DIPP to set up India’s first TISC in Punjab

DIPP to set up India’s first TISC in Punjab

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, signed an Institutional agreement with the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology in New Delhi today to establish India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) at Patent Information Centre, Punjab, under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC program.

The objective of the TISC is to stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) system in India to foster creativity and innovation, thereby promoting entrepreneurship and enhancing social, economic and cultural development by establishing a network of TISCs in India.

WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

Services offered by TISCs include:
•    Access to online patent and non-patent (scientific and technical) resources and IP-related publications;
•    Assistance in searching and retrieving technology information;
•    Training in database search;
•    On-demand searches (novelty, state-of-the-art and infringement);
•    Monitoring technology and competitors;
•    Basic information on industrial property laws, management and strategy, and technology commercialization and marketing.

The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the National Focal Point for the TISC national network. As the national focal point, CIPAM shall identify potential host institutions, assess their capacities and support them in joining the TISC program. CIPAM will also act as the main intermediary between WIPO and TISC host institutions and coordinate all the activities of the national TISC network.

Over 500 TISCs operate worldwide and establishing TISC in India will give the host institutions an access to the global network. In upcoming years, CIPAM is planning to establish TISCs in Universities, State Science Councils, R&D institutions etc. TISC will give an impetus to knowledge sharing, sharing of best practices among the TISCs, capacity building, generation and commercialization of IPs.   

National Livestock Mission (NLM) provides assistance to improve availability of quality feed and fodder, risk mitigation and extension, skill development and training for livestock sector

Ministry of Agriculture

National Livestock Mission (NLM) provides assistance to improve availability of quality feed and fodder, risk mitigation and extension, skill development and training for livestock sector: Shri Radha Mohan Singh

One of the reasons for setting up NLM from scheme-mode to mission-mode is to provide the necessary flexibility to all States and Union Territories: Shri Singh

There is a need to augment resources for the sector and synergise activities through appropriate convergence: Shri Singh

Shri Radha Mohan Singh addresses the members at the second General Council meeting of National Livestock Mission.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today presided over the second General Council meeting of the National Livestock Mission (NLM). Shri Singh said Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries is implementing National Livestock Mission for sustainable development of Livestock Sector, especially for poultry, goats, sheep, pig, pack animals, etc.

Shri Radha Mohan Singh said NLM provides assistance to improve availability of quality feed and fodder, risk mitigation and extension, skill development and training for livestock sector including cattle and buffaloes. The livestock rearers and farmers, especially women, are unorganised, as these activities are primarily backyard in nature. However, rearing small ruminants, backyard poultry, pigs and other minor livestock offers tremendous opportunities for improving both nutritional and livelihood security of livestock rearers with specific scientific interventions.

Shri Singh said one of the reasons for setting up NLM from scheme-mode to mission-mode is to provide the necessary flexibility to all States and UTs in undertaking appropriate interventions suited to their conditions. Taking into account the overall requirement of the livestock sector, there is a need to augment resources for the sector and synergise activities through appropriate convergence, under the umbrella of NLM to supplement the efforts of the States and UTs to take care of the activities which cannot be accommodated within other ongoing schemes.

Shri Radha Mohan Singh said all components under the NLM are made flexible and modular, looking into the needs of farmers and stake holders, and as per the geographical and regional requirements so that even the small and marginal farmers can also avail the benefits of the activities proposed under NLM. The distribution of resources and subsidies are also made equitable with considerations for APL, BPL beneficiaries and beneficiaries of North Eastern Region, Hilly, Left Wing Extremism areas so that the beneficiaries in more disadvantageous position get equitable benefits for sustainable livelihood.

The National livestock Mission is organised into the following four sub-Missions:

i. Sub-Mission on Livestock Development

ii. Sub-Mission on Pig Development in North-eastern Region

iii. Sub-Mission on Fodder and Feed Development

iv. Sub-Mission on Skill Development, Technology Transfer and Extension

A detailed presentation was given on various components of NLM sub-missions in the meeting.

               Shri Singh said close alignments of the guidelines is mandatory for the smooth execution of various programs and effective implementation of interventions.

NLM’ last three years achievements and milestones are as follows:

—  32,981 Beneficiaries have been assisted under Entrepreneurship Development & Employment Generation (EDEG).

—  3.68 lakh beneficiaries funded for assistance under Rural Backyard Poultry Development.

—  35.64 lakh animal insurance has been under taken.

—  3.00 lakh Goat and 9.80 lakh pig has been given health support.

—  41 state Poultry /Sheep/ Goat Piggery Breeding Farms have been supported.

—  54,930 Chaff Cutter has been distributed.

—  96,321 Qtls seed has been distributed.

—  3823 silage units have been established.

—  Organization of 519 Livestock Mela has been supported.

—  223 Livestock Farmers Group and 121 Farmers Field School has been established & 8420 Farmers have been covered under exposure visit.

Milestones achieved under the Leadership of Hon’ble Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister

—  The Risk Management and Insurance as a component of Sub-Mission on Livestock Development of National Livestock Mission (NLM) is implemented in all the District of the Country instead of 300 selected District earlier.

—  All animals are now covered such as indigenous/crossbred milch animals, Pack animals (Horse, Donkey, Mules, Camels, Ponies and Cattle Buffaloes male) and other livestock (Goat, Sheep, Pigs, Rabbit, Yak and Mithun instead of only milch animals earlier.

—  The benefit of subsidy has been enhanced and is restricted to 5 cattle unit per beneficiary per household, in case of Goat, Sheep, Pigs and Rabbit one cattle unit is equal to 10 animals instead of only 2 milch animals per household earlier.

Index Numbers of Wholesale Price in India (Base: 2011-12=100)

Index Numbers of Wholesale Price in India (Base: 2011-12=100)

Review for the month of June, 2017

The official Wholesale Price Index for ‘All Commodities’ (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of June, 2017 declined by 0.1 percent to 112.7 (provisional) from 112.8 (provisional) for the previous month.

INFLATION

The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 0.90% (provisional) for the month of June, 2017 (over June,2016) as compared to 2.17% (provisional) for the previous month and -0.09% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was -0.44% compared to a build up rate of 3.71% in the corresponding period of the previous year

Inflation for important commodities / commodity groups is indicated in Annex-1 and Annex-II.

The movement of the index for the various commodity groups is summarized below:-

PRIMARY ARTICLES (Weight 22.62%)

The index for this major group rose by 0.3 percent to 126.9 (provisional) from 126.5 (provisional) for the previous month.  The groups and items which showed variations during the month are as follows:-

The index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose by 0.9 percent to 139 (provisional) from 137.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of fruits & vegetables (6%), fish-marine (2%) and egg, poultry chicken, fish-inland and milk (1% each).  However, the price of betel leaves (46%), peas/chawali (4%), urad, ragi, jowar, moong, masur, gram, arhar, condiments & spices, tea and bajra (3% each) and rajma (2%) and maize and wheat (1% each) declined.

The index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group declined by 1.7 percent to 117.8 (provisional) from 119.8 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of floriculture (17%), guar seed (8%), raw rubber (5%), sunflower (4%), castor seed (3%), groundnut seed, cotton seed, soyabean, coir fibre and gingelly seed (2% each) and linseed and rape & mustard seed (1% each).  However, the price of raw cotton, safflower (kardi seed), niger seed, raw silk and copra (coconut) (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Minerals’ group rose by 1.3 percent to 116.3 (provisional) from 114.8 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of zinc concentrate (12%), iron ore and lead concentrate (9% each), copper concentrate (2%) and  chromite (1%).  However, the price of manganese ore (21%) declined.

The index for ‘Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas’ group declined by 2.4 percent to 69.4 (provisional) from 71.1 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of crude petroleum (3%).

FUEL & POWER (Weight 13.15%)

The index for this major group declined by 1.2 percent to 89.7 (provisional) from 90.8 (provisional) for the previous month. The groups and items which showed variations during the month are as follows:-

The index for ‘Coal’ group rose by 0.8 percent to 117.5 (provisional) from 116.6 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of coking coal (2%).

The index for ‘Mineral Oils’ group declined by 2.3 percent to 77.5 (provisional) from 79.3 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of LPG (12%), naphtha and ATF (3% each), HSD (2%) and petrol and lube oils (1% each). However, the price of petroleum coke (3%) and furnace oil (2%) moved up.

The index for ‘Electricity’ group declined by 0.7 percent to 102 (provisional) from 102.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of electricity (1%).

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS (Weight 64.23%)

The index for this major group declined by 0.1 percent to 112.5 (provisional) from 112.6 (provisional) for the previous month. The groups and items which showed variations during the month are as follows:-

The index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group declined by 0.4 percent to 126.7 (provisional) from 127.2 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of groundnut oil (4%), basmati rice (3%), wheat bran, sooji (rawa), salt, wheat flour (atta) and other meats, preserved/processed (2% each) and mustard oil, palm oil, sugar, manufacture of cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery, maida, cotton seed oil, rice bran oil, soyabean oil, ghee, manufacture of prepared animal feeds, coffee powder with chicory and powder milk (1% each).  However, the price of honey and processed tea (7% each), instant coffee (4%), manufacture of macaroni, noodles, couscous and similar farinaceous products (3%), gur, rice products, buffalo meat (fresh/frozen), gram powder (besan) and rapeseed oil (2% each) and processing & preserving of fish, crustaceans & molluscs & products thereof, spices (including mixed spices), condensed milk, manufacture of bakery products, manufacture of processed ready to eat food and processing & preserving of fruit & vegetables (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 117.6 (provisional) from 117.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of bottled mineral water (1%).

The index for ‘Manufacture of Tobacco Products’ group rose by 1 percent to 144.3 (provisional) from 142.9 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of other tobacco products and biri (2% each).  However, the price of cigarette (1%) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 113.7 (provisional) from 113.6 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of ortla yarn, viscose yarn and weaving & finishing of textiles (1% each).   However, the price of manufacture of other textiles (1%) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 133.2 (provisional) from 133.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of manufacture of wearing apparel (woven), except fur apparel (1%).   However, the price of manufacture of knitted & crocheted apparel (1%) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group rose by 0.3 percent to 119.9 (provisional) from 119.5 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of belt & other articles of leather (3%), chrome tanned leather (2%), travel goods, handbags, office bags, etc. and waterproof footwear (1% each).   However, the price of vegetable tanned leather and leather shoe (1% each) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork ‘ group declined by 0.1 percent to 130.5 (provisional) from 130.6 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of wooden board (non-electrical) (2%) and wood cutting, processed/sized, particle boards, wooden box/crate and timber/wooden plank, sawn/resawn (1% each). However, the price of plywood block boards (1%) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group declined by 0.6 percent to 115.7 (provisional) from 116.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of corrugated sheet box (4%) and card board, laminated plastic sheet and map litho paper (1% each).  However, the price of base paper (4%) and kraft paper (1%) moved up.

The index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media ‘ group rose by 0.5 percent to 142.4 (provisional) from 141.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of sticker plastic (4%) and journal/periodical (2%). However, the price of printed labels/posters/calendars (1%) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 111.6 (provisional) from 111.7 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of phthalic anhydride (7%), ammonium sulphate (5%), mono ethyl glycol, poly propylene (pp), ammonium nitrate, xlpe compound and shampoo (4% each), polystyrene, expandable, oleoresin and polyester chips or polyethylene ortlandlate (pet) chips (2% each) and fatty acid, aromatic chemicals, liquid air & other gaseous products, nitric acid, dye stuff/dyes incl. dye intermediates and pigments/colours, ethylene oxide, polyethylene, alkyl benzene, aniline (including pna, ona, ocpna), adhesive tape (non-medicinal), varnish (all types) and ammonium phosphate (1% each).  However, the price of ammonia liquid and organic chemicals (4% each), foundry chemical, organic surface active agent and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) (3% each), camphor, ortlan, adhesive excluding gum and paint (2% each) and carbon black, additive, insecticide and pesticide, printing ink, polyester fibre fabric, toilet soap, powder coating material, sodium silicate, safety matches (match box), polyester film(metalized), acetic acid and its derivatives, amine, sulphuric acid, other inorganic chemicals, tooth paste/tooth powder and rubber chemicals (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products’ group declined by 0.5 percent to 120.2 (provisional) from 120.8 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of sulpha drugs (7%), antibiotics & preparations thereof (2%) and anti-retroviral drugs for HIV treatment, vials/ampoule, glass (empty or filled), anti allergic drugs and plastic capsules (1% each).  However, the price of antioxidants and cotton wool (medicinal) (2% each) and digestive enzymes and antacids, anti-malarial drugs and anti cancer drugs (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 108.5 (provisional) from 108.6 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of polyester film (non-metalized) (5%), rubber crumb (4%), pvc fittings & other accessories and rubber tread (3% each), medium & heavy commercial vehicle tyre and 2/3 wheeler tyre (2% each) and rubber moulded goods, polypropylene film, plastic film, plastic box/container, plastic tube (flexible/non-flexible), acrylic/plastic sheet and motor car tyre (1% each).  However, the price of plastic components (6%), conveyer belt (fibre based) (3%), rubber cloth/sheet, cycle/cycle rickshaw tyre and plastic tank (2% each) and thermocol and rubber components & parts (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group rose by 0.8 percent to 112.3 (provisional) from 111.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of slag cement and graphite rod (3% each), marble slab, pozzolana cement and porcelain sanitary ware (2% each) and clinker, ordinary ortland cement, granite, cement blocks (concrete), toughened glass and lime and calcium carbonate (1% each).  However, the price of cement superfine, non ceramic tiles and plain bricks (1% each) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 96.7 (provisional) from 96.8 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of ferrochrome (5%), ms slabs (4%), silicomanganese (3%), brass metal/sheet/coils and aluminium disk and circles (2% each) and mild steel (ms) blooms, copper shapes-bars/rods/plates/strips, alloy steel wire rods, ms bright bars, cold rolled (CR) coils & sheets, including narrow strip, gp/gc sheet, aluminium alloys, ms pencil ingots and ms wire rods (1% each).   However, the price of ferromanganese (6%), stainless steel pencil ingots/billets/slabs and zinc metal/zinc blocks (4% each), sponge iron/direct reduced iron (DRI) and alloy steel castings (3% each), stainless steel bars & rods, including flats and other ferro alloys (2% each) and cast iron, castings, aluminium castings, ms castings, stainless steel tubes and copper metal/copper rings (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 108 (provisional) from 108.1 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of stainless steel utensils (3%), cylinders and steel drums and barrels (2% each) and steel container and forged steel rings (1% each). However, the price of hand tools (4%) and bolts, screws, nuts & nails of iron & steel, iron/steel cap and steel structures (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ group declined by 0.5 percent to 108.5 (provisional) from 109.1 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of ups in solid state drives and colour tv (4% each), watch and electro-diagnostic apparatus, used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences (2% each) and capacitors (1%).   However, the price of meter (non-electrical) and air conditioner (3% each) and electronic printed circuit board (pcb)/micro circuit (1%) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment’ group declined by 0.5 percent to 107.8 (provisional) from 108.3 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of pressure vessel and tank for fermentation & other food processing (12%), excavator, cranes and solar power system (solar panel & attachable equipment) (5% each), rice mill machinery and moulding machine (3% each), roller and ball bearings, manufacture of bearings, gears, gearing & driving elements and printing machinery (2% each) and industrial valve, agriculture implements, drilling machine and chemical equipment & system (1% each).  However, the price of precision machinery equipment/form tools (3%), pharmaceutical machinery and road roller (2% each) and pump sets without motor, air gas compressor including compressor for refrigerator, clutches and shaft couplings, injection pump, open end spinning machinery and sewing machines (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group rose by 0.3 percent to 111.6 (provisional) from 111.3 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of chain, minibus/bus and chassis of different vehicle types (2% each) and silencer & damper and wheels/wheels & parts (1% each).  However, the price of head lamp (3%) and shafts of all kinds, crankshaft, brake pad/brake liner/brake block/brake rubber, others and cylinder liners (1% each) declined.

The index for ‘Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment’ group rose by 0.6 percent to 109.7 (provisional) from 109 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of motor cycles (1%).

The index for ‘Manufacture of Furniture’ group rose by 1.8 percent to 116.2 (provisional) from 114.2 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher price of foam and rubber mattress (8%) and iron/steel furniture (2%). However, the price of steel shutter gate (1%) declined.

The index for ‘Other Manufacturing’ group declined by 3.8 percent to 110.3 (provisional) from 114.6 (provisional) for the previous month due to lower price of gold & gold ornaments (5%).  However, the price of intraocular lens (6%) moved up.

WPI FOOD INDEX (Weight 24.38%)

The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group decreased from 0.15% in May, 2017 to -1.25% in June, 2017.

FINAL INDEX FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL, 2017 (BASE YEAR: 2011-12=100)

For the month of April, 2017, the final Wholesale Price Index for ‘All Commodities’ (Base: 2011-12=100) and annual rate of inflation remained unchanged at its provisional level of 113.2 and 3.85 percent respectively as reported on 12.05.2017.

Being smart about Smart Cities Mission

Being smart about Smart Cities Mission

Any attempt to improve our cities depends on how data are compiled and shared

The Centre would like us to believe that the Smart Cities Mission will transform urban life in the agglomerations that enter the elite club. With the latest inclusions, there are 90 cities in the list, each of which proposes to turn ‘smart’, utilising core funding from the Centre and other resources. By all accounts, the provision of basic services in urban India has been worsening, and this is clearly reflected in the winning city proposals: 81 of the selected plans seek funds for affordable housing, new schools and hospitals, and redesign of roads. This is at best a partial list, and there are many more aspects to achieving inclusivity. There is a high-visibility campaign around the Smart Cities Mission, but there is little evidence to suggest that State and local governments have either the fine-grained data or the capability to analyse them in order to understand the evolving needs of their communities. The Centre has apparently decided to skirt such a fundamental problem by adopting a ‘managed urbanisation’ approach in the chosen cities, with the powers of municipal councils delegated to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), under the Companies Act, that will act in its own wisdom. Given that this is the model adopted by the two-year-old Mission, the Centre must present a status report on what the SPVs have achieved so far.

Any serious attempt at improving the quality of life in cities would depend on how governments approach data. It would be smart, for instance, to use sensors to estimate the flow of vehicles and pedestrians, and create smartphone applications for the public to report on a variety of parameters. Making such data open would enable citizens’ groups to themselves come up with analyses to help city administrators make decisions, boost transparency and make officials accountable. There are several international examples now, such as the Array of Things sensors being installed on Chicago streets, which let people download the raw data on air quality, transport, pedestrian movement and standing water. Although India’s Smart Cities Mission has identified more than 20 priority areas, interventions by the respective agencies are weak. Access to special funding should make it mandatory for all public transport providers — city bus corporations, Metro Rail and suburban trains — to provide real-time passenger information in the form of open data, an inexpensive global standard that raises both access and efficiency through smartphone applications. Making street-level waste management data public would lead to a heat map of the worst sites, compelling managers to solve the problem. Clearly, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit on the road to smartness, and a nimble policy approach can tap this quickly. More importantly, the ideology that guides the plan should recognise that the vibrant life of cities depends on variety and enabling environments, rather than a mere technology-led vision. Pollution-free commons, walkability and easy mobility, with a base of reliable civic services, is the smart way to go.

Who’s afraid of neutrinos?

Who’s afraid of neutrinos?

The India-based Neutrino Observatory would greatly advance scientific research

Which one of us would not have applauded Galileo in January of 1610 when he trained his telescope for the first time on Jupiter and observed four dots alongside it? Within days he noticed that the dots seemed to be going around Jupiter... they were its four largest moons!

Today, very large telescopes send us iconic images of distant galaxies and of faint remnants of the light produced by the Big Bang. The light from the moons of Jupiter was always falling on earth. It took a telescope to detect it because it was so feeble and could not be seen with the naked eye. Interesting things, telescopes. They observe something that is already there. They do not produce what they observe.

Just like light

There are two other things that, like light, can travel great distances in the universe, and therefore can be usefully observed. The first of these are gravitational waves. Predicted by Einstein’s famous theory, these waves travel at the speed of light and are produced when very heavy objects such as black holes collide. Gravitational waves were first detected in September 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). As the waves passed, LIGO measured that they expanded and contracted the earth a tiny bit for a fraction of a second. The measurement told us that the colliding black holes were 30 times the mass of the sun, 1.3 billion light years away, and during the collision, the mass of three suns just vanished to produce the energy of the gravity wave that spread across the universe. However, LIGO did not produce the waves that it observed.

They were produced by cataclysmic events, and we wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them, but observing them through LIGO is like receiving a postcard from that collapsing, tragic part of the universe that even light cannot escape from.

The only other particles that can zip through the universe at speeds very close to that of light are called neutrinos. The biggest nuclear reactor that most life on earth derives energy from is the sun. Like all nuclear reactors, in addition to giving out energy (heat and light), the sun also emits neutrinos. We have all seen sunlight. Can we also observe the billions of neutrinos the sun emits every second?

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In the mid-1960s, when solar neutrinos were observed through the first neutrino telescopes, it quietly unleashed one of the biggest revolutions in our knowledge of the laws of physics that govern the universe. Raymond Davis and John Bahcall detected that only half the neutrinos that the sun was emitting towards the earth were actually reaching us.

The reason? As they travelled the distance from the sun to the earth, the neutrinos were changing from electron-neutrino type that the sun was emitting to muon-neutrino type, and thus escaping detection. All the laws and forces of nature that we know of, other than gravitation, are described by what physicists call the Standard Model. It predicted that neutrinos, which come under three types or flavours — tau-neutrino, electron-neutrino and muon-neutrino — would not oscillate from one flavour to another. The discovery that they do meant that the Standard Model or the basic laws of physics had to be further modified. Thus, through the neutrino detectors we are actually observing the fundamental laws of physics at the cutting edge.

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Union Cabinet clears LIGO-India gravitational wave observatory

The proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) aims to observe muon neutrinos that are continuously produced in the atmosphere when cosmic rays strike the earth. Since every type of matter particle has an anti-matter partner particle associated with it, there are also anti-neutrinos that the INO can observe. Anti-neutrinos also come in three flavours and can oscillate from one to the other. An important question in the mystery of trying to piece together the laws of physics is: do anti-neutrinos oscillate or flip their flavours at exactly the same rate as neutrinos do, or are there slight differences in their rates? In other words, do laws of physics treat matter and anti-matter exactly the same way as far as the neutrinos are concerned or do they treat them differently?

While the INO will not by itself provide an answer to this question, its measurements will — by determining the order of the neutrino masses and thereby help other neutrino experiments that are already under way or being built in other parts of the world. The INO, by observing the rates at which neutrinos and anti-neutrinos oscillate, will make a substantial contribution to the quest to unravel the secrets of the ultimate laws of physics.

Nothing to fear

Unfortunately, some activists and political parties in Tamil Nadu have made baseless allegations that the INO, which is just like a telescope, causes radioactivity and have compared it with the dangers of having a nuclear power plant or radioactive material in the neighbourhood. This cannot be true since the neutrinos, whether they are naturally occurring in the atmosphere or from the sun, or are emitted by far away man made nuclear reactors and sent in beams of neutrinos with few GeV energy, are very feeble and weakly interacting particles that we can’t even see or feel without the help of an observatory. Beams of neutrinos are being sent to the NOvA neutrino detector in the U.S. and to the T2K neutrino detector in Japan every day. Moreover, being the lightest matter particles, the neutrinos do not decay into any other particles, as everything else is heavier — so they are not like uranium which decays radioactively into smaller atoms. All the INO would do is to provide the lens to observe neutrinos as they are too feeble or faint to be detected by the naked eye. It does not create a radiation hazard or put us in harm’s way. While we should ensure that the tunnel is dug with proper environmental safeguards and the project has various clearances, raising the spectacle of radiation hazards and comparing it with nuclear or thermal power plants is spreading false fears and is unscientific.

Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor

Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor

It will meet country’s demand for Clean Energy in the immediate and the long-term future

Government’s announcement for the plan of construction of ten new Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MWe capacity vindicates the confidence in the indigenous PHWR technology which has been built over a period of nearly four decades. The performance of the present sixteen indigenously built PHWRs is demonstrated by an average capacity factor of about 80% over last five years, their uninterrupted operation over extended periods, the longest being 765 days for a Rajasthan Reactor, RAPS-5 securing the second world ranking and a very low average electricity tariff which is next to that of the hydroelectric power. More than anything else, is the fact that 100% of all their components are manufactured by the Indian industry. Dr. M.R.Srinivasan in a recent column in The Hindu (appeared on May 19,2017) has succinctly outlined the history of the development of the PHWR technology and the near-term strategy of the growth of nuclear power capacity. The evolution of the PHWR technology and the upgradation of their safety features have been covered in a series of scientific papers published in a special section of the April ‘17 Issue of “Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science’- a journal published by American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The PHWR technology in India started in the late nineteen sixties with the construction of the first 220 MWe reactor, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, RAPS-1 with a design similar with that of the Douglas Point reactor in Canada under the joint Indo-Canadian nuclear co-operation. Canada supplied all main equipment for this first unit. India retained responsibility for construction, installation and commissioning activities. For the second unit (RAPS-2), import content was reduced considerably and indigenization was taken up for major pieces of equipment. Following the complete withdrawal of the Canadian support in 1974 after Pokhran-1, Indian nuclear engineers completed the construction and the plant was made operational with majority of the components made in India. From the third PHWR unit (Madras Atomic Power Station, MAPS-1) onwards, the evolution and indigenisation of the design began with the objective of keeping abreast with evolutionary changes taking place worldwide and of meeting new safety criteria. Improvements were also incorporated for reduction of the construction time and cost, and enhancing reliability of operation leading to better capacity factors. The first two units of PHWR using indigenously developed standardized 220 MWe design were set up at the Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS). This standardized and optimised design had several new safety systems which have been incorporated in five more twin-unit atomic power stations with capacity of 2 x 220 MWe located at Kakrapar, Kaiga and Rawatbhata. For realising the economics of scale, the design of 540 MWe PHWR was developed and two such units were constructed at Tarapur. Further optimisations were carried out by utilising the excess thermal margins and improve the economics and NPCIL modified the 540 MWe PHWR design to that of 700 MWe capacity without much design changes. Four units of this design are being constructed at Rawatbhata and Kakrapar at present.

As far as the safety is concerned, the PHWR technology scores well in terms of its several inherent safety features. The biggest advantage of the PHWR design is the use of thin walled pressure tubes instead of large pressure vessels used in pressure vessel type reactors. This results in a distribution of pressure boundaries to large number of small diameter pressure tubes. The consequence of an accidental rupture of the pressure boundary in such a design will have a much less severity than that in a pressure vessel type reactor. The PHWR core is always uniquely surrounded by huge quantity of low temperature and low pressure water in the calandria vessel and in the calandria vault. These coolant inventories significantly delay the progression of the event and, thereby, provide adequate time for interventions and corrective actions by operators to mitigate the consequences. In fact, the large quantity of vault water can serve as a core catcher for in-vessel retention of disintegrated fuel debris in the case of a very low probability core melt accident. These inherent heat sinks are required only when the primary heat sink through steam generators or the shutdown cooling system becomes unavailable in the most severe accident scenario.

In addition, the Indian 700 MWe PHWR design has enhanced safety through dedicated Passive Decay Heat Removal System which has the capability of removing decay heat from core without requiring any operator actions similar with the technology adopted for Generation III+ plants to address the Fukushima type accident. The 700 MWe Indian PHWR has steel-lined containment to reduce the leakages and containment spray system to reduce the containment pressure in case of a loss of coolant accident and for scrubbing radio nuclides in case of their release beyond the design limit.

The main reasons for selecting PHWRs in the 1960s for the First Stage of the Indian nuclear power programme have been the use of natural uranium oxide as the fuel, the best utilisation of mined uranium in energy production and the prospect of establishing a completely self-reliant technology. Over four decades of relentless research, design and development work in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Nuclear Power Corporation and the matching contributions of some of their industry partners who had shown the courage in taking up the challenging manufacturing and construction work have enabled India in establishing the technology in totality. Mastering the entire fuel cycle including prospecting of minerals, mining, processing and manufacturing of fuel and structural materials, reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and immobilization of radioactive waste has given India a unique position of self-reliance in the atomic energy domain. The constraint of a limited reserve of uranium in the country which earlier impeded a rapid growth in nuclear power has now been eased by augmented production of indigenous uranium and import of uranium under the civil nuclear co-operation agreements with several countries. During the last financial-year Nuclear Fuel Complex had a record production of nuclear fuel exceeding 1500 tonne and new uranium deposits discovered by Atomic Mineral Division for Exploration and research have taken the uranium reserve in the country to a level of 200000 tonne.

India is now poised for a rapid growth in the nuclear power capacity which is essential for meeting the demand of clean electricity. The per-capita electricity consumption in India (now close to 1000 KWh) is nearly one-third of the world average and there is an obvious need for a substantial enhancement of non-carbon electricity production to improve the quality of life of our people. The impressive growth in the solar and wind power has made a visible impact in increased availability of electricity in many areas. However, it needs to be emphasized that the distributed and intermittent sources of energy such as solar and wind cannot meet the base load demand very effectively. The nuclear energy source is concentrated, continuous and reliable and, therefore, can be complemented by solar and wind energy in meeting the overall demand of electricity with practically zero carbon foot-print. While the huge electricity demand from large cities and industrial complexes require uninterrupted and concentrated form of energy, there is an equally big demand of distributed energy in our rural areas. Energy planners are, therefore, combining these different patterns of energy requirement to achieve an optimised solution.   

The next issue which needs to be addressed is the speed at which we can grow our nuclear power capacity. In this context one can examine the experience of France and USA in nineteen seventies and of China in the recent years. They all have achieved very impressive rapid growth by adopting a convoy or a serial mode of installation of nuclear power plants of a few standardised designs. In such a strategy, the industry can gear up their dedicated production lines for sophisticated nuclear components and construction companies can deploy their manpower and skill-set most effectively. The decision that 10 PHWRs of 700 MWe will be installed in the immediate future will generate enough enthusiasm in the industry for taking up the challenge of serial production of nuclear components of exacting specifications. The expansion in nuclear power activity will not only broaden the supplier base but also make the participating industry more quality conscious. They can even qualify to be exporters of nuclear grade components. A reduction in the gestation period of construction of nuclear plants will have a strong impact in reducing the cost of electricity.

As has been mentioned by Dr.Srinivasan, India is now in a position to embark upon building 900 MWe Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs) of her own design. The capability of making large size pressure vessel is now available within the country and our own isotope enrichment plants will be able to supply a part of the required enriched uranium fuel within a decade. These will be in addition to imported PWRs from Russia, France and USA with the aim of an accelerated growth of nuclear energy in the country. The signing of the recent agreement between India and Russia for the construction of two more 1000 MWe PWRs (Units 5 and 6) in Kudankulam confirms this overall plan. The convenience of operation and a high average capacity factor have made PWRs the most sought after nuclear power reactors in the world, nearly 85% of all power reactors being the PWR type.  There will be a special advantage of operating a mix of PWRs and PHWRs in India as the spent fuel of the former which will contain more than 1% of uranium-235 can be reprocessed and further utilized as the fuel in PHWRs operating in tandem. This evolving fuel cycle will eventually extend the power generation from the First Stage of the well- known three stage programme quite significantly.

The merit of the closed fuel cycle which has been adopted right from the beginning of the Indian programme is not only in multiplying the fuel resource but also in reducing the radio-active burden of the nuclear waste dramatically. In this context, the successful development of separation of minor actinides from the nuclear waste in India, deployed in pilot plant scale, has drawn world-wide attention. Plutonium recovered by reprocessing of spent fuel from operating PHWRs has been used in making the plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel for the full core of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which has initiated the commissioning activities before commencing operation. With the entry of India in her Second Stage of nuclear power programme in which Fast Breeder Reactors will not only enable the growth of the installed nuclear capacity, but also generate more fissile materials, plutonium-239 and uranium-233 by conversion of fertile isotopes, uranium-238 and thorium-232 respectively. An enhanced scope and an accelerated implementation of the First Stage of the programme will make a far- reaching impact on securing the energy self-reliance of the country. By operating multiple recycles in the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle the supply of fissile material is expected to be enhanced by a factor of 60 and by using the huge reserve of thorium, the current estimate being four times that of uranium, India can sustain the supply of clean nuclear energy for several centuries.

Dr Srikumar Banerjee is a former Chairman AEC & Secretary DAE. Currently he is Homi Bhabha Chair Professor, DAE; Chancellor, Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) and Chancellor Kashmir University.

P.N. Bhagwati's legacy: a controversial inheritance

P.N. Bhagwati's legacy: a controversial inheritance

P.N. Bhagwati was India’s most influential judge — it’s time his legacy is revisited

Justice P.N. Bhagwati, who died recently, at 95, is perhaps the most influential judge independent India has had. What Indira Gandhi is to Indian politics, Justice Bhagwati is to the Indian judiciary: their legacies have endured, having engineered a populist democratisation based on radical rhetoric, but at very heavy costs to the institutions themselves.

One can see strong resonances of Mrs Gandhi’s style in the Modi government’s mode of functioning in their all or nothing friend or enemy view of politics, with complete disregard for the autonomy of institutions. Similarly, with contemporary standards of judicial behaviour, pronouncements pandering to the lowest common denominator — calling for the cow to be declared the national animal, imposing the national anthem on cinema-goers and imposing thoughtless prohibition near national highways — while simultaneously displaying pusillanimity in institutionally vital cases against the Central government such as Aadhaar, the Money Bill and the Delhi government cases. The very condition of possibility of such playing fast and loose with the law are Justice Bhagwati’s landmark interventions.

Charting a way to power

Just as nationalism has now emerged as the currency of contemporary judicial populism, socialist rhetoric was his path to power. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1973 at the height of Mrs Gandhi’s ideological onslaught on the judiciary, with her call for a ‘committed judiciary’. The Kesavananda Bharati judgment had recently been delivered, in which the Supreme Court had dared to stand up to Mrs Gandhi and had declared the Constitution’s basic structure as un-amendable even by her brute parliamentary majority. In the aftermath of this judgment she superseded the three senior-most majority judges leading to their resignations, and appointed Bhagwati and Krishna Iyer to the Supreme Court.

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AN INSPIRATIONAL FIGURE: “Justice Krishna Iyer was a revolutionary at heart.” A file photo of the former Supreme Court judge during an interaction in Kochi. Photo: H. Vibhu

A unique blend of judicial virtues

Two key points deployed in Mrs Gandhi’s mid-1970s attack on the judiciary were the inaccessibility of the legal system and its alien British form. The responses were also twofold: the expansion of legal aid and the injection of indigeneity in legal institutions, respectively. Legal aid was even declared part of the Emergency’s flagship Twenty Point Programme. The two recent judicial appointees, Justices Krishna Iyer and Bhagwati, enthusiastically responded and penned successive reports proposing ‘nyaya panchayats’ as the silver bullet solution to both the problems. The challenge of democratising access to courts could have been met through an expansion of legal aid. Instead the solution was seen as creating parallel informal institutions, diluting judicial procedure by short-circuiting basic principles of adjudication. These visions of paternalistic deprofessionalised indigenous justice provided the basis for future developments such as Lok Adalats at the lowest level, tribunalisation at the intermediate level and Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the highest level of the judiciary. For the part they played in this process, Professor Upendra Baxi later wrote that the two judges “remain vulnerable to the charge of acts as legitimators of the emergency regime”.

Moving to extremes

Justice Bhagwati soon proved his loyalty to the Emergency regime much more directly: as part of the majority in ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla, which upheld the constitutionality of the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA), and declared that even the right to habeas corpus would not survive during the Emergency. Justice Bhagwati was justly targeted for his role during the Emergency after the 1977 elections. He soon moved to the other extreme, and proved his loyalty to the Janata government by upholding its use of Article 356 against Congress-led Legislative Assemblies, a decision with disastrous consequences for Indian federalism. He did another somersault after Mrs Gandhi returned to power in 1980. He was the only judge in the Minerva Mills case to uphold her Emergency era amendment immunising any statute implementing a directive principle from judicial review for violating Articles 14 and 19, thus giving primacy to directive principles over fundamental rights. Accordingly, a statute implementing prohibition, or prohibiting cow slaughter, or introducing uniform civil code, or pursuing ‘socialism’ would be immune to judicial challenge for violating the rights to equality and freedom. If this sounds rather familiar, it is because the Indian judiciary has implicitly followed the logic of Justice Bhagwati’s dissenting opinion in recent years. In the Judges’ Transfer case, he went on to explicitly support the appointment of judges based on their ideological predilections, i.e., court packing for a ‘committed judiciary’. When the constitutionality of the National Security Act, 1980, Mrs Gandhi’s successor statute to MISA, was challenged, he got another chance to somewhat undo the notoriety of the Habeas Corpus case, but he upheld this law as well. In spite of such an appalling record on civil liberties and such open servility to regimes in power, how did Justice Bhagwati acquire such a heroic reputation?

Behind the PIL

Much of Justice Bhagwati’s fame rests on his role in pioneering the PIL. In fact, PIL letter petitions would initially be personally addressed to him, rather than the court. This enabled him to sidestep the then Chief Justice’s role in allocating cases, also leading to allegations of soliciting petitions. More enduringly, instead of grounding the PIL in rules and principles, his view of legal procedure as the enemy of justice meant that all aspects of procedure in PIL cases were diluted, removing all checks on judicial arbitrariness and making it a juggernaut annihilating all procedure. The dilution of locus standi could have been grounded in some notion of ‘representation standing’. In its absence, most PILs are filed by citizens unconnected to any issue. In the Bandhua Mukti Morcha case, he diluted evidentiary standards in PIL cases to an extent that proved catastrophic in the long run. He also was the first judge to openly legislate in a PIL relating to inter-country adoptions, creating another dangerous precedent.

Justice Bhagwati is also famous for his judicial improvisations. Based on the idea that ‘arbitrariness is the antithesis of inequality’, he introduced a new test to examine violations of ‘Right to Equality’. This test is however completely illogical, as constitutional scholar H.M. Seervai demonstrated. Even more famous is his pioneering ‘right to life jurisprudence’ in the Maneka Gandhi case. A negative right against the state’s illegal deprivation of any individual’s life or personal liberty has since been interpreted as a positive right to life, making it a receptacle for all manner of socio-economic rights. The only right it now seems to exclude is the literal mandate of Article 21. Another instance of careless improvisation is his unnecessary innovation of ‘absolute liability’ as a principle of liability in cases of injury caused by inherently hazardous industries. Needlessly trying to remove the few exceptions that the time-honoured principle of strict liability allowed, once again Justice Bhagwati was set on winning the tournament of competitive radicalism that his vision of judgeship entailed, regardless of institutional costs. This has been his most enduring legacy as a role model for future judges: to think of their judicial role instrumentally as social activists and not mere jurists. A certain looseness of legal language entered Indian appellate judgments and radical rhetoric became the path to power for Indian judges. The value of careful judicial prose declined as fidelity to law no longer mattered, what mattered was the show of ideological commitment.

Justice Bhagwati’s legacy lives on. But it is high time we revisit it.