only small hydro projects with combined capacity of 8 Mw are being planned. Hydro projects below 25 Mw are counted in the renewable energy portfolio of companies.

Business strategy also demands expansion into renewable energy since it is faster to set up green capacity. The construction period for solar projects is a few months only and since they are modular, capacity can be added faster. "It is also easier to get clearances for land and environment for these projects. Besides, there is easy availability of funding," says N K Sharma, chief executive officer of NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVNL), a wholly-owned power trading subsidiary of NTPC.

NVVNL performs a crucial function in the sale of solar power in the country. It bundles such power bought at a current average rate of about Rs 10.5 a unit (kilowatt per hour) with coal-based power resulting in a bundled tariff of about Rs 4.5 a unit. Through this mechanism devised in 2010, it is currently bundling some 723 Mw of solar power. NTPC, on its own, will also be bundling 500 Mw from 10 projects to be set up at Ghani Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh under the National Solar Mission. The average tariff for 500 Mw will be Rs 4.63 per unit of electricity. NTPC has the government approval to use cheap power of Rs 1 per unit from its Singrauli coal plant in Uttar Pradesh with solar power.

According to Sharma, bundling of power has three-fold advantage. It brings down the cost of power, ensures continuous availability of electricity despite the unreliability factor in green power and eliminates the need to subsidise through generation based incentives or viability gap funding.

Under NTPC's business plan, about 1,000 Mw capacity addition will be based on renewable resources by 2017. NTPC has already commissioned 110 Mw solar photo voltaic (PV) projects and another 15 Mw solar PV and 8 Mw Singrauli small hydro projects are under implementation. Besides, a geothermal project at Tattapani is also being developed under an agreement with the Chhattisgarh government. Since geothermal energy is derived from the heat under the Earth - which could range from shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found beneath the surface, or deeper to the very high temperatures of molten rock called magma - it is considered a clean source for power generation.

Besides grid-connected green generation, emphasis is also on off-grid decentralised power supply. The company has 16 such projects with a combined capacity of 340 kilowatt that reach out 2,280 households in four states.

The company wants to have 28 per cent of installed capacity coming from non-fossil sources by 2032 from less than one per cent now. Still, renewable portfolio, in general, will not be a challenge to coal-based generation. "Green energy will be a significant part of any conventional energy company's portfolio. It has yet not reached that stage (of being a challenge) since issues relating to availability of renewable power round the clock with storage technology still being expensive remain unresolved. There has to be a mix but the gap will be huge for some time," says Sharma.

The availability and cost factors, however, would not obviate the need to be conscious of adding to green portfolio and factoring it into corporate growth plans.

Increased use of natural gas for power generation and supercritical technology for coal-based generation will also help the company reduce its carbon footprint.

India has taken the initiative to organize the first "South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise" (SAADMEx-2015)

India to host the First South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise from Monday

The prevalent geo-climatic conditions as well as increased frequency of natural calamities in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Region, especially in the wake of the recent disasters in the region, calls for enhanced levels of preparedness and risk resilience as well as collaborative action amongst member countries to individually and jointly deal with such disaster situations to prevent loss of lives and assets. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi stated at the last (18th) SAARC Summit in Kathmandu on November 26, 2014 that India's expertise in Disaster Management would always be available to South Asia, and that, equally, as India reaches out to Indians caught in conflicts and disasters around the world, India would always be there for all South Asian citizens.

The Government of India has taken the initiative to organize the first "South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise" (SAADMEx-2015) to provide a platform for strengthening Regional Disaster Response Mechanism amongst the SAARC countries. The main focus of SAADMEx-2015 is to test coordination efforts, create synergy and synchronize efforts to institutionalize Regional Cooperation on Disaster Response among the member countries. The Advance Coordination Conference (ACC) for this Exercise was successfully conducted with the participation of representatives from SAARC member countries on September 3-4, 2015 where the modalities and requirements of the common exercise were discussed.

The common exercise is going to commence from Monday, November 23, 2015 with the participation of delegations and rescuers from each of the eight SAARC Nations, - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Exercise will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Delhi - National Capital Region. On the first day, during the Table Top sessions, different kinds of disaster situations will be simulated and individual and joint response measures will get discussed. On the second day, response for Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue (CSSR) will be carried out at Ghaziabad to demonstrate the CSSR capabilities of participating nations which will be followed by a demonstration on Chemical Emergency Response at Greater Noida on the third day. During the course of the exercise, various types of latest gadgets and equipments as well as varied Disaster Response skill sets will be demonstrated by the teams of the participating nations. On the last day, debriefing and After Action Review (AAR) will be conducted to gather important lessons learnt which would assist the countries to augment current and joint levels of disaster response and coordination.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju will inaugurated the SAADMEx-2015 in New Delhi on Monday, November 23, 2015. Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will be the Chief Guest in the valedictory session on Thursday, November 26, 2015 to discuss the outcomes of the exercise and provide guidance for future improvement. Secretary General-SAARC, representatives from Embassies/High Commissions of SAARC Nations in Delhi, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), NDRF, National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and Senior Officials from the relevant Ministries will be attending the Exercise. Officials from the States, particularly from State Response organizations will be attending the SAADMEx as well.

The Joint Exercise will be followed by a day-long SAARC Regional Workshop on Sharing Best Practices on "Disaster Risk Reduction" due to be held in New Delhi on Friday, November 27, 2015. The Regional Workshop will be inaugurated by Dr. P.K. Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister of India. This workshop is also an outcome of one of the announcements made at the Conference of Cabinet Secretaries of SAARC Nations.

The aim of the Regional workshop is to provide a platform to member countries for sharing best practices in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), experience sharing on Nepal Earthquake of April, 2015 as well as deliberating upon the outcomes of the SAADMEx. The workshop will have senior officials from all SAARC Nations, relevant Ministries of Government of India and various State Governments.

An Umbrella Scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’with an Outlay of Rs. 3000 crore Proposed

An Umbrella Scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’with an Outlay of Rs. 3000 crore Proposed- Radha Mohan Singh

“World Fisheries Day- 2015 Inaugurated”

Union Agriculture and Farmers welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh today here inaugurate the “World fisheries Day-2015”. Shri Singh on the occasion said that “considering the importance and growth potential of the sector, and considering the need for effective implementation of different schemes, the Ministry by merging all the existing schemes, has proposed to formulate an umbrella scheme ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ with an outlay of Rs. 3000 crore. This umbrella scheme will cover inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries including deep sea fishing, mari-culture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) towards realizing “Blue Revolution”. Minister further said that a “focused approach of this nature shall lead to ushering in Blue Revolution through an integrated development and management of fisheries and aquaculture sector and would ensure sustained acceleration and intensification of fish production beyond the projected annual growth rate.”

Union Minister on the occasion felicitates some of the fishers/fish farmers who have come from different states of the country and released a souvenir. Minister of State Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Shri Ashok Kumar Angurana and secretary DARE, Dr. S. Ayyappan was also present on the occasion.

Full text of the speech:

“Fisheries are an important sector. Fisheries supports livelihood of almost 1.5 million peoples in our country. India is one of the leading producers of fish in the world, occupying the second position globally in terms of production.The contribution of Indian fish to the food basket of the world has been substantial. In this context, reflecting the priorities of our government towards the development of fisheries sector, during the last year on 21stNovember, 2014 we celebrated the World Fisheries Day for the first time in the country. And I am happy that today again, we all are here to celebrate theWorld Fisheries Day.

After Independence, fish production has been increased from 7.5 lakh tonnes in 1950-51 to 100.70 lakh tonnes during 2014-15, while the export earnings of 33,441 crore in 2014-15 (US$ 5.51 billion), equalled about 18% of the export earnings from the agriculture sector. Our overall fish production has crossed 10 million tons with a growth rate of over 5 % and today we are ahead of all countries except China. The export earnings of Rs. 33,441 crore in 2014-15 (US$ 5.51 billion), equaled about 18% of the export earnings from the agriculture sector.

Coming to Aquaculture, India is the second largest producer (42. 10 lakh tonnes) of fish from aquaculture which contributes about 6.3 per cent to global aquaculture production. Keeping the recent developments and trends in fish production in view, and the previous Plan periods, it is expected that a growth rate of about 8.0 per cent can be achieved in the inland sector. The future demand for fish and fishery products has to be mostly sourced from aquaculture and culture based capture fisheries in reservoirs.

During the last two years, through National Scheme for Welfare of Fishermen, assistance has been provided for construction of 5583 fishermen-houses, training to 7720 fishermen, insurance assistance to 48 million fishermen, and assistance is provided to 7.34 million fishermen under the savings-cum-relief scheme during the fishing ban period. In these two years, approximately 4,000 traditional fishing boats have been modernized, and 7363 sea safety kits have been distributed. Nation Fisheries Development Board (NFDB)has provided assistance of Rs. 5751.18 lakh for construction of 10 wholesale markets,24 retail fish-markets,and has financed for 16,719 mobile fish-vending vehicles. NFDB has provided assistance of Rs. 1832.55 lakh to 18 statesfor seed-stocking,cage and pen-culture.NFDB has also provided assistance of Rs. 1211 lakh for ornamental fisheries and for construction of 458 backyard hatcheries etc. Apart from this, the Government has planned for providing assistance of Rs. 530 crore for construction of new hatcheries, ponds, cages etc. under NMPS and RKVY.

India has over 8000 Km. of coastal line and nearly 2 million Sq Km of EEZ and half a million Sq Km. of Continental Shelf. From these marine resources, India has an estimated fisheries potential of 4.11 million tons. Similarly, 3.0 million hectares of reservoirs, 2.5 million hectares of ponds and tanks, 1.25 million hectares of brackish water area, cold water resources of hilly states and all other inland fishery resources offer a production potential of about 15 million tons. Against this potential, the production from inland sector was 6.58 million tonnes during 2014-15. In this context, optimum utilization of resources becomes pivotal to achieve the targeted production.

So far, our country could not utilize the existing aquatic resources; however, the annual growth rate of above 5% in fisheries is indicative of the immense potential of the sector in the coming years. It is against this backdrop that we want to harness all possibilities for intensive and integrated development of fishery sector.Providing nutritious food and gainful employment are the foremost challenges in the country today. Through fisheries, these two requirements can be fulfilled.

While the required financial support is being provided to the farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs connected with the fisheries sector through various ongoing programs namely, Centrally Sponsored Schemes, National Fisheries Development Board, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana etc. still, enhancement of productivity and production are the key challenges in achieving the targeted production.

Realizing the great scope for the Development of Fisheries, the Hon’ble Prime Minister has called for “a Revolution” in the fisheries sector and named it as “Blue Revolution”. It visualizes “Creating an enabling environment for an integrated and holistic development and management of fisheries keeping in view the sustainability, bio-security and environmental concerns”. The Blue Revolution, encompassing multi-dimensional activities, focuses mainly on increasing production from aquaculture and fisheries resources, both inland and marine. The vast fishery resources offer immense opportunities to enhance fish production through aquaculture-system diversification, species diversification, proper management, introduction of new and advanced technologies in both marine and inland sector, adoption of scientific practices and application of suitable fish health management strategies etc.

I believe that various ICAR research institutes as well as other research organizations in India have been able to develop new technologies which have the potential for enhancing productivity and production of various aquaculture and fishery resources. To make this happen, technology has to be brought to the doorstep of the user community. I urge fisheriesscientists to promote the activities for capacity building and training of the fishermen, and encourage use of new technologies enthusiastically on the ground. With a view to focus exclusively on fish production and productivity, hygienic handling and processing, value addition and marketing of fish and fishery products we have also established the National Fisheries Development Board at Hyderabad as an autonomous body under our Ministry.

Let me also emphasize that while focusing on production, there is also a need for value addition, processing, hygienic handling and promotion of domestic fish marketing including mobile fish vending units for ensuring remunerative prices to the producers along with good fish for the consumers.

I am happy to know that as part of World Fisheries Day, the DAD&F have invited eminent experts, scientists, progressive fish farmers and fishers and entrepreneurs engaged in fisheries sector and interested entrepreneurs to have first hand interaction. I have also had the honor to felicitate some of the fishers/fish farmers who have come from different states of the country. I wish that all the relevant information and knowledge available during this event should be fully availed of by fishers, fish farmers and other stakeholders to enhance their understanding on various issues of the fisheries sector. They should also take suitable advice and guidance from experts in the field.

I thank the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries for successfully organizing this ‘World Fisheries Day’ and the National Fisheries Development Board as a sponsor of this event and I wish the whole event a grand success. I thank and extend my best wishes to all of you.